“Nia, have you seen my lunch?” Karla asked.

“Umm… Nope.” Nia said, quickly swallowing the last remains of her friend’s lunch.

“I can’t find it anywhere.”

“Have you tried looking behind the desk?”

“That was the first place I looked. Oh well, I’m not going to eat here. Want to eat somewhere in town?”

“I’m not really hungry, but I’ll go with you.”

The two friends left the guild and made their way to through town. Just two days after the sewer system erupted, the city seemed to be moving back at a normal pace. The ongoing reconstruction was becoming a common sight for most people, and thanks to a few meetings between the Master Builders and the guild master, accidents were kept to a minimum. Surprisingly, no one was killed during the explosion. Most of the weak points scattered throughout the city had been evacuated, thanks to Nia warning the city guard of Aurus’ message. She didn’t understand why it was necessary but since it was an order from her boss she did it anyways.

They reached the marketplace, bustling with activity from the midday crowd that gathered around the stalls. Part of the square was sealed off as some workers were setting up a familiar stage, the same one where the mayor gave out important announcements.

“Did you hear? The mayor is calling a major assembly later today.” Karla mentioned.

“Yeah, I heard.” Nia said, looking over some wares.

“Aren’t you the least bit excited? These assemblies almost always have parties afterwards.”

“I’m not the biggest fan of revelry.”

“Well you should at least be excited that the mayor is going to be rewarding the guys who defeated the Thieves Guild.”

“Yeah… I mean, I’m glad the Thieves Guild is gone.” Cause it makes my job a lot easier. “But I don’t see why the mayor is rewarding the guys who almost destroyed the city.”

“You don’t know that. I read in the newspaper that the thieves set up the explosion.”

“Sure, an unreliable newspaper filled with drama articles and little to no evidence.”

“Well, you don’t have any evidence either since anything in the sewers was burned up.”

“I think several eyewitness reports from the thieves we arrested and the guild master himself is more than enough evidence.”

“They’re thieves! They lie all the time. And I’m pretty sure Gherson would blame bad weather on adventurers if he could.”

“You’re exaggerating. I’m sure there are plenty of honest thieves out there.” They laughed. “But jokes aside, he isn’t one for lying like that, especially since this ‘lie’ would actually be bad for the guild.”

“How would it be bad?”

“Because having to discipline adventurers is a lot of work. Work I am sure he does not want to do.”

“Well, then he should be glad people think it was the thieves. Instead of being the usual grump he is. In fact, I think he actually got grumpier these last few days.”

“Getting kidnapped doesn’t help, but if I was in his place I would be the same. I’d much rather have people know the truth and give myself more work than have a bunch of dangerous adventurers being showered with praise.”

“Woooow. You are soooo morally righteous.” Karla said, waving her hands in the air.

“Shut it. I’m serious!”

“And I’m seriously hungry, let’s go eat.”

“But I already… nevermind, let’s go.”

Eating two lunches was not something Nia was used to, but the food was good so she couldn’t complain.

“Since when do the food vendors charge so much for snacks?” Nia asked, nibbling on her sandwich.

“I don’t know. The quality of the food is getting better so I’m fine with spending some extra gold.”

“Yeah, but still…” Everyone seems to have more gold lately. Maybe it’s because the thieves are gone.

“Oh, did you hear about the latest gossip in the capital?”

“No, and I don’t care.”

“Well it’s just that the grand nobility is hosting a…”

Karla dragged on with the latest news from the kingdom’s capital. Nothing that Nia actually cared about, but nodding and occasionally grunting was a lot easier than getting her friend to shut up. She spent the next half hour enjoying her second and third lunches while her friend barely touched her food. Every few minutes she would focus on what the other was saying just to see if it was anything important, it wasn’t. Once their lunch break was over, walking back to the guild was quick, and abandoning the conversation was as easy as saying ‘I need to get to work now.’

Her desk was filled to the brim with files, the same as when the day had started. Going through the financials of most of the guild was boring, and tasking, and a pain, and boring, did she mention boring? At least this amount of work only really happened once a year, when they needed to prepare reports for the annual financial meeting in the capital. Thankfully, the job of talking to the Royal Bank representatives fell solely to Aurus, who was also swamped with paperwork since the meeting would be happening in a few weeks.

