Phantom Thief? Detective! (2)
Clang! The instant I caught wind of the raid, I transformed my bracelet into a spear.
They got past my detection?
I swept a sharp gaze across the now-chaotic campsite. For Korean guys, night watch usually meant killing time with whatever boredom-killing tricks you could invent. But in this other world, things weren’t so simple.
I was on guard, too.
If a few hours of exhaustion could let you dodge danger in advance, you couldn’t afford to drop your guard completely. The campsite sat in the middle of an open plain with zero cover. The only landmark was a nearby cliff. And it wasn’t just me—plenty of others had been standing watch throughout the camp. Anyone who could slip past all of us had to be a true master of stealth or thievery.
These weren’t opponents I could take lightly.
I snatched up my axe and fired a question at the adventurer scrambling to his feet.
“What exactly are the phantom thieves of Lucregens?”
“Two crazy thief bitches! They only hit nobles or rich merchants with nasty rumors. Looks like this caravan was their target!”
Righteous bandits? The claim didn’t sound credible. If they had the skill to pull that off, they could’ve made a living some other way. The fact that someone talented enough to rob nobles without getting caught still chose thievery suggested either a twisted creed or con artists hiding behind the “righteous thief” label.
Enough about strangers whose faces I’d never seen. I sprinted straight toward where my wives were. Sure, someone was managing the whole caravan, but your own safety was ultimately your own problem.
“Kyaaaack!! You fucking bitches!”
Thankfully they seemed unharmed, but a merchant—I think his name was Drake—was screaming at the top of his lungs, face purple with rage, about whatever the thieves had done on their way through.
“Kyahahaha! Calm down, mister! Your face is gonna pop!”
“Puhuhu.”
The two young women standing back-to-back atop the carriage he was pointing at both wore eye masks that covered only the area around their eyes.
Twins?
Even their costumes matched—identical cloaks and leather armor. Yet I couldn’t make out their faces clearly. The simple masks barely covered their eyes, but somehow that was enough.
A magic item that interferes with recognition?
I focused, trying to activate Odin’s Eye to see if it could pierce the enchantment, but the self-proclaimed phantom thieves were faster. They burst out laughing.
“Criminal names! Drake Stabilimen! Owen Solution!”
“Charges! Unfair exploitation of trade partners and distribution of stolen goods!”
“Sentence! Partial confiscation of assets!”
Those who enjoy unjust wealth, listen up!
We, the phantom thieves Gwen & Stacy, shall appear wherever sin resides!
“Kyahahahaha! Bye-bye, everyone!”
After their ridiculously bold declaration for a pair of thieves, the twins hurled something onto the carriage roof.
Boom!
Red powder exploded outward, spreading in the blink of an eye. The twins darted through the smoke to the opposite side. People were waiting there too, but they couldn’t catch the pair racing like the wind.
Shit, they’re fast.
They moved like swallows skimming water. Not even a rustle as they sprinted across the grass—definitely professional thieves. They’d mastered the art of grass-flight. I still didn’t know if that red powder was poisonous, though. As the crowd shrank back in fear, Drake shrieked.
“Don’t panic!! It’s just pepper spray!!”
“Keheuk! Khaaaaack?!”
“Kieeeeeek──!! Kyaeeeeek──!!”
Just pepper spray? The poor bastards who got hit looked ready to die. I gave a cautious sniff. The sharp scent of jalapeño stung my nose.
Ugh, fuck.
I recoiled. That had to be at least 8,000 Scoville. They should just rename it Hellfire Chicken Spray. Inhaling that into your eyes or nostrils would be pure torture.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
I spun my spear like a windmill, trying to disperse the powder. But the stuff refused to budge even in the breeze. High-quality escape gear. They really lived up to the phantom-thief name.
“Where do you think you’re going, you petty thieves?!”
A man screamed himself hoarse and loosed arrows. He was probably the second victim—Owen something-or-other.
The twins weaved through the crowd, then spread their cloaks wide.
“Too bad, but the party’s over!”
“Clingy men after the fact are just pathetic!”
Flutter! Their black cloaks—completely frameless—transformed like hang gliders. A powerful headwind, probably magical, lifted them into the air. The soaring twins removed their feathered hats and flashed refreshingly mocking smiles.
“Thanks for the warm welcome, but this is goodbye! If you regret losing your stuff, try living honestly from now on!”
“Is that something a thief should say?”
Whoosh!! The small voice cut as sharply as the sonic boom that followed. A woman had kicked off a carriage and flown like an arrow, punching a hole straight through the hang glider with her charge spear.
“Sister!!”
“Ughyaaaaack!!”
The thief whose glider had been pierced lost flight capability and plummeted. I stared in astonishment at the female knight who landed first.
…Why is Nuna here too?
There was no mistaking that spring-loaded jump. A female knight armed with a charge spear and shield—the same one who had fought me before. She was Primor’s escort.
When I scanned the area, I spotted several familiar physiques dressed to match the missionary group. The headcount matched perfectly. The people surrounding and protecting something were likely guarding the corpse of the dead holy knight.
So this was the escape route the Janus Church arranged?
I clicked my tongue. Unexpected reunions were still piling up. Maybe the Arma-whatever families were converging on the city where Tirsi had been kidnapped.
“Catch them!! Retrieve the stolen goods!!”
At Drake’s shout, the uniformed soldiers he’d hired—clearly the merchant group’s dedicated guards—surrounded the fallen thief.
“Sister, are you okay?”
“Ouch… The intel was wrong. Nobody mentioned a skilled fighter like her.”
