Chapter 19: Blood In The Water
"Wait, so you want us to help you rob the church?" Cid asked, trying to appear put-out by the idea that his romantic cruise was about to be replaced with a reckless felony.
The four of them were huddled on a narrow, deserted stretch of waterside pavement, just a minute walk away from the bridge Alexia had clocked him from.
"Yes, and…" Alexia trailed off and gave Rose a quick look before continuing, "I thought you and Rose were getting a little too close for comfort out on the water. I appreciate your...passion for Cid, but please try to keep public perception in mind," Alexia said, causing Rose to flush slightly and whisper a quick apology into his ear.
Outside of the public setting, that had been fairly standard behaviour from Rose. The only notable difference was what happened just before, in that he was certain that was the first time he'd kissed her and not the reverse. He wasn't entirely sure what got him to do that; it had just seemed like the right thing at the time, but it wasn't like he didn't have to at some point (even Rose might get suspicious if she constantly had to come to him), so it all worked out.
Alexia started up again, forcefully changing the topic. "To get back to the problem, with Archbishop Drake being murdered, my investigation is being completely stonewalled. Even if I get a royal decree to expand the scope of the inquiry, all the evidence would be destroyed by the time I get back."
"And how do you figure into this?" he asked Beatrix, who hadn't said anything since her one-word greeting when they first met up.
"Alexia asked me to come here for security, and the goddess trail sounds like a worthy challenge. I haven't agreed to rob the sacred church, though."
"Oh, come on, you said you wanted to find out more about Shadow, and our only lead is that he's fighting the cult. Now we had one, only one lead on the cult, and he dies as soon as we start looking into him. Do you really want to just let it go and leave the evidence behind?" Alexia fumed.
Beatrix answered stoically "No. I'm simply unsure if this decision is worth the risk it poses."
"Why're you interested in Shadow?" Cid asked coolly
I'm never gonna get tired of talking about myself while no one knows, it's pure kino.
More than Alexia's anger, Beatrix was noticeably effected by the question, looking away embarrassed and flushing slightly as she replied, "Well, his strength is...extraordinary. I've truly never seen anything like it. It's simple curiosity, I suppose."
He supposed his defeat of her might be embarrassing from her perspective, though he would have said she didn't do too badly. Relatively speaking.
"And why do you want Cid to help?" Rose broke in, trying to step in front of him protectively, but he held her arm gently to keep her at his side. In a duel Rose would win no contest, but Alexia was an accomplished liar and could swear like a sailor. Whichever way Alexia went, letting Rose take her on would be like letting a hen start a fight with a ravenous dragon.
Alexia decided on option one; lie through her teeth. "Well, he's just so clever, you know, and I really need people I can rely on for this, people that are really trustworthy." Rose ate it up while Cid was unconvinced and moved closer to her so he could reply unheard.
"If you're not going to tell me the real reason, I'm not going to help."
It wasn't like he didn't want to do it, but experience told him he needed to be sure Alexia wasn't going to try and screw him over.
For some reason, Alexia looked at Rose worriedly, then moved even closer to him to whisper in the ear furthest from her fellow princess, "Because I have no idea where to start with this, and I assumed a lower-class noble who's such a penny-pincher would know a thing or two about crime and stealing things. Besides, I figured you might need to come up for air, if you know what I mean." She subtly gestured to Rose for that last part.
"Wow, that was an impressive combination of thoughtful and insulting. I don't know why I expected anything else, but still, well done," Cid whispered back.
Rose just looked at them confused before Alexia stepped away and added, "Okay, I'll sweeten the pot. I'll pay you one-million Zeni if we pull this off."
"One-million plus expenses," Cid replied automatically. Even if it was kind of chump-change compared with what he already had, it was still money. With money, much like power, it didn't really matter how much of it you had, more was always an improvement.
And it does give me a vital excuse to avoid going through the tunnel of love or whatever the hell Rose had planned next.
"Done," Alexia agreed immediately.
"Are you sure you should be doing this?" Rose asked him gently.
Oh god, here comes the Claire-style over-protectiveness.
