Chapter 117
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Altair frowned and looked toward the speaker. He was a pudgy man wearing fine clothes that, at a glance, could be said to be higher quality than what Altair was wearing. He was out of breath as he pointed at her and sweat could be seen dripping from his brow. His appeared to be trying to look sinister but, with him panting for breath and dripping in sweat, he looked more comical than anything.
"That bag," he shouted while pointing at Altair's satchel, "Give me back my bag!"
"It's not yours," Altair responded in a voice devoid of emotion. Altair didn't know why this wealthy merchant or nobleman wanted her bag, but she wasn't about to hand it over. It was too useful for her to give away and it had her supplies in it.
The rotund man scoffed at her arrogantly, "Don't think you can fool me, imposter! I can tell by the way you walk that you aren't a daughter of power! You obviously stole that bag from someone and I will take it back and find its owner!"
She narrowed his eyes at him, "Why are you so obsessed with my bag to make up lies?" Altair had done more training for how nobles act in the lessons back in the Marnithok's mansion than she cared to remember. While she was still a novice, she knew there wasn't much difference in how they walked than normal. It wasn't something anyone could see at a glance unless they were someone who trained others in how to properly walk. She highly doubted this fat man before her was someone who did that.
The man stomped his foot before shouting in a commanding tone at her, "You can't fool me!" His shouts sounded more like screeches than anything intimidating despite his best efforts. "I've never seen a bag of that quality! There's no way someone who acts like you could have gotten something like it!"
Altair reexamined her bag after he shouted those words at her. It didn't look like anything special to her. She would often use sacks to carry her things before, so the satchel was a lot more convenient and had more room. It even had separate little compartments.
"Ah…" she muttered as she realized his point. 'Right, there probably isn't anything like this here in the Kingdom.' She looked up at him as if he was a dead man, 'Well, it doesn't really matter. I won't give it to anyone.'
The fat man didn't seem to notice the change in her eyes as he continued to demand the satchel from her.
Altair burned some of her Mana and created a Shadow Knight behind him from the wall. The knight soundlessly pulled his sword out and ran him through from behind while covering his mouth. He gave out a muffled cry while trying to turn his head to see his assailant. The knight then twisted his neck roughly and his body went limp with a slight popping sound.
The knight tossed his body aside like a rag doll while grabbing the pouch from his hip and then tossed the pouch to Altair while dissipating into the air.
Altair caught it in midair with the help of her threads as it went a little wide. She turned and walked further into the city while stuffing the pouch into her bag. 'I won't be able to get any useful information here for sure now.'
The death of a wealthy merchant or nobleman would become the talk of the town. It was an almost guaranteed fact that the upper class wouldn't let it go without repercussions. They might instill a curfew or demand that the guards string a random person up or some other unpredictable action.
'Since that's the case I suppose I should leave today.'
Her thoughts drifted to her brother as she walked. Dozens of different and random ideas popped into her head about how he could have ended up here. They all made sense to Altair if she didn't think about them too much. None of them explained why he looked at her like that.
Before she knew it, Altair found herself on a maid street in the city. There appeared to be more guards than usual as Altair started to count them as she went. The street itself had merchant wagons going both ways and people walking alongside them.
'Should I leave tonight or today?' she asked herself as she watched a wagon pass. Her heart beat quickened at nearly the same moment as her thoughts drifted back to her brother. 'I might not see him again for a while. Perhaps I should see how he's doing…'
She looked down at her satchel, 'I do have too much money now. Maybe I could leave him some?'
She didn't know how much it cost to live in a city like Dyersberge but she did know how much it cost for them to live back in their village. Her parents were barely able to buy the materials needed to make clothes. It was probably a lot harder in a city like this. If he had a child of his own then Altair wanted to give him some help. She was his sister, after all. She couldn't be part of their lives but she could leave them a gift.
'It takes about a week to get to Luksiof,' she told herself as she looked at the bright sky above. 'I'm in a bit of a hurry, but if I rush I can get there in four days. Staying an extra day to rush later shouldn't be a problem.'
She pulled her satchel closer to her and walked along the thoroughfare with the crowd. She had the money to stay another night even without including the money she just got from that man who bothered her about her bag.
She looked around at her surroundings as she walked. There were some stalls setup even here that sold easy to eat food while on the go. There was a boy shouting about the murders last night on a wooden box on the corner, warning people to be careful. Up ahead was a cross section of multiple streets.
