“Thief K… Let’s stop calling it Thief K, Miss Dorothy…” In the waterside restaurant, seated at a window table, Nephthys frowned after hearing Dorothy’s nonchalant words and continued. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 “When we steal something, can’t we just do it quietly, without being so flashy? Every time we did it, we make it so the whole world knows about it… and it feels terrible…” Her tone was noticeably anxious. Clearly, when she saw everyone around discussing rumors about Thief K—saw that Thief K’s notoriety was climbing—she grew fearful. After all, shouldn’t a thief keep a low profile? Making such a loud spectacle was practically robbery! “Well, yes… For an ordinary thief, the quieter and more unknown they stay, the better. But in the case of Thief K, her reputation is where her power lies. Making everyone aware that something is about to be stolen—that’s the function of the ‘Thief K’ name. It was that way on the Shimmering Pearl last time, and it’s the same here in Adria, too. “And although Thief K’s name has grown even louder now, there’s no need for you to worry, Senior Nephthys. As long as you don’t go around telling people, no one would ever connect you—a frail-looking college student—to the legendary thief. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” Dorothy smiled and spoke casually as she sipped her coffee. Hearing this, Nephthys said nothing more. She still feared the danger and trouble that Thief K’s identity might bring, but she also recalled the many perils she had already faced, all of which Dorothy had resolved. The memory soothed Nephthys’s anxiety somewhat. “Yes… Since Miss Dorothy, a high-ranking member of the Rose Cross Order and a seasoned Beyonder, isn’t worried, why should I panic? If something arose that could even make Miss Dorothy panic, my own worry wouldn’t help anyway.” Having sorted this out, Nephthys relaxed a bit. Looking at Dorothy, sitting there at ease despite everything, she felt reassured. “When you get right down to it, Thief K isn’t just me—it’s a partnership between Miss Dorothy and me. She designs the plans; I carry them out. If I don’t trust myself, can’t I at least trust Miss Dorothy? Even if my own abilities are insufficient, as long as Miss Dorothy’s are more than enough, there won’t be any problem.” With that thought, Nephthys let go of her initial worries about being unqualified for the infamous identity of Thief K. Feeling much lighter, she picked up a piece of bread from the table and began to eat. “By the way, you’ve been in Adria for a while now, right? How’s the study trip going? Where are you headed next?” Dorothy asked, watching Nephthys munch on her bread. Nephthys answered directly. “These past few days, our professor has taken us to practically all of Adria’s historical landmarks. We’ve visited a lot of excavation sites and attended a bunch of lectures. I think soon we’ll be moving on somewhere else, but we don’t have a definite plan yet. There’s some disagreement among the professors—some believe we should head inland to the Ivengard capital, Pezhi, for a deeper immersion in Ivengard culture, while others think we should continue traveling by ship to different countries so we’ll have more subjects to choose from when writing our papers.” Still eating, Nephthys told Dorothy this. Dorothy sipped her coffee again, then spoke. “If I’m not mistaken… wasn’t your original plan to visit North Ufiga after Adria? Did that change?” “That was just a maybe. Lately, it seems North Ufiga has been having some troubles, and political unrest—so for safety reasons, the professors leading us have been at odds over whether we should still go. For now, there’s no final decision.” Nephthys explained. Dorothy recalled recent newspaper reports indicating that the situation in North Ufiga was indeed unstable—something about unrest sparked by ethnic and religious issues under colonial rule. It wasn’t exactly wise to do academic research in a region with an unsteady political climate. “Yes… security is definitely the first concern. Let me know once you’ve settled on something,” Dorothy replied, slicing a piece of pastry and popping it into her mouth. She then continued. “Oh, right—about those mystical texts I gave you last time. Have you finished reading them? How is your spirituality accumulation coming along?” “Oh, I’ve finished them! And I asked Aka to clear the cognitive poison for me. Now I can sense that my primary spirituality, Silence, has been