"I really shouldn't leave Alexia to do this alone…" Cid trailed off in a masterful imitation of reluctance. "You should go find Claire and do something with her while we..."
"Don't be silly," Rose cut him off as sharply as she'd ever spoken to him. "I couldn't let anything happen to you. If you need to do this, I'll help however I can," Rose declared as she put an arm around his hip and gently pressed herself against his side.
This created another problem to solve. "I'm not sure Alexia's got enough to pay another million," Cid said casually. There was no way in hell he was giving her any of his pay.
"That doesn't matter. I'm doing this to support you, I'm not interested in being paid," she replied with a gentle, slightly patronizing smile.
She was such a doll, helping him out with this heist without even asking for a cut. If he could supplement the million with what he would nab at the church...
God-dammit. The main character here is the one who does the actual theft, so I can't get any more money out of this. Being the planner in the shadows for Alexia while she has no idea of my true intentions is just going to have to be enough.
In his mind's eye, he pictured himself setting fire to all the priceless church antiques and jewels he was missing out on. Truly, his capacity for self-sacrifice and his dedication to his craft was incredible.
"I suppose if you three are all committed, I should assist as well." Beatrix turned to Alexia before continuing, "To be clear, I'll only help if this plan of yours has a chance of succeeding. If I think it's too risky, I'll drag you back to Iris and let her settle our disagreement about how to proceed."
If her sly smile was anything to go by, all Alexia heard was 'I'm in.' She then focused back on Cid and gave him an expectant glare "So, as our stand-in master thief, where do you think we should start?"
"You don't have any ideas, like at all?"
Alexia sighed dramatically. "Cid, I just paid you to do this. At least wait until you actually start planning before getting lazy."
You haven't paid me a Zeni yet.
Still, he knew she was good for it, and that she'd try to wring her money's worth out of him, but still.
Cid took a second to try and remember what he could from his research into proper heist planning back in his original life before replying. "Okay. I should probably go take a look around the church." He knew Alexia would probably insist on coming with him if she had nothing else to do, but the four of them going together (right before the theft), would be like showing up waving a giant red flag.
"You two should draw a floorplan of wherever what we're stealing is back at your hotel." Even if they didn't need a map, there needed to be a scene where they were all gathered around a map going over the plan; it was like 30% of the fantasy right there, and there was no way he could risk planning it at their hotel. The possibility that Claire might show up despite her ban and ruin his fun was too damn high to risk it.
"It's a safe, or maybe just the documents inside."
This is gonna be fun.
---
Dear god, this is the worst thing I've ever experienced.
Cid was reeling. He didn't think he'd been in worse shape since that time he bashed his head against a tree for three hours straight before his reincarnation. Every instinct screamed at him to stop doing this to himself as he tirelessly pushed through the pain.
He flicked over to the next page of "The Stylish Bandit Slayer-volume one" and felt another blow land as he read himself (kinda) start yelling, "Who the hell're you calling 'so small you can't see him without a telescope' whenever he's more than ten feet away" to some random hooligan who implied he was too short.
Apparently, the tiny man's (4'9) insecurity about his height was a running gag in this series. Cid felt a fresh wave of nausea as he realized the gag was so overplayed he'd already noticed it before the end of the first volume. If he somehow found the strength to read everything he'd stolen, he still had another four to go.
So far, the best thing about this series was the fact that Beta didn't write it (he was going to kill 'Maximilian Bonhurst' if he ever met the man), and if he was being fair, the art wasn't bad. He'd managed to make a small detour without Rose on their trip back to Alexia's hotel to fully plan out the burglary, and he'd been unable to resist swinging by the bookstore to right a terrible wrong.
He'd been haunted by this cursed thing since he'd first seen it, and decided that if he stole the copy he'd seen, he could save one child from the cringe (it wasn't being a hero, it was not being a monster), but he'd had no idea how bad it would be.
Reaching the limit of his endurance, Cid slid the wretched things back into their hiding spot, held against his back by a few bits of slime, and then ran back to his hotel across the rooftops. Epsilon's invisibility technique was pretty useful for moving at speed undetected, but did have a pretty serious flaw he hadn't figured out how to fix yet.
