Sarah's Story Chapter 037 - The Royal Bank

From the outside, the Royal Castle walls of tall, dark grey stone were imposing, topped with crenelations and patrolling guards and knights at all times.

On the inside was a well-maintained, beautiful garden. Countless flowers bloomed and paths crisscrossed hither and thither, with gazebos sitting unused but ready for a tea party at a moment’s notice. There were various buildings mainly lining the inner wall, leaving the garden space free, and off to the left was a particularly attractive white stone building with the sign of the balance and quill on the front.

The Royal Bank.

Sarah made her way directly there, and a knight, a full on knight, held up a hand to stop her.

“Halt, state your business, Adventurer,” he said.

Sarah kept her hands still and in sight as she responded. “Making a delivery from the main gate City Guard office, as requested.”

“Show me the request form,” the knight demanded. His visor was up, and Sarah could see that although he was giving her a stern, professional look, he was sweating underneath all that armor in the hot summer sun. Poor guy.

“Right, here you go.” She passed the nearly year old job request form into his gauntleted hand, and he brought it up to his helmet to inspect while still keeping an eye on her.

“Everything seems to be in order. Proceed.” He handed the paper back to Sarah and resumed his watch without waiting for a response.

“Okay, thanks,” Sarah said and pushed open the dark oak doors and a wave of cool air swept over her from inside.

There was a spacious, brightly lit lobby area with finely upholstered furniture around low tables, and here and there around the walls were well-dressed men and women sitting at desks, either looking at paperwork or talking to even more finely dressed men with haughty expressions. Directly ahead was a tall gentleman standing at a lectern, with thin-framed eyeglasses and fully grey, thin hair, but impeccably dressed and standing ramrod straight. Behind him was a row of receptionist desks, and behind those mostly empty desks was an area of more desks all filled with clerks dealing with paperwork, and behind them, a wall of metal safe-deposit boxes and a large, steel door tightly sealed shut.

The gentleman looked Sarah up and down, eyes lingering just a moment on her armbands and the lockbox, and then he dipped his head in greeting. “Welcome to the Royal Bank, young madam. How may I help you today?” A small smile tugged the corners of his lips upward.

“Uh, yes, I’m here to make a delivery. I have the job request form here.” Sarah stepped up to the lectern, form in hand.

“Very good, may I see it?” The man held out his hand, and Sarah handed over the form.

He took his time reading the entire form, then handed it back. “Everything seems to be in order, please go ahead to desk number two.” He gestured with his hand to the second receptionist desk from the left, at which sat a woman approaching middle-age with her light blonde hair in a tight bun.

Sarah nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

The gentleman smiled warmly. “My pleasure.”

Sarah walked along the polished, white stone floor right up to the receptionist.

The woman gave her a thin, forced smile from behind the desk. “Making a delivery?” she asked.

Sarah nodded and placed the form on the desk. “Yes, ma’am.”

The woman read the form thoroughly and then looked back at Sarah. “Alright, lean forward.”

Sarah did so, slightly confused, and the woman extended her hand, holding a key, and unlocked the box. She unhooked the padded, interior box, leaving the shell strapped to Sarah’s chest, and emptied it out on the desk. She took a moment to inspect it closely, then turned it toward Sarah.

“Can you confirm that the box is completely empty?”

Sarah took a close look and didn’t see anything. “Yes, looks empty to me.”

“Very good.” The woman put the box back into place in the shell and relocked it. Then followed several long minutes of counting copper coins.

“...and that makes a total of two hundred silver exactly. Do you agree?”

“Yes, I agree,” Sarah said.

“Very good.” The woman signed a form and then turned it to Sarah. “Please sign here.”

Sarah did so.

Then the woman signed the job request form, marking it complete. Sarah took it, folded it up, and put it in her pocket. She would take it back to the Guild and have the money applied to her training tab.

“Thank you, have a nice day,” the woman said in a bored voice without looking at Sarah.

“Yes, you too,” Sarah replied, a little put off, and walked towards the door.

“Have a nice day, young lady,” the gentleman smiled at her as she passed.

