Chapter 669: We're Going to Jail
A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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"Alright boys, I… I think he's learned his lesson. Won't be… stealing from us again." Delvin said in a shaking voice.
Everyone around him was either exhausted, lying on the ground, or floating in the sewers… it wasn't pretty. Even Delvin was trying to fix his own nose while clinging to what was left of his dignity.
Glymet lowered his fists with a smile and helped up Brynjolf who was stunned badly on the ground.
"So… Delvin, we're good about that thingy?" Asked Swims-at-Night, who went out of his hiding.
"I ain't talking to you, scale-face." Delvin replied with disdain before turning to Glymet, "But I'll hear that heavy-fisted guy out."
"Goodness me! I think I am getting the hang of Riften's alleys." Glymet said with a lighthearted tone.
"Ah! You're just lucky we played fair." Delvin replied with a sour mood, "What are you after?"
"An Artifact that was rumored to be around Riften." Glymet said, "I know that Swims-at-Night has some debt to pay so I am helping a friend out to acquire a treasure and sell it."
"Well ain't you the most generous of souls." Delvin said as he sat back on his chair while Brynjolf sat beside him holding his side.
"Isn't that the Artifact that all the fuss was about a few days ago?" Brynjolf asked.
"So you know something?" Glymet asked.
"I know a few things." Delvin replied, "First, that Artifact search was a scam to attract the sort of fool Swims is like and to make them swords for hire at the Black-Briar company."
"No." Swims-at-Night denied, "I have it on good authority that an Artifact exists. Something very valuable."
"How so?" Delvin asked.
"I've done some research for him. We know it is a Ring." Glymet said.
What he calls research is probably a secret he knows and is keeping from Delvin, of course.
"A fighter and a researcher? But to think all of this for a mere ring?" Delvin looked at Glymet carefully, "Tell you what, you can beat that lizard to Oblivion and I got some nice work for you."
"I'll pass." Glymet smiled.
"Whatever!" Delvin said, "If you are looking for the Ring, then do a favor for me. Some other people are looking for that ring too and if they got it first, I doubt things will end nicely."
"So you're staying?" Glymet asked.
"Bring the ring to me and I'll introduce you to a buyer with the deepest pockets in all Skyrim." Delvin said, "If you catch the other people who are looking for that ring as well, the buyer will reward you handsomely."
"You don't happen to be talking about your friend from Winterhold." Swims asked.
"You shut up." Delvin glared at Swims-at-Night and turned to Glymet, "Deal?"
"If things go well, I think I can fence things here indeed… but no promises. Treasure hunting is a gamble." Glymet said.
"Whatever you say." Said Delvin then he asked, "How do you know that slime lizard by the way?"
"The Great War." Glymet replied, "He used to smuggle things for me and a small band of mercenaries."
"A veteran? No wonder you hit like a mammoth." Delvin said in a low tone, "So, you're just helping him out?"
"I guess so." Glymet nodded, "A gut feeling led me to hunt this treasure to be honest when I saw Swims a few days ago…"
***
*A few days ago*
In a tavern in Dawnstar, a hooded Argonian walked in reeking the smell of the old rotten ship he just arrived on. His looks were as bad as he smelled but he wore a refreshed face nonetheless.
In his eyes, he saw a familiar face that he didn't see in years.
"Glym, old friend." Swims ran to the table at the corner of the tavern.
"Swims, you are a week late." Glymet said and put down an old book he was reading to the light of a single candle on his small table.
The Argonian dropped his luggage and sat opposite the middle-aged man.
"How were things?" He asked.
"Nice." Glymet replied, "A week ago, you could have run into Tyr and Jonrad here."
"Ah! I haven't seen Tyr in a while and I have a message from General Cassia for him." The Argonian said, "But I want to avoid Commander Jonrad."
"You still can't let go of a grudge?" Glymet laughed.
He was talking about the fact that Jonrad had arrested Swims-at-Night once before during the Great War.
"His son is alright though. Met him once in Riften last time I was there." Swims said, "Ever met young Jonhild?"
"You mean Jon Dare?" Glymet laughed while shaking his head, "The Nords almost have a 10th deity who goes by that name now."
"He's made an impact. You know he was seen once with the Prince of Stros M'kai? I avoided an arrest over there when I said I met him once."
"Slimy as ever, Swims." Glymet
"The years have been kind to you but not me." Swims said with a chuckle, "Still when I heard you were in Skyrim, I knew you were just the partner I needed for my latest enterprise."
"You mean another folly?" Glymet asked.
"Don't be so harsh!" Swims complained before explaining, "I was recently approached by a mysterious man who's been hiring adventurers and treasure hunters from across Tamriel. He wanted me to find a bauble called Barilzar's Mazed Band."
"You don't say?" Glymet narrowed his eyes as that thing Swims just mentioned is very familiar to him.
"You know about it?" Swims asked.
"And what it can do." Glymet replied with gleaming eyes, "You do realize that this thing is more valuable than anything we've ever gone after before."
"Then you really know." Swims-at-Night drew closer, "The treasure of a dead god."
"What do you know?" Glymet asked.
"The man thinks he's tracked the ring right here in the Rift. I turned his request down. Didn't really trust him. But there must be a fortune that will come from that ring." Swims-at-Night then asked with an expression of pride, "What do you say you and I find that ring and steal it right from under the treasure hunters' noses?"
"I say, my friend, you managed to reel me in with things crazier than this before. I say I'm in."