'Yup,' Altair thought to herself, 'I have no idea how to get back to where brother lives.' She stopped at a stall selling meat skewers and bought one for three copper squares absentmindedly. She ate it while she was moving along the street considering her problem.
The new Dyersberge was too big and the way the alleys were designed were too confusing. It had taken her long enough to find the market, and that was with the huge crowd of people shouting and buying things there. If the street was mostly quiet she didn't know if she would have been able to find the place.
She probably wouldn't be able to stumble across her brother's home again.
She had gotten there by leaving the crowd in the market. However, that was completely by luck that she had gotten there that way. Even if she tried again she knew that she would most likely end up in a completely different area. If she waited for the crowd to thin and walk along the market when it was more empty she probably wouldn't be able to identify the right street just by looking either.
She didn't know enough about how people found things in a town this big. Every time she ran an infiltration mission she would have a map provided to her by the scout of the team. The map would even have markers on it for landmarks to make sure she didn't get lost.
The only scouting she had done herself was in small villages where a team wasn't needed to infiltrate the place. As a result, she was pretty stumped as to how to find her brother again even though she wanted to leave him a gift before she left.
While Altair was lost in her thoughts, she felt a light tug on her shoulder and turned her head abruptly at the feeling towards her satchel. The tug was extremely light, almost as if she had imagined it. If anyone not familiar with how things worked felt it they would, undoubtedly, think it was their imagination.
Altair was very familiar with how this sort of thing worked.
Her eyes immediately caught the dirt covered kid that was shorter than her by a head who had his hand still within her satchel. His eyes then met her eyes and he froze like a statue.
As soon as Altair moved to grab his arm, he yanked himself out of her satchel and attempted to run. However, he was too close to her to get anywhere. His arm was grabbed before he got to his second step and he instantly attempted to free himself from her.
The boy didn't think that he couldn't pull himself out of a young girls grasp.
Unfortunately for him, Altair used a light amount of Mana to keep him from getting away.
The boy still struggled fiercely against her hold though. The common punishment for pickpocketing was having the offending hand cut off. While the hand could be regrown with Regeneration Magic over a long period of time, it was incredibly unlikely that a street urchin would have the resources to learn such Magic.
As a result, the punishment would very likely lead to his death.
Altair had no intention of handing him over to the guards though. She had a different idea the moment she saw him. So, even though he was struggling fiercely and a few people had cast a look at them to see what was happening, Altair just dragged him into an alley.
To all of the onlookers, it looked like a young noble lady was dragging off a commoner to beat them to death. They didn't pay it any attention as they didn't want to get involved and punished as well.
The boy struggled even harder when he realized what was about to happen. "Please, let me go I won't do it again I swear. I will never bother you again if you let me go. Please don't kill me!"
Altair didn't even look at him as she continued to drag him into the alley. As soon as she had pulled him around a corner in the alley, she tossed him roughly against the wall and grabbed his neck while leaning in close. She stared into his eyes with a threatening gaze as she softly stated, "I have a job that you're just perfect for. Will you accept it or…?" She let her words hang as she slightly strengthened her grasp around his neck.
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Altair frowned and looked toward the speaker. He was a pudgy man wearing fine clothes that, at a glance, could be said to be higher quality than what Altair was wearing. He was out of breath as he pointed at her and sweat could be seen dripping from his brow. His appeared to be trying to look sinister but, with him panting for breath and dripping in sweat, he looked more comical than anything.
"That bag," he shouted while pointing at Altair's satchel, "Give me back my bag!"
"It's not yours," Altair responded in a voice devoid of emotion. Altair didn't know why this wealthy merchant or nobleman wanted her bag, but she wasn't about to hand it over. It was too useful for her to give away and it had her supplies in it.
The rotund man scoffed at her arrogantly, "Don't think you can fool me, imposter! I can tell by the way you walk that you aren't a daughter of power! You obviously stole that bag from someone and I will take it back and find its owner!"
She narrowed his eyes at him, "Why are you so obsessed with my bag to make up lies?" Altair had done more training for how nobles act in the lessons back in the Marnithok's mansion than she cared to remember. While she was still a novice, she knew there wasn't much difference in how they walked than normal. It wasn't something anyone could see at a glance unless they were someone who trained others in how to properly walk. She highly doubted this fat man before her was someone who did that.
The man stomped his foot before shouting in a commanding tone at her, "You can't fool me!" His shouts sounded more like screeches than anything intimidating despite his best efforts. "I've never seen a bag of that quality! There's no way someone who acts like you could have gotten something like it!"
