Chapter 17 I’ll Treasure It.

Isaac and Lenna were getting ready to leave the brothers’ house with almost ninety thousand gold worth of coinage. The brothers had been left with almost all of the gold considering it would be easier for them to spend it than platinum coins. A pair of thieves walking around throwing platinum around was a good way to rouse suspicion. James had assured Isaac that a decent chunk of it was going to get spent on things that people weren’t likely to notice. The rest they would leave in a bank account for a rainy day.

“Boss… I don’t know how to go about this but…” James began. He had a very serious look on his face and he looked a bit nervous.

Isaac raised an eyebrow in question. “Well, just say whatever is on your mind.” He told the rogue. “As long as it’s not about Lenna it isn’t likely to get you killed.” He was only half joking.

“Heh heh…” James chuckled fakely. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

Isaac motioned for him to continue. “Just speak man.”

James coughed and seemed to steel his nerves. “Well, boss, ya see, I was um,” He swallowed hard. He was starting to give Isaac the impression that he was about to ask for the moon to explode or tell him that there was a team of demigods after his life or something. “I want to buy out our contract.” He finally blurted out.

Isaac let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in. “Is that all?” Isaac questioned. “You were making it sound like you wanted me to fight a god for you or something.” He shook his head. “Sure. I’m charging you the full eight hundred though, for early termination.”

James relaxed and looked like he was about to collapse from relief alone. “Yeah, sure, that’s fine.” He said in little more than a whisper and with an absent minded nod. He dropped into their old beat up couch. “So you’ll take the brand off my brother now?”

Isaac tilted his head in confusion for a moment before his eyes went wide and a grin spread across his face. He started chuckling because he couldn’t completely hold back his laughter that was building. “I, I can’t brand a person’s soul James.” He confessed through giggles. “I’m surprised you fell for it in the first place.”

“What?” James asked. His brain wasn’t keeping up with what was happening.

“Huh.” Lenny replied nonchalantly. “I had my suspicions, if I’m being honest, but I wasn’t going to risk it, ya know?”

James slowly turned to his brother. “And you didn’t think to say anything about it?!” His voice was full of accusation. “Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

Lenny just shrugged. “I wasn’t sure of it or anything. Didn’t want to give you false hope if I was wrong.” He replied.

“Well, we are going to go.” Isaac said and pulled twenty platinum coins away from a pile of a hundred before scooping the rest into his Inventory. He headed towards the door.

“Wait, wait, wait.” James began.

“Good luck with,” Isaac gestured in James’ general direction. “that.” He said to Lenny and vanished along with Lenna.

The pair were out the door and down the street before Lenna said anything. “He took that better than I thought.” She confessed.

“I thought there would be a lot more screaming, yes.” Isaac replied. “I completely forgot that it was even a thing though after like the first week.”

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Lenna shook her head. “Your memory is… selective, at best.” She commented.

Isaac shrugged. “It happens.” He replied. “I’m not apologizing.”

Lenna shook her head again. “As long as you don’t forget anything important I don’t care.” She replied honestly.

“Like what?” Isaac asked.

“You’ll know.” She told him but did not elaborate.

“That is ridiculously unhelpful.” Isaac retorted.

Lenna gave him a mischievous and bright smile. “I know.”

The duo arrived at Westly’s to an empty bar. The bodies had been removed from in front of the building. The old door had been wedged back into the doorway and a note was nailed to it. “A good old fashioned ‘keep out’ sign.” Isaac commented and looked around for any witnesses.

“Knowing Thomas it’s probably trapped.” Lenna commented.

Isaac frowned. “Give me the bag. I’ll just teleport in and stuff the money in the safe for him.”

Lenna handed him the bag. “You should leave him a note.” She advised him.

Isaac nodded. “I have no idea where though.”

“Leave me a note for what?” Thomas asked from a few feet behind them.

