Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Phantom Thief Yorphang

I stated the honest truth in response to Bernice’s question about what her appearance was like.

After my answer, Bernice rapidly grew quiet.

She merely lowered her head deeply, cupped her cheeks, and took deep breaths.

Only around the time Ines’s voice came from the corridor were we able to hurriedly exchange farewells and part ways.

Since I had tried to raise Bernice’s favorability as much as possible throughout the day, she should have received a decent impression of me.

Now that she had become interested in me, I thought that was the only way there would be no trouble later.

Only after confirming that Bernice had completely left did Sierra pop out from the cursed blade.

[ What about me? Is there nothing you are curious about regarding me too? Such as what Purple Moon Sierra looks like... ]

Sierra took my hand and brought it to her face... imitating Bernice.

Then she described her own facial features exactly as Bernice had done.

At last, after all the explanation ended, I opened my mouth.

“Master, you are beautiful too.”

[...Too? ]

At my answer, Sierra’s eyebrows rose.

Sierra slapped my hand away coldly.

Then her lips opened, her gaze icy.

[ Disciple, I would like to ask who is more beautiful...? ]

“...”

Even if she asked that, I had nothing to say.

Whether Bernice or Sierra, it was true they both had outstanding appearances, and determining who was more beautiful was extremely difficult.

“Undoubtedly, it is you, Master...”

I scratched my head and answered.

Since Sierra was right before me, I thought praising her would be the wise method.

[...Why did you pause? A lie! You dare speak falsehood before me...! ]

At last, Sierra pointed a finger at me and began glaring.

...I had told her that Bernice could distinguish lies from truths.

“Haha, there is no way...”

Even at my answer, Sierra’s narrowed eyes showed no sign of returning to normal.

She was even giving off killing intent similar to when she looked at the Sword Saint.

I left Sierra like that and cleared my throat, setting off down the path.

At times like this, as always, changing the subject was the answer.

“Ahem... There is something I need to do for a moment before returning to the dormitory.”

Soon, Sierra trotted beside me and poked her head forward.

[ Something you need to do? At this hour...? ]

“They say the lights across the entire city went out... and there is one thing I suspect....Would a thief not target a time like this?”

[ Mm... Ah, you mean the “phantom thief” called Yorphang. Indeed, if the situation is like this... But was such a rumor truly going around? ]

“Of course. Hearing rumors is... not especially difficult.”

Sierra stared at me and looked at my ears.

Well, though it was information I knew from the game, it was also true that the rumor had actually gone around, and it was true that I could have heard the rumor, so it was not wrong.

Catching a quiet whisper among great crowds was not at all easy, but “Keen Senses,” which had reached level 10, made it possible.

Then Sierra crossed her arms again and spoke.

[...How do you know where that creature has gone? ]

“From what I hear... he sent a notice saying he would steal something ‘precious’ to the academy.”

Phantom Thief Yorphang had a cliched trait often seen in phantom thieves from various media: sending a notice about what he would steal.

However, this time, he had not specifically stated the item he would steal. No, it would be better to say he could not.

This had to be considered a matter that badly damaged Yorphang’s face, but he judged that if he did not do this much, he would not even be able to steal what he wanted.

Thinking back carefully, it made sense.

The nature of Innocence Academy.

Moreover, the fact that it was currently open class period was a problem.

Out-of-standard existences such as archmages, the Sword Saint, and the Saintess were openly walking around inside the academy.

Yorphang too would have wanted to avoid clashing with them head-on.

[ Something precious... I am not sure about precious, but if it is something that would be worth money to an outsider, the armory comes to mind first. ]

“The armory does seem plausible. But...”

I trailed off and moved my feet.

Just as Sierra said, if one robbed the academy’s armory, which was full of all kinds of mysterious weapons, it would be worth an enormous amount.

In reality, the academy too must have taken this into account and been guarding the armory thoroughly.

Yorphang targeted that.

Because the armory was so wide, many people were being assigned to it.

The security of other places would become relatively loose.

