TMST 21

Chapter 21

The day before she became completely penniless and ended up out on the streets.

Karin came downtown to pick up some desserts. She could have sent Marie to fetch them, but Karin often came out personally because there was something delightfully fun about choosing desserts with her own eyes at the shop.

Humming to herself, Karin headed toward the dessert store.

What kind of desserts had the owner made today?

Strawberry tart? Hedgehog-shaped marzipan? Or maybe lemon pie?

It didn’t matter. Bitter tea and sweet desserts were always a heavenly combination.

On a lazy afternoon, stretching out in a chair while sipping tea and taking a bite of sweet pastry—that was paradise itself.

Swinging her basket back and forth, she walked along with light, cheerful steps when she spotted a familiar face in the distance.

He was carrying a small paper bag and walking somewhere in a hurry.

What a lucky break. Since she was already out, she could buy desserts and see his face too.

This was exactly what people meant by killing two birds with one stone.

Karin stopped walking and shouted toward the familiar figure at the top of her lungs.

“Arken!”

He was standing in the middle of downtown. With so many people around and quite a distance between them, he couldn’t immediately tell who had called him and merely looked around in confusion.

In that case, the proper thing to do was reveal herself directly!

Karin practically flew toward where Arken was standing. Her feet felt so light that it was like running on an airport escalator.

“What a coincidence!”

“……”

At the same time, Karin caught a certain emotion on his face. It vanished so quickly she almost doubted whether she had seen it correctly, but it was definitely—

‘This jerk!’

Annoyance.

Karin puffed out her lips, then decided that since things were already like this, she might as well bother him to her heart’s content.

“I came out to buy desserts. What did you come out for, Arken?”

“I came to buy something.”

He answered in a dry tone. No, she meant what kind of thing had he come to buy!

Karin poked the paper bag he was holding.

“What’s this?”

“……”

But he merely kept his mouth shut and looked down at her. He clearly had no intention of telling her.

Thinking she’d just check for herself, Karin reached toward the folded opening of the bag, but he swiftly pulled it behind him, leaving her grasping empty air.

“Come on, it’s not like showing me will wear it out.”

“It will.”

“Come ooon.”

Grinning brightly, Karin leaned her face toward the paper bag. A bitter smell wafted out, like it was full of weeds or something.

“Just show me.”

“It’s my private business.”

He cut her off firmly. Since he called it private, Karin felt like she shouldn’t pry any further, so she stepped back.

Today, of all days, Arken was being particularly cold, so there was probably no hope for an entertaining conversation. She figured she should just go back to buying desserts instead.

And that was exactly when it happened.

Some ill-mannered brat slammed into both Karin and Arken’s shoulders as he passed by.

It happened so suddenly there wasn’t even time to protest. Karin merely rubbed her throbbing shoulder while staring at the retreating figure.

The impact had been hard enough that the pain lingered even while she rubbed it.

Feeling indignant, Karin shouted loudly.

“Watch where you’re going!”

The rude brat glanced back at her shout and smirked.

Oh, so he was laughing?

Karin snorted furiously.

That brat was rude enough to rival Duke Lucas himself.

If it were up to her, she’d chase him down right now and smack him on the head. But Karin had something more important to do.

‘Calm down, calm down.’

Thinking about the lovely pile of desserts waiting for her, Karin soothed her temper. Buying desserts was far more important than chasing after some ill-bred brat with no home training.

But something felt strange. Like something was missing.

“Huh?”

Karin looked down and her mouth fell open.

Both of her hands were empty. The basket containing her dessert money had vanished without a trace.

“My basket! Have you seen my basket?”

Arken shook his head as though he didn’t know.

His hands, like Karin’s, were also empty.

“Then where did your paper bag go?”

“……”

Only then did he look down at his empty hands, his expression changing.

What in the world had just happened? The basket and paper bag had vanished in an instant.

Had they dropped them somewhere? But they had definitely been holding onto them tightly.

Karin looked around for the basket, then remembered the last moment she had seen it.

She had still been holding it right before they got bumped into.

“Ah, that brat!”

An ill-mannered, badly raised, sticky-fingered little thief!

That rotten brat had definitely stolen the basket and bag while bumping into them.

Arken still stared at his empty hands with a completely baffled expression. Karin grabbed him and shook him vigorously.

“Don’t you get it? We got pickpocketed! Pickpocketed!”

And in the most classic way possible too—bumping into people while swiping their belongings.

In that case, they’d just have to respond with an equally classic method. Catch him and hand him over to the guards without mercy.

“Let’s go catch him!”

Burning with determination, Karin grabbed Arken’s hand and pulled him along. But after following for a few steps, Arken shook off her hand.

“I’ll pass.”

“Why?”

“I can just buy another one. It wasn’t expensive anyway…”

Shrugging as if it were no big deal, he casually searched his pockets for his wallet.

His indifferent attitude made him incredibly irritating. Was it fine as long as only he was okay?

Puffing out her cheeks, Karin resolved to go catch the brat herself if necessary.

Huh?

But no matter how long she waited, no wallet appeared from his trouser pocket.

He checked the outer pockets of his coat, then the inner pockets when he couldn’t find it there either. Then back to his trousers again.

Even after practically turning his pockets inside out, the wallet never appeared.

