This was the third day Haru had come to makeshift market street in Crocus. Of course, the buildings were still under reconstruction after that attack, and all the merchants have put up random stalls on streets all over the city. Ever since the fight against Benjamin, Haru had been contemplating on learning to attack for the sake of defence. But after the kind of enemies he faced during the attack on the capital, he had finally made a decision. The first step towards that decision was to buy a weapon suitable for him. So, the Rune Knight browsed the stalls every day, trying to find that perfect weapon that would not kill but only harm just enough to stop people. The poor man had trouble finding a weapon with such delicate balance.

Nevertheless, he tried every day. Every morning, he would take his large pouch of Jewels that had all of his savings, tuck the pouch on his cloth belt and walk from one stall to another trying out one weapon after another. By the third day, every merchant knew him, and he had become a running joke among the sellers. But the young man did not care about the snickering behind him. He believed he would find the perfect weapon for him.

He searched long and wide, but couldn’t come across anything he liked. Disappointed again, he began dragging himself back towards the Rune Knight quarters. The scarlet-haired teen went into autopilot and turned a corner absent-mindedly, still lost in thoughts about the lack of suitable weapons for him. Just as he turned, a young boy… no… a young elf slammed straight onto him. The two knocked each other back and they both fell to the ground on their backs. “I’m so sorry,” the two said in chorus. The dark-haired elf quickly got back onto his feet and offered a hand to help Haru up. The healer smiled up at the elf, took his hand and stood back up. “Sorry again! In a hurry,” the elf said. Immediately after, he ran past Haru and went straight on ahead.

Haru stood there, watching the elf run for a few moments before he started heading towards his destination again. It was only after he had reached the Rune Knight quarters that he realized something very important. He no longer felt a tug at his hip, because of his jewel pouch’s weight. Looking down and touching his cloth belt, he found that his money was gone. His eyes went wide, and he began looking around the street frantically. That pouch had the entirety of his savings, since the beginning of his Rune Knight career. He had been slowly saving up more to eventually invest on some good gear that would help him aid his teammates better. But now, it was gone. The poor healer was almost in tears. He bit his lip and kept running up and the down the path he took, but his pouch was nowhere to be found. And then, it finally struck him… it was the elf…

-Exit-

Keryth arrived at Crocus for one reason: easy money. He knew after that chaotic war, there will be plenty of cracked open buildings that he can raid and salvage. A couple of times he even got lucky with some pretty good loot that he could sell for a small fortune. War may have treated many people badly, but so far, it had treated him damn well. The elf was, however, tired of these small fries and wanted something big. And he knew the best place to go to for that would be the makeshift stalls these naïve merchants had been putting up everywhere.

The thief maybe young but was not an amateur. The first day, he did nothing but scout the streets and pick his targets. The years of thieving experience had given him enough insight to identify the easy, careless targets he can pick off without risking detection. At first, he was targeting only the merchants, as he knew they would come every day and he can figure out their patterns. However, surprisingly, Keryth found that the one with the most regular pattern was actually not the merchants, but a silly Rune Knight. This particular Rune Knight was probably the most annoying to Keryth. On top of being a cop, he had a huge X-shaped scar on his cheek. The elf couldn’t help but wonder how the guy mustered the courage to walk on the streets with such an ugly mark on his face.

Keryth completely forgot about all the merchant targets he had picked and made this Rune Knight his primary target. And with him, it would seem he had hit the jackpot. The silly guy roamed around the streets with a heavy pouch of Jewels just loosely hanging on his cloth belt. The thief shook his head and chuckled. So easy… He kept his distance, but was always in the vicinity of his target. He knew if he tried anything in the crowded market street, they would immediately catch him. So, he waited patiently until the red-headed man left the markets and walked towards an isolated street.

It’s time! The thief saw that the Rune Knight crossed the road; it would only mean he was about to take the next turn. So, Keryth began running as fast as he could around the block, and just when his target was about to turn the said corner, he bumped into deliberately. After the bump, as he was about to fall to the ground, the elf grabbed the jewel pouch; it was perfectly smooth and the naïve Rune Knight didn’t feel a thing. Just before he hit the ground, Keryth tucked the pouch half way down his pant on the back, and then covered it with his t-shirt. Now that the task was done, it was time to bolt without raising suspicion. He offered his hand to help the Rune Knight up and apologized before getting the hell out of there as fast as he could. Very soon, he was far away from his victim and was merrily counting the jewels he had snatched. Now that he had robbed a Rune Knight, Keryth knew it was time to leave Crocus before they send squads after him.

-Exit-