Epic Of The Demonic Sage

"And who might the two of you be? We heard from the innkeeper that the two of you were mercenaries."

"We're mercenaries from Gellor's group. My name is Kristine and this is Lucius." Kiana stood straight in front of the Bergan's Band members and gestured to Asher in the room.

"Is… is that so?" the man seemed intimidated by Kiana. The way she looked down at him seemed befitting of a woman from a higher station.

"Yes."

"We'd like to ask what gifts the two of you possess." The man said and glanced towards Lucius.

"My companion has a fire gift and I have a stone shooter gift." Kiana explained as she stood in between the Bergan's Band member and Asher inside of the room.

"Isn't that a rare gift?" the man said but then cleared his throat. "Where were your whereabouts last night?"

"Just in this inn, we never left the place." Kiana replied curtly. "What seems to be the issue?"

"Nothing. We'd like to inspect your rooms."

"Is that allowed? We have the right to refuse that, don't we." Kiana frowned deeply at the man.

"You must cooperate!" the man insisted. "We are searching for criminals and if you two refuse to undergo through this search, then I'm afraid that the two of you may be considered as possible suspects."

"Let him in, Kristine." Lucius called out. "We have nothing to hide, so let the man in and finish what he wants to do. It'll be a waste for both of our times if we continue to refuse."

"Alright, Lucius." Kiana said with a sigh.

In the back of her mind, there was a huge smile written all across her face as she saw the Bergan's Band member venture forward and attempted to search for any evidence that they were the ones behind the incident from last night.

There was not one hint or trace of evidence.

The Bergan's Band was unable to find any culprits among the people in the city of Cutlass.

Most of its citizens did not have the proper gift that was capable of sneaking into the vault and stealing their possessions, all mercenaries had their alibis or didn't fit the bill.

Inside of the Bergan's Band Hall, the second-in-command, Eric stood in front of everyone with a harsh glare on his face.

He had heard the last of the reports of his men.

"Nothing? Absolutely nothing and not even one found anything substantial?!" Eric barked. "Did all of you actually work through the city or do the job properly?"

"We're afraid that whoever stole those rune crystals and gems must have probably fled the city of Cutlass immediately. They didn't decide to stick around any longer in fear of being caught hence why they escaped." One of the people offered as an answer.

"Is that what you think?" Eric asked with a narrowed stare.

The person gulped but nodded bravely.

"Yes, they were unable to commit to a full clearing of the vault so it means that they're at a loss for time. It's probably a quick work and won't happen again. No person is crazy enough to steal from Bergan's Band twice. They were just lucky. Doing it twice is just asking for a death wish!"

The person's words made the other nervous members of the Bergan's Band to slowly nod in agreement. It made logical sense to them and this might allow them to finally take a break from all their hard work of searching for culprits.

"Besides, the amount of treasures lost, we can easily make it back again!" the man declared, feeling a lot more confident as the others supported him.

Eric smiled tightly and raised his hand, silencing the murmurs of the crowd.

"Is that what you think? Are you willing to stake your position on the line… no, are all of you willing to work twice as hard to replace everything?"

The man who first spoke gulped again as he saw Eric's hand. Everyone eyed Eric uneasily as the mercenary strolled in the front row of the group and then grabbed the first speaker's face.

"Tell me. How confident are you?"

"… a hundred percent, sir!" the man squeaked as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Any other answer might have resulted into death and this was the best one that he could think of.

"Very well." Eric sighed and let his hand dropped. His head was aching from all the stress and he had actually come to the same conclusion as the man he was harassing.

There was no way that the thieves would strike twice.

"Today, all of you will start getting more missions to earn back what we lost. No excuses. We will need to pay for the results of everyone's mistakes." Eric said.

And it was for that very reason that when the next day came and they went to check the remainder of the treasury in the vault that everyone in the Bergan's Band grew shocked and then turned to uproar once again.

"Again? AGAIN?" Eric's face was red as he threw his fist into a wall.

The members of the Bergan's Band winced but avoided the second-in-command's gaze. They were foolish to think that the thieves escaped from Cutlass city and wouldn't return, but they just stole again and rubbed it into their faces.

It meant that they either returned to Cutlass city or never left in the first place.

"Forget about the missions." Eric growled and gestured at over a fourth of the Bergan's Band members currently present in the hall. "All of you. Yes, all of you will be stationed at the vault and not just outside of it this time. Inside and outside, both. Let those thieves try again with everyone of you filling up the place."

"Yes, Eric!"

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone in the Bergan's Band hall shouted their agreement and cheers at Eric's new commands.

This time, with the strength of the Bergan's Band, no thief would come and steal again. They would make sure of it.

And they turned out to be right, but only because Lucius was done with stealing.