Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Phantom Thief Dauphin (5) - Dialogue Beneath the Crescent Moon
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Having felt a twinge of shame over the fact that Claudia had seen through his clone magic (though she actually hadn't), the crown prince threw himself into improving the spell with tremendous effort.
He instinctively knew that tinkering with it sporadically during his downtime, as he had before, would take far too long to yield results.
To buy himself time for analyzing and refining the magic, he first snatched up all the paperwork from his subordinates and single-handedly cleared a full week's worth in one go.
One might wonder why he didn't do this all the time, but from his perspective, it was a calculated risk.
People marvel at first when you work hard and excel, but eventually they take it for granted.
Finishing a week's work in a day didn't mean you got six days off—it meant you'd be saddled with even more work for those remaining six days.
No need to look far: he'd ended up shouldering part of the emperor's duties at such a young age precisely because everyone kept praising him, egging him on too much.
Plus, there was the issue of his subordinates' morale and motivation.
Imagine toiling away at a task for over a week, only for someone else to breeze through it in a day. The sense of deprivation and futility would be crushing.
They might appreciate a one-off helping hand as a stroke of luck, but if it happened too often, it would drag down the entire organization's efficiency in the end.
Even with those risks in mind, the time he carved out was poured entirely into the clone magic, yielding these results:
- In the past, spilled blood or severed body parts would immediately convert to mana, risking detection nearby. The new clone left traces intact for at least a week, enabling far more realistic performances.
- The clone's disguise function improved dramatically; now, even a rank-6 expert couldn't pierce its identity, no matter its condition.
- It had started at basic rank-4 specialization, peaking at rank-5 with self-destruction. Now, it began at early rank-5, reaching the upper end of rank-5 upon detonation.
Of course, enhancing something mediocre is easier than perfecting something already excellent.
Considering this was a clone magic originally wielded by a great demon lord, achieving such upgrades in just over a week marked the crown prince's talent as truly transcendent. It was no wonder the great demon lord dismissed humans as riffraff.
Armed with this refined Clone Magic Ver. 2.0, the crown prince customized Phantom Thief Dauphin to his exact tastes.
The concept, in a word: Toolcraft Specialist.
Like a master thief using smoke bombs, Molotovs, gliders, and disguise masks to steal his prize, Dauphin excelled at crafting and wielding an arsenal of tools.
He deployed dozens of short-lived temporary golems for multi-tasking beyond a single body's limits, donned body-enhancing suits to rival mid-tier knights in athletics, and unleashed any spell imaginable with his handmade magic Trumps.
Unlike other clones, it required ample prep and materials, and its base specs sans tools were merely mortal. Yet even so, its abilities let one man toy with one of the kingdom's largest cities.
Unless the Earl of Sarnos dispatched his full knight order, no mere guard could dream of capturing him.
—At least, by all common sense.
Whiiiiiing!
Dauphin dodged the air-shredding strike with one hand pressing down his hat.
Leaping back, he hurled a Trump. Several rigid cards embedded in Dalia's armor, unleashing a fierce bolt of lightning.
An attack sufficient to incapacitate most foes.
Fwaaaah!
But Dalia charged straight ahead unfazed, not even flinching, thrusting her spear.
Dauphin's eyes widened in round surprise, then he asked with evident delight.
"Oh ho! How'd you shrug that off? Some special protective magic artifact?"
Her reply came not in words, but a stab.
He rolled sideways to evade the shoulder-targeting lunge, simultaneously flinging a wire tipped with weights at both ends toward Dalia.
The wire spun like it had a mind of its own, forcibly binding her body and tangling tight.
"Custom restraint wire, my dear. Even sword aura won't sever it in one go—you'd need to saw at it!"
Adventurer Bern would never bother explaining his tools' specs to foes, but this was the jovial Phantom Thief Dauphin.
The thugs he'd faced so far demanded swift neutralization over chit-chat, but this young lady seemed different. Worth the exposition.
Thus, arms spread wide, Dauphin prepared to boast further—
Grrrrrind!
—only to gape as Dalia tore the wire apart with raw strength, ignoring sword aura entirely.
"Wait, hold on! Even for you, that's a blow to my pride as the maker— whoa!"
Dalia scowled behind her visor at Dauphin's flailing, gap-filled panic—yet his responses to attacks remained flawless.
Whiiiiiinnnng!
Her strikes grew fiercer; each spear swing whipped up indoor gusts. Dauphin had no choice but to retreat toward his entry hole in the ceiling.
Indoors limited his evasion against that monstrous spear's power.
As Dauphin nimbly vaulted onto the roof, Dalia followed with a leap.
Beneath the crescent moon gazing down from the night sky.
