Chapter 133: Chapter 129: A Gunslinger goes to a bank.

 

 

After Irene Niadas had returned to her mansion in Taras, she found that her brother Attomas death had initiated several messes that caused a headache for her. It took her a while, but she finally managed to get her parents to make Jadai the official heir for the Hawke family. But they only agreed on the condition that she herself gave up her own title when Jadai accepted the position. Which she was fine with, what annoyed her was their insistence that she also signs her businesses away to the family.

While she was still arguing with them about what should be done with the businesses, they received word of the Castles collapse. This put the talks on hold for the moment as her family and the other nobles in the area were swamped with keeping the country in control. Irene focused her attention to mitigating the damage caused by the death of her brother and the death of the king.

From her information contacts she was already receiving reports of some nobles planning to break away from the kingdom. They were most likely going to try to join up with the Empire. But with the reports of the Elven Kingdom going to war with the Empire, some looked to be wanting to seize more power for themselves. Irene spent a few hours each day just composing letters assuring them that betraying the kingdom would be a bad idea. 

When she wasn't dealing with that, she also had to deal with the horrors that her brother Attomas left inside his estate. As soon as she got back, she freed his servants from their slavery and helped them find new positions where they wouldn't be abused. For the ones that were likely her nieces Irene personally worked with them to ensure their safety and adjustment to a life free of her brother. At that time she discovered the secret basement beneath the mansion.

The horrors she found still haunt her dreams. Attomas apparently practiced his dark blood magic using the blood of his sons. The stench was so foul that Irene had to throw the clothes she wore down there away. Not having the stomach to clean up the mess, she instead had the place burned down. When it was completely turned to ash and rubble, she planned to have the place turned into a memorial for the victims of her brother.

Her brother Jadai did not have a place of his own within the city, so she offered her own mansion to him. When they had got back to Taras, Jadai had begun searching for any leads to those making corruption potions. In addition Maetrin had taken to staying with her brother. During the trip back, she could see how close the two of them were getting and guessed she would have to help plan a wedding soon because of it. Which only caused another headache as she knew her parents would disapprove.

Today she finally had a chance to review the status of her businesses across the kingdom. She had spent the better half of the morning pouring through reports. She was already seeing a shock through the economy of the kingdom as news that the King died went through. As she wrote a series of commands to her managers, a knock came on her door.

Putting down her pen, she looked up and said "Come in." 

Her door opened and her new butler entered with his silent footsteps. She was unaccustomed to how silent he was. Irene had been forced to find a new butler as when she had arrived home she found all of her previous servant's had quit or run away. It was a parting gift from her brother Attomas who paid her servants to leave after she had undertaken the journey. For the ones who refused, they were attacked by ruffians and scared off. 

For whatever reason he did it, it left her short handed in a time when she needed to focus on the emerging problems. She did not have the time to go out and find new staff to replace the old ones. Usually in cases like this it would be best to solicit from the more reputable companies, but to her frustration they were all lacking available candidates. Planning to make do as best she could she was surprised when a beast-man applied for the position of her butler the next day.

Heathcliff arrived at her mansion with several references. He explained that he was informed by one of the hiring agencies that she was looking for new staff. She did a cursory check on his references, and they all seemed to check out fine, though she found it strange that given his background she had never heard of a catman butler. Irene decided to hire him on a probationary status.

It has been a few days since then and she was impressed with his performance so far. He was able to get a head maid hired and a few maids. They still needed several more servants but Heathcliff managed to wring water out of this dry area of talent. If she had a critique, it was how unnaturally quiet the man was. He had the decency to announce himself when he entered a room, but she had passed him several times only for her to be spooked when he spoke up.

"What is it Heathcliff?" She asked. Irene saw that he was carrying in a large wooden box.

"I bear a letter from the main Bank of Taras, and your special order has arrived Madam." Heathcliff said.

Irene stood and took the letter and placed it aside for now turning her attention back to the box. "This is really surprising. They told me it would take at least a few weeks before they could finish it."

She took the box from Heathcliff and placed it on the desk. She unhooked the catch and lifted the lid revealing a velvet cushion on which two large revolvers lay. When Jack approached her a few days ago asking her for some help with making some contracts, she agreed to make them for him as long as he provided her with a blueprint to a new gun. Jack agreed and when she got them she sent them to one of the best craftsmen in Taras to construct them.