It could only make something invisible if it was covering it, meaning if you wanted to be completely invisible, you'd have to cover your eyes, and would end up completely blind. By only exposing his eyes and serious dashing across the rooftops, he was pretty sure anyone who saw anything would just think it was a bird or something.
He began to panic slightly as he realized he couldn't find Eta's vessel (the staff had been cleaning, and had moved the bag somewhere he couldn't see right now). He was still wondering whether leaving it had been a mistake and whether Rose would even notice if anything disappeared into it, but he'd aired on the side of caution and left it behind for the day.
Kicking himself for that decision now, he spent another fruitless minute searching, then stuffed the accursed objects under his bed, then dashed back to the meeting spot to reunite with Rose. He found Rose already waiting for him and she gave him a pleasant smile as he approached. "Are you feeling okay? You were gone for a little while."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Cid said, holding his stomach as if it were unsettled. "I guess I'm just a little nervous about this whole thing."
They headed back to Alexia's hotel to begin planning. It was pretty secure as she and the knights that had accompanied her for the investigation had rented an entire floor. Those knights were now either seeing the Lindworm sights or cowering in their rooms after Alexia blew up at them for not backing her in the attempt to proceed with the investigation.
He felt a rush of excited nerves as he walked across the hall to Alexia's room. Getting through a theft completely undetected had a real mysterious vibe, like if the archbishop said, "Who on earth could have possibly taken all of my treasured possessions?" and floundered about blaming all the wrong people, it would be a bucket-list item completed. Additionally, a heist was a much classier crime than simple stealing and thus better fitting to the eminence in Shadow.
As he walked to the table Alexia was sitting at, his eyes widened as he took in what lay there.
"What in the hell is that?" Cid asked indignantly as he looked down at their scribbling.
"Our map of the fourth floor," Beatrix cautiously offered.
"But... you've just drawn straight lines without marking where the doors are, you haven't labelled what any of these rooms are supposed to be, I can't tell which direction faces the main street, and I can't even tell where whatever we're supposed to steal is."
Beatrix, standing at ease just behind the table, had the grace to look abashed while Alexia took up her pencil and angrily marked an X to the back of one of the largest rooms.
Cid clapped and said, "Well done," in an overly cheery voice to show her what he thought of that feeble effort. She looked like she wanted to respond with a quick jab of her pencil to his side, but her temper visibly deflated after a quick glance at Rose.
I guess it's always been that way. She never likes other people figuring out just how fake her kindly, innocent persona is.
It wouldn't be as much fun if she couldn't respond, so he would just have to pick this up later. "Could you maybe circle where the doors are and add a title to the rooms or something?"
After a couple of minutes, Alexia was done and he was looking down on a usable, if slightly messy, map of the Lindworm cathedral.
"So what is it we're actually trying to steal?" Cid asked to start things off.
"Egg-head has a safe at the back of his office, and I'll bet that's where he's keeping the pay dirt. We need to get in there and take whatever he's hiding."
"How do you know that's where he's keeping his documents? It could just be for valuables," Cid asked. Establishing the location of the target item was always the first step of heist planning, if he was remembering the steps of "grand larceny for dummies" correctly.
He'd had a hell of a time explaining his bookmark of that webpage to his mother when she found it, but eventually got her to agree that "being able to nab critical items is essential for an eminence in shadow." He had been proud of winning her over then, and had to fight off a wave of disappointment as he realized, more than twenty years after the fact, she had just been humouring him then, as she always had, so he could focus on Alexia.
"The taunting bastard might as well have told us. He said all of Drake's belongings had been secured for his next of kin and looked right at the thing when we asked to look over his effects. For another thing, it's huge and very secure. There's no reason to put it anywhere else if you had the combination for that thing. It's about as tall as I am and about half of that wide; it's mithril plated, and if I had to guess, the plating is about two inches thick."
"How do you know all this?" Cid asked.
"Royal palaces aren't exactly the most secure places, there's always about a hundred people who could get into your room any time you're not there. I didn't really like the idea of them stealing my stuff, so I had to get a safe. You know what I mean, right?" she finished off with a little nod to Rose.
