10. The ways of the thief and the military.

After shaking him up a little bit, the receptionist decided to talk. Although saying a little bit meant literally shaking him in place by the collar until he understood Billy (Lucy’s robot) was not lettinghim go until they had the information they were asking him for. He was at least a meter from the ground, held by two strong metallic arm.

“I-I have direct contact with a-a gunwoman called Alice!” he yelled, almost crying.

“And this guy is married…” Marika commented in disbelief, feeling a lack of empathy for him.

“I-I lied so you wouldn’t...wouldn’t kill me…” he confessed.

“You know what, Lucy, shake him some more!” Marika said.

“Okay!” Lucy answered with a smile on her face, like she was ready to do any type of mischief.

“We are done here,” Warren said, tipping his hat with his right hand, “Let him go.”

“But he will inform this Alice person we are coming,” Lucy pointed out.

“Nah, I bet he ain’t that stupid.” Marika, stepping forward, aimed the rifle right at his face, holding it with one hand and an eye closed, smiling. The weight was too much for her only hand, so she was making sure to put up the act like it was nothing, “If he does, then we come back and kill him, or Alice does it herself if we don’t.”

“W-what?” The receptionist flinched when he saw Marika’s gun pointed directly at him, and his face contorted in confusion.

“Oh… I get it.” Warren seemed to grasp it, “When Alice discovers we are going there, she is going to ask how they know about her… and she might grow suspicious of a certain receptionist.”

The receptionist's eyes went wide and filled with fear, he tried to shake himself out of the robot’s grasp, trashing against it.

“N-no! Please! I won’t tell! Just let me go!” his screams were desperate, and he was almost crying. Warren shook his head while Lucy chuckled against the back of her hand. Marika, on her side, pulled her gun back and rested it against her right shoulder.

“Well, then, glad we got a deal,” she winked at the receptionist, smiling and proud of herself, “All we need to know is where to find this lady and we can make our way out.”

“Storage! Where all the storage units are!” He screamed in complete desperation and fear.

“Thank you!” Marika said and started to walk back to the front.

[1050 XP!]

“What the?!” Marika said, surprised, “Why did I get Experience points?”

“You do get them for stealing, you knew that already,” Warren pointed out. It was the main reason she kept stealing, didn’t she?

“Y-yeah… but I usually have to either remove the Stolen tag on the item or sell it,” she pointed to the rifle. “I just stole this and I did not get Experience points!”

“Information can be stolen, Miss Marika,” Lucy intervened, making her robot drop the receptionist, who quickly ran deeper into the building. A heavy metal door closed somewhere when he was out of sight.

OH! She thought… that made sense… so having the receptionist give her information about the situation of a lead from the gang was enough to gain XP… but…

“I have information on a lot of stuff from the gangs… I even remember reading journals about deals and meetings… they didn’t give me XP!” More than once, she had managed to steal or get her hands on vital information, and she was already starting to feel she had made a mistake throwing those documents into the trash. If they could be used as a way to profit and level up…

“Yeah, just like stealing, you have to ‘benefit’ from them,” Warren continued explaining. “I could go into details, but… we need to move. Just think that a piece of paper is worth nothing… unless it has a piece of mail that tells you a secret that you need, or you give to someone that needs it and pays you… at the end, thieves gain experience from ‘benefiting’, not ‘pofiting’”

Marika stood there for a few seconds, thinking about a document she stole that revealed juicy details that she could have sold to other gangs or any interested party… and she just threw it away.

“Okay, Iamofftoloothebodies!” she said, between embarrassment and anger to herself, and bolted to the front of the Thieves Guild.

She started to rummage through the bodies and unconscious bodyguards of the receptionist, and she could tell they were members of a gang immediately by the way they were dressed. Poorly maintained pants and jackets, awful teeth, she somehow missed their scent when they entered, one of them had a rope instead of a belt. But she did not care about their identities.

At least, not that much until she noticed the one she made unconscious was a demi-human, just like her. But he was a wolf subtype, not a fox like her. Trapped inthe heat of battle, she missed the fact and did not notice the man was one of them.

Demi-humans were rare on this side of the world, many coming mostly from eastern countries, and they had their communities in different parts of the world. As far as she could tell, there were no racial tensions in this part and demi-humans were allowed, no one pointed out her race so far, and she used to be part of a rich family, even. At most, some other guy pointed out her features because they found them cute or something similar.

But now, her current objective. Looting! Yes, she was in a hurry, but making money meant gaining XP, making her stronger, and giving her more resources. Bullets were not cheap in that town, and she did not know how expensive the ones for her new gun were.