fully stocked, while my secondary, Chalice, is more than halfway there. It perfectly meets your requirements, Miss Dorothy.” Nephthys straightened up like a student earnestly reporting to her teacher. Dorothy nodded. Since she was the one who regularly helped Nephthys purge the cognitive poison, she was already aware of Nephthys’s spiritual progress. She asked only to lead into the next topic. “So you’ve filled them up, huh? That’s good. That means all you’re missing for your advancement to White Ash is the ceremony, right? Has your family’s butler uncle still not handed over the rest of those notes?” “You mean Granpa Nust… well, maybe he just isn’t ready for my rapid pace. He keeps telling me to slow down and be steady, so he’s never willing to give me the remaining portion of Grandpa’s notes…” Nephthys explained. She had discovered her Beyonder Soulbinder advancement ritual in her grandfather’s writings. The second half of that text was still in the hands of the family’s old butler, Nust, who felt the first portion alone should suffice for her to digest for a while. To be on the safe side, he kept the latter half for himself. “Ah… so he’s still holding out on you? Haven’t you told him that you’ve already advanced to Black Earth, and are only missing the ceremony for White Ash?” “I did tell him, but rather than feeling happy that I made it to Black Earth, Granpa Nust seemed scared. It only made him more determined not to give me Grandpa’s notes right away. He keeps saying I’m advancing too quickly in my Beyonder path and wants me to slow down, as though he’s afraid something bad might happen.” Spreading her hands in exasperation, Nephthys spoke to Dorothy. Hearing these words, Dorothy’s brow furrowed slightly. “Neph’s rapid advancement must have frightened that old butler. And that’s understandable. After all, she only became an Apprentice last October, and within two months, she went from Apprentice to Black Earth. Anyone would be shocked by that. As I recall, that butler is still just an Apprentice himself… Seeing his young mistress ascend so fast, he’s worried something’s not right…” Dorothy mulled it over. Her “Reading Method,” relying on ample mystical texts, allowed for extremely rapid spiritual accumulation, which often felt inconceivable to people in the mysticism world. Nust’s cautious approach made sense to him because, from his perspective, Nephthys was progressing at a dangerous speed. Meanwhile, the “Rose Cross Order” she had joined was virtually unknown to him, so of course he was anxious about her unconventional learning methods. After all, if a school’s educational system was highly opaque, parents would naturally be concerned, right? “It looks like Neph’s going to have to reason with Nust if she wants those remaining notes. It might help if she shares a bit more about the Rose Cross Order—maybe even mentions Aka. As long as he believes his young mistress is in good hands, that her studies and society activities aren’t risky, and that the Rose Cross Order is a harmless, upright organization, he should relax.” Finished thinking, Dorothy continued aloud to Nephthys. “As for your old butler, I’ll have a word with him if there’s an opportunity. He just needs a little reassurance, and he’ll likely give you the notes. It shouldn’t be too difficult.” “You’re going to speak to Granpa Nust directly, Miss Dorothy? Well… please do. Honestly, there’s no huge rush on my end. Even if I got the White Ash ritual right now, it’d take time to prepare for it anyway.” “That’s exactly why we should hurry and get the ritual details, right? The sooner we have them, the sooner we can prepare. Don’t worry, Senior Neph—you were a big help to me this time, so I’ll do my best to help when you advance.” As she spoke, Dorothy finished the last of her coffee. Nephthys, seated opposite, nodded in agreement. “Mmm… then I’ll leave it in your hands…” … After they finished their meal, Dorothy settled the bill, and they left the restaurant. The two parted ways on the street shortly thereafter, each returning to her respective accommodations. Dorothy took a small boat back to her residence—a hotel near the cathedral plaza. Pausing outside the hotel entrance, she glanced at the sealed-off plaza and the now lightless spire of the cathedral, then went inside and ascended to her room. Back in her room, Dorothy sank down onto the sofa. After resting briefly, she began to review the events of the previous night. “Using Summer Tree, Vania, and