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Since the quest of collecting figs was deemed much too of an easy task, Amyra proposed for them to take on another quest. Amyra volunteered herself for the proposal she made herself. Seeing no harm in this, Erin gave her approval.

And so, they split into two teams. One would go collect the figs while the other would track down a thief who had stolen quite a bit of goods from the merchants in town. The latter quest had quite the attractive reward but the thief had proven themself to be more elusive than anyone would have thought, deterring more and more adventurers by the day.

Siv volunteered herself to be part of the second team due to her tracking abilities as a Wolf-kin. Lyra and Nivia stayed with Erin. Though the two didn’t particularly like the quest of collecting figs, they didn’t mind as they got to spend more time with Erin.

As the three departed on the following quarter of an hour to the forest, Siv and Amyra wasted no time in beginning their hunt for the elusive thief. Not much was known about the thief save for their immaculate skill in thievery. Whether the thief was a he or a she, not even that was known. The only clue the guild had of the thief was their last known whereabouts.

There was a small flea market in the corner of the town. Just a few blocks away from the flea market were the slums, though it didn’t look that much different from the rest of the town. There was where the thief was last seen. Or rather, it was always where the thief would run too after committing a thievery.

Searching for a criminal in a slum was like searching for a specific tree in a forest. One could easily walk past the person in question without knowing. Curious enough, Beast-kin and other races with enhanced senses of smell had also tried their hands at this quest but none succeeded in finding the thief. Hence, the state of the quest.

“Amyra, I hope you have a plan in mind,” said Siv as the two strode through the flea market.

The place wasn’t as loud and crowded as the pair had expected. One glance at the wares displayed was enough for them to understand why. Most of them were junk or fakes. If there was a genuine and valuable article amongst the false lot, no one cared enough to look for it.

“I already have a few plans in mind but the future is uncertain, more so when we’re up against something we barely know anything about. Our opponent is a skilful thief, we know that much. What about you, Siv? Do you have a solid plan in mind? How about tracking them down with your nose?”

“To do that, I would need to know what the thief smells like. Unfortunately, we don’t have such a convenient item. We can try asking the peddlers and merchants here.”

“Save your breath. That wouldn’t work.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Look at their faces, Siv. Look at how they’re looking at us. They are not even looking at us. They are looking at our money. If we ask them, they will demand gold in return and they will tell us what we wanted to hear instead of the truth.”

“Then how do we catch this thief? I hunt monsters for a living, not people, mind you.”

“Just follow me and stay close,” Amyra said and the two marched into the slum after an uneventful trekking through the empty street in between the two areas.

The only way for one to distinguish the slum was by the inhabitants. Otherwise, it would look just like any other part of the town.

Amyra took a heavy step into the slum’s main street, shaking the ground, drawing the attention of all beggars. Their eyes were immediately glued to the large bulking pouch dangling on her hip.

“Is there a meaning to that?” Siv asked.

Amyra shrugged. “You’ll see.”

“Alms…” asked a beggar, who gathered enough courage to approach the two. He had nothing but skin to his bones. Desperation was all too clear on his face.

Siv stared at the beggar briefly before looking away without giving him anything. The other beggars became despondent when they saw no hope in begging further from the two.

“It’s the same wherever you go,” Amyra said.

“Hateful.”

“Whoa there. Do you have some sort of past misgivings with beggars?”

“Before Erynthea was my Mistress, I served a wealthy merchant as his personal bodyguard along with my brother, Wrev. I have seen and witnessed all manners of beggars. Most of them are just slothful parasites who want all the gains but none of the pain.”

“Most of them are orphans who are not so fortunate to have been taught the ways of the world.”

“That’s not an excuse. There will always be a way as long as one has the will. They have no will. I have come across men and women in worse shape than these beggars. Even the cripple ones were willing to do whatever they could to earn some gold. These beggars with healthy bodies have no excuses.”

“You would rather they become bandits or thieves?”

“I do,” Siv answered resolutely. “At least they are worth something then.”

Amyra grinned. “We will get along just fine.”

“You still haven’t told me how we are going to find this thief.”

“Don’t worry.” Amyra chuckled. “I have already found him, I think,” she said in a whisper.

Siv raised an eyebrow. “When?”

“The moment we walked into the slum.”

“How?”

“Using a method His Grace taught me. Spontaneous reaction. I made a huge ruckus when I entered the slum. My gold pouch is plain for all to see. All but one beggar looked my way.”

“There were plenty of others who didn’t look your way.”

“Yes, but those people weren’t begging on the street. He adopted the appearance of a beggar but he failed to adopt their nature.” Amyra looked towards the one beggar who kept his head down. He looked just like any other beggar on the street.

“Now that you pointed him out, that man does smell a tad different than the rest. He had the faint scent of copper and silver on him.”

The ragged man lifted his head when he noticed the two approaching him. His face became one that of disbelief and stupefaction when he saw the pair’s knowing expression. He had been found out, he realised. He sprang to his feet, ready to make his escape as soon as he threw the smoke bomb in his hand. However—

“If you throw that bomb, I can assure you that you will lose the hand that threw that bomb.”