She rummaged through the demi-human first.

“What are you doing?” Warren asked, noticing that she was inspecting the demi-human’s pockets.

“I already told you, looting!” Then she finds something hard in his pocket and pulls it out. “Look! A silver pocket watch! That must be worth something!”

Warren grunts, while Lucy only giggles beside him.

“She sure is something.”

“A pain, that’s what she is,” Warren answered.

“I can fucking hear you!” Marika answered, looking back at him, frowning and annoyed.

Bullets, a knife, some loose change, she picked up only what she could take on her normal pockets and [Hidden pocket]. There was some ammo for her new rifle (tagged as stolen) on the demi-human. Nothin else she could pick up, she had to make sure nothing was wasted… more money=more power, after all!

“Done! Minimal hoard, but one at least!” she finishes by picking up the submachine gun. Although she could use it, it was not that good for her because of her specialization. She could sell it or have it as a second option.

Since the System exists, guns have become a really useful option where each design covers a certain base. Guns with high rounds per second capacity became more useful for people with low accuracy and who need to suppress an area. Their damage is lower, even when they share the same caliber as a non-automatic rifle like hers, but they could cover ground and hit multiple targets. From what she read when younger, before the system, a bullet wound would be fatal. Now… well, she has someone who just fell unconscious after receiving a bullet to the head without getting a hole in his face.

In her case, she had a good Dex and Luck stat. Meaning she was good at aiming and shooting targets

“Let’s go!” she mentioned, and they slowly made their way out of the Bounty Hunter’s Guild.

A loud sound came from their right. One that Marika had not heard in a while. At least, not since she was forcibly sent to this town. Both her ears perked up, and Warren and Lucy noticed the noise too, and they all looked at it. A roaring sound, loud, and it was approaching.

An engine.

Two black military-looking vehicles passed by them, and the people who were on the street were surprised too by what they saw. The cars were almost jumping with the way the streets were badly maintained, raising sand and dirt into the air.

Engine engine-powered vehicle did exist. They were a breakthrough during the Great War, but they have become a more rare commodity. They are still produced, but they are not cheap and although they do have a progression system, it can cost too much more money to maintain and improve. Meanwhile, a horse like the one Warren obtained from the Gang earlier was cheaper to get, maintain, and it can achieve great speeds and distances if fed and trained properly. So, many more people preferred to raise an animal instead of acquiring a car, especially when they are not traveling that much.

The cars passed by with a roaring presence that made everyone scared. Marika had seen the military cars in the past, when she lived in that big city with her father, and had not seen them since.

“W-what the… why are they here?!” she said. The receptionist was talking about someone in the communication system about a military camp when they broke in.

“This ain’t good…” Warren said.

“Why? Wouldn’t the presence of the military be good?” Lucy asked, confused.

“They never do anything for the people,” Marika pointed out. “Since the Great War, this town has been left to its luck… and they always benefit the highest bidder and whatever the government tells them to.”

“The military works on an independent level,” Warren suddenly said, and his tone of voice changed, directed towards Marika, as if he needed to explain something after what she said, “As of right now, they don’t take orders from the government, they choose their missions.”

“Well… too late, as I have been living in this hell for the last 5 years.” Marika slowly got in the carriage, opening the door, “If you ask me, that makes me believe they only work for their benefit. They must want something from this town, and then they will leave. Better to keep out of their way and not be around when they cause trouble.”

Why would the military be a good thing to appear? Marika thought, she could imagine the mess this would mean if they decided to do something about the gangs and criminals of the place. No, they must be looking for something, something big. After all, what has the government and other groups done for her and the good people that live in this town?

Warren, outside, was looking at the vehicles escaping through the street and then making a wide left turn, disappearing between the buildings. Their roaring engines could be heard in the distance. He tipped his hat with his hand and grunted.

On the doors of both were a simple symbol: a wolf head with a knife in its mouth and an eye patch, with a couple of black roses under it. He recognized it, and grunted when he thought about the mess that was about to get unleashed in the town.

“We either have a bad timing, being a damn coinidence… or SHE knew I was coming here” Warren said, helping Lucy to get up the carriage, and then he followed.

Lucy tilted her head when she was standing in front of the vehicle, determined to go inside this time. “Who is she?”

Warren sat and stood silent for a moment, considering whether he should even answer her. Would it be better to keep this a secret or to say it before it comes out screaming and beating in his face? He sighs, and then decides it would do more good to let her know, at least only Lucy for the moment.

“General Raina Lostwoods,” he said, hitting the reins and making the horse go, slowly moving the carriage forward. “The woman who made me what I am right now. That logo is the one from her unit.”