Thief of Time

When it came to making a grand entrance and things like that, Lily was definitely more skilled than Claud. By the time she was done abusing the guards who had so foolishly blocked her way, the two of them were staring off into the distant Moons. From their glazed eyes, which were also misted over with the beginnings of teardrops, Claud could tell that they were questioning their purpose in life.

As expected, the guards had tried to chat up Lily, but her rebuttals were savage. Claud didn’t even want to recall the kinds of veiled, yet obvious insults that she had delivered so offhandedly, so it was with some dread that he finally caught up to Lily.

“What’s wrong, Claud?” Lily asked, as he fell in line with her footsteps.

He shot some gazes in the direction of Julan’s city gates. “Just wondering if every noble has the same witty tongue as you. I was listening to you, and even I felt like my life had no meaning.”

Her words had hit him quite hard; Lily had unloaded a barrage of insults aimed at insulting their self-worth and everything, but these guards weren’t the only ones who had issues with their character.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just me,” said Lily. “The lower you are on the nobility totem, the sharper your tongue needs to be. There’s a qualitative difference between me and Farah; she won’t be able to use her tongue the way I did.”

“Really?” Claud patted his chest. “What a relief. I thought everyone was like you. Now that’ll be a scary thought.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Lily asked.

“I mean, your ability to demean others,” Claud replied. “Other than that, you’re a swell person.”

“Hmm. Your praise in this aspect does sound sincere,” Lily noted. “Fine, you’re off the hook.”

“Great, thanks.” Letting out a small sigh of relief, the master thief began to survey the capital city that belonged to Lily’s family. There was a sordid air to it, with all kinds of shady deals going on in broad moonlight. Sleezy men roamed the streets, cat-calling at whatever women they saw. At such a sight, Claud was struck by the impulse to buy a mask for both him and Lily, even though they were both in disguise.

“A horrible place, isn’t it?” Lily asked quietly. “The poorer folk of Julan have abandoned hope for a better life. There is no value in living honestly; why not seize the day and act out one’s desires? After all, the only enforcement that goes on is on that enforces pilfering and plundering.”

“What do you mean by that?” Claud asked.

“The guards here don’t do anything, unless they themselves want something,” Lily replied. “They’re low-level criminals that make use of Baron Julan’s power. In fact, these guards have to pay a certain amount of money every month to the administration, or else they get fired.”

Claud found that notion somewhat amusing. “Even those guards at the gate?”

“That’s slightly different. The guards at the gate are the city guards, who are bankrolled by Emperor Grandis’ administration,” said Lily. “No, I’m talking about these guys, the Julan personal guards. Here, there’s a clear separation of ruler and vassal authorities; somehow, the Julan city guards are only allowed to interfere in cases of injury and death.”

“The Julan personal guards handle everything else?” Claud asked.

“Yes. Everything else, from city security to patrolling,” Lily replied, her voice one of sadness. “It is not an uncommon sight to see these guards breaking into houses and…”

She didn’t complete her sentence, but Claud got her meaning anyway, and a small fire burned in the pit of his stomach. “And this is allowed?”

“Yes.” Lily’s facial expression was contorted. “Some time ago, I asked Farah to do something about this place, since its rulers and its administration is beyond redemption. Of course, she took it as a jest, but…”

“I knew that this wasn’t a good tourist destination by any means, but this is…unbelievable,” Claud muttered. “What are your plans?”

“You keep asking that,” Lily replied. “Fine, I’ll tell you the gist of it. By crippling the barony and the administration, the city guards here will be able to take over the city. As a rule of thumb, city guards are empowered to take control over any city if law and order breaks down completely.”

“Ah.” Claud tapped his feet. “You intend to purge the corruption at its source.”

“I cannot imagine a worse set of rulers than my family,” Lily replied. “No matter what family takes the helm.”

The master thief shuddered at the coldness that accompanied her words. Lily had written off her family, as one that was nothing but toxin to the people of Julan. However, could someone really plot to kill their own family members this easily? The fact that he could sense a lingering reluctance within her words told him otherwise. Perhaps she wanted Claud to dissuade her, to tell her that there were other methods to save the innocent people of Julan.

Claud cast around for some ideas, and then settled on a straightforward approach. “Is there no other way to topple them without resorting to murders? The law and order bit sounds like a good avenue to approach from.”

“I’ve tried thinking about it, but it’s a lot harder to instigate riots without toppling the Julan personal guard,” Lily replied.

Claud tapped his feet. “The personal guard, eh?”

“What of it?” Lily asked. “Are you intending to…”

“Me?” Claud chuckled. “No, obviously not. But the personal guards probably are heinous criminals through and through. If they were to be neutralised, the denizens of Julan might not be as—”

“Most of them join up because they were poor folk,” Lily replied. “The Julan personal guards are highly contested positions amongst the poorer folk, since any such person would be able to legally extort funds and resources from their fellows. Remove a hundred of them, and another hundred would pop up tomorrow, each of them eager recruits.”

Claud clicked his teeth. “This is a troublesome issue.”

“Caused by endemic poverty,” Lily replied. “More importantly, extortion has become a custom of the personal guards here. To be one of these guards is to be able to live their desired life. Rape, robbery, pillaging, bribery…these sordid acts are enabled by simply being employed.”

“And even if we somehow kill off every member of the Julan personal guard, a nasty precedent has been set.”

“Yes. And the Julan family has a vested interest in maintaining such a system. They provide authority to those people, who in turn pay a certain quota of resources every month,” Lily replied. “It’s a wicked system that encourages robbery and all sorts of crimes.”

“But you don’t like the idea of killing your family.”

“Who does?” Lily replied. “But there is no choice, is there? So long as my father does not end his coercive policies, this cycle will never end. In fact, commoners are not even allowed to leave the territory now. Anyone found leaving outside the small cities and towns of Julan executed on the spot.”

“To prevent people from fleeing.” Claud clenched his fist. “Damn th—”

The master thief paused. He had forgotten that the target of his anger was Lily’s family, and no matter how much she disliked them, hearing other people curse her family had to hurt too.

“Go ahead,” said Lily. “They deserve it; it’s something they deliberately chose. In fact, remember those kidnappings I told you about? It’s the Julan personal guards that carry these things out too.”

Forcibly taking a deep breath, Claud tore his eyes away from Lily’s dispassionate face. “Let’s…go find some place to rest in first, and then we’ll think up of a plan. For now, we’ll go with yours.”

“Mm.”

Under Lily’s lead, the two went over to an inn near the middle of Julan, before bunking in the same room. Claud had insisted on it; he hadn’t forgotten the kidnappings that had occurred in Nachtville.

“I apologise if this arrangement poses problems,” said Claud, “but given what I know, I would prefer it if nothing untoward happened to you. The others are very scary people.”

“No worries,” said Lily, whose demeanour was still one of freezing ice. “Even without your prompting, I would have asked to stay in the same room. Apparently, laying out traps provides one with a great sense of security at night.”

“Ah, you do understand me.”

The two chuckled in unison, and for a moment, the troubles that had plagued Lily’s mind seemed to fade away. She looked like the usual adventurous young woman one could find anywhere in Licencia, free of all sorts of concerns and considerations. Naturally, Claud preferred this side of her, but to dismiss her concerns and worries was not something he would do.

As the sounds of running water entered his ear, Claud got up and started to lay out his usual nightly preparations. There was no time to waste, after all, and the more time he spent on protecting himself and Lily, the better.

After all, this was Julan.