Vol. 1 - Ch. 252 - Game of Tag

The two thieves, who had stolen my wallet, continued to shuttle through the alleys even after they're out of our sight. 

"Hehe! He was such an easy target, seemingly fresh out of the hicks! It was worth it to pay that hefty entrance fee for the commercial district. Aren't you glad, Poro?!"

"Yeah, that's why the commercial district during the Rising Dragon Tournament is so popular! Every year, so many rich fools swarmed like locusts from outside. They're our golden hen!"

Heh, they must be quite trained if they could hold a conversation without running out of breath with their pace. I guess, some hoodlums or wannabe explorers? 

From their conversation that wind helped me pick up, I was guessing they're from slave or commoner class, just as I had presumed. With the details I know, lower stratas could never set their foot on upper districts unless they pay a hefty amount as entrance fee. 

The other option was if they're respectable explorers of C-rank or above. Since an explorer of this rank earned a good amount, which also meant substantial tax toward the Empire, and their background being verified by the association, they had no hindrance to them regardless of the caste. Well, and the thieves were clearly not of them. 

The commoners could acquire a temporary ID for many reasons, like when they're hired by the ruling class, or to get a chance to be hired in the commercial district, but the thieves's sole motive was just to pickpocket visitors for easy money.

The commercial district was quite popular among the wealthy upper class, or the tourists, and was just a part of the Empire. 

After giving them a chase for one kilometer, I caught they'd relaxed on their pace, and were talking about finding their next prey. I deliberately spoke in a loud voice from a distance.

"Hey, hold on! Yes, you two!"

Of course, I knew I would be just giving them a chance to escape by making them aware of my presence with that shout, but that's why I did it. I had no intention of catching them right away. I mean, how could I say I was just lost if I already found the cause of me getting lost, eh? 

I was hoping to corner them to the commoner residential district, and naturally worm my way to capture the dark side of the Empire that was never among the sightseeing places. 

I could have checked it without any drama, but I didn't know if anyone was watching me. So I wanted them to entertain this game of chase for a bit more.

"Damn it! That guy hasn't given up! What do you say we temporarily split up, Rigel?"

"Alright, let's meet at our usual place!"

The young boy who had stolen my wallet, pulling a handkerchief cap over his eyes, tossed my wallet to the short haired boy and made his way through the narrow alleys, escaping from my sight. They'd split up. I chased after the short haired guy, Rigel, who had my wallet. 

"Tch! Why are you chasing after me!"

Because you've my wallet, duh. 

Any excuse would fly as long as I had the culprit captured, even if the stolen things weren't retrieved. But, there would be no need to excuse if I could capture the one who had my wallet. 

I kept my pace enough that I wasn't too close, but neither too far from them, and weaved my way across the streets of commercial district. When Rigel realised he wouldn't be able to throw me off the tracks with just running, he turned to crowded place in hope to lose me, making his way through the Giant Steps of Cardaba, Abhramas Store,  and then Fountain of Dios. Each of the place jam packed with tourists. 

"Damn it! He's still chasing after you, Rigel!"

It should have been their meeting place, I reckon. My chase led me to one of the aquedect, under which a handkerchief hat boy, waiting for his partner, slipped out a surprised voice when he noticed me behind him. 

"Yeah! That guy is fast as heck!"

"Fine, let's escape toward the commoner district. A pity though, the fee we paid went down the shit."

After a constant back-and-fro in the commercial district, the two jumped through the aqueduct and out of it, which apparently was a boundary to the commoner district. 

The inspection and ID was required to be verified when entering a higher district, but the exit was free to make from anywhere, as long as they're away from the noble district. 

The commoner district, when I followed them, was quite in contrast to the Empire I had seen so far, dramatically filled with hustle and bustle of the large crowd, and the streets winded through the district in an unplanned manner. 

"Huff...Huff... wow, was he an avenging bastard in his last life? Just how much he's carrying in this wallet!"

"It doesn't seem like we can throw him off! And the damned wallet is also tied quite securely. Wait, maybe it has some kind of mana tool?!"

Well, it's nothing more than a hands-me-down wallet from my elder brother, and before arriving here, I had asked Dan to teach me his knotting technique, so it's just a normal way for me to tie it, nothing special. 

It's not that hard to untie it if you know the trick, but it's probably impossible to open it while also making for a run if they didn't know about it. I mean, they would have tossed aside the wallet had they known how to do it, and just store away the content. 

The short-hair and the handkerchief would sometimes split up, then meet up at another location, sometimes they would go through crowded marketplace, or run through the rooftops of the houses; they had known about this place by heart, so I presume this must be their local area to hang around. 

They couldn't throw me around their trail, regardless. I would say I was just as an expert in navigating though unorthodox means; it was something I had learned from the kids back at royal capital during my delivery runs in the eastern region. And frankly, I was rather excited that the locals were gradually leading me toward the other side of the Empire. 

After another chase that led us through the entirety of the commoner district, the two thieves set their eyes on a gate, seemingly the partition between this district and whatever lay ahead. Just before they had slipped through under it, I heard their taunting remarks, seemingly gloating at their apparent victory.

