Chapter 210

Kana spent the last few days buried beneath ink and dust.

Scrolls lay scattered across her desk. Rumors copied, crossed out, rewritten. Old case records. Tavern whispers preserved in cramped handwriting. The Phantom Thief appeared everywhere and nowhere, a shadow that slipped through logic as easily as locks. No pattern. No territory. No signature mistake. Whoever they were, they had learned patience the way others learned breathing or maybe, it was just one man or woman. If Kana could choose, she preferred the group, at least that way, it would be easier to catch a few of them or or just one which should be enough to pass her first quest from the king.

There was no clever trap waiting to be discovered in a book. She felt the information she could gather through books had already reached its limit.

She now moved to the second part of her plan. Search for people who had more experience than her. She initially thought Pit but she couldn’t simply trust the man. He was dangerous and there was a possibility that he could figure out what she was trying to do. 

When the next day arrived, the trio waited outside the classroom, winter light slanting low across the academy stones. Their lectures had ended early, leaving them idle while other classes still droned on behind thick doors especially the gold class students. Boris stood like a pillar near the wall, arms crossed. The real attention, however, rested a full head higher.

Thorne sat atop Boris’s head, tail swaying lazily.

Passing students slowed. Some stared openly. Others whispered. One first year nearly tripped over his own feet. Lizards as pets were quite not common after all.

Kana ignored them. Her eyes stayed on the classroom door.

When the bell rang, it echoed like a release of breath. Students poured out, voices rising. Yuri emerged almost immediately and stopped short when she saw them waiting.

“I heard you’re looking for me,” Yuri said, hugging Kana, probably to lessen the coldness from the winter. “What’s the occasion?”

“Your parents are home, right?” Kana asked. “I need their help. Adults who’ve been everywhere.”

Yuri studied her face. Whatever she saw there must have answered her questions, because she nodded without pressing further. “They just returned yesterday from a guild quest. They’ll be resting for a few days.”

Suri had already confirmed it through her illusion scouts, they just wanted to go with Yuri.

They immediately left the academy behind, stone giving way to packed earth as they entered the commoner district. The streets narrowed, buildings leaning close like old friends sharing secrets. Empty laundry lines cut the sky into strips. The air smelled of spice, iron, and old wood.

Yuri’s home was modest but sturdy.

When they stepped inside, Asha sat near the table, shelling peanuts. She looked up and smiled.

“Kana. Suri. Good to see you.” Her gaze shifted. “What brings you here?”

“I’m also here,” Boris grunted.

“I know,” Asha said lightly. “You’re hard to miss. Especially with a strange lizard on top of your head.”

Thorne flicked her tail as if offended.

Asha laughed and called toward the kitchen. “Dear, triple the servings. We’ve got big eaters.”

“Oh dear. Suri is here,” Opel whistled.

Yuri slipped away to change. Kana and Suri took their seats. Boris leaned against the wall, arms crossed, Thorne still perched proudly.

Kana didn’t waste time.

“I’m forming something like a mercenary group,” she said. “I want you and Sir Opel in it.”

Asha paused mid-motion. She tilted her head, studying Kana like a puzzle with missing pieces. “We have plenty of work through the Adventurer’s Guild. We don’t exactly lack jobs these days.”

“This will pay better.”

Asha’s eyebrow rose. “Better than the guild?”

“Yes.”

“And you’d be the one handling clients?” Asha asked.

“I’ll be the only point of contact,” Kana said. “I negotiate the terms. You choose whether to accept.”

Asha leaned back. “Then how high are we talking?”

“Ten gold per mission.”

The room stilled.

Asha blinked once. “Five of us. Two gold each?”

“No,” Kana said calmly. “Ten gold each.”

Even Boris straightened. Suri’s mouth parted just slightly. The crackle from the kitchen fire sounded suddenly too loud. Asha stared at Kana, searching for exaggeration. Lies. Youthful bravado.

She found none.

A slow grin spread across her face. “I’m in,” she said. “Which tells me this won’t be a simple job. What’s the catch?”

“It isn’t,” Kana replied.

She let the words settle before delivering the blade.

“Our first mission is to capture the Phantom Thief.”

“Alive.”

The warmth drained from the room. Asha’s grin vanished. Boris’s jaw tightened. Even the fire seemed to dim, shadows stretching longer across the floor.

For a decade, the Phantom Thief had mocked kingdoms.

And Kana had just named it as their opening act.

……

Opel returned from the kitchen carrying bowls that steamed like small hearth-fires. The scent of meat and corn spread through the room, rich and grounding, the kind of smell that convinced the body it would survive winter after all. He set each bowl down carefully, though Suri’s received a noticeably larger portion.

Suri noticed. She always did.

Opel chuckled. “If it’s Kana,” he said, wiping his hands on a cloth, “she might actually pull it off. Right, dear?”

Asha did not answer immediately. She rested her elbow on the table, fingers brushing along her jaw as she stared into the rising steam of her soup. Her expression turned inward, calculating, weighing danger against reward the way veterans did. Not with excitement, but with scars.

“I agree,” she finally said. “There’s no harm in trying. If we somehow manage to find and capture the Phantom Thief…” She exhaled slowly. “Ten gold each is not something you ignore.”

They were definitely earning more than before. Each mission had a potential to almost earn them a gold coin but it usually took almost a month to complete each mission. Then the reward would be divided based on different things not to mention the taxes and the commission from the guild itself.

She looked at Kana directly. “So. What’s the plan?”

Kana paused mid-bite.

“…I don’t have one yet.”

The admission hung in the air, honest and unadorned.

Asha snorted softly. “And here I thought you’d already mapped the city and predicted the thief’s next seven moves.” She shook her head, not unkindly. “I can’t blame you. Information is the real battlefield here.”

