Chapter 97: Hot Afternoon (1)

“No. No, no, no, no. Wait… wait a minute.”

As soon as it seemed like I was about to accept Logan's ‘quest’, Ibi hurriedly stopped me.

“Are you, are you guys crazy? Do you know how secure that safe is?!”

“How secure is it?”

“You can’t break it.”

Ibi cut me off firmly.

“You absolutely can’t break it. Do you understand?”

“Why?”

“Why… because you f*cking can’t…!”

“Do you know the place?”

“Haa… f*ck, yes I know. I went in and out a few times as an errand boy when I was working under that damn old geezer.”

“Does that mean… you know the structure of the safe?!”

“Wouldn’t I be saying this if I knew?”

Ibi shook her head from side to side in frustration, as if she were dealing with people who just didn't get it.

“──Alright, first of all. That safe is in the basement.”

Then she began to explain to us, telling us to open our ears and listen carefully.

“And in front of the door that leads to the basement, there are always two big guys standing there. Knight bastards who are fully armed, as if they're about to go to war right now.”

I know too.

They're like robots.

Both in appearance, and in what they do.

“There are rumors that they're bastards who used to work at the Wall. Or that they're dog bastards who were kicked out of the knight order for tearing people to pieces with their bare hands. Pick whichever you want to hear.”

And in strength.

“Of course, that damn door that those bastards don't leave for a single step until the bank closes, is firmly locked.”

It would be easy to imagine them as the royal guards who stand motionless in front of the palace.

Except they'll try to smash your head without a second thought if you just get close to the safe door without permission.

“Let's say you somehow get past those bastards, open that locked door, and go down.”

“There’s a safe, right?”

“Yeah, there f*cking is. A double-secured one.”

“A-A double-secured one?”

“There are two of them, even one would be a f*cking pain, okay? First, there's a sealing magic that most mages can never, ever break. Most of them probably won’t even be able to decipher what it is, let alone break the seal.”

“Then, how do they usually open it?”

“They can’t. That's the f*cking problem. Even the guys who work there can't open it. So it’s no use trying to threaten them into opening it. Only the guys who entrusted something to that safe, that is, the damn old geezer and a few of the great noble bastards can open it themselves.”

Ibi added with a hollow laugh.

“Well, it might be possible to kidnap those bastards and make them open it? Leaving aside the fact that it would be much more f*cking difficult than robbing a bank.”

“Th-Then! By any chance, can't we just break it?”

“No. If you're not dispelling it, any magic you use will just be reflected back.”

“Can’t you do it physically?”

“Uh-huh, no. The moment you hit it, it just burns up. Not the safe, but the one who hit it.”

“Hmm… ah! Like last time, if we use a bomb?”

“Are you crazy? You’re going to blow up a bank to rob a safe? And, even so, we'd probably be the only ones to explode. The safe might be fine.”

As far as I knew, everything Ibi said was true.

Without a single exaggeration.

“Let's say you really do dispel that seal. What about the thick door that you can't break or pierce? It's a safe that’s locked with several layers of locks, so most petty thieves wouldn't even dare to try.”

“What about you?”

“What?”

“You’re not a petty thief, are you?”

“You are a very skilled thief who broke through Don Paulo's personal safe, aren't you?”

“These bastards…”

At mine and Logan's words, Ibi once again let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.

“No, I don’t know what you guys are misunderstanding… but the safe I robbed wasn't that hard to break into? I didn't have to break through a magic seal or a lock!”

I just backstabbed the bastard who let me in because he trusted me.

She added, as if muttering to herself.

“So? You can’t pick that bank safe?”

“Ah, f*ck off.”

Ibi waved her hand as if to say shut up, but.

“You're not saying you can’t until the end, are you?”

Despite that, she didn’t completely deny my question.

So when I continued to stare at her with a slight grin on my lips.

“No, well, weell… what! F*ck, yes! I might be able to open the safe!”

She finally admitted it.

That she could.

“Then we’re good.”

“W-What do you mean, we’re good?! Did you f*cking listen to what I said with your ears clogged!?”

Ibi snapped and made a gesture as if she were going crazy.

“I heard that damn old man say it myself! That the seal was cast by some archmage who’s a few hundred years old! That it’s almost an ancient magic from the Age of the Gods, so modern mages don't even know what it is, that there’s even ancient Elvish written on the sealing circle……”

Suddenly, Ibi stopped talking.

Then, the gazes of everyone, including Ibi, gathered on one person.

“…?”

To Rine, who had been the only one not to open her mouth, and had just been silently listening to the story.

“Why are you all looking at me?”

A mysterious elf mage who can read ancient Elvish, is strangely familiar with ancient [Magic] from the Age of the Gods… and has lived for a very long time.

“In-In the first place! Do you know how much money is piled up in there? All sorts of black money are stashed in there! No, physically, how are we supposed to carry all that……”

Ibi couldn't finish her words this time either.

And once again, the gazes of all of us, including Ibi, turned to the desk where Logan was sitting.

To be precise, towards something he had just placed on the desk.

It was a 「Magical Travel Bag」.

The same as the one Miki was carrying on his back.

“…We haven’t been able to grasp the details of the safe. We had no way to go down there ourselves.”

