Chapter 161: Good News
Lake didn't want to be stripping a body when the cart got here so he dropped it and positioned himself in the middle of the road. Once he was able to see the cart he could tell they saw what was on the road because they had already started to stop. Lake couldn't help but think this was going to be even easier than he had thought when he saw them stop and was about to tell them to give him what was in the cart but they beat him to talking.
"You need any help?" Lake was caught off guard by the cart driver's question so he asked. "Help with what?"
"Your loot, do you want us to help you get it to town?" Lake looked around at all the bodies and thought about it. He was sure all this armor would be worth giving up on the cart robbery. "Yes."
"Lads get out here and help." After the cart driver said this he got down from his seat and walked over to the back of the cart to help the four guards that were in the back get out. The four guards didn't say anything to him and instantly got to work stripping the bandits and Lake was about to start as well when the cart driver said. "We really appreciate this. You clearing the road probably saved our lives."
"Well I'm getting paid for it, so, you know, don't worry about it." Lake couldn't help feeling a little awkward being thanked by someone he was probably going to kill so they wouldn't tell anyone what he looked like. "Still don't think we'll try and take any of the money you get from selling any of this stuff. It's yours."
Lake hadn't been worried about that to begin with but he could tell the cart driver was trying to be nice so Lake said thank you and got to work with the rest of them loading the cart with all the armor and weapons. There was also quite a bit of other types of loot and Lake guessed it made sense that Bandits who didn't have a base would carry all their stuff on them.
Either way it was all good news for him and it continued to get better when one of the guards said. "I think this guy is a Thieves guild member, do you want me to get the head off for you?" Lake wasn't sure if the guy was saying this was the leader whose head he needed to turn in for the mission's reward or something else that had to do with Thieves guild members so he asked. "Why, does the Fighters guild give money for members of the Thieves guild?"
"No, that would be akin to declaring war on the Thieves guild, but this guy in particular might have a bounty on him through the fighters guild. That's between the Thieves guild and whoever placed the bounty but the Thieves guild doesn't really care what happens to its members so a lot of people place bounties on them."
Lake wasn't going to say no to more money so seeing the corpse he was talking about was one of the four who could sort of fight him Lake said "These three as well. I also don't know which head I was supposed to bring back to the guild so do you think these four will suffice."
"Yeah you should be good in cases like these the guild will ask other members that witnessed the outcome so in this case we'll be able to confirm you completed the mission." Lake nodded he remembered his first mission when he was being asked questions they had asked him if there was anyone who could back up his story and when he had said there wasn't they hadn't been happy.
"Plus the scout who originally found these guys should be able to recognize all of this armor we're bringing back and with these four heads you will get you all the money for all of these bandits." Lake nodded and was happy the guild had methods to get people paid in situations like these where the bandit leader was unclear.
...
"We're almost there." Hearing the driver call out to them Lake was relieved, He had ended up riding back with them without really thinking about how long it would take. Thankfully this cart was quick and it had only been a few hours but sitting in the back with the four other guards was kind of cramped because of all the stuff he had brought with them and the four heads of the bandits weren't helping the atmosphere.
It had caused the trip to be in silence and while he had been able to keep himself busy staring at these four it still hadn't been as interesting as when he got to ask people a bunch of questions. It didn't really matter though because with them almost there they would all be able to get out and he was sure all their moods would improve.
Feeling the cart come to a stop, Lake wanted to get out but he had to wait for the cart driver to open the door and get some of the stuff out of the way first. "Alright I'll wait for you four to help our friend here. Take as long as you need." After the cart driver said this the five of them unloaded his stuff and took it inside the guild.
They were only a few steps inside when a few clerks came to help. Lake had to say the Fighters guild had done a good job training their clerks. They had been very helpful so far and it made him wonder if they were using a version of the Loyalty curse to make them like this. Either way he was happy they weren't like the people who stood at desks in his world.
"Follow me sir." Even though he couldn't see over the pile of armor he was carrying, Lake recognized the voice as the man who had helped him the last few times he was here and wondered if the man was like him and didn't need to sleep that much. He guessed it was also possible he had just been too busy to get off of work because of all the stuff he had been bringing in.
It was possible the loyalty curse compelled him to finish all his work before he left; if that was the case Lake might end up working this man to death. Stepping into the head inspection room Lake just set all the stuff on the floor and looked for the heads. He knew one of the guards had them and after looking through what they had in their hands he found them.
"Four huh, Which mission?"
"Nomadic Bandits near Quinton."
"Qwenton?"
"Yep that's right."
"Alright I'll be right back, feel free to set all that stuff down, I'll take care of it when I return." The four guards did as he said and soon there was a large pile of armor and weapons in the middle of the room. They had brought everything, even the crap and damaged bits of armor so there was quite a bit.
Lake wasn't sure how much a collapsed chest piece could be worth but he guessed if there was a person who could use metal magic to repair it there was no difference. "So were you out there for a long time looking for those bandits?" Lake hadn't expected one of the guards to finally talk to him but he guessed it lined up with his hypothesis that they would feel better once they got out of the cart.
"Not really, why do you ask?"
"Your armor's pretty dirty so I thought maybe you had a hard time looking for them, either way, you want me to clean you?" Lake understood what they were saying. He had definitely become gross over the past few days because he hadn't found a good place to bathe so he nodded and said. "Yes please."
"Clean." Lake had felt this before a lot of times because one of his servants did it to him almost every day but he had to say the feeling was much better this time because of how dirty he was. "Thank you." Lake was going to say something else to them to pass the time but he was cut off with the clerk returning with the scout.
"Alright lets see these heads." It seemed the clerk had mentioned the fact there was more than one head to the scout already. Lake let them do their thing and after a while the scout said. "This is him right here, I don't recognize any of the others but I'll look into it for you. It might take a while without their names though."
Lake was pretty sure he could find out the names if he wanted by inspecting the heads but he didn't bother and said. "Thank you." He didn't care if he wasted the scouts time with how bad of a job they had done on the scouting mission they had based the information for his mission on. "Alright, do you want me to add your reward to your account or bring it here?"
"The account please." Lake wanted to hold off on seeing how much he had made until he was done because he thought it would make it more satisfying for him. With the scout gone to put his money in the account that just left the clerk and the four guards he didn't end up needing. "You guys can go, thanks for the help."
After they had left, Lake turned to the clerk and said. "I want to sell all of this and put this in my account." Lake took out the money he had got off the bandits and said. "I'll be back later. Will all my money be ready?" Lake was planning to go back to the guild soon and he wanted to take what he could back with him in case he was unable to come back to the Fighters guild anytime soon.
"Mostly whatever we don't have ready for you when you are back will be waiting for you the next time you come." Lake nodded and started to leave when the clerk stopped him by saying. "The branch Master has asked to see you. You don't have to but he plans to talk to you about better jobs more suitable for people like you."
"Ok." Lake agreed while thinking it was too bad they hadn't offered him something better till now, with him leaving soon to go home he might not have time for this. Being led to an office, Lake was let in by the clerk. "Come in and sit. I have something to tell you." Lake did as he was told while he looked at the old man at the desk.
Lake could tell this man had been a fighter at some point because of how ripped he was but they had probably retired by now because of age. Once the door had been closed the man didn't waste any time and instantly started to talk. "I'm Master Dean. Your name is Lake, correct." Lake nodded and said. "Yes Master Dean."
"Ok, have you ever been to the Metal Domain?"
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