War on Crime #2

Alexander and Sabine nervously tap their feet, sitting side-by-side in the bar. The silence was deafening, with only the grandfather clock's ticking trying to fill the void of sound. They sat wordlessly for hours, waiting with nervous anticipation for Vincent's good report.

Almost blessed with hypersensitivity, their ears perk at the sound of his footsteps descending the steps. They suck in a large breath of air, waiting for his report, whether it was good or bad.

Vincent descended the stairs, removing his blood-stained gloves from the trash. "He's going to live-- he just lost too much blood from gunshot wounds..."

Sabine pursed her lips, her hands clenched around the glass. "Whoever put him on him is so dead," she muttered. 

Alexander put his hand on her shoulder. "We can only wait for him to tell us, until then our plans remained unchanged," he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Pack up, since theirs still time for the auction."

Sabine turned to Vincent, who just smiled softly at her. "His condition is stable, strong even-- the boy is very strong, so don't worry." He assured her. "Let us depart, we have a long night ahead of us."

Earlier, before his accident, Arthur and Samantha casually stroll through Baker Intersection. With her clipboard in hand, Samantha pointed out many of the details and locations of Baker's intersection.

"That's the bakery, cafe, and breakfast shop: that's the local grocery store with the freshest meats and vegetables: that's the--" she continued on, losing Arthur's attention.

"Baker Intersection, Yeah– it sounds familiar now. It became one of the most sought lines of property in the fourth year." Arthur thought. "The intersection's central piece stands in perfect symmetry with the castle peak."

Although the central piece of gigantuous city is the castle academy, the original central point was that statue, however, developments during the early stage of the empire deemed it unfit and difficult to use-- according to history.

"They chose this spot because the sun rises and sets the castle and the Capital's soon-to-be main highway all line up with the four cardinal directions. Neat." 

looking back, Arthur focused his vision to see the inner city's gate. "If im not wrong, there we some selling properties from around the area right? Because of noise complaints?" he asked. 

Samantha nodded. "Yes! The sudden influx of noise from parades has driven the nearby residents to madness– which also increased my workload." she pouted. 

"Perfect, a money-making opportunity– a real estate business with incredible profit margins," Arthur smirked. "When I have the extra cash, I'll probably start buying more from around the area then." 

Samantha chuckled. "What?" She joked. "Are you planning to be a real estate tycoon?" 

"I won't know until I try." Arthur shrugged. "And when I do, I know a perfect broker to hire." He winked, earning a chuckle from the lady. 

"Oh stop it, you!" She giggled, she said, slapping his back with the clipboard. Samantha turned her head and faced the rectangle, northwest corner building on top of a small clothing store. "And that's the property you were interested in; as you can see, it has been through quite a lot of neglect."

Arthur looked up at the building she pointed at, whose outside was covered with tarpaulins, whose corners were falling off, revealing the exposed brick. "Yeah, it definitely has." Arthur scoffed.

Crossing the intersection with the diagonal pedestrian lane, Arthur and Samantha arrive at the corner, and by the shop, was the property's personal entrance. Taking the keys from her pocket, she unlocked them, making the lock rattle due to its age and neglect.

The large and heavy door was pushed open by Arthur, and immediately, Samantha and Arthur's noses were assaulted by the stench of dust and mold. The air was heavy and difficult to breathe in, especially for Samantha. 

"Why don't you wait outside? I'll try to open the windows." Arthur put his handkerchief over his mouth. "Shit, it's incredibly old– blegh! Where the hell are the windows?"

Arthur ascended the stairs, and to his surprise, they didn't creak or make a sound signifying damage or wear. "Wow, the flooring is pretty good– perhaps the stairs are the only place the fire didn't burn."

The small journey up the tall flight of stairs ended and any previous doubt or complaints, aside from the smell, dissipated.

"Whoa, it looks even bigger in person! All this? For 2.7 million?! Deal!– acho!– Fuck!" he cursed, rushing over to the large windows.

Unlocking the rusty lock was a troublesome task, to the point in which he tore them clean off the glass accidentally. "Uh… good thing, I'm buying it then." Arthur chuckled, airing out the enclosed house letting the stagnant air finally air out.

"Kya– really!?" Samantha cried out, from the bottom of the building. Arthur turned to the windows, noticing he accidentally knocked the tarpaulins off the wall.

"You okay?" He asks, peeking through the tall window to see Samantha on the pavement with a handful of dust in her hair.

"No! I absolutely am not!" She cried out, pouting and trying to remove the dirt as best she could. "So! What do you think?"

"I would like to fill out the proper paperwork."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't."

Samantha couldn't believe that a pen could fly across paperwork that fast. "I-Incredible– you must really want it huh?"

"Thanks, for the foresight, Vincent." Arthur gave her a smile, as he put away the wallet and account Vincent had prepared, "Yes, you're absolutely right. I do want it."

They both turn and appreciate the size of the property. "You are one lucky man, getting a property this size and this cheap."

Arthur chuckled and was about to respond when a loud explosion interrupted him.

Boom!

The shockwave and sound of the explosion were strong enough to make the thick glass windows Rattle and shake. Arthur had lunged for Samantha, covering her from it.

Ears ringing, Arthur frowned underneath his mask as he looked out the window, noticing the tall cloud of smoke in the distance– about where the bank should be. "There's no way–"

His thoughts were interrupted by loud screaming and gunshots. "Samantha! Stay here!"

Rushing down the stairs, Arthur exited the building and onto the street, there was indeed a robbery in the bank.

"Four get-away cars, heavily armored, and sixteen robbers, all armed with guns!– it's a heist!"

"Get down on your knees!"
"Put all the valuables in the bag!"

Arthur looked around, most of the locals were barring in their doors and the visitors fleeing the scene. The bank was swarming with all of the sixteen robbers, all wearing ski masks with holes cut awkwardly for their mouths and eyes.

"Damn~ They're all armed to the teeth-- knuckles, machetes, revolvers, and lever guns?! These guys are professionals." Arthur gasped, ducking into the stairway lest he got caught. "Damn it, why aren't telephones invented yet? Commercial electricity is already a thing-- Fuck!"

"Now that I think about it when the telephone gets invented-- not many were interested in it, as magic was the staple and much to the masses' regrets, it was a massive success." Arthur sighed, before slapping himself. "Damn it me! Now's not the time for this!"

"Put your valuables into the bag!" The robber yelled, holding an open sac to the hostages and using his revolver to point at the people and the bag. 

Four men were gathering the quivering hostages, four men slaughtered the desk clerks, four men raided the saferoom and the last four guarded the escape vehicles, keeping a lookout for any police officers.

With Arthur's excellent vision, he could comfortably see the events transpiring inside the bank. Their movements were perfect, their plan perfect and the execution was smooth like a well-rehearsed orchestra. "Status"

[ Arthur Haile / Level 3 / 1st-Circle Magic Warrior / Fire and Earth Specialist ] [ Fame: 1 / Known Rumor ] [ Exp Points needed before next level up, 0 / 100 ] 

[ Strength: 17 ]
[ Agility: 17 ]

[ Vitality: 17 ]

[ Defense; 17 ]

[ Magic: 17 ]

Arthur shook his head from side to side. "I'm not strong enough to fight them, nor is there any merit in doing so--"

[ Scenario Quest Adjective Available! ] 

"Fuck."