What Yorphang targeted was none other than a type of “mana stone” called the “Dew of the World Tree,” which was responsible for the magical power supply of the entire city.

This mana stone, located somewhere beneath the city, possessed tremendous value, as could be understood from the fact that one alone supplied the entire city’s magical power usage.

Of course, money and the like were not especially important to her.

From the academy’s perspective, I remembered that because there were very few people who even knew of its existence, they did not pay much attention to it, thinking, “Surely no one would come to steal this.”

To begin with, even I, who had played the game diligently, did not know the exact location of the “Dew of the World Tree.”

The magical power supply had been cut off quite some time ago, so it had to be seen that Yorphang had successfully stolen the item.

Even so, the reason I could remain composed was because I knew Yorphang would not leave the academy immediately, but would come steal one painting hanging in the main building.

To her, it was like a bonus.

That extremely old painting was famous as a mysterious painting whose reason for being hung there was unknown to students and instructors alike.

It was a painting of the Hero’s Party from long ago.

Perhaps the Sage had hung it there a very long time ago.

And that painting of the Hero’s Party was located very close to where I had parted ways with Bernice, only a few steps away.

Things were flowing according to calculations.

In truth, not catching Yorphang would not cause anything major to happen.

For some reason, in the game, both the Dew of the World Tree and the painting of the Hero’s Party that she stole were restored to their original places within less than a day. The same went for the items she had stolen, of course.

However, no news that Yorphang had been caught was heard, so perhaps someone at the academy had quietly resolved it.

What I was aiming for was something else.

After catching Yorphang in the game, one could loot her belongings, and among them was one rather good item.

It was the “subspace pouch.”

For a player who already had an “inventory,” it was an item with the concept of expanding inventory slots... but I did not have anything that could be called an inventory, did I? This held great meaning for me.

“Then the question is how to knock Yorphang unconscious...”

In the game, Yorphang could not be killed.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say she must not be killed.

To begin with, she did not even fight properly and only ran around. Even if one somehow reduced Yorphang’s health, she only reached an unconscious state.

Perhaps because she was a famous phantom thief, or because of the stolen items and the cleanup afterward, she could not be killed.

“But right now, if I cut her with a sword, it feels like she would die easily.”

Yorphang possessed outstanding ability to flee, but her combat strength was not high.

No matter how I thought about it, if I cut off her neck like in the game, I would probably see blood spurting like a fountain from Yorphang’s neck.

I had no particular means of binding Yorphang.

At best, I could think of using Rebellion Against Heaven to cut her ankles quickly... something like that.

However, I did not think there was any need to see blood.

As I walked with Sierra toward the place where the painting was, I decided to think a little more.

Sierra, as always, was quietly following me while looking at me as if thinking, “You are trying to do something again.”

***

“Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~”

A woman was walking down the path while humming.

In her hand was a jewel about the size of a fist.

The Dew of the World Tree.

She had heard it was a mana stone with that name.

Even she could not believe this small thing had lit up the entire city.

The woman slowly looked around.

The entire city was submerged in darkness.

All of it was the result of what this woman had done.

The world called her this.

“Phantom Thief Yorphang.”

However, even this name was only known thanks to the notices Yorphang sent. Nothing was known in detail about whether Yorphang was male, female, old, or anything else.

Yorphang was that outstanding a thief.

As a child, Yorphang had grown up in the slums, pickpocketing on the streets simply to somehow survive each day.

She had considerable talent.

Compared to other orphans her age, her sleight of hand stood out.

After she happened to obtain “magic thread,” which she could control as she wished, a greater goal came to her.

Not merely surviving each day... but taking everything she wanted.

Was it a kind of compensation?

Yorphang wanted far too many things.

As she came to know the world, the things she wanted kept increasing.

She did not know satisfaction.

No, she could not be satisfied.

After obtaining magic thread and achieving material abundance faster and more easily than before, Yorphang had lost something.

Thrill.

She had lost that exhilarating sensation she had felt overflowing inside her when she had pickpocketed in the slums.

