Days had passed since the report of a theft involving an important item—which should have been intercepted by the Eswain City Guard—had ended in failure.
The notion of criminals roaming the most popular and privileged area of the City quickly spread, causing widespread chaos among those responsible.
As a result, Commander of the Guard, Rowan Lagrint, was promptly notified due to the poor performance of his subordinates.
He wasn’t the type to impose harsh punishments, but there would be reprimands one way or another. He would make sure of it—if only to discipline his soldiers so they wouldn’t make such mistakes again.
His stress was even more apparent after reading the report about this recent crime spree. Not only that, but all the crimes had been committed by a mysterious young woman.
Rowan wasn’t exactly the investigative type, but he could recognize when a pattern had formed.
It had been clearly stated that the most recently stolen items included freshly cut runes, discarded equipment that was supposed to be scrapped, jewelry, and a considerable amount of assorted food.
Whoever this elusive thief is, they know exactly how to work around the law.
While processing this data, he was abruptly interrupted by a series of knocks on the door to his private office.
— "Enter," he said firmly.
— "Master Lagrint, Miss Leffay is already here," said one of his subordinates.
— Sigh "At a time like this... as always," he muttered. "Send her in."
The soldier gave a salute in response and left to fulfill his order.
Rowan took a moment to organize the mess of papers on his desk. There would be no point continuing with that work now, given the visit he was about to receive.
— "Oh? Someone's already buried in paperwork this early? How unusual. Not even on your day off do you take a break from all this."
A soft-spoken woman with silver-gray hair entered the room. Her robes clearly marked her as a high-level magic user. However, Rowan knew her well—and his opinion of her was... complicated.
— "Unlike some people, I’m busy protecting the city rather than wandering around and interfering with others' jobs," he retorted coldly.
— "Tsk, tsk, is that any way to talk to an old friend?" she replied with a wink.
Showing no hesitation, she walked up to his desk, grabbed one of the papers, and sat herself in one of the leather armchairs, crossing her legs as she began to read.
— "Hmm... thefts, huh? Tsk, tsk. That’s definitely the kind of thing that gives anyone a headache—especially when you’re the Grand Commander of the Cavalry," she teased.
— "What do you want, Ver?nica? Aside from interrupting me like always?" Rowan asked, already out of patience.
— "What? Can’t I stop by just to see my old Academy companion and wish him a good day’s work?"
She tried to play it off, but Rowan continued to stare at her, unimpressed.
— "You’re impossible, Row. But fine—if you must know, we’ve reached that beloved time of year again..." she said, changing her tone.
— "Ah, the admission period for Eswain Academy. Let me guess—you still haven’t found an apprentice?"
— "Hmph. Those fools keep trying to dump their children on me. They know full well that becoming my apprentice would instantly raise their status. Isn’t being born noble enough to draw attention already?" she scoffed.
— "At the very least, you could have given someone a chance. The other magic masters have young minds at their side, be they arcane apprentices or rune users. You could’ve picked one of them if you were in a rush."
— "I could say the same about you. You haven’t chosen a favorite student either. Don’t you already teach the young knights?"
— "Exactly. That’s why I don’t need an apprentice. Working with them as a group is enough for me." Rowan dismissed the unnecessary topic.
— "Or maybe no one’s caught your attention yet. See? We’re in the same boat—none of them are interesting to us."
— "So? If that’s all, you can leave now. I don’t have time for you..."
He rubbed his temple, clearly irritated. She noticed, and let out a sigh of her own.
— "My, seeing you swamped in work should amuse me... but now I’m starting to feel bad. So—what’s the situation?"
— "You’re really offering your help?" Rowan asked, suspicious of the sudden altruism.
— "Honestly, I’d say you’re wasting your time. Petty thefts around here are nothing new. No offense to your task force, of course."
— "Be that as it may, maybe this isn’t something you can help with. This thief might just be a desperate kid. One way or another, they’ll be caught eventually."
— "A desperate kid? You’re telling me your entire guard can’t handle a child? What good is all that training, then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rowan remained silent, preferring not to respond.
— "In that case, this mysterious thief must be quite good at slipping past local security. You could at least boost patrols… or have you already tried that?"
— "I’d rather not say," he muttered, looking away.
— "Huhuhu, now this is interesting. A case that’s got you losing sleep? Leave it to me," she said, setting the paper aside.
— "And how exactly do you expect to find the thief? Not even you can handle something this unpredictable."