The hours went by as the piles of paper on her desk slowly decreased until there were only a few left. Sadly, those few would have to wait until the next day since the time for the assembly was drawing closer. Setting aside the unfinished work, and putting everything away, Nia walked into Aurus’ office.

“Boss.”

“Huh? What?” He said quickly from behind a large pile of papers.

“We have an assembly to go to.”

“Oh right… Yeah… I’ll be right out. Just finishing some late reports.”

“Ok, I’ll be waiting… ummm… I do have a question though.”

“Ask.” He said, not looking up.

“Why did you stay in the warehouse? From what I heard, you could’ve escaped with Roren, but you stayed. Why?”

“Because I wanted to find out who hired the Thieves Guild.”

“They were hired!? To do what?”

“Yes, they were hired. Apparently they wanted to steal from the guild warehouse.”

“…but the guild warehouse is in the capital.”

“Yes, but that’s what their leader told me when I was a hostage, and I believed that by staying there I would have the chance of figuring out who hired them to do it.”

“And?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“But didn’t they interrogate the leader of the thieves?”

“Yes, but he refused to talk. Even with the less than approved methods of interrogation the captain uses.”

“Sounds scary…”

“It’s mostly annoying. He screams in your ears for about three hours nonstop about justice and peace.”

“That sounds even worse.”

“It is.” He picked up another file to inspect. “Nilbert, the leader of the Thieves Guild, is being taken to a prison near the capital as we speak.”

“Seems a bit much for someone who didn’t even steal that much.” He wasn’t even the one who exploded the sewers.

“True, but they think he was responsible for the sewer incident.” He placed the document down and picked up another one. “In spite of that, I do have an idea of who might have hired them.”

“Who is it?”

“I’m not certain but I think it’s most likely a noble in the capital.”

“Oh… That’s bad. That’s very bad!”

“Yeah. But I am going to the capital soon, so I might be able to find out more there.”

“Do you think you’ll have time? Those financial meetings can take a while.”

“I’ll make time if I have to. This isn’t something I can just ignore.”

“Yeah. How are you going to do anything about it though?”

“I’m still figuring things out; besides, I have a lot on my plate already.” He set down the papers in hand and paged through another pile.

“True, I’ll be waiting for you to finish downstairs.”

She closed the door and headed down to the tavern. She would usually prod him into putting down whatever he was doing, but there was just so much to do, she didn’t bother.

Someone else wants to steal from the warehouse, and they hired the Thieves Guild to do it. And that someone is probably a noble from the capital. This is a huge problem. Hmmm…

The waiting didn’t take long, and soon they were making their way to the town square. Most of the people were gathered in front of the stage, with a few people selling snacks on the outskirts of the crowd. Moving along the multitude, they stood just a few meters from the stage as the mayor began to talk.

“Thank you all for coming!!! When I heard that the Thieves Guild was defeated, I was ecstatic! I wanted to throw the biggest party I could right away! Sadly, the destruction caused by their heinous plan delayed my plans for celebration, but now that everything has gone back to normal I am proud to reward those responsible for uncovering the wretched villains and defeating them, the adventuring group Alliance!!!”

The crowd cheered as walking up the stage was Ren and his party members, all of them dressed in nice outfits, ready to receive whatever honors awaited them for their recklessness.

“I would have loved to hand them Honor Badges but after the thefts of the last ones I gave out the capital has rescinded my ability to do that… So instead, I’ll do the next best thing, and allow them to rank up immediately! To help me with this honor, I’d like to call on stage one of my best pals, the guild master of the Adventurer’s Guild, Aurus Gherson!”

Aurus sighed as he walked up on stage and began helping the mayor award each of the young men and women with golden badges, ranking them up from silver to gold level adventurers. Nia watched quietly as the rest of the crowd cheered. She hated this. She absolutely hated all of this. Watching a bunch of kids, who almost destroyed the city, get that kind of recognition and praise, made her angry and left her with a sick feeling in her stomach. If it wasn’t for her hesitance in talking to a group of four people or more, she would have scolded them severely. Although this was a job better suited for Aurus, who was too busy with everything else to do something about it.

