Chapter 48 - Forty-Six (1/2)

At the end there were so many things to think about that I focused on planning the first part of it all; the robbery of the royal family.

Sounds easy enough…ha, ha ha.

”So, Leo, I supposed that you, at least, know where the gold is at right? And how to get there since you lived in it the castle right?”

He nods. ”Hm… still we need a plan…”

And when it comes to plans nothing better than gathering information beforehand uhm. One thing, however, was important to do right away.

”But first… let's change inns.”

”What for?”

”This one is not secure, a few coins can make the innkeeper lose his mouth.”

”Agreed.” Said the woman, agreeing for once! But who invited you in the conversation?

Anyway, that's what we did that day, unaware of the two figures that surged moments later searching for a person covered by a cape, while themselves weren't very different having big hats instead of hoods, as well as sleeves on their shorter capes.

”Sorry, I would have remembered someone with silver eyes.” Answered the innkeeper while he cleaned up the counter.

With a sad look the other two thanked the man, but even with a sulking expression the figure still had some glint of determination in his eyes.

”Come on now brother, is not worth it, and you are not even sure.”

”But I saw it, I'm sure! Can you image how many stories, how many musics's I would be able to make first hand if I stuck with him? No more love songs that no one wants to hear anymore, or silly gossips about the nobles, but stories about war, about fights, about a creature as strong as a dragon! Do you know how much I have made since I started singing about him? And I wasn't even there!”

”Yes, yes, but I only see more reason not to go find such a dangerous creature, even more if even half of what you sing is correct.”

”What, you, scared now brother? That's soo not like you.”

He flicks his finger on the other's forehead suddenly, making the other massage the area while he says:

”Of course, someone has to have some sense of danger here.”

”Ha! And that would be you now?”

”Hm… not really…”

”Haha, so we are going to kept searching?”

”Yes, yes, we are, we are brother.” He said, smirking.

~~~~

We changed inns fairly easy, but for some reason I was the one paying for Leo's and Ragnur parts; and how the hell Leo knew that I had any money with me to start with?

Wasn't worst than my brother though, that halfway in the first week searching for information and elaborating a plan, turned to me and asked what we were doing.

…

I won't-

I don't-

I don't even know what to say to that. And it wasn't like, oh, the first day, nooo, he took four days to realize that we were up to something.

Brother, brother, baby brother, sometimes I wonder if I stole some of your brain cells in the w.o.m.b, sigh…

When I explained to him though, he was pure joy:

”Oh boy, a city, a country! That's sooo cool, we can build a castle with, with lava fountains! Yeah, and we can have big statues of us there making pose, and a tower, oh I always wanted to sleep in a tower, overlooking the sea or the woods, that would be so cool!”

”… Do you think this is a field trip or something?”

I give up, really, but still I think I can include the making of a tower somewhere in our plan for him…

Anyway, after some search; with the help of Leo, who proved to have far more influence in name than in title, in a… interesting way to deal with things.

”Well, at least it seems like you worked something out in the end.”

He just gave me a smirk, saying: ”I just thought what you would do in this kind of situation.”

Sneaky bastard, trying to flatter me?

But it was quite clever indeed. He made an undercover agency inside a guild, one of the few neutral entities that weren't bound by country, nobles, and still could make some money while finding new recruits for the cause, many working in gathering information, freeing slaves and taking down shabby business.

It was a very interesting idea, but I wonder how efficient it would be; the bigger it is, the more difficult it would be to control. That's why, now, we were talking about the pros and cons, how it would be easy to infiltrate a spy in the middle of our business, and how just some qualified members should know about the new city.

To which, by the way, did not have a name yet. That would eat my sleep away for sure.

At least the guild had a name: The Roar of the Innocent, very fitting.

And guess who Leonel left in charge of his first and still only guild building?

Just let me say that, upon knowing, my brother wanted to meet the individual and kept nagging nonstop about it, with the help of Leo who wanted to show me the place.

Aeglos…

How did I get so many elves in my life?

Not that I'm complaining…

Oh, and I did not forget about how Leo promised to clarify everything once we saw each other again, a promise I kept at heart for 13 years, but time and time again when I tried to ask he would change the subject or found something urgent to do.

One day though, when I put him against the wall and demanded an answer, he just said:

”…I'm just do not wish to scare you away from me with the truth…”

That slight moment of weakness and fear made me flabbergasted and stunned; how I'm supposed to answer that? Shit.

So I didn't and we just got ourselves busy with the plan, going to the guild to receive information from Aeglos, to which my brother was eager for and aware for once.

I scow at that. On the contrary to Leo, in the past years we visit Aeglos quite a lot; all because my brother insisted on it; especially once Hunthor could fully change into humanoid form without carrying a furry snout around.

I never liked the excessive attention Aeglos gave to my brother, which got worse once we came to age. And since my dumb brother was… well, dumb he did not realize the change, heck, I don't think he even realized how his grow up body affected the others to begin with.

That's why, since then, I have kept a very close eye on Aeglos, growling at him for no reason, until my brother understood that I did not want them meeting anymore, well, at least until now it seemed so, adding the awkward bee's talk that I had with him, to which he made me explain in a very detailed way, sigh.

So that explains the ”happy” face I had while we walked around the city until we reached the guild, looking at my bunny brother who did not stop jumping, his tail escaping his pants all the time, earning him a slap on the back of the head.

Anyway, the guild from the outside seemed like a normal building, made of wood and having some dirty windows, staying somewhat close to the main part of the city, which made for the lack of outdoors improvement beyond the guild board on wood on the front door, sometimes jiggling with the wind.

The symbol imprinted was well made and carved, a pair of wings circling around the roaring face of a fox, draw in substitution of the shield we normally see in the center, plus the name engraved underneath, Guild the Roar of the Innocent.

We walk inside into a cozy yet stuffy air, having too many smelly people in and out all the time and not enough air circulating around.