The pair whirled around. Lenna’s hand had shot to her hilt faster than she could think. “Hells man.” Isaac swore. “How do you keep doing that?”

Thomas shrugged. “I usually purposefully stand out enough that you notice me.” He confessed. “I was trained properly. Going unnoticed is kind of my job.”

Isaac gestured towards the bar. “I was going to leave your share of the loot in there.” He told the spy.

“Got paid by the duke already?” Thomas asked.

Isaac shook his head in the negative. “No. Raided Mr. Nobody’s stash.” Isaac explained.

“How much?” Thomas asked curiously.

Isaac looked around. “Enough that you’ll be happy if I keep everything I’m getting from the duke.” Isaac assured him. “Unless you want to tag along for the rest of the adventure?”

Thomas walked over to the door and opened it, as if the hinges still worked, enough to get his fingers inside. He bent down to knee height and fiddled with something before opening the door the rest of the way open. “Look out for that one.” He told the duo and gestured down at an almost invisible thread at ankle height. He stepped over it while entering.

Isaac and Lenna followed him inside. They observed the pair of traps he had set up. One was a vial set to fall, only Thomas knew what was in the vial. The second was a metal can with a tab attached to something inside of it that stuck out of the side from under the lid. The tab was tied to the string that reached across the doorway. “How lethal are those?” Isaac questioned while walking over to the bar to join Thomas.

“Not at all.” The spy replied. “Whoever trips them might wish they were lethal though.” Isaac nodded slowly and joined Thomas at the bar with Lenna. Thomas was behind the bar grabbing glasses and a bottle that had the label peeled off. “So, what’s my cut?”

“Twenty five, four, twenty five.” Isaac answered and gave Thomas a moment to register the number.

“Decent.” The spy replied. “More than the job was worth but it was a rush job so I guess it’s fair.”

Isaac deflated a little. “That was the polar opposite of the brothers’ reactions.”

“Yes.” Lenna agreed. “I’m not that surprised.”

“I’m a professional spy.” Thomas replied. “How much do you think I get paid to keep an eye on you?”

Isaac’s brows furrowed in thought. “Per what time frame?”

“Monthly.” Thomas answered.

Isaac shrugged. “A thousand? You still do other things while keeping tabs on us right?” He guessed.

Thomas smirked. “I do, sometimes. But I get paid a bit more than that. You two are dangerous. There’s a reason I was willing to work with you at all.” He explained.

“How did we even find you the first time?” Isaac questioned.

“I wanted to get a read on you.” Thomas confessed. “I needed to know how careful I need to be around you and you obviously already knew that you were being spied on.”

Lenna nodded and set her helmet on the bar. “You didn’t answer Isaac’s other question.” She interjected. “Do you want to come with us?”

Thomas sighed. “I don’t really have a choice. If you are going to a different town than I have to go too.” He confessed. “How long do you think it’s going to take?”

Isaac shrugged. “No idea. A few days in each location maybe. If Lenna and I run it then we’ll be back within two weeks I’d think.” He explained.

“If you run it? As in the entire way in one shot like you did with the caravan that got ambushed?” Thomas questioned.

Isaac nodded. “Yes. We could make it to Ben’s End in a day. The trip from Ben’s End to Outpost Charles would only take a few hours.”

Thomas smirked. “You know? I don’t think I can keep up with that pace. Also, the risk of running into you on your return trip is too high to risk following you in the first place. I don’t think I have any other option than to wait near your base of operations for your return.” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “What a shame.”

Isaac chuckled. “Fair enough. The bar is yours by the way. Keep it or sell it. Doesn’t matter to me.” He pulled the platinum bar out of Lenna’s bag and set it on the bar. “I think it’s only fitting you get to keep this.”

Thomas looked down at the bar with confusion for a long moment before he put the scorch marks and mild deformities together with the exploding safe. He scowled at Isaac. “Thanks.” He said flatly. “I’ll treasure it.”