Ch34. Iron Bank

Thomas and Bella flew through the night sky above Bravos. From an outside perspective, they would seem like two liquid clouds of black smoke almost affectionately entwining themselves in spiraling motion as they glided towards the ground.

The headquarters of Iron Bank was experiencing a calm night. The guards patrolled the bank relaxedly, not expecting anything to happen as they chatted among themselves while walking.

But it was not to be.

Two shadows suddenly broke the window as they flew inside, straight to the ground. With a loud 'bang', they cracked the marble floor as both landed on one-knee, creating a small shockwave that sent the guards flying away from them.

The soldiers further away quickly realized the situation as they saw two mysterious strangers clad from head to toes in black high-collared robe, their faces covered by hoods up to their chin and a black billowing cape, gently but menacingly swaying in the wind, on their backs.

They were being raided!

By magicians no less!

But as proud Bravosi warriors, they could not give in to fear! Drawing their swords they prepared to charge the strangers and overpower them with numbers only to see them turn into black smoke. The smoke quickly twisted and approached them at speeds barely visible with the naked eye. Now, the warriors started to get spooked.

The clouds of smoke circled the entire room, one in clockwise motion the other in anticlockwise one. A blanket of darkness filled the room as black mist rose due to their movement, making the warriors cough and gasp for air as they were blinded.

Not one noticed the steel door leading towards the vault ripped from their hinges.

"Well, that was fun." Bellatrix quipped as she skipped through the passage towards the vault as if she owned the place, twirling her wand on her finger.

"Sure..." Thomas agreed lightheartedly as he watched her quick and controlled motions as her wand circled her fingers one by one, at times about to fall out of her hand only to miraculously flip backward back onto her finger. Back and forth. Back and worth the stick twirled.

"I will never understand why you carry that useless stick everywhere." Added Thomas as his eyes were drawn to her precise handling of the piece of wood.

"Hey! It's the sentiment!" Bellatrix cheekily protested but then trailed off distractedly as she pointed it forward. "And good stress-reliever..."

The second she finished saying that, the ground in front of them where she pointed her wands rose in several hands, catching and raising to the air several swordsmen waiting to ambush the duo.

Bellatrix snickered as she saw her work and the humans flailing their hands around as they could not free themselves from the rocky hands.

"See? Very satisfying." She asked Thomas who chuckled and patted her head.

"Yes, yes. Good job Bella."

In return, he got a childish pout but Bellatrix didn't shrug off his hand. Instead, she leaned into it, relishing the feeling it gave her.

They came up to a massive five meters tall circular door made of Valyrian steel. Thomas whistled.

"I gotta say... If Lannister saw these, he would get a heart attack." He quipped jokingly.

"True..." Bellatrix seriously agreed. "How many swords had to be melted for these doors? Fifty? More?" She shrugged helplessly as she stared greedily at the door made of steel so easily enchanted with a particular magic that it was revolutionary even in the Wizarding World.

"If you want them, then take them... We may have come here to 'borrow' their entire gold supply and put it to better use but that doesn't mean we can't take more." Thomas told her, and before he even finished the sentence, the door alongside a bit of the wall was flung towards them courtesy of Bella's overpowered Accio.

She shrunk them into the size of small candy and put them in her pocket, giddily hopping around.

Thomas shook his head as he entered the vault, he cracked his knuckles as he saw the piles of coins stacked together, just waiting to be liberated!

"Well... daddy is here, my precious!"

For three hours Bella and Thomas ransacked the entirety of the vault, filling three large multi-compartment trunks expanded to their limits.

They were done when Thomas finally lifted his head, looking at the door where with a pained twisted expression a tall fat man looked towards them in fury, observing them as they were cleaning out every single coin.

Thomas lifted the barrier on the door and in a matter of seconds, the relaxed figures of Bella who was tending to her nails, and Thomas who sat on a trunk, observing the situation, were promptly surrounded by thousands of swordsmen as the horde of people flooded the underground vault.

"Who do you think you are robbing here!?" The fat man shrieked at them in apoplectic rage, spitting saliva around.

"You." Thomas deadpanned and the fat man looked as if he had a stroke. "You should be happy you know!" Thomas scolded. "We taught you a valuable lesson here! Always think about anti-magic protection!"

As he said that, the fat man gritted his teeth in frustration.

"On a happier note," Thomas started but then saluted as he said. "we are off."

The two figures alongside three trunks containing the wealth of Iron Bank disappeared, leaving only a bewildered crowd staring at an empty space.

...

Several days later, Council of the Iron Bank.

Five people, the representatives of families owning the Iron Bank were seated behind a round table, all looking haggard and weary. If one knew them before, that person would never think these always bragging tycoons could look so disheartened.

"What will we do?" An old, grey-haired man sighed tiredly.

"What can we do." A thirty-years-old brown-haired woman barked angrily at him as each of them knew the only answer available for them.

"What about borrowing from..." A young, twenty-three years old man started only to stop as four sets of eyes landed on him.

"Marrack, you are too young indeed... Borrowing." The brown-haired woman scolded him.

"Elda!" A regal looking man clad in a luxurious black cloth scolded the woman. "Let Zerra be. His suggestion was valid."

"But Rimo, we can not borrow so much money!" Elda barked back.

"I concur, you know..." The grey-haired man resignedly added his remark.

"Gelbo, not you too." The regal-looking man massaged his temples as he turned to the last of the five, a quiet pondering woman in her forties. "Milica, your opinion?"

All four turned to her, knowing Milica was the smartest when it came to economy and knowledge of the world situation among them.

"I am afraid..." She started carefully. "We will have to add a new member to this council shortly."

The four remaining people grimaced at having someone have a say over Iron Bank.

"We lost around two-hundred million gold coins." Milica concluded. "We have secret stashes, investments, and quite frankly we will survive this but..." She took a deep breath as it was hard even for her to say the next part. "We will never manage to get out of debt if we don't add a new share-holder."

"Okay." Rimo conceded, and the other three just nodded in defeat. "But... who?"

Milica winced.

"There is only one organization that would have enough money in their coffers. Our direct competition in many fields..." The realization dawned on the people inside as they gritted their teeth at the hopeless situation in front of them. Milica nevertheless dejectedly continued her report.

"The Belserion Trade..."