Oh-ho.

Karin smiled meaningfully.

“It’s gone, isn’t it?”

“Let’s go catch him.”

At last, he too burst into flames of determination.

“Did you have a lot of money in your wallet?”

“My entire month’s salary is in there.”

Karin caught another emotion on his face.

“If we catch him, I’m not letting him off easy.”

Well, something along those lines.

The two hurried off in the direction the brat had disappeared.

Finding him wasn’t difficult. Along the way, they spotted several pedestrians staring blankly at their own empty hands just like Karin and Arken had, making it very easy to trace the route the brat had taken.

After winding through alley after alley and passing countless pedestrians and street vendors, Karin finally spotted the brat whistling while searching for his next victim.

He carried a large bag on his back. Judging from the situation, her basket and the other stolen items were probably inside it.

Fortunately for Karin, the brat had his back turned.

Rising onto her toes, she carefully approached without alerting him.

One step, two. One step, two.

After moving at a painfully slow pace for several minutes, she finally got close enough to touch him.

Karin reached for the back of his neck.

She was going to grab that collar, smack him on the head, snatch back the bag and—

Snap.

The sound of a branch breaking rang out.

At the same time, the brat whipped around, spotted Karin and Arken, and gasped.

“Holy crap, you scared me!”

After shouting a single sentence, the brat bolted.

Karin quickly reached out, but all she managed to grab was a single strand of his hair.

“After him!”

Karin sprinted after the brat with all her strength. But she couldn’t match the running skills of someone hardened by years of theft.

Within minutes, Karin bent over and stopped, gasping for breath. It felt like she had just completed a marathon.

Arken seemed to keep chasing a little longer, but the brat had overturned a fruit cart while running past, delaying him enough that he fell hopelessly behind.

Eventually, he too stopped.

The brat looked at the two of them panting for air, stuck out his tongue in a mocking gesture, then vanished into the maze-like alleys without a trace—just like the basket and paper bag.

Staggering forward, Karin followed him to the alley entrance and peered inside.

There were branching paths everywhere. One fork led to another, and then another after that…

Calling it an alley was generous. It was more like a labyrinth.

There was no way they were catching him now.

Karin stomped her foot in frustration.

“Damn it… if it weren’t for that branch…!”

She was too out of breath to even speak properly.

If not for that stupid branch, they’d already have handed the brat over to the guards by now.

Just which idiot had carelessly made that noise anyway?

…But strangely, it was very quiet beside her.

When she turned her head, she saw Arken looking down at her with an apologetic expression.

“It was you?”

“It was a mistake.”

“……”

Karin bit down hard on her lower lip.

She was furious, but what could she do when it was Arken of all people? She had no choice but to forgive him.

Still, she couldn’t help being angry.

Ignoring the strange looks from passersby, Karin shook her clenched fists around to vent her frustration.

“Magic candy for sale! Pop one in your mouth and it explodes with flavor!”

A street vendor approached the fuming Karin and held out a candy. Whoever he was, he had absolutely terrible timing.

“No thanks!”

Karin snapped sharply, then paused while catching her breath as something suddenly occurred to her.

Magic candy? Right, that’s it!

“Arken, use magic!”

He was a mage. A genius mage who had graduated top of the kingdom’s greatest academy. Catching a pickpocket should be child’s play for someone at his level, shouldn’t it?

Karin looked at him with shining eyes, convinced catching the brat was now only a matter of time.

But Arken looked troubled.

“That’s a bit…”

Why was he making that face?

Remembering the previous incident, Karin asked,

“Why? Did you run out of mana again?”

“It’s not that.”

“Then why…?”

Seeing Karin tilt her head in confusion, Arken hesitated briefly before explaining.

“To use tracking magic, I need a part of the target’s body. A fingernail, hair, something like that…”

Ah, I see.

Karin nodded, then suddenly realized something.

‘Wait, I pulled out one of his hairs earlier!’

Her hand was still tightly clenched like someone watching an intense action movie.

She hadn’t opened it once since trying to grab the brat’s collar.

Was the hair still there? Please…

Growing anxious, Karin slowly opened her fist.

A single strand of thin brown hair rested there.

“I have it! A hair!”

“Ah…”

Arken’s expression became even more troubled.

“Now you can use magic, right?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“……”

“We have to catch the thief!”

“……”

Avoiding Karin’s gaze, he wore an incredibly awkward expression.

What was wrong with him? Surely he didn’t think this was too trivial to waste mana on.

Thinking that made Karin feel deeply hurt.

“If you don’t want to, then forget it. Let’s just go home. If I go home and get more money…”

As she looked up, she realized the once-blue sky had already turned orange with sunset.

The dessert shop owner closed the store precisely when the sun went down.

“…Then the dessert shop will close.”

Damn it.

Karin kicked a stone on the ground. It rolled away before losing momentum and stopping—just like her deflated spirit.

She let out a deep sigh.

So much for evening tea time. Tomorrow was the weekend, meaning the shop wouldn’t open, and that meant she wouldn’t get to enjoy tea with sweet desserts for another three days.

Wearing the face of someone who had lost her country, Karin stared at the ground and absentmindedly nudged stones with her foot.

Arken quietly watched her before finally speaking.

“I can use the magic.”