Altair reexamined her bag after he shouted those words at her. It didn't look like anything special to her. She would often use sacks to carry her things before, so the satchel was a lot more convenient and had more room. It even had separate little compartments.
"Ah…" she muttered as she realized his point. 'Right, there probably isn't anything like this here in the Kingdom.' She looked up at him as if he was a dead man, 'Well, it doesn't really matter. I won't give it to anyone.'
The fat man didn't seem to notice the change in her eyes as he continued to demand the satchel from her.
Altair burned some of her Mana and created a Shadow Knight behind him from the wall. The knight soundlessly pulled his sword out and ran him through from behind while covering his mouth. He gave out a muffled cry while trying to turn his head to see his assailant. The knight then twisted his neck roughly and his body went limp with a slight popping sound.
The knight tossed his body aside like a rag doll while grabbing the pouch from his hip and then tossed the pouch to Altair while dissipating into the air.
Altair caught it in midair with the help of her threads as it went a little wide. She turned and walked further into the city while stuffing the pouch into her bag. 'I won't be able to get any useful information here for sure now.'
The death of a wealthy merchant or nobleman would become the talk of the town. It was an almost guaranteed fact that the upper class wouldn't let it go without repercussions. They might instill a curfew or demand that the guards string a random person up or some other unpredictable action.
'Since that's the case I suppose I should leave today.'
Her thoughts drifted to her brother as she walked. Dozens of different and random ideas popped into her head about how he could have ended up here. They all made sense to Altair if she didn't think about them too much. None of them explained why he looked at her like that.
Before she knew it, Altair found herself on a maid street in the city. There appeared to be more guards than usual as Altair started to count them as she went. The street itself had merchant wagons going both ways and people walking alongside them.
'Should I leave tonight or today?' she asked herself as she watched a wagon pass. Her heart beat quickened at nearly the same moment as her thoughts drifted back to her brother. 'I might not see him again for a while. Perhaps I should see how he's doing…'
She looked down at her satchel, 'I do have too much money now. Maybe I could leave him some?'
She didn't know how much it cost to live in a city like Dyersberge but she did know how much it cost for them to live back in their village. Her parents were barely able to buy the materials needed to make clothes. It was probably a lot harder in a city like this. If he had a child of his own then Altair wanted to give him some help. She was his sister, after all. She couldn't be part of their lives but she could leave them a gift.
'It takes about a week to get to Luksiof,' she told herself as she looked at the bright sky above. 'I'm in a bit of a hurry, but if I rush I can get there in four days. Staying an extra day to rush later shouldn't be a problem.'
She pulled her satchel closer to her and walked along the thoroughfare with the crowd. She had the money to stay another night even without including the money she just got from that man who bothered her about her bag.
She looked around at her surroundings as she walked. There were some stalls setup even here that sold easy to eat food while on the go. There was a boy shouting about the murders last night on a wooden box on the corner, warning people to be careful. Up ahead was a cross section of multiple streets.
'Yup,' Altair thought to herself, 'I have no idea how to get back to where brother lives.' She stopped at a stall selling meat skewers and bought one for three copper squares absentmindedly. She ate it while she was moving along the street considering her problem.
The new Dyersberge was too big and the way the alleys were designed were too confusing. It had taken her long enough to find the market, and that was with the huge crowd of people shouting and buying things there. If the street was mostly quiet she didn't know if she would have been able to find the place.
She probably wouldn't be able to stumble across her brother's home again.
She had gotten there by leaving the crowd in the market. However, that was completely by luck that she had gotten there that way. Even if she tried again she knew that she would most likely end up in a completely different area. If she waited for the crowd to thin and walk along the market when it was more empty she probably wouldn't be able to identify the right street just by looking either.
She didn't know enough about how people found things in a town this big. Every time she ran an infiltration mission she would have a map provided to her by the scout of the team. The map would even have markers on it for landmarks to make sure she didn't get lost.
The only scouting she had done herself was in small villages where a team wasn't needed to infiltrate the place. As a result, she was pretty stumped as to how to find her brother again even though she wanted to leave him a gift before she left.
While Altair was lost in her thoughts, she felt a light tug on her shoulder and turned her head abruptly at the feeling towards her satchel. The tug was extremely light, almost as if she had imagined it. If anyone not familiar with how things worked felt it they would, undoubtedly, think it was their imagination.
Altair was very familiar with how this sort of thing worked.