Rose flushed. "I actually hadn't considered that until now. I have to admit...the premise isn't flawed."
"Is it built into the wall of the floor?"
"No, it's just pressed up against the wall."
That opens up trying to cut in from the back.
"And do you know the combination?"
"No."
"If I reinforced my sword with magic, I could cut through it if I had enough time, but the noise would probably preclude that plan."
"And what about the Archbishop, what are his plans for today?"
"He's at the grounds of the goddess trial, overseeing the preparations with most of his staff this afternoon. He shouldn't be back until late this evening. I know it's short notice, but I think today has to be the day."
So the office will be deserted, but no possibility of getting the combination from him then.
Beatrix said much the same thing and tried to convince them to call time of death on the whole idea, but he hardly heard her. He was taking stock of everything he had on hand, the fragments of a plan coming together in his mind.
---
It would begin with a suitably side-characterish diversion performed by yours truly.
Cid and Rose walked over to the church's front desk, equipped with nothing more than a hot cup of coffee before Rose spoke to the receptionist "I have an appointment with Archbishop Nelson, could you please tell him Rose Orianna is here"
The nun's eyes widened by three size's and the security behind her seemed to take notice of her alarm.
"I'm truly sorry princess" the woman said meekly "But the Archbishop is inspecting the grounds for the upcoming trial. I'm afraid we have no record of any appointment for you."
Now would come the hard part.
Rose turned on him and started shouting, loudly enough to mask the lack of anger "I can't believe you've done this again!. You told me you'd made the arrangements and now I'm left looking like an utter fool."
"I... I'm sorry but… I'm sure I sent the letter…"
"A letter, you just 'sent a letter' to one of the most powerful men in the church and expected that to be enough, idiot!"
"No, but I thought…" that was the signal. Rose actually closed her eyes for the next part as she gave him a cracking slap across the face. She kind of missed his cheek and mostly got his jaw, but he didn't really care, the most important thing was that she put enough force into it.
"I'm going to take a walk, and then go back to the carriage. If you somehow gain the competence required to move your arms and legs enough to drive me back to our accommodations, feel free to do so. If not then don't concern yourself, and consider your services no longer required." Rose loudly declared before striding away in a fury.
Cid just stood there swaying as if drunk for a few minutes, letting the line behind him grow before the two closest security guards walked over to him "Excuse me sir, other people need to speak to the front desk".
"Oh, of course" he muttered dazedly, and turned to walk out.
The trip he took was a Gamma-worthy bit of 'clumsiness', he collided with the first guard and sent them both sprawling and managed to toss the coffee cup at the second guard on the way to the floor, while loosening the lid to ensure he was covered in the near boiling liquid.
His scream of pain and the tumbling over of the other security guard had the desired effect, as the men by the stairs who prevented access to the upper floors to unescorted guests, rushed over to investigate the trouble.
Amidst the chaos, two dark-haired girls in the dull white robes of church scribes walked casually past the guards to the stairs, as they made their way over to apprehend Cid.
His part had been finished perfectly.
---
Alexia twisted a lock of her now dark-brown hair and focused on it with distaste as she and the now sandy-blonde Beatrix slowly made their way to Archbishop Nelson's office.
She fought to keep her frustration down, trying to repeat the point Cid had made that "If you're spotted, it's better if you're not as recognizable, and that silver hair of yours stands out way too much".
That's why I like it, dumbass.
When she objected, Cid tried to argue that as the organizer, he had final say in things like this, which she just ignored. When Beatrix and Rose pointed out they could be arrested, imprisoned, or cause an international incident, and asked whether she was properly committed to this, she had no choice but to concede the point unhappily.
She'd be able to dye it back to 'a' silver colour right after operation, and she didn't think Nelson or his toadies would notice, but it wouldn't be the same. It was a shame, but eventually her crown would recover it's proper glory in a few weeks. She was probably lucky Iris or none of her other friends were here for this, they'd have noticed as soon as they saw her.