The man froze at Amyra’s words. He could tell she wasn’t bluffing by the way she twirled her large sword around as she unsheathed it from her back.

“Now, you have two choices. First, hand over all the things you stole and then I hand you over to the guards. Second, I flay you and then I hand you over to the guards. You have five seconds to choose.”

“Wait wait!” the man shouted desperately.

“That’s not an answer.”

“I have already sold all the goods I stole!”

“Lies.”

“No, it’s true!”

“He’s not lying,” said Siv. “Not entirely at least.”

“Not entirely?”

“I reckon he had kept some of the stolen wares as mementoes.”

“I-I have not!?” the man denied. “Please, just let me go. I’ll give you all the money I have. Just… let me go, alright? Just tell them that you have killed me in—”

“Silence,” Amyra said.

The man immediately did as he was told.

“Only speak when spoken to. Understand?”

The man nodded.

“Now, where are the souvenirs? Don’t lie,” Amyra said, lightly pressing the edge of her sword against the man’s leg.

Seeing no other way, the man pointed at a crate behind him. The crate looked just like any other pieces of junk scattered across the streets.

“It’s safe,” Siv said and walked over to the crate while Amyra kept a close eye on the thief. Siv easily slid the lid off using her foot. Her eyes were greeted by a few glittering pieces of jewellery, but the one that caught her eye was a dull brooch with a twisted skull in the centre, pierced by blades.

“Something caught your eye?” Amyra asked.

“This thing,” Siv answered, showing Amyra the brooch.

“Fuck off…” Amyra cursed. She then glared at the thief, pressing her foot down on his chest. “Where did you get that brooch?”

The man groaned at the weight of the Augur.

“Where!?” she roared.

“From a rotting corpse in the woods just outside of the town, I swear!”

Amyra lifted her foot off the man after getting her answer.

“Is there something wrong?”

“That brooch in your hand, it belongs to the Rust faith.”

“The Rust faith? I have never heard of such a faith. Is that even a name of a Divine?”

“The name of a banished Divine cast out of the pantheon, or so it was believed.”

“For what reasons?”

“For allowing its followers to collude with Demons. The faith’s most recent exploit was the assault on the town of Maven’s Creek.”

Siv felt her blood chill upon hearing that piece of information.

Amyra noticed the drastic shift in Siv’s expression. It was hard not to, considering Siv had a stoic expression most of the time. “What’s wrong?”

“I was part of the defence against that assault in Maven’s Creek.”

“Ah, that’s right. His Grace told me about that. Hmm… now I remember. That was where your brother—”

“The Rust faith is the one responsible for my brother’s death. This brooch here… does this mean the followers of Rust are here?”

“It is likely. Aside from the Aerysians, I will assume they are the only ones who would dare to wreak havoc so close to the capital. No doubt—” Amyra caught herself right before she could spout something sensitive in front of an uninvolved individual.

“W-what?” the man asked as Amyra stared at him intently. “What do you want—”

Amyra knocked the lights out of the man before he could finish his question. She then turned back to Siv. “As I was saying, no doubt the apostles of Rust are also trying to gain favour with the relics.”

“Surely the Ancient Guardians had the sense to not give their blessings to a faith that colluded with Demons, no?”

“Doesn’t matter. Those relics are not as forthright as they love to have people believe. They can’t lie but it doesn’t mean they can’t withhold the truth. Regardless, we got our mark. Let’s head back to— Oh, great.”

Siv’s nose twitched, taking a whiff of the air. She shuddered lightly when the heavy scent of blood wafted across her. “Who are they?”

“Hmm…” Amyra murmured looking around, her expressions changing as she scoured their surroundings. Her gaze rested on the brooch Siv was holding. “The brooch is resonating with the presence of our stalkers.”

“I don’t sense anything.”

“You won’t. You are not of any faith but I am. I can sense the divinity oozing off from the brooch. It began to resonate with something in the vicinity, right when he realised we have stalkers.”

Siv clenched her fists tightly. Her eyes turned bloodshot.

“Easy there, Siv,” Amyra said, holding Siv back with a hand on her shoulder. “They’re in hiding. That means they don’t plan on picking a fight with us… for now.”

“I don’t care what their current intention is. My brother’s dead because of them. I have waited for this for so long— no, I didn’t even realise there was such an opportunity.”

“And I don’t care about your past or whatever. We cannot fight them here. Not in this town.”

“Why not?”

“Clear your head, idiot. If we attack them first, we will be labelled as the aggressors here. We will be at fault. As far as anyone else is concerned right now, our stalkers are no more than just stalkers. If you draw your blade on them, you will be branded a criminal. So, rein in your rage.”

Siv took a huge breath and let it out along with her wrath. “I understand.”

“Excellent, now let us head back to the guild. Who knows what will happen on the way? They might just make the first move on us.”