Seeing Ibi, who had once again been rendered speechless, Logan cautiously brought it up.

“But now… I think we know.”

Then, this time, he took out a map.

A map that the Kapers had made themselves, to grasp even the back alleys of Tiaria.

“The preliminary investigation of the bank, has already been mostly completed.”

As if this map, on which something was densely marked, was the proof, Logan said calmly.

“We found out when the employees come to work, what time which employees work, what their personalities are like, etc. …And also which employee has the key to the door that leads to the safe, which Miss Evie mentioned.”

Not only that, but he had also figured out how many city guards were deployed near the bank, and what routes they used for their patrols, Logan said.

So right now, it was just a situation where there were no personnel to execute it.

“……Ugh.”

At these words, Ibi finally let out a loud sigh.

“You crazy bastards.”

As if she had realized that her words were no longer of any use, she covered her face with both hands.

“──Alright, let's all pick a codename.”

“A codename…?”

“It's useless to just cover our faces, right? We have to hide our identities, and it would be a problem if we accidentally called each other by name in the middle of it.”

“Ah…! You’re right!”

“I’m White.”

I pointed to my companions one by one in order and snapped my fingers.

“Orange. Blonde. Pink.”

Brown.

Blue.

Saying the new names we would use until this job was over.

--

Main Quest

「Dog Day Afternoon」

Rob the bank's safe and track down Don Paulo's smuggling funds.

--

***

“Everyone, freeze! We are robbers!”

“Just move even a little bit, you f*cking bastards! I’ll blow every single one of your heads off!”

Seeing the four robbers who had kicked open the door, some of the customers and employees screamed.

“H-Have you ever seen such crazy bastards──”

At the same time, the two ‘big guys’ who had been guarding the door that led to the safe, immediately rushed towards us.

『Kneel!』

“──!”

First, I used 「Word Command」 to make one of them kneel.

Then, while the other knight, who was flustered to see that, hesitated.

『The die is cast』

I immediately swung the 「Man-eating Flower's Vine」.

“…!?”

The knight, who had been helplessly ‘bound’, looked down at his bound body in disbelief.

“Pink! Tie them up!”

At my shout, ‘Pink’── Toric quickly ran over and began to tie the two immobilized big guys with a strong iron chain.

“Y-You stupid bastards…!”

The big guy, whose arms and legs were being tied, said with a sneer.

“Do you know, where you’re robbing right now…!? You’re all dead──”

“Yeah. I know.”

Thwack!

‘Blonde’── Ibi, who had taken off his helmet, hit him hard in the face with the handle of the dagger in her hand.

Meanwhile, ‘Orange’── Rine, instead of shouting, was raising her staff and deliberately casting a magic circle, threatening the screaming employees and customers.

“Blonde! The key!”

Ibi, as if she knew without being told, quickly ran to the counter and grabbed an employee by the collar.

“Give me the key!”

“Wh-What ke──”

Thwack!

Along with the screams of the people, a dull sound echoed once more.

“We don’t want to hurt anyone!”

I, ‘White’, shouted at the customers who were screaming at the sight of Ibi breaking the employee's nose.

“We didn't come to rob your money! We came to rob the bank! So don't get hurt playing hero for no reason!”

“I found the key!”

In the meantime, Ibi, who had found the key, ran to the door.

Click!

Then the door opened, and I took Ibi and Rine with me and went down to the basement.

“Watch them well, Pink!”

“Leave it to me!”

Toric stayed upstairs alone to watch the crowd.

We hurriedly went down the stairs and soon stood in front of the safe.

As Ibi had said, a large magic circle was engraved on the round door of the safe.

“Don’t you dare say you can’t do it now that you’re here…!”

Rine, who stood in front of that magic circle, closed her two eyes and slowly extended her hand, and began to ‘decipher’.

--

[Magic]

Difficulty 25

--

Indeed, it was a [Magic] seal with a very difficult to dispel difficulty.

But there was nothing to worry about.

Upon reaching level 8, Rine's intelligence stat had finally reached 20.

In short, Rine's ‘intelligence’ was already, at the highest level in the human world.

--

INT bonus +24

--

So with a base stat of 20, plus 2 from the 「Staff of the Ancient Tree of Wisdom」, and──

『Sinnerman』

With the 2 from the 「Song of Wisdom」 added, Rine's transparent crystal dice just had to not show a 1.

And.

--

⚅

Great Success

--

The moment a 6 appeared, the red light of the magic circle engraved on the safe suddenly turned blue.

Then, before long, the light disappeared altogether.

“That’s it!”

Seeing this, Ibi immediately let out a cheer.

“F*ck! You really dispelled it!? Ahaha! Ahahaha! Y-You crazy elf!”

Then, as if she were overcome with emotion, she hugged Rine, but perhaps because she had done it without realizing it, as soon as she heard “…I am not crazy.”, she was startled and immediately pushed her away.

“It’s your turn, Ibi.”

“…I know!”

As if to hide her embarrassment, Ibi shouted even more and stood in front of the safe.

Then, after taking a deep breath,

“If I've come this far, I can’t back out either.”

Crack!

She stretched her arms wide.

Then, with a very serious expression, she raised the 「Lockpicking Tools」 in both hands.

“Alright, let’s do it, f*ck.”