“Hmph, look at how pathetic you are. We have a spatial magic tool in our hands now. As long as we don't run straight into a Fifth Circle or higher transcendent, or a spatial mage, we can use this magic tool to escape.”
Though he also recalled the City Defense Knight Order that had been pursuing them, a look of disdain crossed the thief leader's face.
In the past, he couldn't even run away when he encountered them. Now, they could only eat his dust.
“Besides, do you want to be a First Circle for the rest of your lives? Without enough resources, how are we supposed to advance to a higher realm?!”
The thief leader had been a First Circle Transcendent for over ten years, but breaking through to the Second Circle was still a distant dream.
For so many years, watching those Third Circle and Fourth Circle adventurers in the Adventurer's Guild, he had dreamed of breaking through to the Second Circle.
“But Boss, if we get caught, let alone breaking through to the Second Circle, we'll lose our lives right here.”
“I think we should take it step by step. We should hide for a while and consume the resources we have first. After six months or a year, we can make another move against the nobles.”
The lean thief said, still filled with lingering fear. Being pursued by a single city's City Defense Knight Order had already scared him out of his wits. If they were wanted by the City Defense Knight Orders of multiple cities, he didn't even dare to imagine the consequences.
Thud!
Just as he finished speaking, the thief leader sent him flying with a single punch.
The lean thief rolled several times on the grass before crashing into a large boulder, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
The thief leader's punch was not light, making the lean thief feel as though his internal organs had been violently rattled.
“Didn't I already say? As long as we have a spatial magic tool in hand, those dogs from the City Defense Knight Order can't catch us! Are you deaf?”
A single successful theft and escaping from the City Defense Knight Order had already caused the thief leader's confidence to swell.
“And if even Valenhill's City Defense Knight Order can't catch us, what do you think the City Defense Knight Orders of those other small cities can do to us?”
Of course, there was another point that made him even more desperate—he was no longer young.
If he didn't break through now, he felt he might never have the hope of advancing for the rest of his life.
The desire to advance over the years, coupled with the dwindling hope of promotion as he grew older, had been a double oppression tormenting him.
Until, by a stroke of luck, he obtained a spatial magic tool and used it to ransack a Baron's treasury.
His long-suppressed emotions had finally erupted completely. Now, his eyes were set only on advancing his magic power realm, and he couldn't listen to anything else.
“Tell me, who should we listen to?”
After knocking the lean thief aside, the thief leader turned a fierce glare upon his other lackeys.
“Of... of course we listen to the boss. Fortune favors the bold! We don't want to be a First Circle for the rest of our lives either.”
Seeing the miserable state of the lean thief, how could they dare to cross the thief leader now?
“Hmph, a bunch of cowards. Once I break through to the Fifth Circle, I'll go to the Adventurer's Guild, form an adventuring group, take on quests, and earn enough money to last several lifetimes.”
Looking at the shrinking, timid expressions of the others, the thief leader spoke with a look of contempt in his eyes.
“I'm afraid you won't get that chance.”
Just as the thief leader's voice fell, a youthful voice rang out.
Immediately after, dozens of reserves appeared around them, each holding an iron sword in their hands.
The sudden voice startled the gang of thieves, but once they saw who it was, they burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, a bunch of brats, yet you dare to talk so big.”
The thief leader had thought the City Defense Knight Order had caught up and was ready to run, only to find it was a group of children.
“Boss, look at how they're dressed and their delicate skin. They're definitely noble kids.”
The one-eyed thief cast a shifty, rat-like gaze over the reserves surrounding them and leaned in to whisper to the thief leader.
“No shit. This is the interior of the Dragonfall Mountain Range. How could commoner children survive long enough to reach this place?”
When the thief leader looked at Tyr and the others, his eyes were filled with greed.
“With their delicate skin, if we sell them to slave traders, they'll fetch a hefty price.”
Through underground black market channels, the clients there particularly adored this type of noble child.
However, in a world where nobility reigned supreme, kidnapping them was no simple task.
Thus, every noble child who ended up in the underground black market could be sold for an astronomical price.
“Quick, before the City Defense Knight Order gets here, knock them all out and tie them up.”
Counting the number of noble children around them, the thief leader could already feel a mountain of gold coins waving at him.
“Yes, Boss!”
The other thieves were originally hesitant. Kidnapping noble children was no different from tying their heads to their waistbands.
But once they remembered they were already wanted for ransacking the Baron's treasury, and being caught meant execution anyway...
Since things had already come to this, they didn't mind adding another capital offense to their names.
With that in mind, and picturing the glittering gold coins they would receive after selling these noble children, sinister smiles appeared on the faces of all the thieves.
As for the swords in the hands of Tyr and the others, they didn't intimidate the thieves in the slightest.
“Brats, come with uncle quietly. It'll save you a beating.”
The one-eyed thief stepped up to Silas. He didn't even draw a weapon as he reached out to grab Silas.
In his eyes, he was a First Circle Transcendent. How could he not handle a mere child?
But in the next instant, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and the smile on his face instantly froze.
Looking down, he saw that Silas had somehow already closed the distance. The longsword in his hand was thrust deep into the thief's abdomen, blood staining a large portion of his clothes.
The one-eyed thief felt a chill run through his entire body. From beginning to end, he hadn't even seen how Silas had moved, let alone how he had approached and plunged the blade into his abdomen.
“Want to capture me? I'm afraid you won't live to try.”
Silas withdrew his sword, and the one-eyed thief collapsed straight backward, his life force extinguished.
The sudden turn of events made all the thieves gasp.
But before they could react, the reserves had already begun their hunt.
The "children" they had viewed as weaklings just moments ago transformed into a pack of hunters in the blink of an eye.
Thanks to the "slaying" training in the Sword Prison, none of them showed any discomfort during the slaughter of the thieves.
“Something's wrong. These kids are weird.”
With such a massive contrast, even the stupidest person would have realized it by now.
These kids wielding swords were completely different from the physically fragile noble children they had seen before.
Rate on N.U.