She pushed her anger aside. There wasn’t any meaningful thing she could do about it now. Maybe have a conversation with Ren later? Judging from the happy expression the kid had on his face, he probably thought none of what happened was his fault. This was not a conversation Nia wanted to have, especially now, with work pilling up more and more every day.

Aurus finished the task and walked off stage as the adventurers cheered amongst themselves. The mayor was going to be announcing a party soon, Nia was sure of it. She met with the guild master and they both began walking away from the crowded mess before things got too out of hand. After quickly saying their goodbyes, she started making her way back home. The sooner she made it to bed the earlier she woke up, meaning more time to finish all the reports she hadn’t yet done. Her inner thoughts were interrupted as she felt a hand poke her on the shoulder.

“Hey Nia! You aren’t sticking around for the party?” Ren asked, looking a little out of breath.

“No. I have a lot of work tomorrow.” She answered half-heartedly.

“Are you sure? We are going all out this time. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”

“No thanks. I’m not really a party person.”

“Oh, that’s alright I guess. Hey I was wondering…”

“Hey Ren! It’s starting!” Almer shouted from behind his friend.

“Oh alright. I better get going then. See you Nia!”

“Bye…” She hesitated. “Hey Ren?”

“Yes?” He turned around.

“You know that what you did was incredibly reckless, right?”

“Yeah, I mean, we still saved the day.” He said before running off.

“That’s… not what I meant.” She finished her sentence as the adventurer ran off once again.

Sighing deeply, she began heading back to her house. It wasn’t too far from the festivities but was still a fifteen minute walk. At least it would give her time to reflect. She looked up, enjoying the sight of the sunburnt sky. The shades of orange and purple melded perfectly as the day ended and signaled the beginning of the night. This was her favorite time of day. Even if the twilight didn’t last long, it gave her enough peace of mind to calm down after getting worked up during the ceremony.

I hope those kids realize how reckless they were…

She rounded a street corner and kept walking. She was very close now, just a few more blocks and she would be home. Her mind however kept replaying the scenes of the last few days, the desperation of rescuing her boss, the fear and confusion born of the explosion, the tiredness of all the following paperwork, the indignation that the ones responsible for the chaos being treated like heroes. Too much was happening too quickly, and she had a feeling it was only going to get worse.

At least I have the sunset to help me through all of this…

“Hey Nia! Can you help us out?”

So much for my emotional health… “Yes. What is it?”

She turned to face two old men sitting near each other, on the outside of a bar. Ever since she had moved in from the capital, she had gotten to know her neighborhood well, maybe a little too well. Stanley and Walter were what could be best described as, old coots. They weren’t as angry and as resentful of the youth as other senior members of society, but they still had their altercations with other people and themselves. Usually in the form of inane arguments that did nothing but waste other people’s time.

“We need to settle an argument.”

“It’s not an argument when I know I’m right!”

“Shut up Stan!” Walter turned to his ‘friend’. “So basically, we are discussing whether anti-aging magic exists.”

“Anti what magic?”

“Aging! I saw this skin cream being sold directly from the capital that said it had anti-aging magic. Since you work so closely with magic and other stuff like that we were hoping we could settle this.” Stan interjected.

“Of course anti-aging magic doesn’t exist! It’s obviously reverse-aging magic!”

“Shut it Walter! How can any magic reverse aging? It clearly stops you from getting older so it’s anti-aging!”

“How would you know? You wouldn’t even notice magic if it was all over your wrinkly face!”

“You’re one to talk! Your face has even more wrinkles than my entire back!”

I did not need that picture in my head…

“Guys!” She interrupted them. “So you are arguing for anti-aging magic, and you for reverse-aging magic. Did I get this right?”

“Yes, and if you tell this old fart here that his idea is stupid and not true. I’ll pay you a gold coin.”

“Excuse me. I can hear you!”

“I thought you were deaf in that ear.”

“It’s the other ear idiot. You don’t even know your left from your right, how can you know anything about magic?”

“My right thumb knows more about magic than you.”

