Thief of Time

After taking ten or so seconds to get it out of his mind, Claud turned back to the shelf. He didn’t want to take the other items there, but on the off-chance that the items on it survived the inferno that was going to strike this place, it was possible that the absence of that dull pearl would be noted.

Claud was not going to have the carpet pulled out from under him due to some intrepid investigator’s wild guess. If someone knew that there was a connection between that pearl and Crown, its conspicuous absence could lead to a great deal of unforeseen consequences.

Like his unwanted second identity as Tot, for instance.

Muttering darkly to himself, the master thief swept the contents of the shelf into his bag. Fortunately, most of them were jewellery of one kind or another, which meant that he wasn’t exactly taking a loss. More importantly, they were more efficient when it came to weight; a bag of fifty gold coins weighed more than these items.

With that, his backpack had been filled, which was a load of his mind. Smiling wryly to himself, Claud began to assemble the set-up in which the Julan treasury would burn.

As a thief, learning how to commit all sorts of petty crimes in a manner that was both light-weight and devastating was crucial. In that sense, Lily had the potential to be Master Thief Lily, since she had those devastating bombs. Of course, she would need years of practical, on-the-job training before she could even come close to that appellation, but her interests had given her a good foundation.

Committing petty crimes like vandalism, arson and conflict incitation was key to creating distractions and wiping away evidence.

It was an art of sorts.

After arranging the usual arsonist setup — a backpack’s worth of flaregrass, a bunch of delayed arsonists and flour — Claud licked his lips and checked that there was nothing else he’d forgotten.

“Alright,” Claud muttered. “That should be it.”

Tearing up a skillstrip with Presence Nullification on it — his current application was due to expire in around thirty seconds — Claud gazed at the pile of gold coins. He didn’t care about them, but it was possible that there was a small trap door underneath that pile. It was a common habit of nobles, but his bag was already full of artefacts, gold notes, lifestones and jewellery.

Steeling his heart, Claud picked up a delayed arsonist and triggered it, before making his way back to the treasury’s unofficial second door with ease. For professionals like him, leaving behind a small loophole was something normal; Claud had revisited treasuries more than once over years of time-sensitive high-efficiency trade runs.

Leaving behind no evidence that anyone had entered and left the treasury, Claud tore up another skillstrip for Flight and took to the skies. Speeding past the sentries, who were staring out into the blank void that was their lives, Claud felt his body relax.

As it turned out, the Julans were nothing impressive. The fireworks that Lily had prepared, in case an explosive distraction was required, would therefore be repurposed as their farewell gift instead.

With that thought in mind, Claud sped back to the inn they had stayed in for the past few days. There was, however, no point in exposing the fact that he had Presence Nullification to Lily, so the master thief decided to sit around for a moment and listen into the guards who were manning the city gate.

These guards, as people under the payroll of Emperor Grandis, were likely to have far looser lips when they were far-flung territory like Julan.

“…a one-folder feels like.”

“I think you should just go into a brothel and get your urges checked.”

Claud raised an eyebrow as the contents of the gate guards’ conversation entered his ears, before stifling a giggle.

“But even fantasising about it feels awesome, right?” the younger guard asked. “Imagine this scene: someone with so much power and influence underneath you, moaning…”

“We’re on the job, you idiot.” Metal clinked as the older guard smacked his junior’s helmet. “Wanna fantasise, you do it in a private setting.”

“Tch, you just don’t want to be tempted while working.”

“We are on the Emperor’s bankroll. Didn’t you hear what happened to Rambda a few weeks ago?”

“Corporal Rambda?” the younger guard asked. “I heard something happened to him when he was on tour at Pletsville.”

“He’s just Rambda now. He was fired for talking smack on the job; some countess overheard him gossiping about the brothels there and took umbrage at his words. You know how he’s like; all kinds of abusive and horrible words come out from his mouth when he talks about women.” The older guard shook his head. “At the countess’ request, an investigation into him was run, and all kinds of shady things came out.”

For some reason, all this reminded Claud of a particular countess who was presumably sitting around in Moon Mansion right now.

“So?” the younger guard asked. “What happened?”

Claud listened in closely — he was also interested in what came next.

“Under the scrutiny of that countess, Rambda’s investigation turned out lots of really nasty things, and he was soon sent to Grandia,” the older guard replied. “But he was killed on the way there.”

“Killed?”

Claud blinked at the sudden turn of events.

“Yeah. No one knows why, but…”

The older guard looked around and lowered his volume. “I think he was bribing Baron Aoro to look the other way when he did all these crimes. And since he was caught, the baron would naturally want to silence him. It’s just a conjecture, though.”

Silence followed for the next few seconds.

“A-anyway, what do you think the Dusk Daggers are doing here?” the younger guard asked, in what looked like a very blatant attempt to change the subject. “They’ve been poking around the city for the past few days.”

“Beats me, but the barony seems to be on edge. The Julan personal guards have all reined in their behaviour too,” said the older guard, who was clearly eager to play along. “Sergeant’s given some orders too — apparently we are to steer clear of them. Heard that they’re here on some request by the Folders’ Association.”

“I wonder if we can get some benefits from them,” said the younger guard. “They’re all mana-users, right? Like, real ones! Do you think they’ll give me some lifestones if I kneel and beg?”

The older guard chuckled. “You and your funny ideas.”

Claud rubbed his nose. It was good to walk around and listen to what Dia called vanillas — people who weren’t mana-users — speak. Other than picking up interesting information, it also reminded him that there were all sorts of ways to gain resources…

He wasn’t going to beg, though.

Probably.

However, it didn’t mean that other people were above such things. As someone whose actions tonight would drive the Julans into desperate straits, Claud was well aware that they would not stop at anything to seek out the thief.

Shaking his head, he floated off the ground and headed back for the inn. There were still ten or so minutes before both skills wore off, but Claud had to find a place to appear inconspicuously before that happened. Sure, he would just seem to be someone who had escaped other people’s notice when Presence Nullification wore off, but what if there was someone who was very sensitive to abrupt appearances like these?

That would be trouble through and through.

Due to the possibility of off-chances, exceptions and aberrations existing, Claud would not place full confidence in the effects of Presence Nullification when it was about to wear off. It was too risky for him.

Right, the mounds of gold coins should be melted down by now. Claud made a small smirk as he sat in the shade of a tree, one of the better locations to naturally appear. From the schedule he obtained from some loose-lipped guard, the Julans would not be aware of the severe loss until the last day of the week — Violetgott — came around.

Flaregrass was the best fuel for the job when it came to producing ultra-hot flames, after all. These things were rather expensive; he had to pay seventy-three gold to fill up his backpack. After all, it was usually used in smelting metals and refining them, which was a lucrative business.

Thieves rarely used flaregrass, since it went against some of their tenets. If they wanted more visible fires, there were far cheaper alternatives on the market; his profession was one that prided itself on sustainability.

As he dwelled on the benefits of his profession, Claud felt the effects of Presence Nullification and Flight wear off. The master thief lazed around for a few more minutes before he got up, making sure to look like someone who had enjoyed a good nap, before heading into the inn proper.

Lily, who was looking at a bowl of thick soup, glanced at him as he sat opposite her.

“Already done?” Lily asked.

“I’m a professional.”

“Right you are.” She scooped out some soup and drank it. “Shall we leave after this?”

“Naturally. We can watch the flowers bloom atop the mountain.”

“I look forward to that.”

Calling over a waiter, Claud ordered some apple juice, and enjoyed the peace that would soon be shattered.