At least Rose had gotten her a choice of colours. The black would have probably been the longest to truly fade away and go back to normal, and the red would have made her look way too much like Iris for comfort.
The prop-glasses they were both wearing had also been adopted for the same effect, but she cared much less about that.
She wasn't able to distract herself from her current situation any longer when she reached the door to Nelson's office and Beatrix reached out and opened it. She seemed as calm as still water, while Alexia had to fight to keep herself still, and her head held high every time they passed someone in the corridors. Pretending to be a church scribe was really no different to any other lie, but for some reason, perhaps just unfamiliarity with the non-verbal format, she was finding it difficult to keep up. The door hadn't been locked, probably because anything worth taking was already behind much better protection than the door.
They found the office in the exact condition it had been in when they were politely (though she could tell the old bastard got off on the feeling of power giving her the boot gave him) dismissed six hours ago, but the silence and the absence of the Archbishop gave the place an unsettling air.
She and Beatrix looked behind the safe to find only a thin metallic cable anchored it to the wall, to prevent it from tipping over onto whoever was in front of it. Alexia pulled out a small knife (her sword would have been bulky to sneak in even under the baggy robes) then began sawing her way through the strand, going slowly to limit the noise.
Beatrix headed out into the hall and started pressing her ear to the office doors facing onto the street they'd be making their escape from. On her third attempt, she found an empty one and then tried the handle, but there her luck ran out. Bracing herself, she shouldered into the door, which generated a metallic snapping sound as the deadbolt and latch snapped. Beatrix didn't even fully open the door, but immediately pulled it shut and ran back into Nelson's office and closed the door behind her.
Locking their doors whenever they're out, seems a little paranoid for a church bookkeeper considering the security in this place, unless they've got something to hide, of course.
She almost caressed the safe, imagining the look on Nelson's face when he found out she had his secrets, but was refocused when she heard a conversation start out in the hall.
"What the hell was that?"
"No idea. Sounded like it came from out here, but I can't see anything it might have been. Do you think it came from downstairs?"
"I don't know, could have been from outside as well, there's tourists everywhere and it's not like they're ever quiet."
"Still, it might be best to check downstairs and let security know?"
"You get right on that. I'm probably not getting home until more than an hour after I'm supposed to finish as it is, but if you want to waste your time, feel free."
The small crowd grumbled, but none of them went down to inform their guards about the noise. It seemed the Goddess festival was putting pressure on everyone in here.
I suppose I'm guilty of that too, making my puppy work hard when he's supposed to be relaxing.
The workers headed back into their offices, and as soon as the last of them shut themselves away, Beatrix moved over to Alexia as she finally managed to free the safe from the wall.
They slowly, carefully, tipped it over on it's face, then moved to each end to get a grip.
"Ah Beatrix! this is heavy" Alexia groaned quietly as she struggled to lift her side of the metal coffin.
"I don't think it's that bad" her companion replied, her voice still almost monotone despite the fact she was bearing more of the weight and was the one carrying it backwards out of the office.
Alexia considered telling her she was swearing at (or to) the goddess, not speaking to her, but decided against it. The explanation would only make her sound more stupid.
They made it into the office Beatrix had opened and pulled the window wide open, then Beatrix jumped out of it to land on the street below and began to make her way over to the carriage blocking one exit (where Rose was somehow screaming her head off at Cid in a loving tone to get them moving again) to retrieve the rope they'd be using to lower the safe out of the window. Alexia would have made more noise dropping a feather from the window than Beatrix made landing on the street.
The side-street they would lower the safe to led to a central park many of the clergy visited on their breaks (so it wasn't naturally the most busy road in Lindworm), and Cid had melted the lock of the gate leading their shut to that in advance to block the other end. They'd decided to move at 3:30 so they'd missed the lunch rush, and hoped that it was too late in the day for any deliveries to be made to the service entrance on this side of the building, but even if the odds were stacked on their side it would still be a gamble.
Her instinct would have been to move at nightfall and force the bald bastard to give her the combination at sword-point, but Beatrix had pointed out that if he really was associated with the cult, the four of them could well be outnumbered and killed.
