Chapter Fifteen - Got the Job
She spent the evening comforting Cricket who was... actually, legitimately upset about the loss of her bells.
They weren't exactly sentimental, Cricket would have been happy to have any bell at all, but the lack of them seemed to bring the strange bug [Jester]'s mood down. She twitched her ears and antennae when she moved, as if searching for that familiar sound.
It put a bit of a damper on the evening, and Rosario... well, she understood a little. She'd lost a few things over the years. At some point she'd lost some of her mobility, and that led to her house becoming increasingly messy.
It was strange, but that was what started, or at least encouraged, her love of maids.
In any case, the evening did go on. They walked together around the city, and Rosario took note of some shops that might be of interest later. Three places stood out.
First, they made a small stop at the bank.
The place was one she truly wanted to visit and technically it wasn't off limits. The building was a grand stone edifice near the centre of the city, with a guard patrol stationed out front. Within was not one, but five banking institutions.
As it turned out, there was a large difference between the system bank and a normal one.
The system bank was accessible from some complex enchanted devices and could be used to store items and goods and to access them from afar... for a set fee. That was just like how it was in KingBreaker.
Unlike the game the access here was heavily monitored. A person would have to ask for a clerk who would bring them into a room where they would give their identity, confirm the contents of their personal vaults, and then would be escorted through the process.
This was expensive.
On the other hand, it would allow someone to basically teleport goods across the world. It wasn't a substitute for larger scale logistics, but it was an alternative.
The security was all about anti-smuggling measures, and she was certain that there was more at play as well. Taxes would be paid. That was inevitable.
The other four banks in the large building were commercial and private banking entities. The system bank didn't trade stock, didn't hand out payments to employees, and didn't accrue interest. It didn't do loans, either.
So, someone who wanted to start a business would have to deal with a [Banker]. There was a Second Bank of Alpta, and a Bank of Lithos, as well as the Royal Bank of the Aerie. They offered different services for different customers at different rates.
She decided not to dig too deeply into it. Though family finances were part of maidly duties so she might well have to read a book or two on the subject one day.
After the bank where Cricket pulled some money from an account she had, they visited their second stop for the day. A park right across from the Castle.
It was called Darkchurch Hill, and the park was split in half. One portion of it was open to the public, with a small pond surrounded by hills. There were small gardens and high hedge walls that muffled some of the sound of the city. It was nice, and they ended up grabbing a bite to eat from a street vender whose prices were nearly criminal. The second half of the park, the larger half, was gated and could only be accessed by paying members of some exclusive club. She did see that there were greater gardens within, with some space reserved for sports and others for swimming and horse-riding. It wasn't nearly as popular as the open half.
She was most interested in the castle itself. It rose up next to the park, sheer stone walls rose up and protected a boxy old keep made of dark, interlocking blocks of stone. It was a very different architectural style than the clay bricks and wood used on most of the homes in the city, and even the city walls.
Guards patrolled the walls above, and she noticed that the entrance was built as multiple enclosures, to make even entering it officially as complicated and tedious as possible.
She closed her eyes and then cast a quick spell under her breath. "[Find Item: Master]," she said.
The spell blossomed within her, then rushed outwards. She felt like she was the pebble that caused a grand ripple... only that ripple encountered resistance.
A moment later something struck her.
"YOUR MASTER SUMMONS YOU."
The feeling definitely came from the castle. From deep within and below it, in fact.
She walked out of the park with Cricket, the bug girl giving her a strange look. A minute later the castle went on high alert.
"What was that about?" Cricket asked.
"I may need a disguise kit," she said in lieu of answering. "Maybe we can find you some bells?"
Cricket accepted the diversion, and as evening started to edge to night, they visited their last stop of the evening, an adventurer's shop not too far from the guild. It sold all sorts of items, though no weapons. There were tinctures, traps, trap-disarming kits, foldable ten-foot-poles and rope and more specialized tools.
Cricket ended up purchasing a small set of lure bells for some fantastical creature or another.
Rosario spent some money on a small, pricey disguise kit. It took up much of her remaining funds, but she suspected that she would need it. Besides, the kit had some sewing supplies, and she was able to fix Cricket's bells to her cap.
With that done, they parted for the evening with an awkward goodbye and a promise to meet again soon, at some undetermined time.
She returned to the Thieve's Guild, slipped in, and found her way to the barracks where she met some of the others. They were grateful that the place was now spotless, though it clearly needed maintenance.
Rosario set a dozen traps, alarms, and invisible shield spells around her bed before slumping onto it to sleep.
She woke up the next morning and wandered out to find something to eat. That was how she met Mister Numbra in the main hall.
"Ah, there you are," he said. He was eating some bread, with butter and slices of cheese and some sort of jam. He gestured across from himself for her to take a seat. "Have you picked out a pseudonym yet, by the way?"
"A pseudonym?" she asked. "A false name?"
"Mh! Something we can call you, since your system is still [Hidden]."
"I see. In that case, call me... Cinderella." Sue her, she was a Disney girl when she was younger.
Mister Numbra hummed. "Interesting name. Is that from Roland?"
"It's from afar," she replied non-comittally. "You mentioned work?"
"I did," he said. "But I'm afraid that there's a small issue. This job will require that you work with Penny."
"The rat kin woman?" she asked.
"One and the same," he said. "She's an accomplished [Charlatan]. One of our best, and well on her way to being a third tier by the time she'll be half my age. Hah! But yes. She's... quite taken with the rebellion. She's at that age, you see? It's just a phase."
"I'm sure," she replied. Working with Penny wasn't something she was particularly fond of, but she could be professional about things. "So, what's this job?"
He sat up straighter. "For you? Two parts. First, I need you to infiltrate the Mansion of Lord Abernath of Hazelfort. He's a fancy human lordling that's taken to living here during the warmer seasons. He likes the lakeside air and to antagonize the locals. This isn't a theft job. It's information gathering. Specifically, I need you to send out a signal when the lord is out of the estate so that some associates can do certain business things that you frankly don't need to know about."
"The pay?" she asked.
"Twenty silver crows. It shouldn't be more than three days. Lord Abernath should be departing soon. Anything you can filch is yours as well."
"And where is this?" she added.
"North City, just next to the Glass Docks. We can get you there easily. The signal that the lord is out is hanging a red cloth from the upper floor balcony. There's a rack there, for drying clothes and such."
"That sounds simple enough," she said. "Size of the home?"
"Larger than most can hope to afford," he replied. "But not a full estate. It's squeezed in next to other noble homes."
"Method of entry?"
"You're hired. Officially. We'll have the papers cooked up, obviously, but he hired new employees through a company. We have friends there."
She nodded. "Are there others in their home?"
He grinned. "No. The lord is... particular about the people he hires. Which is why you're perfect for this job."
Why did that make her highly suspicious? But then... this did sound like a nice opportunity.
***