“Thanks sir, see you later!” Sarah said.

The man quirked an eyebrow up. “Later?” he muttered as the extremely casually dressed commoner girl exited the Royal Bank.

An hour later, the girl was back. “Another delivery!” she cheerfully announced.

“Very good,” he smiled and inspected the job request. Another old one, from the Merchants’ Guild this time, standard settling of accounts, four hundred and fifty silver.

Curiosity got the better of him. “Any trouble on the way here?”

“Hmm? No, not really, just a couple snipers, a few people threw knives… Oh, there was one small gang right when I left the Merchants’ Guild, but the Guildmaster there said he’d take care of them.” She smiled up at him innocently.

He furrowed his brow. “The Merchants’ Guildmaster? Count Bernard?”

“Yeah, he was really nice,” she replied.

“I see.” His professional mask slid back into place. “Please proceed to desk number two.”

“Yes sir,” she said politely and walked away, coins jingling in their box. Soon enough she was walking back out, having completed her delivery.

“Have a nice day,” he said, and she turned and smiled at him. “I’ll be back in a bit!”

He was properly flustered by this point, though it hardly showed. “Young miss, are you planning to make more deliveries today?”

She stopped on her way out, then turned and reached into her pocket, withdrawing a stack of folded up papers. “Yes sir, probably half a dozen more. The Royal Bank is open until five o’clock today, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, that’s correct…” He considered asking if she was alright, but it really wasn’t his place. He simply smiled professionally. “Take care.”

She grinned. “Will do!” And then she was back out the door, letting in a little gust of hot summer air before the door closed behind her.

The gentleman turned and gave Gertrude a look, with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged her shoulders and made a much more exaggerated expression.

What was a girl who looked like she’d just had her Choosing Day doing delivering money, totally unarmored and unarmed? His own [Danger Sense] and [Keen Eye] hadn’t noted any hidden weapons on her, and clearly she was encountering trouble on the way.

But every hour or so for the rest of the day, the girl returned carrying large sums of money in that lockbox strapped to her chest. Eight deliveries in total, the last one a little after four in the afternoon.

“Have a good night, sir!” she smiled and gave him a little wave before heading out through the front door again.

The door shut and he felt like sagging against his lectern, although of course he didn’t. He was too professional for that. Besides, there were still upper nobility here and there. At some point, a group of noblewomen had come in with their maids and even held a full on tea party in the lobby, chattering about the strange young money girl coming and going.

He sensed Gertrude approaching from behind, but waited until she was at his side to turn.

“Who on earth was that Sarah girl, Kyle?” she asked with an exasperated voice. “She told me she got in multiple altercations on each one of her trips today, but there wasn’t a scratch on her!”

Kyle, the head of the Royal Bank’s intelligence department, and also secretly reporting to the second prince directly, simply shook his head. “I’m as flummoxed as you are, I’m afraid. I didn’t realize the Adventurers’ Guild had such a talent working for them.” He wasn’t going to mention the name he’d overhead several times from the noblewomen this afternoon, often mentioned in conjunction with Sarah’s.

Helen.

“Well, I’m going to write a complaint to the Adventurers’ Guild. It’s not right, them making that poor young girl do dangerous jobs like that alone.” She shuddered visibly. “I hope she’s not back tomorrow, poor thing…”

Kyle mentally reviewed the requests the girl had completed today. There were still money transportation requests outstanding, as far as he knew, but no more to the Royal Bank. Just a few between various merchants and Guilds throughout the city, paying the same pittance as all the others.

He simply composed a sad smile on his face. “Let’s hope not,” he agreed.

Asufal’s Royal Treasury rejoiced that month, as commerce within the city picked up significantly due to money moving to the correct vaults for once.

The leadership of the Adventurers’ Guild Headquarters was overcome by chagrin, as their problem child E Rank adventurer cleared her debt to the Guild in a single day and completed the requirements to promote to C Rank less than a week later. The cherry on top was the letter of appreciation they received from the School of the Immortal Sword’s Head Swordsmaster, and an official recommendation for an A Rank rating in combat for Brawler Sarah.