Thief K’s calling cards, I kept Antonio in town. Then, I orchestrated for him to clash with Garib, who came to steal things, and seized the opportunity in the ensuing chaos to trick Garib into taking the Crown of Emmanuel by mistake. Overall, last night’s operation was a success. Not only did I acquire all of Azam’s donations, but my spiritual expenditure wasn’t too high. I only used 2 points of Stone to shock those two mystical police officers from Adria, plus a few of the Corpse-Sand Society grunts. Including the preliminary scouting, I used about 2 points of Shadow. So it wasn’t that big a drain. “Sure enough, as long as I don’t personally engage and instead use indirect tactics, my spiritual consumption stays low.” Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy tallied up her spiritual usage. Soon, she had a clear grasp of her current reserves. 28 Chalice, 9 Stone, 20 Shadow, 4 Lantern, 14 Silence, 40 Revelation. Her Shadow was paid from a storage item, leaving her with 2 Chalice and 2 Shadow remaining in that item. The Shadow stock given to her earlier by that senior knight from the Royal Family Guards was more or less depleted. Also, she had spent around 20 pounds on travel and touring during her stay in Adria, leaving her with about 1,830 pounds. Satisfied after finalizing these calculations, Dorothy retrieved her magic box and took out several small pouches, placing their contents on the nearby tea table. A chalice, a necklace, earrings… all manner of relics—mostly jewelry—seemingly from North Ufiga. Having laid out all of Azam’s donated items that Nephthys had stolen, Dorothy used her spiritual sight to examine them. However, she found no reaction yet, indicating the divination tool’s cooldown was still in effect. As of mid-to-late March, it would probably take a couple more days. Not in any hurry, Dorothy returned the items to their pouches and placed them back into her magic box. Then she pulled out a thick book, the Literary Sea Logbook. Dorothy took out the Literary Sea Logbook, flipped through it until she reached Beverly’s correspondence page, then picked up her pen to write. “I have a deal for you. Garib’s Corpse-Sand Society openly violated its agreement with you and cozied up to the Dark Gold Society. Weren’t you dissatisfied with Garib? I’ve found a window of opportunity here that could seriously hurt him—if luck’s on our side, he could vanish from the mysticism world forever. If luck’s not, it’ll still leave him badly weakened. “Since Garib broke the contract, you don’t have to remain neutral toward him. Just give me a little something in return, and I’ll take the risk of exploiting this opening. Interested?” After Dorothy finished writing and was about to close the Literary Sea Logbook and wait for a response, words in Beverly’s neat, printed style materialized before her eyes. “What sort of chance are we talking about? Let’s hear it.” Seeing Beverly’s reply, Dorothy’s eyes lit up. She quickly wrote again. “Don’t bother asking for specifics. Time is short, and this chance won’t come again. Just say whether you’ll accept the deal or not. “As for my payment, it’s nothing major—just some ritual materials that a Silence pathway Beyonder might need when advancing.” Having set down that passage, Dorothy waited expectantly for a reply. Taking down Garib was, for her, an unexpected opportunity presented by the battlefield circumstances. And since she was already ensnaring him, she might as well leverage Garib’s demise for maximum benefit. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worthy of targeting the leader of an entire society, would it? … Afternoon. Far to the southeast of Adria, the vast ocean stretched to the horizon. Shattered rock, splintered trees, and cracked earth… A previously tranquil, uninhabited island in the Conquest Sea now lay in ruins, as though struck by an immense catastrophe. At the island’s jagged perimeter—along a soft sandy beach washed by crimson-tinged waves—Garib lay bloodied from head to toe, his life or death uncertain. Standing beside him was Antonio, his robes in tatters, lacerations across his body visibly healing. Antonio gripped the Crown of Emmanuel in his left hand, glowing brilliantly, while in his right he held a small white card. His solemn gaze fixated on the note’s flippant message. In keeping with my promise, I have come to admire the Crown of Emmanuel. Sadly, it isn’t what I wanted, so I’ll leave it to anyone else with the desire. —Thief K