The news dropped like a bomb. Lynce stayed silent for a minute before she took another sip of her tea.
"That's a very serious allegation. Do you have any proof?"
Of course, he hadn't, but never underestimate Edric's capacity of bullshiting his way out of trouble.
"Of course, does the name Loric tell you something?"
Lynce almost burst into laughter.
"You want me to believe you were in contact with Loric? THE Loric!? Please, you will have to do better than that."
Loric was a legend when it came to information gathering, almost a myth. He once dethroned a man by blackmailing him with something foul. The legend says that he was omniscient, all knowing, that his Realm was the Concept of Knowledge itself.
Edric, of course, had never met the man and probably never will, but Lynce didn't know that and would you look at that, he had an actual story to tell this time.
"It's true though. You probably won't believe me, but I met him in the bathroom of a random restaurant, we played cards, beating knowledge, and guess what, he told me that. Pretty convenient, no?"
Logically, that man in the bathroom wasn't Loric, at least he didn't match the description of having blonde hair like gold and blue eyes like the ocean.
But again, Lynce didn't know that.
With a small smile on her face, she said:
"You expect me to believe you?"
"Of course, I never lie after all. Besides, what do you have to lose? If there is a heist, you will be prepared. If there's not, you lose nothing."
Lynce nodded slowly.
"True," She smiled sweetly. "You are such a sweet little brother. Coming here to warn your sister about something like that…and for free on top of that…"
Edric raised an eyebrow.
"You basically extort it from me though."
Ignoring him, she continued:
"I can't possibly let you do that, good information deserves a good reward." She pretended to think for a second. "Oh, I know. What about you spending the night at my hotel?"
It wasn't hard to guess what she was doing.
Lynce wasn't dumb, she wouldn't spend her resources without any kind of insurance. In this case, her insurer would be Edric himself. If he was right, she probably would let him go freely and perhaps she would even give him a hug. If he was wrong though…
Putting his best fake smile, Edric said:
"Now, there is no reason for that. I don't really want to bother you, besides, I am traveling right now and have to get to the Querense before the entrance ceremony. Not only that but– oh, look at the time, Tina and Galleon must be waiting for me. I have to go."
Edric picked up his cane and was about to get up when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
"And when did you get here?" It was Tyler, who just now was at Lynce's side…no, he was still there. 'A doppelganger.'
Edric turned back to Lynce. Her cocky smile was starting to get on his nerves.
"Look, dear sister," He said, losing his voice, trying to sound somewhat intimidating. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You probably don't know that but Galleon doesn't like when I come back late."
Lynce's smile faltered for a moment.
"Oh, you mean that Butler of yours? He sure is annoying."
Having someone with a Concept like Galleon barge in the casino was a problem, even for the Perola. It sure wasn't worth provoking someone like him.
After thinking for a moment, Lynce sighed.
"Fine then, you can go. But, you will have to leave the chips, you cheated after all."
"What? I didn't cheat."
Lynce shrugged.
"Unfortunately for you, is it forbidden to count cards in this casino?"
"Since when!?"
"Ara, just now."
'This bitch…'
***
After leaving, trembling with anger, Edric and the girls were back at the van in no time. As he telled his history to Gale and Tina, his face would give small tells of his foul mood.
"So…let me see if I get that right," Galleon said, "You went there to inform the Riventoris about the possible heist, and for that you went from a 100 Reais Chip to 100,000 to attract attention and be sent to call with a higher up. And by just luck be sent to one of them, just to find your sister, and lie to her!?"
"...Wow, you resumed pretty well."
"This is no time for jokes!" His screams resonated around the parking lot. "If she won't cage you in a hotel room, she will cage you in the city. We won't be able to leave until she decides."
Edric's mouth fell. How he didn't think of that? Lynce sure could do that.
That wouldn't be a problem if he hadn't lied. Saying that the Farblos financed a heist here is what would kill him. That was a grave accusation that the Kingdom would take very seriously. Just because he was a Farben.
If the robbery doesn't happen tomorrow and, when it happens, nothing connects to the Farblos, she will have a grand trump card against him.
"Ok, I may fuck it up a bit…"
"I don't see any problem." TIna said.
All her good will or teaching fell to the ground when she learned Lynce was involved. They hated each other way before Edric could even talk. Yet he never learned their history, perhaps one day he should look into that.
"You don't see any problem?!" Galleon screamed with surprise, "Who are you?! What did you do with my daughter?!"
A punch in the gut made him fall.
"...Anyway, sir." She cleaned her throat, "We need to think about escaping the city or magically summon a robbery out of thin air."
Edric nodded. He knew that escaping was the priority …yet, he could stop thinking that, maybe, he could rob the place.
Just think about it, he knew the layout of the building, knew where the safe was and it was made, the schedules, where the cameras were, and a little more.
Why wouldn't he be able to steal it? Edric also knew who worked there and their Realm, and none of them were a match for Galleon or Tina. Not that they alone would be sufficient, he still would need more people, nothing could beat sheer numbers. Not even a Concept.
So the real question was; How do they gather a gang in 24 hours?
"Do you guys know any good awakenings around here?"
"What?! Don't tell me, are you really thinking about heist the place?"
Edric shrugged.
"You can't be serious…"
"I actually know one person," Tina interjected. "She worked with me a long time ago, and I know she is leading a gang around here."
"Perfect, now you are giving ideas…" He rubbed his nosebridge, "Fine, I give up. Where do we find your friend?"