"The messenger who brought the box said that the head craftsman worked day and night on this. Apparently the craftsman calls these weapons his first true masterpieces." Heathcliff said.

Under the manalights of the room the two guns had a sheen to them that made them seem as they glowed. The first had a red metal cladding on it with the word Rose painted along it's handle in gold. The other gun was covered in a violet metal cladding and painted on its handle with gold was the Name Violet. Irene had commissioned two of the same guns to be built, and these looked far superior to what she was expecting.

Picking up Rose she found it had quite the weight. Irene could feel the power flowing it. Injecting her mana into it, she keyed it to herself. As part of the blueprint, Jack added a detail where the guns had to be keyed to her so that no one could use them if they fell into the wrong hands. In addition the guns had tree modes to them. A small lever on the side of them could flip through all the modes.

The first mode allowed her to channel her mana into bullets. The bullets varied in power depending on the amount of mana she put into them but were not as strong as the premade bullets. Using the skill Craft Rounds, she got when Irene became a gunslinger, Irene was able to make new bullets for the guns. Unfortunately given her schedule she could only make twelve bullets so far. Which meant she could carry a full chamber for each of the guns.

The last mode combined the first two creating a supershot with one major downside. Because it overheated the gun, it needed at least ten minutes to cool down before she could use the gun again. Which is why she bought two guns. There was also a danger if she put too much mana into the bullet it could blow up the gun as well. Irene licked her lips and said "I have to try these out." 

Heathcliff coughed and said "Madam I suggest you check out the letter. It appears to be an extremely urgent matter."

Irene tsked annoyed she wouldn't get to play with her guns, picked up the letter and tore it open. It was a letter from the bank manager informing her that there was a serious discrepancy regarding the funds in the bank. Included with the papers was a bill for five thousand big gold coins. "What the fuck is this?" Irene cursed annoyed. She said "Get the carriage ready for me. It appears I need to have a chat with a bank manager today."

She went to a cabinet next to her desk and pulled out a set of leather holsters from her desk. "As you command Madam." Heathcliff said and exited the room. She stripped off her coat and attached the holsters on tight. Going to the desk, she withdrew the box she stored the ammo she created in. Popping open the cylinder of Rose she began to load it, followed by Violet. When they were fully loaded, she holstered them.

When she put her coat back on Irene's stomach rumbled reminding her that she had yet to eat anything today. While she did want to get going and confront the bank manager, she did not want to do so on an empty stomach. Exiting the room, she made her way to the dining room where she found Maetrin with his hood down currently sitting on Jade's lap. He was in the process of feeding Jadai what looked like a cake.

After swallowing a bite of the cake Jadai looked over and said "Good Afternoon sister. I was beginning to think I wouldn't see you again today. You've been cooped up with that paperwork too long. You need to take a break once in a while."

"I'll take a break later on. I'm simply swamped with work at the moment."

"If you need help, I can help you." Jadai said.

"No I got this. You just keep hunting down the corrupted potions. Apparently there has been some mixup at the bank, so I have to go speak with the bank manager. So after I eat, I will be heading out. What are the two of you up too for today?" Irene said while taking a seat at the table and signaling one of the maids to bring her something to eat.

Maetrin said while cutting another piece of cake "It appears that Nicca will be giving birth soon, so I will be staying near her until she gives birth. I'm training Alice to work as a midwife."

Jadai nodded and said "Thank you Maetrin for keeping an eye on her. I will be heading out with the Captain of the guards. There have been rumors that one of the potion dealers has set up shop in the merchants district. We will be doing a raid of several businesses tonight so I will be late so don't wait for me for dinner."

"I will let Heathcliff know. Do take care brother." Irene said and quickly ate the sandwiches that the maid brought. While she enjoyed talking with her brother, she felt she was a third wheel during the meal. When she had finished, she said her goodbyes to the couple and entered the hallway where she found Heathcliff. "Is the carriage prepared?"

"Yes Madam. It is waiting at the front." Heathcliff answered.

"Excellent. While I'm gone, I will need you to send a runner to get an update of the remains of the mansion cleanup progress. In addition I need you to check in with the Seventh Bakery, I have not heard back from them for the party of Lord Jadai. Oh and Lord Jadai will not be having dinner with us, so please inform the cooks."

"Of course Madam, it will be done according to your will." Heathcliff bowed as Irene exited out the front door.

