Thieves and Jing
"Stop right there, you thieves!!!"
To think he was being treated like a thief for the first time in his life, and all because of a certain someone. If he let his guard down for even a second, his tear ducts, weakened by old age, felt ready to burst.
"They're thieves, and we're thieves. Can't I just beat them up?"
Jing sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, feeling his head throb violently thanks to the companion who was currently muttering such nonsense while casually resting a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"What do you mean, 'thieves'?! You're the only thief here!"
Jing clutched his head in frustration as he looked at the young man running alongside him, who merely shrugged in response. He needed to rid himself of this hopeless youth as quickly as possible.
To escape their pursuers, Jing leaped up into the branches of a densely leafed tree. From his perch, he looked across to the opposite tree, where the black-haired youth was also keeping watch. Sensing his gaze, Ratel met Jing's eyes with an entirely blank expression.
"Where did those damn thieves go?!"
The angry voices of the men searching for them echoed from below. The weapons in their hands clashed against one another, producing a chilling, metallic din.
"Damn it, just wait until I catch them. I'll make sure they never walk on two legs again."
A large, bald man who appeared to be the leader punched the massive trunk of the tree Ratel was hiding in. Ratel stared down at the bald head, looking poised to pounce.
Jing frantically shook his head, silently but desperately pleading with Ratel not to do anything rash. Fortunately, seeing the old man's frantic gestures, Ratel remained still, quietly gripping his branch.
After thoroughly searching the area, the group apparently concluded that their targets were not there and finally dispersed into the distance.
Only then did Jing and Ratel climb down from the trees.
"Why take the hard way when you could have just killed them all?" Ratel asked the moment his feet touched the ground.
"Because I'm sane. I'm sane," Jing replied with a weary sigh.
Ratel tilted his head, genuinely unable to comprehend the answer.
"If you were sane, wouldn't it be easier to kill them and make sure anyone who saw us can't run their mouths?"
Jing felt a headache coming on as he stared at the young man who could utter such brutal words so casually.
"...How old did you say you were?"
"Probably eighteen."
Good grief. He was a giant, but still a complete child. How on earth did the priests of Amica raise this kid? Jing pressed a hand to his forehead, the image of a certain sly old man flashing through his mind.
Jing recalled the moment he had taken Ratel hostage to threaten the Elder, only for a mysterious, radiant light to suddenly envelop him. The blinding brilliance of the glow, accompanied by a highly irritating laugh, had forced Jing to keep his eyes shut tight.
By the time his stinging eyelids finally fluttered open, he was greeted by the sight of an endless, lush green forest. All he had left was a heavy leather bag filled with stones, a single sword, and an unconscious young man.
Though the sudden eviction was frustrating, Jing was ultimately relieved to have escaped Amica's Space. He believed his only remaining task was to return to the Fides Duchy.
He had propped the unconscious Ratel against a tree, leaving his sword beside him. Jing knew he had struck the boy quite hard to knock him out, but he hadn't expected him to remain asleep for this long. Is he weaker than he looks?
Though slightly concerned, Jing had no intention of waiting around until the boy woke up. Once he regained consciousness, he had his sword, so he would surely find his own way back.
As the one who had knocked him out, leaving Ratel behind weighed slightly on Jing's conscience, but he had no desire to travel with a rude youth who possessed not a shred of respect for his elders. More than anything, the parting words of that obnoxious old man kept echoing in his mind.
It sounded exactly like someone dumping a child on him. Jing already had far too many problems of his own to solve. He wanted nothing more to do with anything related to Amica. Still, as a small gesture of goodwill, Jing had draped his cloak over the boy so he wouldn't catch a cold before departing.
Though their acquaintance hadn't begun on the best of terms, Jing sincerely hoped the young man would find his way. Of course, he would never have done so had he known he would run into the boy again just an hour later, surrounded by bandits.
The path out of the forest was not particularly complicated. Seeing how well-maintained the trail was, it seemed they weren't in some completely isolated wasteland. While this brought a sense of relief, a corner of his mind worried that a long journey back would still be grueling.
He hadn't expected to embark on this journey so empty-handed. Because of his abrupt departure, he possessed nothing of use. Aside from those damn stones he kept carrying around because of a nagging feeling that he shouldn't throw them away, he didn't even have a proper weapon.
First, he needed to find a town. He had to return to the Capital as quickly as possible to meet with the Young Duke of Fides and Tollin. Since the former Duke had passed away after relinquishing his title, the imperial family should no longer have any legal grounds to prosecute the Fides family. However, the mere fact that the previous Duke had died after displeasing the imperial court meant those left behind would undoubtedly face immense suffering. He needed to reach a place where he could gather news of the Capital...
"Hand over everything you've got!"
Jing's hurried steps were halted by a rough voice filtering through the thickets. The harsh, violent words were entirely out of place in such a beautiful forest.
"I don't have anything."
And then came a familiar, flat voice that he really, truly did not want to hear.
"I think I've said this several times already. You don't have hair covering your ears, yet you seem hard of hearing."
Hearing that exasperatingly calm tone, Jing squeezed his eyes shut. If he woke up, he should have gone back. Why is he still wandering around this forest?
Predictably, the bandit leader's furious roar soon echoed through the trees, provoked by Ratel's attitude.
"Are you mocking me for being bald?!"
"Yeah! Our boss is bald by choice! He didn't lose his hair!"
So the opponent was indeed bald. Jing let out a heavy sigh and quietly crept toward the source of the noise. Judging by the presence he felt, there wasn't just one or two of them; a fairly large group had gathered. Even if he wanted to ignore it, Jing knew he would leave a bitter taste in his mouth if Ratel, who was only in this forest because of him, ended up in grave danger.