“You haven’t had a right thumb since the war!”

“Yeah, if I still had it I’d be shoving it in your eye right now!”

“Well, then I would get my walking stick and shove right up your…”

“Guys!!!” Nia did want another image like that in her head. “There is no anti-aging or reverse-aging magic. It’s clearly anti-wrinkle magic. They only say it affects aging because you end up looking younger. Happy now?”

“See? I told you your idea was wrong.”

“Yours was too idiot! Thank you for telling this moron his idea was stupid.”

“I didn’t…”

“Now where is the silver piece I promised?”

“You didn’t promise a…”

“Ah! Here we go. One copper piece for you.”

“…Thanks.” She stared at the coin in her hand before pocketing it. “I’m going home.”

“Be careful out there! Heard that the flying kid has been seen around these areas.”

“Flying kid?”

“It’s just an urban legend this old coot believes in. Don’t pay any mind.”

“Urban legend my ass! My nephew’s friend’s daughter saw him! He flies around and steals clothes from people. Some say it’s because they stole his clothes a while ago and he came back for revenge! They also say it all started in the Adventurer’s Guild! So you be careful out there Nia.”

She stared at Stanley blankly before her mind flashed back to a time where she accidentally launched a dead body out of the window of the guild. As the memories of almost destroying the body of a young adventurer flooded back, she held back her embarrassment as best she could.

“I’ll… stay put…” She turned her blushing face away.

“Good.” The old man scratched his head before turning to his friend. “You know, I wonder how the anti-wrinkle magic works. It probably gets rid of wrinkles as fast as you get them.”

“That’s preposterous. You stop getting wrinkles entirely but keep the ones you already have.”

“But that would be reverse-wrinkle magic, and she clearly said anti-wrinkle!”

“Well maybe she got confused! Nia can you explain to us how that magic…”

Unfortunately for them Nia had quickly walked away as soon as the new discussion began. Walking away from the older men was easy considering how much practice she had over the last year she had lived there.

She approached her building, a medium-sized three-story housing complex with stairs leading up to the rest. This was one of many buildings that housed multiple people in Anderess. Only a few people could afford their own house inside the city, so multiple people living in the same building was commonplace. She trudged along the stairs going up to the second floor, where she lived. If she had to go up another set of stairs, she would just sleep on the floor. She reached the door to her apartment and stared at it.

18 months living here… Have I really been living here for almost two years? Why does it feel so much longer than that?

She opened the door into her small living room. Despite the small size she had a bit of furniture for herself, a small couch to rest, a dinner table in a corner and a small table near the entrance with a potted plant on top as decoration. A door led further inside to her bedroom. A few trinkets and baubles littered her table, mainly small objects that she found interesting but didn’t really have any value beyond that. Everything was in place, except for her patience. She was still angry at what had taken place, but sighed and headed to her room.

It was lightly furnished, just like the living room. A small bed was tucked next to a wall facing opposite to a small window, and next to it, a bedside table with a few drawers built in. A somewhat large closet stood near the foot of the bed, also facing the window wall. She sat on her bed and placed the copper coin on the small table before unwinding her hair from the braid she usually kept. Hanging her coat and uniform in the closet, she made her way to the bath. Afterwards she quickly changed into more homely clothes before sitting on her bed, still pondering over what she had learned that day.

The Thieves Guild, or at least their leader, was hired to steal from the Adventurer’s Guild Warehouse.

She reached into her bedside cabinet and opened the drawer.

According to Aurus, a noble in the capital probably hired them.

She put the copper coin in the drawer before reaching further in.

Nilbert refused to talk, even with torture. Which means it’s most likely someone who has enough influence to reach him in prison.

Reaching in further she flipped a switch that opened a small compartment further in the drawer, and took the item inside.

If all of this is true, then that means… I have to do something about this. I’m a bit swamped with work but I think I can safely take a few days off to go to the capital. Looking around the nobility might be dangerous.

She held up and gazed at the item previously hidden in her drawer, an Honor Badge, as clean and shiny as the day it was given to Dorus.

But I have a feeling this will help quite a bit.

