The Insider System

Chapter 126: That Way Pt.2

They had been moving through town for 15 minutes by now and it seemed they were about halfway there. Usually they could go much faster with a guild cart but the card never went full speed in a city, and the fact there was rubble everywhere now made it so they had to go even slower.

"We're close." Now that they had made it this far Lake activated Detector to look for Elixirs. He saw this as a way to confirm if the mark they were getting close to was actually the right thing without them having to stop and raid whatever place they ended up at.

After they got close enough that Lake was sure Detector would have reacted if there were elixirs anywhere near the mark Lake turned to Lucas and said. "It's not here. There's something they care about more here." Lake didn't like he was saying this in front of the prisoners because it kind of gave away how his skill worked but he didn't think they would be able to hinder him with this information.

Trying to change what you cared about to protect what you really cared about would never work because you clearly cared about whatever you were trying to protect more. "What do you think it is?" Lake shrugged, and said. "Who knows, but it might be worth getting if you want to send someone inside to clear it first. Then I can go in and find what my skill is pointing towards."

Lucas shook his head and said. "It's not really worth the time, we're in a bit of a rush." Lake nodded and used Treasured on the next prisoner, after he was done he looked around to see there was more than one mark close enough to be inside the city. This was a bit of a problem because he didn't want to give away the fact his skill could be used to track people as well in front of Lucas.

He had accidentally found a child that Lucas cared about enough to hide them far away from the guild and if Lake found the person this prisoner cared about the most, Lucas might realize Lake could do the same to him and probably already had. Lake doubted Lucas would kill him over this but it might make Lucas more weary of him since he had kept what his skill could do from him in the past when he had used it on him. It was probably good that Lucas had decided not to raid the place they had just passed.

Lake decided the best thing he could do was just lie; he didn't like to do this because he thought some people could tell, and those same people were most likely the kind of people you didn't want to know if you were lying, but Lucas had said Lake should lie to keep the fact he was special secret, so even if Lucas knew he was lying he wouldn't say anything.

"It seems this person has a few things they care about, or the Elixirs have been split, so we're going to have to make a few stops." This was a good lie as far as Lake was concerned it wasn't like anyone but him knew how his skill worked and he thought it might actually be possible someone might be able to care about two things the same amount so his skill would show both.

It was like if he used the skill on someone with multiple children and they were one of those parents who actually meant it when they said they loved all their children the same, his skill might mark multiple people when it was only supposed to do one.

After a while and some directions they were getting close to one of the marks so Lake said. "Slow down." Looking out the window as they passed the place the mark was Lake said. "I'll need to get closer than I can while in the cart to confirm this one." He would need to get much closer and possibly go inside the building to get the mark inside the fifty foot radius of Detector.

The fact this one was actually being kept down in a safe basement instead of just in some random building made him think there was a good chance this might actually be the Elixirs that had been stolen. As the cart stopped a few seconds after Lake had asked to get out of the cart and he opened the door to get out the prisoner who he was currently using Treasured on said. "Wait, this is my house."

It seemed exactly what he thought would happen did, and he was just leading them to this man's family. "In that case I'm sure you have already gone through his house after the theft. We can move on to the next mark. He probably just has some heirloom inside that he cares about."

Lucas nodded and gave the order for them to move on after Lake shut the door. After a few minutes of driving they were in front of a new place. "Do you recognize this place?" Lake thought he might as well ask before he made them stop the cart. When the prisoner shook his head no Lake said. "Alright have them stop."

When the cart came to a stop, he, Lucas, and one of the guards stepped out and approached the building. When they got close to the door the guard just busted it down. Stepping inside it didn't take too long for them to find the way downstairs. They were unobstructed until they reached a reinforced door.

It was too Late though, he was already in range and he saw Detector form a new mark over the one formed by Treasured. "It's here." Now that Detector had actually led them to what they were looking for, Lake asked Lucas who seemed to be getting ready to bust down the door. "Why do they care so much about Elixir?"

He understood a lot of people were addicted to strength and that was why they had taken the risk that was stealing from the guild, but to care so much that the Elixir was the thing you cared about the most. "It takes years of constant service to earn an Elixir, so there's no way around some people becoming obsessed."

Lake guessed it was just that simple. The Elixir was seen as a ticket to becoming special and at the end of the day that was all some people wanted. Lake watched as Lucas blew the door down with a swift slap. Lake always found it funny whenever he was reminded just how strong Lucas actually was because he didn't give off a dangerous vibe at all.

"You two can just stay here, I'll come and get you if I can't find them." Lake nodded and watched Lucas disappear down into the bunker a few seconds later Lake heard and felt a massive boom he assumed was Lucas killing whoever was down there and then saw Lucas walk out with a small case that looked like something that could hold the thin bottles Elixir was stored in.

"That was pretty fast, so how many are left?" Lucas had said there had been forty stolen so if even half of that was left it would be a miracle. "I'll look once we get back to the cart." Lake nodded and followed Lucas back up the stairs out of the house and into the cart. Lake thought it would be funny so he made sure to get a good look of the two prisoners' faces as they got in and sat down with the case these two would have helped steal around a week ago.

It was pretty much what he expected and how they looked at him after seeing the case was particularly funny. He could see the jealousy people with no powerful skills had for people like him. After a few seconds of this lake felt the cart start moving so he looked over to Lucas to watch as he opened the case to see how many were still inside.

"So now that you don't need us any more, why don't you kill us now?" One of the prisoners made what Lake thought was a good point but Lucas seemed to disagree. "That's how I would normally deal with it, but since you betrayed the guild during a crisis your punishment will be more severe than normal."

Lake understood Lucas would make all the thieves they had caught into an example and he had to agree this was how militaristic organizations handled what they called treason. Lake hadn't even understood how bad these guys had messed up until now. He wondered if there would be a public execution like you would see in movies from his world or if it would be even worse somehow.

He was sure there were ways you could use magic to do something much worse to someone then he could even come up with. After getting his fill of the prisoners' terrible expressions, Lake turned to see Lucas had opened the case and got to counting. "Wow it's almost all here." Lake couldn't believe only four vials were missing.

"It seems the four in the basement all used one, and were waiting for a good time to be able to sell the rest. We were lucky in a way that the war made the city such a mess." Lake guessed this was a good way to look at it, but it kind of made him see the Guild in a new light, and it made him realize why Lucas was so confident in staying neutral.

The only people who could benefit from something like a war were the people selling to both sides. He wondered which side these Elixirs had been meant for and how much they had been paid for them. It also made sense of the fact that Lucas had taken care of this personally when you were selling something like Elixir it not showing up made you look bad.

Say this was supposed to go to the Temple; they would be pissed if it didn't show up when it was expected, especially if the batch you sent to the Demon Lord did. You had to make sure both sides got the same or one of them would eventually turn on you. Not to mention the fact some of the guilds people had stabbed them in the back would make it seem like they were suffering from low morale and they would crumble if they were attacked.

It might give the impression to one of the other groups that it was better to just take over the guild because they didn't have the strength to protect themselves. Why pay someone when you could just force them to work for you. Lake smiled, he bet these poor bastards sitting in front of him were about to be more than publicly executed. It was probably going to be the most gruesome shit he had ever seen.

Lake didn't miss the fact that he was also a thief, and he could end up in the same exact position, but just like how the thieves guild treated their members he saw the people who were caught as the ones at fault, and he would happily watch the execution as a member of the Alchemist guild.