Sam glanced at his reflection in a nearby storefront window as he checked for anyone tailing him. The sight of an elegant half-elf with blond hair and blue eyes dressed in fine clothes stared back. Entering an upscale restaurant called the Blue Pig, he was escorted to his usual booth. Drawing the curtains after he ordered, he sat back to wait for his doppelganger to show up.

A minute later, the curtain was pulled aside and a rough looking human, dressed in workman’s clothes entered and sat down. Sam waited until the curtain was shut before making the agree upon finger signals. As expected, the man quickly returned the proper signs confirming his identity as Quincy, his fellow conspirator and roving alibi, despite his current appearance.

“Just got off a job?” Sam asked as he checked the menu.

“Yeah. Wasn’t much, just a check up on some foreman who might have been forgetting to pay his dues. So, what’s up this time Sam?”

“Tell you after we order Quince. You know what you want?”

“Steak and potatoes with gravy. This body seems to love it.”

Sam pulled the cord signaling the wait staff and placed their order. Once the waiter had left, he pulled out a black disk with silver runes inscribed on it. Quincy raised his eyebrows as Sam pushed mana into the disk, causing the runes to glow and create a ward around their booth that would prevent eavesdropping or unexpected entry.

“Must be important. I haven’t seen you use that for a while. So, what’s up?”

Sam smiled. “Oh, it’s important all right. You notice the recent appearance of new magical items around here?”

“Can’t say I have, not traveling in your circles. Only thing springs to mind is that Jasper, who runs that high end food stand over near your guild, seems to have acquired both a new hot and cold box. Not sure how he afforded them, but I’m not complaining as it seems to keep his food fresher. Why?”

“It seems that a new method of magical crafting has been invented and not by the guild.”

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“Bet, they’re a little ticked off about that. And…”

“The word I heard is that not only are magical items made with it much cheaper to craft, but they can be used by non-spellcasters.”

Quincy starred at Sam. Bet he wasn’t expecting that news! “You’re joking, right?”

“Serious as sin. Somehow the M’Craft Detective Agency is involved and bamboozled old McSmeagol into signing the guild up both to provide a venue open to the public where the items can be displayed and providing security for the event.” Sam sat back with a smirk. “Needless to say, this offers some fascinating opportunities. Especially if someone was able to get their hands on some of the inventions before the public does.”

“Someone like me I expect you’re thinking.” Quincy stared back, before chuckling. “Yeah, I could see that, but … well we’re talking some serious magic here. And you know my policy regarding messing with mages. Perhaps we should just report this to the head man and be satisfied with the money from that. I don’t want to mess with M’Craft and if he’s involved with the mage behind this, you can be sure there’s serious security there. A little too serious for my taste.”

“Ah, but that’s where that little agreement McSmeagol made comes into play. After all, if the guild is providing both the venue and the security, it will obviously need to have a place to store the items before the event and know how to safely access them. In other words, beating the security won’t be an issue as we will automatically have an in. I’m sure I can get put on the security team. Then I can bring you in at a proper time and provide an opportunity for you to ambush and assume the identity of one of the guards. It’s not like we haven’t pulled off something like this before after all.”

“True that is, but while being a doppelganger, I can assume the form of someone else, that doesn’t give me their spell casting powers and I assume there will be some magical locks in there.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll arrange for bypassing any such things and give you the passwords. We’ll make sure any evidence points to others with the usual disguise spells providing alibis that neither of us were anywhere near when it goes down. Then we just pass on the items to the head man and his pet mages and collect our rewards.”

Sam felt an impression from the ward spell that someone was approaching and quickly cancelled it. Then he leaned back as the waiter came in with their food. After dinner, he turned to Quincy as they left and whispered. “So, you in?”

Quincy walked on for a few steps and then shook his head. “What am I going to do with you Sam? Yeah, I’m in, but let’s go turn the information we have over the headman before someone beats us to it. If we’re going to be risking our necks, I’ll need the money from the information to purchase a few things. See you tomorrow?”

“Sure, at the Golden Boor this time. And come in your elf persona if you would.”

“Agreed. See you then.”

“See ya.” Sam turned back towards the guild headquarters and walked cheerfully on. Big Money, here I come!