— "Don’t worry—I’ll do what I do best."
— "What? Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong?" he jabbed sarcastically.
— "On the contrary—I’m going to dig even deeper. Oh, and next time you want my help, just say so. Don’t bother with the mystery or the rude attitude," she said with a smirk as she turned to leave.
Massaging his temples with his fingers, Rowan tried to calm his frustration. Despite being a longtime companion, Ver?nica had a knack for testing his patience with the smallest actions.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
[...]
Later that afternoon, Ver?nica continued her investigation, driven mostly by curiosity.
From the contextless report she’d skimmed earlier, she’d gathered that the thief tended to carry out small thefts in the commercial square—and did so rather frequently.
She was aware of her own reputation, so she chose to wear a disguise. Using illusion magic, she temporarily altered the color of her hair and threw on a cloak to conceal her robes.
Unlike Rowan, who preferred careful planning, she worked in the field. After all, as a magic user renowned throughout the city, her methods were often… unconventional.
But there was a problem. She had no clue about the thief’s exact patterns. Even so, she reasoned that late afternoon was the best time for this kind of crime—when the local shops were at their busiest.
The crowd had grown significantly. But the report hadn’t offered much specificity.
Though the thief was said to be young, there were only so many youths around. The area was mostly frequented by adults, so she kept a sharp eye out for any suspicious behavior.
Her effort might’ve been in vain. Anyone could see the heightened number of guards patrolling the area. Still, she wouldn’t admit her investigation had been a waste of time. She hadn’t even asked Rowan for more details—acting purely on impulse.
Frustrated, she discarded the idea and decided to leave.
PLAF!
But before she could, she collided with a red-haired girl who was running and accidentally dropped a small pouch of coins.
— "I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!" the girl apologized the moment they collided.
Ver?nica offered her a hand to help her up. After retrieving her coin pouch, the girl accepted and got back to her feet.
— "Thank you—so sorry for bumping into you!" the girl bowed in gratitude.
With a quick farewell, she hurried off.
Ver?nica appreciated good manners—but even more than that, she knew a scam when she saw one.
Unfortunately for the girl, this wasn’t the first time Ver?nica had been targeted by pickpockets. And despite the incident, her pouch was still with her.
Amateur...
That was her immediate thought. The theft attempt had been a total failure. No way that girl could be the infamous thief—her approach was way too obvious. Someone worthy of that title would at least be discreet.
Satisfied with her reasoning, Ver?nica concluded that the incident only reinforced her point: petty crimes were common, and there was nothing more to be done. She turned to leave.
— "Hm? Where’s my—"
That’s when she realized something extremely important was no longer in her possession. She checked again—just to be sure.
Her judgment had been hasty. The scam had worked.
— "Hahahaha... interesting. All right, let’s play this game then."
[...]
Once again, Sophie returned to her hideout after navigating a few shortcuts.
This time, she’d chosen not to use a rune for transportation, opting instead for the conventional route.
After passing the camouflage, she spotted Aidan, who was busy testing his latest invention.
— "I’m back… I hope you didn’t spend the whole day sitting there," she said, expecting something other than his usual response.
— "Oh? Welcome back. Check this out."
He called her over excitedly.
On the table sat a cracked potion flask he’d been using for testing. The machine was small and used a rune to mix the contents.
He poured in a little water with some herbs and pressed a button to start the process.
— "Where’d you get those ingredients?" she asked.
— "I grew them," he replied immediately.
— "You grew them? Wait, are you talking about those wilted plants by the bathtub? You call that gardening?" she scoffed.
— "Their appearance doesn’t matter—what matters is their purpose. As you can see, the process is working as expected."
She watched quietly, though she didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Instead of a fast reaction, all she saw were tiny green droplets slowly falling into the flask.
— "Is this supposed to impress me?" she asked, unmoved.
— "I told you—it’s a slow but efficient process. Filtration is just the first step. After this, it’s only a matter of synthesizing the rest. Besides..."
— "This thing is junk," she cut him off.
— "I’d call it a bundle of parts repurposed into something new... But yes, it’s in terrible shape. Still, I think I made good use of my morning—unlike you, I presume."
— "I don’t know. Business was a bit ‘difficult’ today, if you know what I mean," she replied, making air quotes.
— "They increased local security, didn’t they? A predictable result," he said, recalling her last job.
— "They’re questioning everyone, so that gives a little window. I went back to my old ways."
— "Stealing people’s coins?"
