Begin the Guild heist

Not included in Lia’s outfit showcase at breakfast was the rucksack that she purchased so that she would no longer have to borrow yours. Unlike the plain, brown leather of yours and Blythe’s rucksacks, Lia’s is dyed black and has red and purple butterfly patches sewn onto it. It’s with this chic and innocent-looking bag that Lia will sneak the “colorful rocks” out of the Guild and, hopefully, get your party on your way to the end of this trial.

“Do you like butterflies?” you ask as the three of you head toward the Guild. Lia, walking between you and Blythe, tenses up a little at the question. She glances at you, then at Blythe, then stares straight ahead.

“They’re okay, I guess,” she says. Then, putting her head down, she pushes ahead of you and Blythe by several paces.

With Lia walking ahead, Blythe naturally steps into the space beside you. “It was between the one you see and a red one with a floral stitching pattern,” Blythe says, just loud enough for you to hear. “She struggled a great deal to make up her mind.”

…

You and Blythe enter the Guild ahead of Lia. Hild is on duty again today, as well as two other representatives. Besides those three behind the counters at the back of the room, there are a few employees walking around to check in with the assorted adventurers loitering about the place this morning. You have no idea if there’s anyone in the back room, but you can’t worry about that now: were you to put this off and gather more information, those rocks could get relocated and you might never find them again. This plan is do or die, right now.

Hild sees you come in and beckons you over. “Hello again, Mr. Reynolds. Are you here for work? Three days in a row is quite impressive around here. You must be either dedicated to the cause or **** for coin.”

“A little of both,” you say. Mostly just the second part, though, you admit to yourself. “I’m here with my trusted companion. Blythe, this is Hild, my representative with the Guild. Hild, meet Blythe.” While Blythe and Hild exchange pleasantries, you look around for a convenient way to draw everyone’s attention. Unfortunately, you didn’t have much time to come up with the distraction part of the plan: if you don’t find something now, your only option is to pick a fight with a random adventurer.

There’s a tough-looking adventurer party in the Guild Hall that stands out from the rest, seated around a table at one end of the room and looking over high-level quests. Each member looks like a hardened, dragon-slaying adventurer. You’re not confident that you could take a single one of them in a fight, and you’d be dead instantly if you pissed off the entire party. That’s out, what else? Your eyes glance over the front doors right as Lia slips through them. You pretend you didn’t see her and keep looking for a distraction. The building is made of wood, you think. I could always start a fire. Your better judgment dismisses that idea almost immediately. What if people saw you? What if someone used water magic to put it out too quickly? What if the whole place went up in flames and Lia didn’t have time to find the sack of rocks? Worst of all, what if Lia got trapped in the back room and died in the fire? You getting beaten to **** by a bunch of pissed adventurers is still a much better plan than that one. Shit. Fuck. Think. There has to be something.

“Mr. Reynolds? Is everything alright?” Hild’s voice brings your attention back to the elf behind the counter. “You seem troubled.”

Great. Now I’m suspicious, you think. “I haven’t seen that party in here before,” you say, which is the truth. “They look pretty tough, makes me kind of nervous.” Also the truth, albeit a bit cowardly.

Hild smiles, then leans on the counter with one hand raised for her chin to rest in. “Your nerves do you credit. Those are S-rank adventurers from the neighboring kingdom.”

Before Hild can tell you anything more, that same party of S-ranks explodes into some huge argument. Pretty quickly, conversations throughout the room die out and all eyes are on the main event.

Except yours. You don’t give a shit.

You look around for Lia, and just barely catch a black cat’s tail slipping through the door to the back room as it closes. Part One is a success, then, you think. You turn back to look over at the arguing adventurers. Now if only these people could hold everyone’s attention long enough, we’ll be golden.

No sooner have you thought that than you hear the words: “Excuse me for a moment.” Turning around, you see Hild walking toward the back room.

Shit.

You’re moving before you can think. You catch the door as it’s swinging shut and follow Hild into the back. She immediately turns to face you.

“Mr. Reynolds,” she says in hushed tones, “I do not know why you followed me, but it will have to wait. I believe I saw someone sneak in here a moment ago. If you could assist me in apprehending them, I would appreciate the help.”

Yeah, right. Like I’m about to help you arrest my partner. You nod, silently agreeing to help. The two of you make your way into the back room, which seems to be a maze of filing cabinets and storage drawers of all shapes and sizes. You’re about to round a corner when you hear rustling nearby. Hild raises her hand to stop you, and then she peeks around the corner. You see her eyes go wide, and that’s when you know you have to make a move. You grab a hold of her upheld wrist.

There’s only one option now. You cross your metaphorical fingers in the hopes that your dreams really have prophetic power.