Cid came up with a decent plan for only having a couple of hours to plan it. He really does have the most random talents.
Beatrix tossed up the rope, then jumped up and Alexia grabbed her forearm as it passed just below the windowsill and pulled her back into the office, then the two of them started to prepare the safe for its slow descent.
Alexia managed to keep her groan internal this time as she realised she'd have to pick the safe up from floor level again to move it into the back of the carriage.
---
Rose felt the thrill of excitement beginning to fade away as she stepped outside of the abandoned building to move Alexia's carriage to a less conspicuous spot. Pretending they'd broken down had felt dangerous to her, just sitting still in the middle of danger, but everyone had given them a wide berth as she'd screamed at Cid to reattach the wheel that had come loose.
Even if it was just an act, I hope I haven't given him anything to worry about.
The marriage she's seen the most of, that of her parents, was a constant political exercise of feigned affection, private disinterest, and was occasionally punctuated by outbursts of sincere dislike and dissatisfaction. Rose had always hoped she'd never end up in such a union, and now she had to worry she'd given Cid the idea she'd denigrate him in public and scream at him whenever he displeased her.
He's never upset me yet. I should still try to be nicer for a little while, and hope he forgets how horrible I was acting back there. I don't want to scare him off.
They'd managed to get the safe packed into a hole they'd cut into the carriage's side, before covering the gap and splitting up from Alexia and Beatrix. They had gone to re-dye their hair back to their original colours and try to establish an alibi, while she and Cid moved to a rougher area of the city to stash their payload.
Her heart was just beginning to settle back to it's usual pace when she heard footsteps approaching from behind. At first she thought it was Alexia, but was spurred into action when she realized there were at least three people. Rose turned sharply and it was a good thing she did, she was sure one of the five hooligans that were facing her down had been considering clubbing her on the back of the head with a bat so chipped, it looked more like a collection of splinters than anything else.
"Hey, your majesty," he laughed. Her heart skipped again for a split-second, but there was no recognition in his words, only derision. "This is the wrong side of town for someone like you, but I'm sure we could help you find your way back."
Rose was tempted to reach for her sword, only to realize she didn't have it on her. "Oh, that's okay. I'll be able to find my own way," Rose said as she reached for the reins.
"Oh please, I insist," the older boy said, putting his own grip on the reins, closer to the horses than her own hand.
"I must ask you to let that go, and leave me to find my own way," Rose insisted, feeling the fight coming, but for honours sake trying to avoid it.
"You know what this is, hand over the horses and your bag and we'll leave you alone. If not, I can't promise to be so kind."
It was just like a scene from the stylish bandit slayer issue seven where he fought off a band of outlaws attacking a caravan taking vital medical supplies to a mining town isolated high in the mountains that was ravaged by pestilence. The way she was positioned was exactly how he had been before sending the bandit flying with a justice-punch.
Smiling at the thought and trying to channel her inner slayer, she said, "I thank you for your honesty, it makes this much more dignified," before hitting him hard in the cheek and sending him scrambling. She was maybe more polite than the slayer had been, but the attack might as well have been a preplanned recreation of the scene.
Unfortunately, his grip on the reins had been more firm than she had thought, and the horses reared and pushed ahead, one unfortunate boy spinning away like a bowling pin that had been clipped by the very edge of the ball, crashing into a bloody heap against the wall.
Without magic, dealing with the other four would be trouble. Using magic would probably summon the authorities attention in a way a simple brawl in a poor part of town sadly wouldn't. She moved immediately to down the leader who was just staggering back to his feet, breaking his arm with a kick to the back of his elbow so hard, she thought she might have broken a toe.
The biggest one came on next, with a broken bottle in hand but that hardly meant anything. Rose was still holding back after all. One of the others was circling behind her, but he got too close to the water, and so when she threw her bag at his head, he toppled right back into small channel
Thank the goddess the only stuff in there is from the heist. Otherwise all the gifts I bought today would be ruined.
