Follow Belit and sneak through the barracks

For Belit Von Bromide, a base like this would be easy pickings. This checkpoint may have grown to a significant size, but the town of Missionaire was still better defended, staffed, and patrolled, and she'd made a long career sneaking through such well-guarded, seemingly impenetrable places. Well... as long a career as a 19-year-old could claim to have, anyway. You suggested that Belit take point while you and your other accompanying saintess snuck behind.

"Music to my ears! I've been wanting to show off a little, he he," the cheeky thief chuckled in response, pausing just a moment before pulling a ring off of her belt buckle. Numerous keys occupied the ring, but instead of dangling freely, they were bound tightly at the ring's center by twine. She took a moment to unravel them, then poked through, wearing an expression of concentration. Her tongue stuck up from one corner of her mouth while she selected the right tool for the job.

When she found one she liked, she silently inserted it into the keyhole. She wiggled it back and forth-- it was not a good match.{if Helmid = True}

Helmid continued to watch the back of the line, but you could tell she was nervous. She wasn't used to all this sneaking and had clearly been hoping that Bellit would simply magic the door open in some fashion. "Try again, dear. Don't give up!"{endif}{if Rosary = True}

"Oh... Oh dear... did you not bring the right key? Are we in trouble?" Rosary whispered, almost too quietly to hear, as she crouched awkwardly in the shadows.{endif}{if Bangaal = True}

"Ho ho! If only we'd relied on chaos magic, we'd already be on the other side of that simple wooden door! Well, I can't promise the building would still be standing, buuut..." Bangaal's voice taunted from somewhere nearby.{endif}{if Liens = True}

"What? Why have we stopped? A wooden door. Simple lock. Just pick it already. Thief. Pick it." Liens was grumbling from the back of the line, wearing a sour expression. She might not have the patience necessary for this kind of stealth work...{endif}

"Hold your horses, you dummies," Belit sighed, rolling her eyes. She tried another. Again, no purchase. You were starting to worry, as she turned and grinned with a sly expression. "It only ever takes me three," she giggled, before inserting the third key inside and turning it without so much as a look at what she was doing. Her grin turned into a smug, wide smile, as a satisfying click came from within the door's locking mechanism. "Common misconception that a master thief carries a skeleton key. We carry several skeleton keys and feel out the lock till we get just the right one."

You were impressed, but there was no time to pat her on the back. You all needed to keep moving.

Inside, the barracks was about as empty as you'd expected. There were a few token patrols, but those could probably have been avoided, even without a master thief. Finally, you came to what you were looking for: Guard Captain Mertz's room, clearly indicated by the fanciness of the door and also its being in possession of the only nameplate in the building, as far as you could tell. If anyone had the lowdown on that false saintess, it was probably him. He didn't seem like the type who could keep his hands clean.

Unfortunately, there was a padlock on the door and, in front, an over-sized lug of a guard, wearing the key on a conventional brass ring at his pocket. The three of you could easily take him, but not without alerting all of the other guards to your mischief.

Belit took a look back at you and the other saintess, just to confirm if either of you were looking nervous at this point. She reassured you with a cocky grin, then shifted into an unknown soldier's room to the right. After confirming you were all behind her, she went to the creaky bedframe... then began rapidly thrusting her arms down upon it, bending her elbows again and again to create the sound of rambunctious activity occurring upon the bed. She was really getting into it.

"What the-- you little shite, what are you doin' at this time o' day?" the guard growled, beginning a heavy trod towards the room.

Belit grabbed you and your companion and hid behind the door for a moment until the guard passed by, then, with no more than a flick of each wrist, cut the cloth loose from the man's pocket and nick the key-ring before it could fall to the floor.

She led the two of you to slip back out the door immediately, then, much more quickly than with the first door, she unlocked the padlock. "We've got as much time as this will buy us," she whispered, before placing the padlock onto the door the guard had just entered through and clapping the lock shut.