“What’s wrong? Didn’t you bring any money?”
Noli looked at Lucas, who was patting down his entire body, and gave a helpless smile.
“Forget it, I’ll pay.”
Noli reached toward where her money pouch should be, but soon her expression mirrored Lucas’s exactly.
Where’s my wallet?
It was clearly supposed to be in the belt hanging from her waist.
Why wasn’t it there?
“Didn’t you bring any money?”
Lucas asked back.
“I did,” Noli replied, starting to search herself as well.
“I brought some too, and quite a bit at that. We have to find it, or this will be a huge loss.”
Listening to their conversation, Princess Lina sighed and reached for her own wallet.
Her expression quickly grew complicated as well.
“This little thief has skill,” Lina remarked admiringly.
“She managed to sneak all three of our wallets away without anyone noticing. I won’t even mention Noli and me—Lucas didn’t sense a thing. This girl’s got some real talent.”
“Huh? Looks like none of you have money,” the Tavern Owner looked up and teased.
“Sorry, but without money, I can’t give you any information—or feed you, for that matter.”
They were kicked out by the owner.
Looking on the bright side, in a place like Debis Harbor, being chased out without roughing them up was actually rare.
In less than an hour since arriving at Debis Harbor, Lucas and the others had already witnessed three street fights and five assaults.
This place truly lived up to its reputation for rough manners.
“What now?” Noli asked Lucas.
“We have to get the wallets back. We can’t be without a single coin on us.”
“Where do you plan to look?”
Lina countered.
Lucas closed his eyes.
The divine authority enhanced his senses; if he listened carefully, maybe he could pick up some clue from the sounds around them.
The air was filled with a mix of noises—shouting, bargaining, none of which sounded pleasant, and the rumbling of heavy machinery.
Finally, amid the clamor, Lucas heard a voice.
“Wow, lucky day. Snagged three today. Whoa, this much money?”
Found it.
Lucas opened his eyes and turned toward the source of the voice.
It came from the direction of the harbor docks.
“There—The thief is a girl,” Lucas said, pointing.
He grabbed Noli and Lina and hurried after the voice.
The docks were bustling with people loading and unloading cargo ships.
The clatter of large machines was constant.
Lucas scanned the area, searching for the thief.
No sign of her. He closed his eyes again and tried to listen carefully.
“Wow, almost a hundred gold coins. So much money? This is a jackpot!”
The voice came from a dark alley nearby.
Lucas immediately dashed toward it and peeked inside.
In the corner deep within the alley crouched a white-haired girl wearing a red jacket and a ponytail.
She was counting her spoils.
In her hands was Lucas’s own wallet.
It was a unique piece, handcrafted by Leilia, so Lucas could never mistake it.
“Hey, done counting? How much is it?”
Lucas stepped forward to speak with the girl.
“Don’t bother me, I’m counting,” the girl replied without looking up, focused entirely on the money pouch.
“Let me count…”
“Stop counting. That pouch has fifty gold coins total.”
Lucas gripped the firearm strapped to his back.
The girl shuddered and looked up at Lucas.
Her red eyes reflected a mischievous glint.
She looked about sixteen or seventeen.
Probably due to hiding in the alley, her face was smudged with dirt, giving her a sly appearance—but she was clearly a pretty girl.
The moment Lucas and the girl locked eyes, he was taken aback.
“W-what… what do you want?”
The girl put the pouch behind her back.
“Gold coins? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Noli stepped forward and grabbed the girl’s hand behind her back, but there was no sign of the pouch.
“See? I told you! There’s no gold coins. Are you guys confused?”
Lina joined in, searching the girl’s body.
This time, the girl visibly panicked.
Her free hand flicked something quickly toward Noli’s eyes.
Lucas reacted instantly, catching the thrown object with one hand.
“Ah?”
The girl sounded surprised.
From the sensation in his palm, Lucas recognized it as a small steel ball.
“You—you can see even this clearly?” the girl gasped.
“Stop trying tricks. You can’t beat him.”
Lina continued rifling through the girl’s pockets and eventually pulled out their stolen wallets.
“Ah, mine… sigh… all for nothing…”
The girl lowered her head, clearly discouraged.
“Well, I guess I’m just unlucky today.”
She spoke as she pulled something from her sleeve and threw it heavily onto the ground.
A thick white smoke spread quickly, obscuring everyone’s vision.
Yet Lucas still clearly saw the girl slip out of Noli’s grasp amid the smoke.
She tossed out a retractable rope from her sleeve, hooked it onto the eaves, and swiftly climbed onto the roof.
Not bad.
Without waiting for the smoke to clear or for Noli and Lina to react, Lucas kicked off the wall, grabbed the eaves, and vaulted up after her.
“Noli, Lina, meet back at the tavern we just left.”
Leaving those words behind, Lucas scanned his surroundings.
In the distance, the girl’s red figure darted back and forth across the rooftops with impressive agility that even made Lucas admire her.
Though compared to Lucas, she was still somewhat lacking.
Lucas sprinted across the rooftops, steadily closing the distance.
The girl sensed him and glanced back.
“Huh? How did you catch up?”
She cried out, increasing her speed.
She leapt across gaps between two buildings, then swiftly dropped from the rooftop into a narrow alley and disappeared.
Troublesome.
Although Lucas was physically stronger, the girl clearly knew this place better.
Lucas pursued her into the alley, but once he exited, there was no sign of her.
Did she think she could lose him that easily?
Lucas closed his eyes again, listening to the surroundings.
“Idiot, you can’t find me, right?”
The girl’s voice sounded like she was celebrating prematurely.
Lucas retraced his steps back to the alley.
The voice came from here, but there was indeed no trace of the girl.
At first glance, that was true.
But looking carefully, the buildings on either side were quite tall.
Lucas looked up and met the girl’s eyes.
At that moment, she clung to the wall like a gecko, using some small tool to stick to the surface.