Her eyes immediately caught the dirt covered kid that was shorter than her by a head who had his hand still within her satchel. His eyes then met her eyes and he froze like a statue.
As soon as Altair moved to grab his arm, he yanked himself out of her satchel and attempted to run. However, he was too close to her to get anywhere. His arm was grabbed before he got to his second step and he instantly attempted to free himself from her.
The boy didn't think that he couldn't pull himself out of a young girls grasp.
Unfortunately for him, Altair used a light amount of Mana to keep him from getting away.
The boy still struggled fiercely against her hold though. The common punishment for pickpocketing was having the offending hand cut off. While the hand could be regrown with Regeneration Magic over a long period of time, it was incredibly unlikely that a street urchin would have the resources to learn such Magic.
As a result, the punishment would very likely lead to his death.
Altair had no intention of handing him over to the guards though. She had a different idea the moment she saw him. So, even though he was struggling fiercely and a few people had cast a look at them to see what was happening, Altair just dragged him into an alley.
To all of the onlookers, it looked like a young noble lady was dragging off a commoner to beat them to death. They didn't pay it any attention as they didn't want to get involved and punished as well.
The boy struggled even harder when he realized what was about to happen. "Please, let me go I won't do it again I swear. I will never bother you again if you let me go. Please don't kill me!"
Altair didn't even look at him as she continued to drag him into the alley. As soon as she had pulled him around a corner in the alley, she tossed him roughly against the wall and grabbed his neck while leaning in close. She stared into his eyes with a threatening gaze as she softly stated, "I have a job that you're just perfect for. Will you accept it or…?" She let her words hang as she slightly strengthened her grasp around his neck.
Altair frowned and looked toward the speaker. He was a pudgy man wearing fine clothes that, at a glance, could be said to be higher quality than what Altair was wearing. He was out of breath as he pointed at her and sweat could be seen dripping from his brow. His appeared to be trying to look sinister but, with him panting for breath and dripping in sweat, he looked more comical than anything."That bag," he shouted while pointing at Altair's satchel, "Give me back my bag!""It's not yours," Altair responded in a voice devoid of emotion. Altair didn't know why this wealthy merchant or nobleman wanted her bag, but she wasn't about to hand it over. It was too useful for her to give away and it had her supplies in it.The rotund man scoffed at her arrogantly, "Don't think you can fool me, imposter! I can tell by the way you walk that you aren't a daughter of power! You obviously stole that bag from someone and I will take it back and find its owner!"She narrowed his eyes at him, "Why are you so obsessed with my bag to make up lies?" Altair had done more training for how nobles act in the lessons back in the Marnithok's mansion than she cared to remember. While she was still a novice, she knew there wasn't much difference in how they walked than normal. It wasn't something anyone could see at a glance unless they were someone who trained others in how to properly walk. She highly doubted this fat man before her was someone who did that.The man stomped his foot before shouting in a commanding tone at her, "You can't fool me!" His shouts sounded more like screeches than anything intimidating despite his best efforts. "I've never seen a bag of that quality! There's no way someone who acts like you could have gotten something like it!"Altair reexamined her bag after he shouted those words at her. It didn't look like anything special to her. She would often use sacks to carry her things before, so the satchel was a lot more convenient and had more room. It even had separate little compartments."Ah" she muttered as she realized his point. 'Right, there probably isn't anything like this here in the Kingdom.' She looked up at him as if he was a dead man, 'Well, it doesn't really matter. I won't give it to anyone.'The fat man didn't seem to notice the change in her eyes as he continued to demand the satchel from her.Altair burned some of her Mana and created a Shadow Knight behind him from the wall. The knight soundlessly pulled his sword out and ran him through from behind while covering his mouth. He gave out a muffled cry while trying to turn his head to see his assailant. The knight then twisted his neck roughly and his body went limp with a slight popping sound.The knight tossed his body aside like a rag doll while grabbing the pouch from his hip and then tossed the pouch to Altair while dissipating into the air.Altair caught it in midair with the help of her threads as it went a little wide. She turned and walked further into the city while stuffing the pouch into her bag. 'I won't be able to get any useful information here for sure now.'The death of a wealthy merchant or nobleman would become the talk of the town. It was an almost guaranteed fact that the upper class wouldn't let it go without repercussions. They might instill a curfew or demand that the guards string a random person up or some other unpredictable action.'Since that's the case I suppose I should leave today.'Her thoughts drifted to her brother as she walked. Dozens of different and random ideas popped into her head about how he could have ended up here. They all made sense to Altair if she didn't think about them too much. None of them explained why he looked at her like that.Before she knew it, Altair found herself on a maid street in the city. There appeared to be more guards than usual as Altair started to count them as she went. The street itself had merchant wagons going both ways and people walking alongside them.'Should I leave tonight or today?' she asked herself as she watched a wagon pass. Her heart beat quickened at nearly the same moment as her thoughts drifted back to her brother. 