The Pocket Watch from the Past
At a glance, the pocket watch appeared utterly worthless—an old, battered thing in such poor condition that calling it an antique would be embarrassing. Unless you were a collector with bizarre tastes, who would snap up something like that? A quick glance around confirmed it: disappointment was written all over the auction participants' faces.
"Ahem! As for this pocket watch..."
The auctioneer hurriedly added details, desperately trying to hype up its value. But even after listening, all I learned was that it had been acquired by chance. As I stared at the watch, Joan whispered in my ear.
"Sometimes they build up hype for 'private lots,' only to trot out junk like this. Pretty shady, if you ask me."
I had to agree, to an extent. If I were just an ordinary bidder, I'd have been pretty disappointed. That is, if I didn't know what that watch really was.
Truth be told, as she said, that shabby pocket watch was literally nothing special. What surprised me was its owner. In the original story, the watch's owner—who makes a brief appearance in a flashback—would already be dead by this point in the timeline.
Why the hell is that here...?
What will you do?
We should grab it for now.
I had no immediate plans for it, but holding onto it could prove useful later. An item tied to the final boss? No harm in having it. And it wasn't like I couldn't afford it on the spot.
Sensing the crowd's lackluster reaction, the auctioneer seemed eager to offload it and move on.
"We'll start the bidding now. Opening bid..."
Cheaper than I'd expected. I figured a casino auction would have higher base prices, but apparently not. Just to be safe, I gave Joan a heads-up.
"I'll take that one."
"Pardon? You really want to buy that? Why bother..."
"Feels like a nice casino souvenir."
She looked puzzled at first, but nodded once I explained.
"If it's for that, sure. Though there are way better lots coming up."
There were a few bidders, probably thinking the same as me—cheap enough for a casual memento. No one seemed desperately set on winning it. I bid modestly, not wanting to draw attention. The vibe was relaxed; no need to overspend.
As expected, it went perfectly. The other bidder backed off the moment I showed interest.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The gavel fell three times, sealing the deal, but the crowd barely reacted. They wanted to rush past this trivial item to the next one. I walked up to the stage and took the watch from the auctioneer. His face lit up with relief as I handed over the cash—probably worried it'd go unsold.
Business done, I headed for the exit, with Joan trailing after me.
"You paid more than it's worth. An antique shop would give you maybe a tenth of that."
"It's a souvenir."
"Fair enough. After that jackpot at the table, you can buy whatever."
She had a point. My wallet was stuffed to bursting from that big win earlier.
Still, how long did she plan to stick around? We'd finished gaming and the auction, yet Joan clung like glue.
"I'm heading out now. You gonna keep following?"
Fine inside the casino, but outside? That'd basically make her a stalker. Swap our genders, and it'd be a major red flag.
"Leaving already? Night's still young."
"Getting tired. No idea why."
"Oh dear. Whoever's fault that is, they're awful."
Was she serious? She had to know I meant her. The sheer audacity was impressive.
"Fine. One last question, then answer honestly."
"If I can."
"You lied about being a gambler, right?"
I nodded readily. I'd already let slip it was my first time at a casino; denying it now would be weirder.
"So you really won those games on pure luck?"
"I think I answered that on the way to the auction."
I clearly remembered fielding the same question then. Was she that curious?
"You were polite before, but now you're dropping the formalities?"
"Didn't you say just one question?"
For the record, she'd started it by getting rude first. No need to stay gentlemanly.
"You're dodging and weaving instead of answering straight!"
"I did say I'd only answer what I could."
"Ugh... You're so infuriating, not yielding an inch!"
Ironic, really. If anyone should be mad, it was me.
"Well, I'll be off then."
"Yeah, scram. We'll meet again anyway."
That sent a chill down my spine—a straight-up threat. I stopped and turned back to face her.
"Why do you think that?"
"Just a feeling. Our paths won't end here."
"Maybe. Who knows?"
Human connections are mysterious; no one can predict them. Still, I hoped this was our last encounter. She couldn't be here every night, right? I'd return as Phantom Thief Raven in two days to steal the gem—running into her again would be a headache.
Hehe. Another one joins the harem.
What kind of nightmare are you talking about?
The Goddess seemed set on adding her to my so-called phantom thief harem. Naturally, I refused. As a pure, devoted romantic, I had zero interest in a harem. And even if I did, never that woman.
Joan Watson. I committed the name to memory and vowed to steer clear.
Screech.
The door shut behind me, and stepping outside felt like entering another dimension. The casino's wild frenzy faded into silence. The guard at the entrance bowed.
"Good night, sir."
As I walked away from the casino, I sank into thought. Recon and trick design were done. All that remained was sending the notice and stealing the gem on schedule.
But there was a problem.
Send the notice, and the casino would 100% ramp up security. We'd sent them fine before, but this time was different. Every gem I'd stolen so far was stored in a fixed location—immobile. They could beef up defenses to thwart me, but they never moved the items.
This gem wasn't fixed. It only appeared at a specific time and place: the auction block. If I announced my intent, no way they'd proceed as planned. They'd postpone indefinitely or move it to another venue.
That would ruin my trick and miss the copycat's deadline.
I needed a completely new approach.
Simple fix: skip the notice. But where's the romance in that? Plus, announcements minimized harm to innocents—a real benefit. I wasn't about to become some ordinary crook.
A tricky situation indeed.
Any good ideas?
Hmm... How about this?
Oh? Got a good plan? What's that?
The Goddess began explaining her idea.