Kana leaned forward. “Do you know anyone who sells reliable information?”

Asha sighed, spoon tapping lightly against her bowl. “There is one group. Have you heard of the Scrounge?”

Boris, Kana, and Yuri glanced at one another. Three synchronized head shakes.

“No,” Kana said.

“When we first arrived in the capital,” Asha explained, “and were desperate for work, we ran into them by accident. They specialize in gathering and selling information. Clean rumors. Dirty truths. Things people don’t wanna be found.” Her eyes narrowed. “Most of their clients are nobles.”

“That already sounds promising,” Kana murmured.

“They tried to recruit us,” Asha continued. “Said literacy was one of their requirements. We declined.” A faint smile touched her lips. “Didn’t like the smell of it. I always want to use my skills in every job I take.”

That’s why she was a butcher at that time? Kana could still remember the day Asha was slicing the meat using her ice knife. She also mentioned that she freezes the meat in the summer season to prevent it from rotting.

“Where are they?” Kana asked.

“Near the slums,” Asha said. “There’s only one inn in that area. You show the server a gold coin and tell them you want access to the second floor. If they accept, they’ll guide you to the basement.” She paused. “Let me warn you. They are not cheap.”

Kana’s eyes gleamed faintly. “Coin won’t be a problem. Our dearest client will be covering expenses. All of them.”

Asha studied her again then nodded. Curious but didn’t ask for more.

“You’re planning to go tonight?” she asked.

Before Kana could answer, the door creaked open.

“Let me come with you!”

Yuri burst in, freshly changed into loose pajamas and a thick long-sleeved shirt. Her hair was still slightly damp, eyes bright with excitement that refused to be hidden.

Asha’s head snapped toward her. “No,” she said instantly. “That area is dangerous.”

Opel placed a hand on Asha’s shoulder, grounding, steady. “Dear,” he said gently, “this might be a good experience for her. The world doesn’t soften itself just because we wish it to.”

Asha frowned. “That doesn’t make it safe.”

“It makes it real,” Opel replied. He glanced at Kana. “And I don’t think anyone there is a match for her.”

Asha hesitated.

She had seen Kana fight. Seen Suri move like a god of lightning itself. Seen Boris standing unbroken where others fell. Her worry did not vanish, but she was convinced. Hiding Yuri forever in safety would not help her grow. 

“…Fine,” she said at last. “But I’ll worry anyway.”

Opel smiled faintly. “That’s the hardest part of being a parent. Letting go so they can learn.”

Yuri slid into her seat beside Kana, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Then let’s finish eating and leave before my parents change their minds.”

Kana took another spoonful of soup. It was so good that a sudden thought flashed to her mind. A restaurant is not a bad business either with Opel as a cook.

…..

Before they left Yuri’s house, Asha handed each of them a hooded cloak. The fabric was thick, lined against winter, and heavy enough to swallow outlines and faces alike.

“The first rule before buying information,” Asha said, fastening Yuri’s hood herself, “is to hide your identity well enough that curiosity never takes root.”

They obeyed without question.

The slum district greeted them with a familiar chill, one that went beyond the season. Kana’s steps slowed the moment they crossed into it. The streets were narrower here, the buildings leaning inward like conspirators. Winter had driven most people indoors. Only a handful lingered near fire pits, silhouettes crouched close to the flames, hands stretched out as if bargaining with warmth.

Kana’s chest tightened. She had reasons for founding the orphanage. This place was one of them.

She said quietly. “It’s been a while.”

She knew the inn well. She had walked these streets before, long ago, when the student council tasked her to give food. 

Though the same place felt unfamiliar. Morning stripped the slums bare. Night dressed them in secrets.

Inside, the inn was dim and low-ceilinged, lit by oil lamps that cast amber pools across wooden tables. Nearly everyone wore a hooded cloak. Cups of drink and half-eaten meals sat forgotten as murmured conversations overlapped, tight and purposeful. No laughter. No music. Only transactions spoken in low voices.

Except for the servers, who moved as if none of it concerned them.

The four of them took an empty table near the side.

Kana lowered her head slightly, letting her hood cast deeper shadows. Her [High Awareness] reached outward, catching threads of sound like spider silk.

“Three young ladies and a big man. Noble, maybe.”

“Obviously first time here. Easy marks.”

“Could squeeze an extra coin out of them.”

“…Opium is selling a lot these days? You know someone—”

Kana’s jaw tightened.

“This place is crawling with thieves,” she muttered. “Are we really in the right place?”

“At times like this,” Boris said calmly, “I should do this.”

He stood.

The room did not stop breathing, but it did hesitate.

Boris lifted his spear and brought its butt down against the floor. The sound was deep and heavy, a solid thud that rolled through the inn like a warning bell. Conversations faltered. Shoulders stiffened. Several heads turned.

Something shifted beneath his cloak.

The lizard slid from his back to his chest, scales catching the lamplight as its horn peeked out under his cloak. Thorne’s eyes reflected gold, unblinking, curious.

A collective gulp rippled through the room. The heavy thud of the spear was something but the unknown moving underneath his cloak was something worse. 

Kana smiled. She could hear them. From ambushing them tonight to searching for better targets. Suri leaned closer to Boris and whispered, “You’re helpful sometimes.”

Finally, a server approached. Bald, expression smooth and practiced, eyes sharp despite his polite smile. Yuri gulped. This was her part. She was tense but probably Kana was the only one who noticed it.

Yuri stood, just as they had rehearsed, and placed a gold coin on the table. It rang softly against the wood.

“Bring us to the second floor,” she said.

The server’s smile widened just a fraction, as though a box had been checked.

“Of course,” he replied. “Please, follow me.”

Post note:
Luckily for the thieves Kana has a bountiful amount of coin.

2 members successfully recruited.
Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