When she exited, she saw the black carriage. The moment Irene had gotten back she had started stripping her life of the color pink. The few servant's she could get, she had them repaint the carriage to a black color and rip out all the pink cushions inside. A servant helped her into the carriage, and she took a seat on the hard bench. While it was painful, it was still better than dealing with that disgusting color again.

The ride was luckily not that bumpy but still her ass was sore by the time the carriage stopped in front of the bank. It put her in an annoyed mood, and she was ready to get into it with the bank manager. When she entered the bank, she had to wait several minutes while waiting for the manager. When the manager Carl came out, he greeted her with a smile and said "What a pleasant surprise Lady Niadas. Have you come to address the discrepancy in your accounts and settle what you owe?"

"What I owe?" Irene growled out. "I want to know what the fuck this is about!" She pulled out the bill and shoved it into Carl's hands.

Carl looked surprised and glanced around and then leaned down and said "Please follow me, this is a sensitive topic."

He practically ran to his office with Irene following him. When she entered his office, he was seated behind the desk and Carl said "please take a seat."

She pulled the chair back and took a seat and glared at him. "What is the meaning of the letter you sent me?"

Carl opened up a folder and said "Lady Irene you have over drafted on your accounts by five thousand big gold coins. You have reached the lending limit, and we must suspend your account temporarily until you have paid us back. Due to your status we can grant you three months to come up with the funds before we take this to the courts."

"WHAT?!" Irene shouted angrily. "That is impossible. I have at least twenty thousand big gold coins in one account alone. Now you are telling me they are empty and what's more that I owe you five thousand big gold coins? What the fuck is going on here?"

"Well several bills have come in after you emptied your accounts and the bank was forced to cover them. Because of your status I did not charge you interest on the overdraft." Carl said.

"I didn't empty my accounts. What are you talking about?" Irene said, confused.

"Sure you did. In fact I have copies of the cheques you signed right here." Carl said and handed her several slips of paper.

Taking the papers, she examined each. They all varied in amounts and different reasons were written on the cheques. But they all bore her signature, yet she did not ever recall signing them. Irene said "I didn't sign these. Someone must have faked my signature. Are you telling me all my money was spent with cheques like this? Why the hell didn't you alert me to this?"

"All the cheques that came in are below your minimum alert level. When your entire account was emptied, when we received word of your brother's death, several of his debts were transferred over to you which caused the overdraft." Carl said.

"I did not authorize any of this. Plus what debts are you talking about?" Irene said annoyed.

"According to the Instructions left by Attomas is that if he should die that you would take over his debts. We thought you were aware of this. Despite your claims of not authorizing the withdrawals on your account each of those checks match your signature on record. Not to mention a friend of yours came in with the last check and cashed it." Carl said with a skeptical look. "That's right, I forgot he left a letter for you."

Irene grabbed the envelope from Carl and ripped it open saying "Who the hell thinks they can get away with stealing my money?" Inside was a green tinted piece of paper with a short paragraph on it.

"Greetings Lady Niadas. Your many accomplishments have long impressed me. Unfortunately, I do not write to you with good news. By the time you read this, I will have taken what I am owed from you. While you haven't incurred this debt, I will collect it from you. Blame it on your newfound acquaintance who you signed a deal with. He took what was mine, so I take it from you with interest. While I had long forgotten about that treasure chest, it still was not his to take. So I repaid in kind to one of his servants. -A."

An intense feeling of annoyance rolled through her and her eye twitched. Irene had to take a few deep breaths to prevent tearing up the paper. She stashed it into her inventory vowing to find this asshole and deal with him in an appropriately harsh manner. "Who was the person who dropped off this letter?"

"He said his name was A.E. Vicar. He claimed he was a good friend and business partner to you. He was quite the friendly chap, smart as a whistle to boot. Why we chatted about business for several hours. Gave me a few good tips as well."

"Does he have an account with you?" Irene asked.

"Oh no. Vicar said his bank was situated in the south in the empire. Seeing as our kingdom is likely joining the empire he came up to make several deals and to meet with you."

"Well I don't know this gentleman and quite frankly I want to know why you thought it was okay to not let me know that massive amounts of money were leaving my account. Especially by someone you have never met before!"

"Why I don't appreciate your tone, Lady Niadas! I have you know he has several references he showed me. He even had the seal of the emperor on his identification. His proposals all sounded like the kinds of things that you would invest in, granted the amount you invested was kind of extreme. Though I thought that was just your way of getting back at your family."

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"Will I sure as fuck didn't authorize this. I want my money back. Also what the fuck do you mean it's just my way at getting back at my family?"