'I might not see him again for a while. Perhaps I should see how he's doing'She looked down at her satchel, 'I do have too much money now. Maybe I could leave him some?'She didn't know how much it cost to live in a city like Dyersberge but she did know how much it cost for them to live back in their village. Her parents were barely able to buy the materials needed to make clothes. It was probably a lot harder in a city like this. If he had a child of his own then Altair wanted to give him some help. She was his sister, after all. She couldn't be part of their lives but she could leave them a gift.'It takes about a week to get to Luksiof,' she told herself as she looked at the bright sky above. 'I'm in a bit of a hurry, but if I rush I can get there in four days. Staying an extra day to rush later shouldn't be a problem.'She pulled her satchel closer to her and walked along the thoroughfare with the crowd. She had the money to stay another night even without including the money she just got from that man who bothered her about her bag.She looked around at her surroundings as she walked. There were some stalls setup even here that sold easy to eat food while on the go. There was a boy shouting about the murders last night on a wooden box on the corner, warning people to be careful. Up ahead was a cross section of multiple streets.'Yup,' Altair thought to herself, 'I have no idea how to get back to where brother lives.' She stopped at a stall selling meat skewers and bought one for three copper squares absentmindedly. She ate it while she was moving along the street considering her problem.The new Dyersberge was too big and the way the alleys were designed were too confusing. It had taken her long enough to find the market, and that was with the huge crowd of people shouting and buying things there. If the street was mostly quiet she didn't know if she would have been able to find the place.She probably wouldn't be able to stumble across her brother's home again.She had gotten there by leaving the crowd in the market. However, that was completely by luck that she had gotten there that way. Even if she tried again she knew that she would most likely end up in a completely different area. If she waited for the crowd to thin and walk along the market when it was more empty she probably wouldn't be able to identify the right street just by looking either.She didn't know enough about how people found things in a town this big. Every time she ran an infiltration mission she would have a map provided to her by the scout of the team. The map would even have markers on it for landmarks to make sure she didn't get lost.The only scouting she had done herself was in small villages where a team wasn't needed to infiltrate the place. As a result, she was pretty stumped as to how to find her brother again even though she wanted to leave him a gift before she left.While Altair was lost in her thoughts, she felt a light tug on her shoulder and turned her head abruptly at the feeling towards her satchel. The tug was extremely light, almost as if she had imagined it. If anyone not familiar with how things worked felt it they would, undoubtedly, think it was their imagination.Altair was very familiar with how this sort of thing worked.Her eyes immediately caught the dirt covered kid that was shorter than her by a head who had his hand still within her satchel. His eyes then met her eyes and he froze like a statue.As soon as Altair moved to grab his arm, he yanked himself out of her satchel and attempted to run. However, he was too close to her to get anywhere. His arm was grabbed before he got to his second step and he instantly attempted to free himself from her.The boy didn't think that he couldn't pull himself out of a young girls grasp.Unfortunately for him, Altair used a light amount of Mana to keep him from getting away.The boy still struggled fiercely against her hold though. The common punishment for pickpocketing was having the offending hand cut off. While the hand could be regrown with Regeneration Magic over a long period of time, it was incredibly unlikely that a street urchin would have the resources to learn such Magic.As a result, the punishment would very likely lead to his death.Altair had no intention of handing him over to the guards though. She had a different idea the moment she saw him. So, even though he was struggling fiercely and a few people had cast a look at them to see what was happening, Altair just dragged him into an alley.To all of the onlookers, it looked like a young noble lady was dragging off a commoner to beat them to death. They didn't pay it any attention as they didn't want to get involved and punished as well.The boy struggled even harder when he realized what was about to happen. "Please, let me go I won't do it again I swear. I will never bother you again if you let me go. Please don't kill me!"Altair didn't even look at him as she continued to drag him into the alley. As soon as she had pulled him around a corner in the alley, she tossed him roughly against the wall and grabbed his neck while leaning in close. She stared into his eyes with a threatening gaze as she softly stated, "I have a job that you're just perfect for. Will you accept it or?" She let her words hang as she slightly strengthened her grasp around his neck.
