"So, about this job. Someone very rich has bought some artefacts and is having them transported to his home."
It wasn't too hard to tell where this was going.
"So, you want to steal them and sell them."
"Yes. One of them. The best thing, though, is that it will be here tomorrow, and stored in a warehouse for the night, before they then bring it to the rich guy."
Oriana could see just how giddy she was.
"We take it from the warehouse once it gets dark. No one gets hurt, the rich guy loses out on something he frivolously spent coin on. We get to sell it ourselves and keep the proceeds. And the Peacekeepers spend a day running into walls as they fail to figure out who did it."
Oriana did like the last part.
With how the Peacekeepers had been after her all this time, it might be good to get her own back on them, even if just in a small way.
Plus, the coin they would get from this would help with her expenses. Even the coin she got from the Merchants Guild would run out at some point.
"With both of our magical abilities, it will be easy to steal it."
Oriana could not see a downside. And after the debacle of the Ball in the castle, while this wasn't exactly laying low, it was tamer than what she had done there.
"Okay, sounds simple and good."
"Great. We are going to have so much fun getting rich."
"Not trying to get rich."
Bethany, for some reason, failed to hear what Oriana had said.
At that, they headed back into the street and towards the Lower City, which is where Bethany left her.
"Shall we meet back here tomorrow in the afternoon?"
"Yeah, we can get any supplies we need to then."
A final goodbye, and they both headed off.
---
On the way back to the inn, Oriana couldn't help but notice something.
Things seemed more tense as she wandered around.
People were still chatting, selling their wares as usual, but there was an undertone of worry among the citizens of this city.
She couldn't tell what it was just by looking at them, but when she turned the corner, she realised what was causing it.
Just down the street, she could see several Peacekeepers, pretty much in formation, walking along, looking all over the place for any sign of trouble.
Now, Peacekeepers patrolling was nothing new. What was new was that it was normally in pairs. Not a large group like that.
As they marched along, they peered through open doorways and windows in plain view. They even checked behind street vendor stalls.
"What are they looking for? Oh, wait. Silly me. It's obvious what they are looking for. Me."
Given she was the only big thing to happen to this city in a while, it was a fair assumption to make.
She couldn't know for sure, but it was likely, and she was not going to go ahead and ask them, with the way they looked and charged through the street.
So, to be on the safe side, she decided to steer clear of them.
Or at least tried to.
Taking another corner, she found herself looking at another group, who were almost upon her.
"Two patrols this close together."
Patrols generally allowed the Peacekeepers to wander around the whole city, but it's not like they could cover all of it. For this many to be here, along with another group, it was almost as if they were…targeting this area.
Had they managed to track her to this part of the lower city somehow?
Before she could muse on it some more, still in the persona she had from visiting the healer, she realised she needed to stay calm and blend in with the crowd. So, she headed over to a street vendor.
But as she did, she noticed that her fingers were slowly turning green.
Moving to the side, as quickly as she could without being obvious, she headed down a back alley. A short distance away, the illusion on her hand returned to how it was.
Turning back, she saw the cause. Amongst the Peacekeepers was a mage, working with the patrol.
That was almost unheard of.
Some Peacekeepers had magic, sure, but not enough to dispel illusions and the like in an area around them. Like the mages in the castle, these likely came from the royal mages' academy, and with their honed skills, they had that power.
"Well, that's great. Things just got a lot harder."
So, with careful steps and checking her corners, she headed through back alleys and side streets in order to reach the Inn.
Safe and sound. For the moment.
She only hoped that things would die down in the coming days…especially for the job tomorrow.
---
"Ah, good. I see you visited a healer. You can't even tell you were injured."
"It's amazing, isn't it. I'm never needed to use a healer before, but I can see why people do."
Robert nodded.
"Yeah. But don't go visiting a healer for minor stuff. I know a few people who did that. They ended up liking the sensation from it… probably liked the healer too, now that I think about it. But, by doing that, they became addicted. Reliant on it. Couldn't even get a scratch without almost breaking down and needing a healer to help them."
"That is…terrible." Was all Oriana could say.
She wasn't sure how to take that story. She could agree that there was something nice about the whole healing process, but one thing she did know was that she would only be going back to the healer when she was truly hurt.
"You get up to anything else?"
"Oh, not really…may have made a friend. Or two. Not sure on that front."
Robert put on a mock shocked face. "Two in one day. My, how they grow up."
"Stop it. Save that for when your daughter starts making friends…" She put on a slight grin for the next part. "…or a partner for that matter."
"Over my dead body."
---
Oriana decided to rest for the rest of the day. It was already past lunch, so she waited around, watching people as they came and went from the Inn.
She did have a little fun with some of the drinks that people had brought. Nothing to cause problems for Robert. More to cause a few drunkards to purposely miss their tankard as they reached for it, knocking it over instead.
A little while later, she finally saw the two lovebirds. A dwarf and an elf. Somewhat uncommon, but love was love. Apparently.
All of a sudden, her mind turned to an elf she knew. Well, the ice sculpture of one.
But as soon as she did, she shook her head to get rid of whatever thought that was going to be.
"Strange."
Before long, dinner was served.
The usual stew was brought out, but it seemed that Robert had stepped up his game…with game meat that is.
Chunks of venison floated through the vegetable mixture, adding much-needed punch to the whole plate's aroma and taste palette.
"Venison, that's new."
"Yeah, this place is earning more than I thought, so I figured, why not. I managed to get some good quality venison cheap, from the slums of all places."
"Really?" Oriana raised an eyebrow at that.
"Yeah, not sure how, but a few of the butchers around there had an influx of venison and other meats. They didn't say where it came from, but I did see a box with the Merchants Guild logo. Maybe they pulled their money together to purchase it."
"Maybe. You didn't think it might be stolen?"
That stunned the straight-laced Robert for a moment.
"Wait, do you think it was. Oh no."
"Well, no use worrying about it now," she said as she shrugged. "Not like it's going to be traced back to you. Especially since everyone is eating the evidence for you." As evidenced by the bowls of stew dotted around the dining area.
He had a worried look on his face, but even he could tell that there wasn't much he could do about it now. He wasn't going to dump it; he spent his hard-earned coin on this purchase.
He just shook his head and headed back over to the bar, leaving Oriana to enjoy the meal.
With that, the day was pretty much over, so she got some much-needed sleep, ready for the next day.