Against the guardswoman's straightforward, stubborn spearwork true to her nature, Dauphin dodged relentlessly while keeping up the banter.
"By the way, what's your name? I've seen all sorts of guards, but a talent like yours is a first!"
"You've been yapping nonstop...! No name to give a thief!"
"A perfectly valid guard's stance, which is precisely why I must ask."
Dauphin's cape fluttered wildly from his shoulder, then ballooned to block Dalia's view.
She slashed it away with her spear, but Dauphin was already perched on her spearhead, peering down.
"What do you fight for?"
Dalia shook off the dust with a downward strike; Dauphin flipped airborne, landing not on roof but midair.
From a height her spear couldn't reach, the phantom thief strolled casually through empty sky. Dalia's eyes bulged.
"Flight magic?"
"I'd prefer 'magic trick.' Though true artisans might scoff at my spell-mixing."
Dauphin shrugged and continued.
"This city's overflowing with trash. In the most derogatory sense—it's astonishing the kingdom functions at all."
Dalia fell silent.
Dauphin knew that hush meant she was gauging if she could strike. He didn't mind.
Expecting a foe to politely converse mid-fight was the real imposition.
"The trash you're guarding is no different. Countless victims suffer from him on both hands, denied proper recompense, agonizing even now. Knowing that, you still protect him?"
Normally, Dalia would've ignored a mere thief's words outright. But this time, her mouth opened sooner than her thoughts.
"His villainy doesn't justify your actions."
Through her visor's slit, pale green eyes pierced Dauphin.
"If he's done wrong, he should face punishment. But through proper procedures and rules—not because you dislike him, smashing everything willy-nilly! People cheering makes you feel like some hero? It's still crime! You're just a criminal!"
"Hmm."
Dauphin stroked his goatee.
Far from offended by her harsh critique, he seemed almost pleased.
Nay, outright delighted by her words.
"True. An individual arbitrarily judging and punishing another's crimes would be societal evil. It leads to order's collapse."
"Then surrender quietly. I won't break anything if you do now."
"Impossible, I'm afraid. Even if you spare me, others won't... and your 'right answer' doesn't make mine wrong, does it?"
"What?"
Dauphin spread his arms wide, raising his voice.
"Order! Discipline! Due process! Splendid, utterly correct. But only if those systems function properly. Do you see this city's laws and rules working as they should?"
Dalia had no reply.
Or perhaps that silence was the answer.
Impressed by her integrity, Dauphin's smile deepened.
"Order's breakdown might bring blood and chaos. But ignoring the suffering under its banner—is that right? Better to lance the pus painfully than let infection fester out of fear of spilled blood, no? For the long term."
"That's sophistry. What gives you the right to judge?"
"I told you—this isn't about right answers."
Dauphin stomped the air; his body slid downward like on ice, closing to Dalia's face.
"No matter what anyone says, I believe my actions lean toward good. Not perfect good, but weighted toward virtue on the scales. So I act! Simple as that!"
No one scores 100% perfect every time.
But repeating 60% good and 40% bad nets the world at least 20% improvement.
"That's reason enough," Dauphin declared.
"My deeds are virtuous to me, upright in my eyes. If society calls it chaos and disorder—so be it. Why play phantom thief if I'd follow laws and procedures!"
Leaning close as if to peer through her visor, Dauphin pressed.
"And you? Are your actions good by your standards? Honorable to yourself? If so, no more to say. We part ways, but that's a valid path too."
But if not.
If you can't claim your actions as good, can't stand tall before your own conscience.
"Then straighten your path without hesitation. Ignore your inner voice, deceive yourself, and you'll become the very scum you despise."
Dalia's green eyes flew wide.
But she clenched her teeth and shoved Dauphin with all her might.
He tried leveraging the force into a leisurely backflip... but the push exceeded expectations, staggering him off-balance.
Clutching his chest, lips trembling, he looked like he was barely suppressing pain.
"Say, are you really just a guard? If you're there willingly, no complaints from me. But if you're stuck suffering unfair treatment with nowhere else to go, I could recommend a fine job opening."
"Shut up, criminal!!"
As if refusing to be swayed by that silver tongue any longer, Dalia elongated her spear.
Then slammed it down from above with full force.
Dauphin escaped via pre-set invisible wires, soaring airborne to dodge. But the rooftop he'd stood on didn't fare so well.
Dalia, who usually held back against criminals, had swung full-tilt unthinkingly.
Kwaaaaaang!
In moments, a quarter of the building they stood on collapsed outright.
"Ack!?"
Dalia's startled cry echoed as she plummeted amid the ruin she'd wrought.
Watching from midair, blinking, Dauphin broke into cold sweat, thinking:
'...One wrong move, and this might be my first clone to die by someone else's hand.'