Thud! The younger-looking woman landed beside her older sister. Even so, breaking through this encirclement would be impossible. They might dodge arrows in the air, but if the female knight launched another jump attack, the result would be identical.
“Uhahaha! Hand over the goods quietly! Do that and I won’t harm you—I’ll even hand you over to the guards nicely!”
Drake puffed out his fat belly and laughed triumphantly. The injured thief gave a dry chuckle, clearly unimpressed.
“If you’re going to brag, at least say you’ll let us go. Who’d be stupid enough to thank you for handing them to the guards? Besides—”
Swish! She drew the wand from her waist in a flash.
“Have you ever seen a phantom thief negotiate with the target?”
“Heuk?! Shoot! Shoot them!!”
The archers fired instantly, but a wind shield activated by the younger sister deflected every arrow. They touched the magic items covering their ears. From countless real battles, my intuition instantly told me what they were about to do.
Flash! Mana dyed black and formed a spherical barrier, just like a shield spell. It covered my wives as well. The power bursting from the wand made the shield vibrate violently.
Kiiiiiiing—!!
“Ugh?!”
“Kyaa?!”
What I hadn’t expected was the deafening noise that followed. I’d assumed it would be an attack spell or a flashbang to ruin our aim, but the ear-splitting sound caught me off guard.
My wives and I grimaced, hands clamped over our ears.
“Aaaaaack!! My eyes!! My ears—I can’t hear anything!!”
“Kyaak!! Who is that?! Who just bumped into me?!”
We got off relatively easy thanks to the shield. The moment the mana vanished I dismissed it, but the people outside who took the blast directly were rolling on the ground, crashing into each other—total pandemonium.
“…We lost them.”
I shook my head at the contrast between the devastated campsite and the bright sunlight pouring down.
Three minutes after the phantom thieves fled.
Once the commotion had mostly settled, I asked.
“So what the hell was that about?”
“It seems their trade goods were stolen,” Veronica said while Dana healed her ears.
“Yeah, even I could figure that much.”
The phantom thieves wouldn’t have shown up just to advertise their names. They must have taken something. Still, hearing we’d been robbed wasn’t pleasant.
“Nuna. They say the guy exploits his trading partners and deals in stolen goods?”
The others’ “figures” expressions suggested there were indeed suspicious circumstances. Drake was fidgeting nervously. Dana subtly avoided my eyes.
“…Sorry. A former assistant professor of archaeology from some university recommended him strongly.”
“Aigo.”
Whether assistant professors or full professors, those people were never helpful in my life. Exceptions like Dana or Hiromain were rare—that was the industry’s ugly truth.
Since we hadn’t suffered direct damage, accepting the situation wasn’t a problem. But what if it became troublesome? Sure enough, my worry proved correct. Drake came running over.
“H-hey! Those thief bitches stole my jewel chest and ran! Could you please chase them down?!”
“…Us?”
Franc blinked in confusion. Drake was at a loss for words. We weren’t officially hired. We’d simply chatted through Dana about traveling together for a while. Plus, the fact that he couldn’t ask anyone else and came to us suggested his usual behavior left him with few allies. It was his own fault.
Hmm?
His own fault, huh. A thrilling scent of money suddenly flashed through my mind and the corner of my mouth twitched upward.
Control your expression. Control it.
I pressed my lips into a solemn line and approached Drake.
“Excuse me. Were the stolen items jewels?”
“Y-yes! It was convenient for customs and transport, so I converted cash into gems!”
Realizing I was offering help, Drake brightened. He stopped giving pointless orders to his subordinates.
“If we retrieve them, may I expect some compensation?”
“O-of course!”
“Understood. It’s bad luck to count the value of prey you haven’t caught yet. We’ll talk again later.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
I gave a deliberate cough and returned to my wives. Our junior was already snickering like she knew everything.
“Senior, you really are wicked♡”
“Ahem. We might not catch them even if we try. And even if we do, we might not recover the stolen goods. Right?”
“True. Jewelry has standardized manufacturing specs, and it’s hard to identify the original owner, so it’s easy to liquidate as currency.”
I’d tried to sound mysterious, but they all just giggled. In the end I couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing too.
In fantasy, thieves are basically monsters that drop items, right?
Just chasing them down and retrieving goods they couldn’t fence yet would be jackpot. We could return some of the stolen property to the owner, but in the process Mr. Drake’s assets might mysteriously vanish without a trace. Especially since locating Tirsi might require money. If the local collaborator refused Lady Henesis’s request, we’d have to investigate ourselves.
“My dear. You’ll need this, won’t you?”
Veronica pulled a slate from her bag and handed it over. It was the one I’d picked up after beating Yerna in the city of the dead—an inventory-like slate that could store items inside. As I accepted it, Franc chuckled.
“We should move before we lose them.”
“Yeah. Drake’s whining will buy us a little pursuit time, but the whole caravan won’t wait for hours.”
If they’d come close I could have marked them, but since they vanished, they must have flown up onto the nearby cliff to escape.
Did they jump from there during the attack too?
If they’d used a sound-dampening magic item while descending, it made sense that I hadn’t noticed. I slipped the slate into a small bag, slung it on my back, and spoke.
“To move fast, it’s better if only the quick ones good at tracking go.”
“…So just me?”
Franc smiled. I nodded.
Before they ran, they mentioned information.
To commit such a brazen frontal theft, they needed absolute confidence in their skills and certainty they wouldn’t fail. If they had an information broker or network backing them, tracing that connection for the Tirsi search didn’t seem like a bad idea. It would be far faster and more reliable than wandering the city at random.