Yorphang was a deviant.

When the stimulation had been sufficient, she had not realized it, but once the stimulation vanished, she craved it more desperately than anything.

And so, one day, she began sending notices before stealing items.

When she sent notices, security grew tight, and Yorphang could once again feel the thrill, the excitement.

After that, she grew even bolder.

At some point, when she came to her senses, she had spread the name “Phantom Thief Yorphang” across the continent.

Now, rather than chasing stimulation, she was meeting people’s expectations and living up to her name value.

In the middle of that, “Innocence Academy” entered Yorphang’s eyes.

An educational institution where promising young people from all over the continent gathered in one place. It was so closed-off that not much information was made public.

Yorphang decided to target the “open class period,” when outsiders poured into Innocence Academy.

However, even for her, she could not write specifically what she would steal in this notice.

Because the “outsiders” were far too grand.

The fact that she acted on the third day, not the first or second day, was entirely intentional.

According to the information she had gathered, until the second day, everyone would gather in the Colosseum.

Then there would be no audience to watch her “show.”

Thus, she chose the third day.

With the corners of her mouth raised high, Yorphang placed the “Dew of the World Tree” she held into her subspace pouch.

Then the cries of people who had no idea what had happened sounded sweetly in her ears.

Just as she had announced, she had stolen something precious from Innocence Academy.

She had stolen “light” from the academy.

She quite liked the night scenery of the dark city that had lost its light.

Among the people, mages began using their magic to illuminate the area. Quite a few also walked around carrying torches.

“Khi-hi-hi...”

Finding that sight primitive, she could not help snorting.

In the middle of that, her existence was mentioned among the murmurs around her.

It was Yorphang.

It had to be the work of Phantom Thief Yorphang.

Yorphang naturally passed by the people whispering like that.

Sensing her presence, they met her eyes, then turned their heads again and continued the conversation they had been having.

Not one person suspected her.

“Mm...”

Yorphang lowered her gaze and looked at her outfit.

It was the uniform of some nameless student she had stolen after secretly entering a dormitory before doing the job.

It was not a size that fit her body perfectly.

Especially around the chest... there was a lot of empty space.

Yorphang stopped walking for a moment.

It was because Yorphang herself did not have confidence... in her figure or anything, but she thought this difference might be far too extreme.

Soon, Yorphang emptied her head and moved her feet again.

She had no intention of remaining long in the academy.

But she could not give up on that “painting” she had seen on the first day.

It was an extremely old painting, and as someone greatly interested in works of art, she could not pass it by without touching it.

“...It was around here.”

Yorphang murmured this as she turned a corridor corner, using the moonlight as illumination.

Just as she remembered, the painting could be seen down the corridor.

However, one person was standing in front of the painting.

“He is looking at a painting even though this chaos has happened?”

Yorphang had that question and approached him.

She observed him, using the faint moonlight lighting the corridor as a lamp.

The calm-looking black-haired man had snow-white bandages wrapped around his eyes.

“Ah, this must be him.”

Yorphang thought.

She had heard there was a blind swordsman, and it seemed this student was that man.

As it happened, one luxurious sword stood out at his waist.

Because Yorphang had no interest in the students’ battles, she had not personally gone to the Colosseum.

She had merely been able to guess his identity because, while stealing small things on the street out of lingering habit, she heard the conversations people were having.

Only then did Yorphang understand.

Why this man was here.

If he was blind, there was no way he would know whether the surroundings had grown dark.

But Yorphang had one small question.

Soon, Yorphang carefully approached him and asked.

“Excuse me, but what are you doing here...?”

Even for Yorphang, the sight of a blind man looking at a painting felt extremely strange, so she could not simply pass it by.

Then the man looking at the painting turned his head toward Yorphang.

“What do you mean, here?”

The man tilted his head.

“You were standing still in front of the painting...?”

Yorphang asked again.

At that, the man pointed ahead with his finger and, as if asking what she meant, spoke in a voice filled with bewilderment.

“...Was there a painting here?”