"I was informed by your family's solicitor that I was to prepare for you to hand over control of your businesses to them. Also, I am unable to help you retrieve your funds. The funds have already been transferred across the continent to several differing banks. You would have to go through them. Plus some of the coins were withdrawn personally so you would also have to track them down." Carl said.

"I'm still in charge of my businesses, and what I do with them is none of my family's goddam business. This is unacceptable for you to be talking with my family about my business. I want this handled now, dealing with the other banks will take months." Irene said blood pumping furiously through her veins.

"My hands are tied, Lady Niadas. If you truly did not sign these, you would need to get this even investigated by the guards and confirmed. Still you will need to cover the overcharge as the debts of Attomas are clearly yours. We can grant you a few months to pay them back, plus if you are able to prove that your money was stolen we can extend the time even more. Perhaps you can ask your family for help Lady Niadas."

Irene took a deep breath to keep from bursting into a tirade of pure vile at Carl. Glaring at him obviously faking sympathy for her she stood and leaned over his desk. She said "By the end of the day I want every piece of paper on this Vicar, every bank that my money went to, every cheque with my signature sent to my home. In the future should this bank still exist after I'm done with you, you will get authorization from me if you get a cheque with my name on it. Am I clear?"

Carl narrowed his eyes and said "Yes Lady Niadas. As that would increase the difficulty of the processing of the cheque, we will naturally need to add an additional fee to it. Would you like to set up a payment plan?"

"No, I'll make sure you get your money. From this point on I will close all my accounts with you. It's clear to me now that your bank is no longer suitable to protect my interests and my money."

Carl shrugged and said "As you wish Lady Niadas. I will send papers canceling your accounts to your estate. Of course from what your family solicitor told me you won't be in charge of your business much longer so if you want to separate your business accounts from us you will have to get agreements from the boards of each one."

"I will do that." Irene snarled and said "Goodday Sir." She opened his door and slammed it behind her as she marched out into the hallway. She was thinking about ways to get back at the bank while walking across the lobby when the doors to the bank burst open. Several figures came in yelling and brandishing weapons, they forced all the customers and workers of the bank to get down to the ground. Following the four people were two large golems made out of stone.

Gritting her teeth, Irene got down beside one of the counters and looked at the apparent bank robbers. Out of the four people two were armed with bladed weapons, one had a crossbow that he was using to intimidate the security guard to the ground and the last had a staff. They were all wearing masks that resembled skulls and they quickly subdued all the people in the bank with threats of violence.

While Irene disliked being forced to do so, she did not exactly feel the urge to come to the aid of the bank. As long as they didn't act to harm anyone, here Irene was content to let them do their thing. From the ground she could only catch glimpses of them and took the time to examine them to see how dangerous they were to her.

 

 

Three of the thugs were of low level and she felt she could take care of them with ease. The real trouble lay with the mage and the two golems. 

 

 

 

 

It looked as if controlling the two golems took a large chunk of his magic, which at least meant he was unlikely to cast many spells. The golems while dumb things were reasonably strong and surprisingly nimble. Irene did not think she could take one hit from them. So far they hadn't hurt anyone, so Irene just lay and watched them. As the golems began to work on breaking open the vault she suddenly obtained a message notification from Jack.

 

 

 

"Are you kidding me, Jack?" Irene muttered to herself. She was not even interested in the rewards listed by the quest. She was planning to just decline the quest when she saw the Mage suddenly grab a woman off the ground. The woman screamed in terror as the mage pulled out what looked like a slave collar and was struggling to put it on the woman.

"No! Let me go!" The woman struggled against the mages grip as she struggled to avoid being collared.

The swordswoman asked "Boss what are you doing?"

"She's our ticket out of the city, now help put this collar on her." The mage growled out.

The Swordswoman moved to help and this whole thing disgusted Irene. Sighing she slipped her guns from their holsters while keeping her movements subtle so as not to draw attention. As one of the robbers passed her, she sprang up right behind the thug.

Before the swordsman could turn around, she brought Rose down hard on the back of his head causing him to cry out and stumble forward. The swordswoman dropped the collar and ran at Irene. The swordsman regained his footing and attempted to swing his sword at her. She fired Rose nearly point blank at the mans face and half of his skull just disintegrated and bits of brain splattered her.