She smiled as she remembered the day she took it from the large adventurer. It was just a matter of waiting for the right time between sobriety potions to swipe it from him. She was glad the group was able to recover the remaining two badges from the thieves, since it meant they might get even more jail time, but she wasn’t about to give the badge to those undeserving adventurers anytime soon.

She had always been careful to only swipe things that people wouldn’t really miss. She did occasionally steal a few coins but never enough to rouse any suspicion. Most people don’t count their silver and copper pieces as well as they count their gold after all. Money wasn’t the issue, in fact, she did have a good quantity of gold stored away for emergencies, and the salary from the guild was enough for food and other things. She just took things because she liked it, and because it kept her sharp while she prepared for her real job. Her job as an assistant started around a year ago, just some time after she moved in from the capital, but her real job started way before that. Her true ambition was something that was in the works ever since she managed to steal from the Royal Bank.

To break into the Adventurer’s Guild Warehouse was a job that required her to not only infiltrate the guild itself, but to gain the trust of the guild master. Work her way to the position of assistant and eventually, if possible, gain access to the warehouse through the guild. She knew there was a magical entrance in there somewhere, but after a few months of searching, she realized it was going to be harder than originally thought. It was a secret held by the highest members of the kingdom after all, so it wasn’t surprising. What did surprise her was that someone else hired the thieves.

During her first few months of preparation in the capital, she received contact by someone who wanted to hire her to steal from the warehouse. However, she had never needed anyone’s help to steal things so she refused. She did not imagine that same person would attempt it again with a larger group. Now she knew it was a noble, and considering the fear Nilbert had about saying anything, it was a noble with many connections. She got up and paced around the room.

If I don’t do something about it, whoever tried to hire me and those thieves is just going to try again. And the more they try, the more cautious Aurus becomes, making my job even harder. I’m not really the best at confronting people head on, so taking them down on my own is out of the question… However, I could help Aurus take them down. It would get rid of this thorn on my side, and if I do this right, give me an opening to get into the warehouse while in the capital! I wouldn’t have to find the magic opening in the guild after all!

Putting away the badge in the secret compartment, she laid down on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

I AM supposed to be the one who takes care of things here while Aurus is gone… but a few sick days in a row should be enough to help him out. But I don’t want to raise any suspicion with him… I’ll have to stay in the shadows. I do NOT want to know how he will react if he finds out who I am.

Despite her plans, she did not want him to discover her real identity, The Great Thief Lyssa. She actually hated that title, ‘Great Thief’. To herself, she was just Lyssa. She never liked the spotlight. Getting too much attention always made her nervous, but she always did make a point to leave something behind from the places she stole, just so they know she had been there. Just so that they know that there were no limits, walls, or gates that could stop her.

Even with her grand plan in motion, that was exactly what she planned on doing. In and out of the warehouse, little to no witnesses, maybe an item or two she found interesting, and something left behind so they would know she had finally done it. But even after the job was done, she did not want Aurus to find out. Seeing how far he was willing to go to protect that place, and how competent he was at his job, made her incredibly wary of turning him into an enemy. Besides, her poor boss could not catch a break, which is why he would never know who she truly was. She even planned to keep working at the guild for a few more months before quitting.

It would be suspicious if I quit just after the heist. So, I’ll probably lay low and keep doing my job as an assistant. Not the worst decision I’ve made in my life. Plus, after all this time, I think I got the hang of filling out different forms and making spreadsheets pretty well. Even with the long hours, and endless stacks of documents, and crazy coworkers, I’m kind of going to miss working at the guild.

She reminisced a bit more about her assistant duties and the work she had to do tomorrow as her eyes slowly closed, finally feeling the weight of the workday ending. Her mind echoed the conversations she had had that day. From Karla and her ‘problems, to Ren and his cluelessness, to Aurus and how hard he was working. She wondered how he would react to the news she broke into the warehouse. Not well, she assumed. Her thoughts now switched to the various times Aurus had warned people about how dangerous magic could be.

If I think about it, the only thing I need to do is break in and leave something behind. She yawned, sleep finally catching up to her. Maybe I won’t take any items in the end… just the knowledge that I… broke in... is enough…