Rose refocused back on the biggest attacker, which posed no difficulty given the fact he was charging her directly. Rather than wait for him to reach her, she took a cue from Alexia, picked up a loose stone at her feet and threw it at his face, stepping forward to attack herself just after impact. He had no training and while he did manage to scrape her cheek with his knuckles at one point, he soon went tumbling, bloody nosed and groaning pitifully after she kicked at the back of his knee.
The last two were cowards to hold back so long, and proved it again by running and diving into the channel to swim away from her, crossing a large, red-black stain spreading through the water as they fled. The red and black hair dye she had bought for Alexia must have burst in the water. The saleswoman had probably oversold her if it covered such a massive area.
She turned back to the big-man who was hobbling away, with at least enough grace to pick up his injured companion as he hobbled his retreat. Feeling proud, she thought about what the slayer had said at the end of his fight.
"Yeah, you better run, or I'll give you more of what I gave your friends".
The running footsteps behind her were Alexia and Beatrix this time. She smiled, happy to see them and trying to allay the concern in their eyes.
"Hey Rose, what's happening?"
"Oh, a couple of hoodlums tried to make off with your carriage," Rose explained. "There were three more, but I sent the rest of them off that way." Rose pointed across the water to indicate their method of escape.
Alexia seemed scared, but Rose didn't think it was that bad "Don't worry, in the state they were in, there's no way they're going to tell anyone about us. I couldn't let Cid's big plan fail because of me, could I?"
"N,No Of course not," Alexia stammered, seeming even more afraid than before.
Perhaps it would be best to get her inside.
---
Goddess save me.
Rose had killed three people today, and didn't even seem particularly bothered by it.
All that blood in the water.
There was no way it could be anything else. In order to protect Cid and the mission, Rose had killed three people, and almost killed two more. That 'you better run' thing was obviously faked for her and Beatrix's benefit. It didn't sound like anything Rose, or really any member of the high nobility, would ever say.
All that blood in the water. Losing that much has to kill someone.
It wasn't like Alexia had never killed anyone, but that had been a cultist who was trying to kill her. Self-defense applied. Even the harshest punishment for a horse-thief would be something like losing a hand, execution would never come into play. Yet Rose had done that three times and was now just whispering to Cid, happy as a clam, while Beatrix brute-forced the safe open.
"So what are you planning to do with the documents you find inside?" Cid asked.
"Use them to arrest Nelson obviously," she replied dryly.
"Will that work, I mean you stole all this stuff right? Isn't it, like, inadmissible."
"If I have it, and I say it's legitimate, everyone else will fall in line. Besides, the information should hopefully lead to more concrete evidence we can use against the cult."
"The legal system here sure is something," Cid commented in a voice that could have been admiring or mocking.
"Got it," Beatrix stated casually, while a small popping sound, vastly underwhelming given the size of the safe, marked her as correct.
They all rushed to look inside and pull all of the documents out, most of them were coded, though it was telling in and of itself that many of the papers looked similar to those taken from the cult of Diabolos. Cid muttered "No treasure" and backed away, despondent.
That meant all the important messages were in code. She looked at Cid expectantly.
"This is a vacation," he blurted out.
"I don't see anyone else here who can do the job."
"Alexia," Rose broke in severely. "I appreciate the seriousness of the situation, but Cid and I have already risked our lives to help you retrieve these. It would only be reasonable if we had some time to ourselves."
Alexia was tempted to keep going, but the thought of her own body drifting under the water, blood leaking to the surface, tempered her tongue.
"Okay. We can wait until after the goddess trail to make the arrest. It would upset the civilians if we had to cancel it anyway, I suppose."
---
Rose walked out of the building while Alexia and Beatrix started to pack up the documents in companionable silence while Cid just waited, looking at her.
"What is it?"
"When am I getting paid?"
Alexia sighed then reached into her purse. "Okay, a million right?"
"No a million plus expenses," Cid reminded her forcefully, then tallied up the costs in his head. He'd spent nearly about 40,000 Zeni on supplies and then another 250,000 bribing the guard he'd scalded to not have him arrested. Which brought the total (basically) up to 1.3 million Zeni.
"1.4 Million Zeni in total." He deserved a bonus for working on a holiday.