The smuggler pursed his lips in thought, even as he tried to repress a grin from emerging at the paladin's indignation. For all of his ambition and ruthlessness, there were few things in this world that gave him more pleasure than the knowledge that he had successfully antagonised someone. Part of it was pragmatism, for if he was capable of hitting the nerves, so to speak, it put him in a position above them, a position that his ego quite enjoyed. The other part was just plain amusement.
It was the small things that mattered.
Nero folded his arms, tilting his head slightly as a slight wind seemed to cause a rustle in the copse of trees. "There are a few ways to do this, not all of them easy," the Hyur stared at the ground for several long seconds before glancing up at Roen. "If I had to say, the most surefire way would not be to explicitly destroy the list, per se...it would be a forgery." The smirk streaked itself across his face in the same way that lightning streaked itself across a night sky, though the smuggler's smug expression at having an idea was far more permanent than the appearance of lightning.
"We obtain a copy of the list, and find someone who can forge a modified copy of it. I may know a few people...though it'll require a lot of gil." Nero shrugged. He always knew that a venture like this could be expensive, but it didn't change anything. "Then we find this list maker. We can rely on your Brass Blade friends for that; they'll trace the route from inside the Blades to find out who's creates the list."
"Who employs that list maker doesn't matter, whether it be the Monetarists, the Syndicate, or the Sultana herself. Hells, even General Raubahn could be getting in on the action," the smuggler gave a nonchalant shrug. "What does matter is how we spread our forgery to the guards, in which case we could try reaching out to the list-maker." The smuggler tilted his head from the right to the left instead, like a pendulum.
"If he has family or something else we can use to blackmail or threaten him, we can obtain some manner of leverage. Or," cue the head tilt from left to right, "and this is my preferred method; we simply swap in our forged copy for the one the list-maker receives from his employers. He'll distribute our forgery for us, his employers remain none the wiser, and everybody wins."
Nero gave a small jump forward from the tree he was leaning on and spread his arms out grandly, as if he were presenting the opening act of an illusionist. "This way, nobody hurts anybody, we get what we want, the good triumph, the evil suffer, and the innocent are spared," Nero echoed his past mockery, giving a slight bow at the end.
It was the small things that mattered.
Nero folded his arms, tilting his head slightly as a slight wind seemed to cause a rustle in the copse of trees. "There are a few ways to do this, not all of them easy," the Hyur stared at the ground for several long seconds before glancing up at Roen. "If I had to say, the most surefire way would not be to explicitly destroy the list, per se...it would be a forgery." The smirk streaked itself across his face in the same way that lightning streaked itself across a night sky, though the smuggler's smug expression at having an idea was far more permanent than the appearance of lightning.
"We obtain a copy of the list, and find someone who can forge a modified copy of it. I may know a few people...though it'll require a lot of gil." Nero shrugged. He always knew that a venture like this could be expensive, but it didn't change anything. "Then we find this list maker. We can rely on your Brass Blade friends for that; they'll trace the route from inside the Blades to find out who's creates the list."
"Who employs that list maker doesn't matter, whether it be the Monetarists, the Syndicate, or the Sultana herself. Hells, even General Raubahn could be getting in on the action," the smuggler gave a nonchalant shrug. "What does matter is how we spread our forgery to the guards, in which case we could try reaching out to the list-maker." The smuggler tilted his head from the right to the left instead, like a pendulum.
"If he has family or something else we can use to blackmail or threaten him, we can obtain some manner of leverage. Or," cue the head tilt from left to right, "and this is my preferred method; we simply swap in our forged copy for the one the list-maker receives from his employers. He'll distribute our forgery for us, his employers remain none the wiser, and everybody wins."
Nero gave a small jump forward from the tree he was leaning on and spread his arms out grandly, as if he were presenting the opening act of an illusionist. "This way, nobody hurts anybody, we get what we want, the good triumph, the evil suffer, and the innocent are spared," Nero echoed his past mockery, giving a slight bow at the end.