Veering slightly off his original path, Jing stepped out of the dense underbrush and found a small clearing. He quickly hid behind a thick tree trunk. As expected, a single head of black hair and one shiny, bald head stood out prominently among a crowd of men.
Ratel was staring blankly at the bald man, who stood a full head taller than him.
It seemed Ratel wasn't the only victim. Jing noticed several bound captives kneeling a short distance away, their faces pale with terror. It appeared Ratel had stumbled right into the middle of a highway robbery.
"Boss, he looks fine on the outside, but he seems a bit slow. Let's just kill him with the others and take his sword," muttered a bearded man standing beside the bald leader, clearly finding Ratel's lack of fear bizarre given he was surrounded by a dozen armed men.
"Y-young man, just give them the sword and come over here. We're all going to die at this rate," a trembling, elderly man among the captives pleaded with Ratel.
Ratel glanced at the old man briefly before turning his gaze back to the bandits surrounding him. Realizing from his silence that Ratel had no intention of cooperating, the bandits began drawing their weapons.
"If you don't want to be minced into pieces, hand over that sword on your hip while we're asking nicely!"
Despite his claim of "asking nicely," the bald leader raised a massive battle axe high into the air, prompting his lackeys to raise their weapons as well. Jing gripped a stone from his bag and prepared to spring forward. Even unarmed, he could easily handle a few low-life thugs. However, to Jing's surprise, he never got the chance to intervene.
Ratel stepped back, easily dodging the descending battle axe, and kicked up a massive clump of dirt.
"Argh!"
As the bald leader stumbled back, his eyes filled with wet mud and moss, Ratel drew his sword without a moment's hesitation. With a single, clean sweep, the leader's battle axe was sliced in two, the pieces clattering uselessly to the ground.
"Ugh!"
The bald leader clutched his chest, where a shallow cut had drawn blood, and stumbled backward in retreat.
"What the—?!"
A few panicked bandits lunged forward, swinging their swords wildly, but their movements were far too slow compared to Ratel's. Before Jing could even take a step to assist, the thugs were systematically cut down, collapsing to the ground one by one.
The bald leader, now unconscious on the ground while clutching his wounded chest, had a face frozen in a mixture of rage and terror. Well, it seems I didn't need to worry about him at all. Jing awkwardly slipped the stone back into his bag and decided to observe a little longer.
"My goodness! He wasn't a nuisance, he was our savior!"
"Young man, please untie us!"
Hope flared in the voices of the captives, astounded by Ratel's sudden victory. Jing, too, felt relieved by the heartwarming turn of events and prepared to quietly slip away.
"Aaargh!"
"Y-young man, what are you doing?! Argh!"
But the sudden, terrified screams of the captives brought him to a grinding halt. Jing spun around, only to see Ratel systematically knocking out the bound captives with a perfectly blank expression.
What on earth is he doing?
After rendering everyone unconscious, Ratel casually walked over to the fallen bandits and began rifling through their pockets. His movements were incredibly practiced and swift. Since Jing was not one to show mercy to criminals either, he had no intention of scolding Ratel for looting the bandits. The problem was that Ratel was now reaching for the pockets of the innocent civilians he had just knocked out.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Jing yelled, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be hiding as he burst from the trees.
"Ah, you were there?"
"Yes, I was! I saw everything! I saw exactly what you just did!"
Even while addressing Jing, Ratel's hands remained busy, thoroughly stripping the bound captives of their valuables.
"Stop that this instant!"
"Why?"
Jing snatched the stolen wallets from Ratel's hands and began stuffing them back into the unconscious civilians' pockets. Ratel watched him, looking genuinely puzzled, which only exasperated Jing further.
"Why are you robbing these people?!"
"Because they seem to have a lot of money?"
"But they're innocent civilians!"
The black-haired thief, who was proving to be far worse than the actual bandits, merely tilted his head in confusion. Seriously, how did that Elder raise this kid?
"I don't understand why you're so angry, Jing. Didn't you do something similar to me?"
"That was..."
Jing, who had indeed knocked Ratel out and used him to threaten the Elder, found himself momentarily speechless. Letting out a heavy sigh, he began untying the ropes binding the captives.
"That was entirely different. You aren't a civilian, and I was a prisoner. Stealing money from innocent people is not—"
"Ugh..."
Just as Jing was trying to explain, the large, bald bandit leader began to stir. Groaning in pain, he opened his eyes and spotted Jing and Ratel standing nearby. His gaze fell upon the wallets in their hands, which had been taken from both his men and the captives. A spark of fury ignited in his eyes.
"So you bastards are in the same trade!!! Where is your professional ethics?!"
His enraged roar was loud enough to wake the dead. One by one, the other bandits began to regain consciousness. Finding it utterly humiliating that they, as bandits, had been robbed by other thieves, they glared at Jing and Ratel with murderous intent and immediately gave chase.
And that was how they had ended up in their current predicament. Jing finally lowered his hand from his forehead and looked at Ratel.
"Why didn't you go back? Were you looking for me to capture me?"
"I was looking for you, but not to capture you."
"Then why look for me at all?! If you're worried I'll talk, you don't have to be. The Elder is the one who let me out!"
Ratel watched Jing gesticulate wildly before raising a hand to calm him down.
"Actually, that's the problem."
"What is?" Jing asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ratel lifted the sword hanging at his hip and replied flatly,
"I can't get back into Amica's Space. The path seems to be blocked."
Jing felt his mind go completely blank. In the distance of his mind, a highly irritating voice echoed once more.
Damn that Elder.