— "Exactly," she said with pride.
Tzz Tzz
In an unexpected turn, his device overheated, smoke slowly spreading through the place. With a bit of water in an old wooden cup, he was able to contain the damage.
— "Was that supposed to happen?" he asked, waving the smoke away with his hands.
— "Yes and no. The components are old, so they couldn’t handle the rune at all—except for the one you brought me. If they were newer, maybe they could last a bit longer. Or maybe, if I had a more resistant rune," he said, hand on his chin.
— "If that’s the case... I can say I didn’t just get us dinner."
Revealing her storage rune, she threw a few fruits and even some sweets onto the table, just as he expected.
However, behind her old cloak, she revealed something in her hands—an artifact of great value, which he snatched up immediately without a second thought.
— "You... You... how?" he asked, trembling with excitement.
— "Well, I was hoping to make some money, but this seems way better, doesn’t it?" she asked casually.
— "Better? This is incredible! I’d say one of your best heists! Do you even realize what this is?"
— "A rune wand?" she guessed without much thought.
— "A first-class rune wand! I’d say only the nobility has access to something like this. How did you get your hands on it? Do you even have any idea how much it’s worth?" he bombarded her with questions again.
— "I bumped into a distracted lady."
— "The bump-and-apologize trick?" he mentioned one of her old moves.
— "That’s the one. It ended up working, though not quite how I expected. Who knows? Maybe she was a noble trying to experience the other side, even if just for a bit. Think you can get anything out of it?"
— "The material is refined. Even though it’s so small, it’s more powerful than any I’ve ever worked with. I can try to dismantle it, but I can’t guarantee I’ll keep it intact," he replied, examining it carefully.
— "Do whatever you want, as long as it brings us some money. If you’ll excuse me..."
— "If you’re going to shower, don’t forget to take off your prosthetic. If you keep leaving the cover in the bathroom, it’s going to rust the connector," he advised.
She ignored him as she headed off to bathe.
Some time passed as he kept examining the wand. It was the first time he’d ever handled something so sophisticated.
Even if it was outside his usual work, he wanted to preserve it in its original state as a memento, hoping to make use of the rune that supplied its magical energy.
As he worked, he stayed fully immersed in his analysis.
— "This is amazing. It’s not just craftsmanship—it’s art. The wood finish and steel rings give it a touch of class, and there’s the city’s crest... But this rune, it doesn’t look ordinary..."
— "Of course it’s not. I synthesized it myself."
Distracted, he heard a voice in the background. Unlike Sophie’s, this one had a slightly seductive tone, which made him think it belonged to an adult woman.
— "But I admit I don’t have the talent to craft it myself, so my beloved helped me with that part," she said as she slowly approached.
As she got closer, the room gradually brightened around her.
— "Whistle This is a nice little hideout you’ve got here. A bit messy, but I’d say functional," she complimented, despite the clutter.
— "I appreciate the compliment, but... how did you find us?" he asked.
— "Let’s just say your partner isn’t as subtle as she seems. Besides, don’t you think I’d know where one of my creations ended up? By the way..."
She raised her hand, and the wand flew out of Aidan’s grip straight into hers.
— "Hey!" he shouted.
— "I came to take it back. Don’t worry—I didn’t come here to cause trouble, much less to hurt you. I want that to be clear to you... and to her..."
Even though she’d been noticed, Sophie approached slowly, heading straight for the woman.
— "Don’t move..." Sophie said in a threatening tone.
The woman simply raised her hands, stepping into the situation as if it were a game.
— "Oh? There you are! I have to say I’m impressed by your technique. You caught me off guard—I admit it," she praised sincerely.
— "Maybe I’m full of surprises..."
With her prosthetic, she focused for a moment, trying to activate the embedded rune, but it failed—locking the joints in her hand.
— "Seriously, Aid?!" she shouted.
— "I told you it wasn’t ready!" he shouted back.
— "Hmm... so that’s how it works? I’ve never seen something like this up close... if you’ll allow me..."
She held Sophie’s worn-out prosthetic and concentrated a bit of her magic. The embedded rune resonated briefly, then detached from the connector.
— "What?" Sophie exclaimed in surprise.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Aidan rummaged under his table and pulled out an emergency launcher, aiming it at the intruder.
— "No way..."
With a simple dispersion spell, she easily destroyed the launcher, disarming both of them.
— "So? Can we at least talk now?" the woman asked, wand still pointed at Aidan.
Double Trouble)
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