Glymet and Swims shook hands together.
For the next few days, the news would arrive about the fight between Jon Dare and the Dragonborn with the Dragons at Solitude then news about the assassination of the Emperor, all of this and that while Swims-at-Night and Glymet were leaving no stone unturned around the Rift.
Eventually, Swims managed to hear a rumor about a man living in the woods and had information about a Magical Ring, the rumor didn't stop there and surely attracted the attention of other treasure hunters who were interested in the Ring. Glymet and Swims-at-Night departed from Ivarstead to a place called Thornwell Farm.
There, they saw the farm's owner being surrounded by Treasure Hunters and getting interrogated badly.
"I'm warning you, old man. Give us the magic ring, or this might get ugly." One of the thugs hit the man on his head and kicked one more piece of furniture.
"Please, no! You don't understand, I need it!" Shouted the old man while begging on his knees, "You there, stranger! Please, help me!"
It seemed that the man had spotted Glymet and Swims on their approach and shouted for them. The two looked at each other and in their eyes, they saw an opportunity. The right thing to do was to liberate the man from the group of thugs and while doing so, they can get a clue from the man about the ring.
To Glymet, those amateur thugs stood no chance and he sent them running. As for the old man, he thanked Swims-at-Night.
"The Gods bless you!" Said the old man.
"It's alright, my good man." Swims smiled, "My friend here is a very kind man but I am sure you understand we aren't here for charity. That ring you spoke of…"
The old man nodded.
"In truth, I don't even have that magic ring anymore. I lost it in the woods over yonder. If you find it, I beg you, please return it. It's precious to me." The old man looked mad but as Glymet looked around the ruined house, he could hear the faint breathing coming from beneath the floor.
Probably family members. Glymet only had to use a detection spell to discover that the one down there was a young man who was sleeping sickly on a hay pile.
"I'll see what I can do." Glymet said as he was sure that there was no ring in the house indeed.
As the two walked out of the farm, Swims complained.
"Well, that was a real waste of time." He said.
"I somehow feel that my chances are good in the woods." Glymet replied.
"How so?" Swims asked.
"The man owned the ring and no news about the Ring appeared in Riften. So… it is still out there." Glymet replied.
"So our area of search just got thinner." Swims nodded.
"And we even know where to look." Glymet added as the two sat off.
After a day of searching, Glymet and Swims-at-Night encountered a vicious Werewolf in the woods and they battled it to death. As the werewolf reverted back to human as the werewolf was weakened, Swims dispatched him with a dagger to the heart. Werewolves were too dangerous to make an enemy with and then spare their lives.
As for what they found on him, it was indeed a magic ring.
"That's no Barilzar's Mazed Band." Swims-at-Night said, "But it does look valuable…"
"No!" Shouted the old man who seemed to have followed them, "This is the Beast Ring. It is a ring blessed by Hircine. It helps my son control his curse."
From what it seemed, the young boy in his house is his son and he is under the curse of Lycanthropy.
"But we can just keep it for our trouble." Swims-at-Night suggested.
Glymet thought carefully before throwing the ring back to the old man.
"Thank you! Thank you, good sir. May the Wolf Mother ever watch over you!" The old man cried in joy and bolted away.
"Well, another good deed done!" Swims-at-Night sighed and followed Glymet away.
***
"And here we are… worn, torn, and looking for leads." Glymet said as he gulped a tankard of ale and ate his chicken.
"You really like chicken." Delvin commented.
"I love chicken." Glymet replied.
Delvin laughed at Glymet who appeared to be like a good gentleman but was a thug at heart.
"Fine… tell you what… I may have heard a rumor about that ring of yours… Barazar's zazed band."
"Barilzar's Mazed Band!" Swims-at-Night corrected him.
"It's a fooking mouthful, that's what it is." Delvin lashed at Swims, "You're going to find that treasure of yours and you're going to pay us. We've got a strong supporter too, you know."
Swims-at-Night started to cower slowly behind Glymet.
"You should really start paying your debts." Glymet said, flipping the table on Swims.
"Fine, fine!" Swims sighed, "Once I get that treasure, I'll make sure your entire guild gets freshly woven new undergarments, happy?"
"Music to my old hairy ears." Delvin grinned, "Now… Here's the info you're after. There was a thief boasting about a Magic Ring. Argonian called Sails-Through-Storms. But she got arrested some weeks back."
"That's your info?" Glymet wanted to belittle the information for more details but it was Swims-at-Night that was suddenly taken.
"Sails?" He cried, "Sails-Through-Storms? She got caught? But… she's a living legend."
"Huh?" Glymet didn't recognize the name.
"Sails-Through-Storms, one of the few remaining Shadowscales, a Pirate Leader, Sailed to the Far East, someone who has made their base of operations on the Dragon Isles between Tamriel and Akavir! She has actually BEEN to Akavir and returned ALIVE."
Swims-at-Night, the so-called best smuggler on Tamriel, started to act like a die-hard fan over another smuggler.
"So I gathered." Delvin confirmed it, "And the guards know it too. She's not in the usual jail, and no one's saying where she is. We've no notion of how to free her."
"Oh! I'll find you one…" Swims jumped off his seat in excitement over the thought of rescuing Sails-Through-Storms, he then paused and smiled like a real creep, "I have a really… really… bad idea."
Seeing the look on his face, Glymet finished his ale and sighed.
"We're going to jail!"
"Exactly."
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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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