Novel Full Chapter 1957 Steel Yourself Part 2
Chapter 1957: Chapter 1957 Steel Yourself Part 2
— Kat —
Steel let out a long sigh before he placed down the last picture. “This one… this one is really awkward.” In the picture showed a young-ish looking fox beastkin that had a big set of glasses on their face and a somewhat fancy suit. Nothing stood out as odd about the guy in the picture though.
When Kat and Hedera sent questioning looks to Steel, he sighed again. “The problem with this one is more… political in nature. This is the son of the king’s childhood best friend. They’ve drifted apart somewhat but it makes this guy being the culprit supremely awkward. Especially if we end up wrong.
“The big question mark here is the ’why’ and even ’if’ he’s capable of it. Matt here was Baker’s apprentice and only really managed to snag that because of his Dad’s connections with Gravel. He’s still quite talented… but unlike Baker whose lazy and the other Steel we’re not entirely certain Matt could manage it.”
“So why is he a suspect then?” asked Kat.
“It’s a bit of ’we’ve got no one else’ and a bit of ’we’re looking into everyone we can’. Baker and Steel both took a few apprentices but frankly the level of skill needed to get through the enchantments is a bit past what they can manage. It’s potentially possible that one of them has been sandbagging for years but it’s not like we’ve kept the defences the exact same. We paid Baker to change them on the regular, and then additional times after the thefts.
“It’s one of the other reasons it could be him… but back to Matt here. The big issue is that the reason his dad was friends with Gravel is that, Stone, Matt’s Dad, is from one of the families that focuses on food. Sometimes they end up the agricultural minister but not always. It did seem like this was going to be another generation of that…
“But it didn’t happen in the end. Stone settled down with a wife and really cut back on his ambitions after that. However… Matt has been hanging around some of the marches in support of opening the town. He might also be at the more serious meetings but we try not to police people too closely so nothing I can confirm.
“We’re in an awkward position where he potentially lacks the skills, we really don’t want it to be home… but of all of the suspects Matt has the clearest motive. We’re not sure what he’d want the orbs for exactly, but the ’Leavers’ as I like to call them, have quite a few things they COULD use them for. The most likely being attempts to set up a teleportation enchantment to get through the walls.”
“Is that something he even COULD make? That sounds harder then breaking the wards on the recharging stations,” asked Hedera.
Steel shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. My best guess if it IS Matt is that they need all these orbs because they haven’t managed it yet. Each bundle buys them another attempt at a successful teleporter or perhaps something less subtle like a drill. Though we think it’s unlikely to be the second option as by now I feel they could’ve made something like that.
“It’s also possible that they’re just using the excess orbs as trade goods. We don’t limit them particularly much but we do try to make sure people aren’t just hoarding them… sometimes though people really want to have a stockpile. It’s understandable but we really prefer when people don’t do that. I can see the Leavers trading them for other supplies such as weapons or armour,” explained Steel.
“Is that something we have to worry about? Weapons and armour?” asked Hedera.
“Probably,” admitted Steel. “We never really had a culture of restricting that sort of thing before everything closed down and even now we don’t like to mandate what people do or do not do. Though there is a law that makes crimes more serious if you’re armed an armoured to at least incentive people not to use them, or at least, feel like they don’t NEED them if they’re committing a crime.”
Kat nodded while Hedera frowned at the statement. For Kat, this was pretty normal. Not barging into people’s homes was expected. There had to be reason. For Hedera, it was a bit less so, even if you likely wouldn’t know it happened. Especially in such a small community. It was just sort of expected that people would be more ’in everyone’s business’ and generally a bit nosey.
“So we’re looking out for these three?” asked Kat.
Steel made a ’so-so’ gesture. “We’re looking for a lot more than just one of these three… but the other skills are much easier to hide and we don’t have anyone we could easily point fingers at. Just as an example, I can think of five guards under my employ with the skills to sneak in if the barrier is taken care of.
“It’s… I don’t necessarily love admitting it, but it’s hard for a guard to properly be on guard for extended periods of time and its even worse at night. Remembering to check everywhere, including above you regularly for hours on end? It’s just not a skill most people can manage. Guards around more to react to the barrier triggering if I’m being entirely honest. I could possibly manage it, and I don’t have much experience with that sort of thing. It just… isn’t as hard as I wish it was to sneak past a bunch of guards.”
“Ah I see the problem…” admitted Kat.
“Indeed. While narrowing down the people who could break the barrier was easy, looking at the people who could sneak in just leaves us with way too many suspects. It’s also a bit hard to blame this on the regular trouble makers because it just isn’t really their standard operation. If they needed more orbs, they’d just walk in, slip an extra orb or two into a pocket when nobody could notice and walk out,” explained Steel.
“Is that something that happens often?” asked Hedera.
“Oh all the time… but usually it doesn’t cross into territory of being illegal. Remember, the recharging stations are free for people to use. If you walk up and take five orbs, hiding three of them… you haven’t actually gone over the limit. It’s ten orbs a week per person, with an additional five orbs if you’re taking care of children under ten, and even then, we grant plenty of exemptions for more. Even just having a large number of things to power with them means you can pick ore up.
“In fact, the law around it actually states that while the limit is ten, the law only starts to kick in after you take twenty or more. We really don’t like to police this stuff if we don’t have to. It’s a massive pain and a lot of man-hours for something we really do not want to be watching closely”
“So… not that I’m worried too worried about keeping an eye out during the night… but what are the chances they get past us? Or more likely, spot us and try another night?” asked Kat.
“Your wings work yes?” asked Steel.
Kat wasn’t sure where the question was coming from, but Kat nodded, “Yeah I can fly with them of course. I can also carry about a person’s worth of weight. Not sure I could carry you in armour, but Hedera is fine.”
Steel nodded. “I was thinking that you could simply hover above the charging station or perhaps above the facility itself. The ’nobody looks up trick’ doesn’t just work on the guards after all.”
“Alright… and we’re looking to catch whoever is sneaking in?” asked Kat.
“Yes. In case it wasn’t’ clear, we absolutely do not want this to be a lethal takedown. Worst case scenario and you can’t manage to take them down without permanent damage? Rip off whatever mask their using and try to get a good look at their face. You might not recognise them, but we have a few sketch artists that, with proper prompting, should be able to whip up something we CAN identify,” stated Steel firmly.
Kat and Hedera nodded along, that all made sense. “How tired will you be if you stay up during the night? I know you’ve both been up for some time already, and you’ll have all day to sleep tomorrow. I do hate to start you on the job tonight, but frankly the risk they sneak in tonight is just a bit too high,” admitted Steel.
Kat glanced at Hedera who shrugged. “One night is fine for me,”
“And I can last for like a week, maybe a bit less. Sleep isn’t something that is super necessary for me. Though Lily here naps all the time. So she might nod off a few times during the night,”
Steel glanced at Lily and shrugged. “I’m sure that’s going to be fine,”