"*Huff* *Huff* Well, you ran for nothing, Idiot! What lies beyond is the destitute slum, whose name alone can silence any weeping kid of the Olympus. It's the last thing a smartass chap like you would want to hang around. You will not even know when you lost the rest of your wealth, before being thrown in some ditch to die. If you value your life, stop there. Kukuku!"

Olympus's slum was famous for its disastrous public order. It was the home of people that fell below even the servitude class; in other ways, the humans whose nationality wasn't recognised by the Empire. It was effectively an extraterritoriality. 

The guidebook had specifically mentioned in bold letters that in "no circumstance should any tourists try to approach it," though the warning also stopped there, with no further details. 

Not that it matters to me, and I chased after them beyond the gate,

"......Hey, you can't be that serious, lad! Do you really want to throw your life away just for a bag?!"

"Haa, haa. Shit, is that bag really worth that much?!"

The two thieves were clearly dumbfounded by my action, but in my opinion, they shouldn't come any closer to my experience of making through the nest of problematic frogs alone. And even then, the slums of Royal Capital were a second homeground to me. There was no reason why I would hesitate.

If anything, the truly fearsome people were the pompous folks sprawling wide on their sofa in the noble district. And the slum should also make it harder for my true enemy to chase after me.

I know I wasn't their target in a bigger picture, but I also didn't come to visit around while measuring my every step. I wanted freedom to act until the Rising Dragon Cup, and It was clearly the break I had needed. Kukuku. 

Suddenly, the two thieves acted as if they'd goosebumps when their gaze glanced at me. Hey, my smile wasn’t that bad.

◆◆◆

Perhaps, the word confusion wouldn't even begin to explain the current state of Poro and Rigel. 

All Poro did was steal the wallet of some well-dressed lad, seemingly a rich tourist, by creating a moment of opportunity. The prelude was perfect, just as they'd planned, but what they never thought was the stubbornness of the tourists. 

They're quite surprised when he decided to give them a chase, but what was even more shocking was how they couldn't shake him off their trails even in their turf. They would try to hide themselves, but he found them nonetheless. 

They'd thought of slipping the possession in the wallet quietly, but surprisingly, they never got the chance to do it with how that guy never went outside of their field of vision. Even the boundaries between districts couldn't deter him. 

He just continued to chase after them with not a single change in his expression—no, there was something else. The way he squinted his eyes at the surroundings reminded them of the tourists' visit. It was like he was actually enjoying the scenery along the chase with not a shred of tension. 

They were supposed to be the one leading others by their nose. Instead, they felt like a deer under the target of a hunter, and that prompted them to make an escape toward slums.. 

Surely, he wouldn't try to chase them in a lawless land, right? But that damned brat didn't stop, and kept the chase as if it was something normal. Finally, they took a good look at his expression, their eyes locked, and they noticed that calm smile tugging on his face. 

Rigel could've felt a chill creeping up to his spine. It was then he finally understood; they'd been led to a trap. They're illusioned to think their plan had worked. 

"We might be in trouble, Poro! He's definitely a bad news! Look at how he is smiling! Let's give up on the purse, or I fear we might be killed!"

"*Huff-Huff-Huff*...y, you don't say. ...But that's going to hurt man. We even borrowed an advance salary just to make up for the entrance fee! We will be in red if we throw it aside. I fear «Rebel» or the «Freak» would kill us!"

"Hey, that's still better than dying right now! Just throw it!"

"...Fin—"

Poro was reluctant at first, but under the persuasion, he took out the wallet from his sleeve, and took a gesture to throw it away. But it didn't happen. The chaser suddenly sped up like an incarnation of wind, and momentarily snatched the wallet, as if he had seen it coming. 

He overtook the two, and stopped ahead of them. Then turned around to face them with a big smile.

" "Eeeek!!" "

Ah, now they realised; the predator was just playing with its prey. He let them flail around and purposely pushed them in this lawless slum.

—Just why would he do that? 

Their chaser gradually approached them. They'd wanted to escape, but their legs were paralyzed from the fear. And above all, they're not blind to notice the disparity between them, not after he played them like a fiddle. If he had wanted to kill them, they wouldn't be able to escape. 

"Thank you very much for the guidance, Poro-kun, Rigel-kun. I had quite a lot of fun, honestly."

Somehow, he even knew their names. Then, like a magic tree, he untied his wallet in a flash despite that they'd attempted to open it all this while.

"...You know, you should stop stealing. Once it becomes a habit, you can't stop yourself, and one day it will lead you to your downfall. It's inevitable. So, consider it an exchange—"

He preached them, and with an innocuous smile, he took out a dazzling big gold coin in yuglia's currency, and placed it into Poro's hand. 

"—How about you become my guide, eh? To the Empire's underworld."

The smile felt genuine, like a young child who had no idea what world's malice felt like, but to the two, they'd felt a deep abyss of insanity lurking behind it.

T/N - Heya everyone, it has been a while since the update had been quite unacceptable. I hadn’t meant to, but a sudden situation messed up my schedule. A close relative went through chemo, but to no avail, and after a few months of struggle, they passed away last month. The mourning lasts for nearly two weeks here, and I just found myself back recently.

Either way, I should be maintaining a healthy schedule starting today. Presumably at a quicker pace.

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