The charging swordswoman let out a cry of rage and attempted to run Irene through. Barely dodging the blade, Irene raised Violet and shot her in the kneecap and the woman tumbled with a cry of pain and agony. She was about to take aim at the mage when a crossbow bolt whizzed past her face and into a desk. Rolling forwards she put some cover between her and the crossbowman.

She popped up and launched a few shots towards the crossbowman who had hid behind a pillar. One of the large golems came charging at her. She jumped backwards as it crushed the desk she had been hiding behind. The ground shook as it punched the floor. It had bent over when it was punching allowing her to see through a crack in its stone chest. It was a glowing crystal which was likely it's core.

Before it could move back up Irene ran up and jumped on its head. It tried shaking her off, but before it could get her off Irene fired at the core through the crack. The bullet caused the crystal to shatter and then the golem began to crumble underneath Irene and she had to jump off.

"You bitch that took me forever to make!" The mage shouted in rage and began to cast a spell. While he was casting the other golem came around the corner full sprint at Irene. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the crossbowman was nearly ready to fire another bolt.

Irene switched Violet to level three and dumped a quarter of her mana into the bullet. Just before the golem could strike her Irene aimed at the center of the golems chest and fired. The end of Violets barrel lit up brightly and there was a thunderous boom and the golem's chest was now a gaping hole. Without the support of the core, the golem collapsed into a pile of rocks.

At that moment the mage cursed and unleashed a spell which created a boulder that flew at Irene. She rolled under it, and it continued onwards through the wall of the bank. Irene popped up and fired a few shots at the mage who retreated into the vault. The crossbowman said "I didn't fucking sign up for this." 

He dropped his crossbow and took off out the entrance of the bank. Irene let him go and made her way to the vault. The customers and workers of the bank fled outside to safety. When she glanced inside she had to pull back when a hail of stones came flying in. "I would surrender if I was you." She called in.

"Fuck you!" The mage responded with some more stones.

Irene could feel the mage was running low on mana and prepared to charge in. She overheard him cursing and took that chance to run only to see him pull out a bottle filled with a pink liquid that almost looked like sand. Before he could drink it she fired a shot and it exploded in his hands.

The pink goop burst from the bottle and got all over the mage. He began to scream and try to get the goop off, but it began to change him. "Get it off get it off. No this is not what it was supposed to do!" He screeched.

As Irene watched the mages hair began to grow longer turning to a platinum blonde in the process. Not only was he physically changing so was his clothes. He was initially wearing robes, but they gradually transformed into a short skirt and shirt that was so pink it made Irene want to gag.

The mage groaned as suddenly two giant orbs filled out the shirt stretching the fabric quite a lot. The mage lost their balance as their boots changed into pink stiletto shoes. When the changes had finally stopped the mage who was now clearly a woman looked up confused.

Irene walked up to the mage and said "I told you you should've surrendered. What was in that potion?" She looked at the remaining liquid on the floor and examined it to find out it was surprisingly a corruption potion that had been diluted.

"Where did you get this?" Irene questioned the mage.

"Oh I met this guy downtown he's in the know you know? Like I didn't notice it then this guy was pretty hot. Like drop your panties kinda hot. I don't know why I didn't notice it then. I mean I was into women then but now I totally see what I'm missing you know?" 

"Get to the point." Irene said irritated.

"Fine jeez girl. You need to chillax. If you go to the wooden mage store on first past the lingerie store and say the passcode you can get access to the good stuff you know? Before that girl I think you need a makeover."

"What's the passcode?"

"What passcode?" The mage asked, confused.

"To get access to the good stuff?" Irene said irritated. 

"Oh yeah that. Like I think it was something orion. Oh yeah seek the orion. You say that and you get the good stuff." The mage said and giggled,"Say hi to Vimmy for me. Oh no, I broke a nail."

Irene snorted and was about to leave the vault when Carl came barging in. He looked around and said "Lady Niadas. I heard there was a group that attempted to rob the bank. I was concerned about the vault and came to check."

"There was. She is part of them, though I don't think she is much of a threat at the moment. Have you contacted the guards?"

"Yes they are on the way." Carl said stepping deeper into the vault. "What is this pink crud on the floor?"

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Irene said picking up the mages staff off the floor and placing it into her inventory.

"Lady Niadas I must ask you to leave this vault. Especially since you are no longer a customer of my bank." Carl said and began to wipe the pink goop into a pile.

"Well I warned you." Irene shrugged and walked out smirking with Carl beginning to scream as he began to change.

 

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