"Come on, I was the one who found him first just now. If it weren't for taking your game experience into account, I would've ended the match already."
The queen gave him a sideways glance, "It's not over yet. Who wins or loses is still hard to say. Keep going."
After speaking, Rossweise stepped toward another path.
Leon chuckled and also turned around, walking in the opposite direction of Rossweise.
Will, on his end, continued fleeing all the way.
'Looks like I underestimated those royal guys a bit. They must have trained or something. Otherwise, there's no way they'd catch up to me that fast.'
Thinking that, Will couldn't help but quicken his pace, trying to leave those two far behind.
Unfortunately, the former phantom thief stumbled this time.
A few minutes later, Will darted into an alley.
Just as he thought he had successfully shaken off the man and woman, a familiar voice came from the corner ahead.
"Run, why aren't you running now."
As soon as the words fell, Leon appeared directly in front of Will, blocking his path.
Will gritted his teeth silently and turned around to run.
However, his escape route had long been blocked by that black-haired woman.
The couple now sandwiched the phantom thief between them like cheese between two buns.
Will looked left and right, then turned his body slightly, pressing his back tightly against the wall to avoid being sneak-attacked by either of them.
Little did he know, to take him down, these two didn't even need to sneak up on him.
The couple slowly approached one another, eventually standing side by side. Then they turned their heads and looked at Will, who was shrinking into the corner.
"Looks like I won," Rossweise said.
"Nonsense, I won."
"Hmph, then… rock-paper-scissors?"
"Bring it on, scared of you?"
Thus, a scene that dumbfounded Will played out.
These two idiots actually had the breath and leisure to play rock-paper-scissors after easily catching up to him.
'Are you even human?'
'What kind of market sim am I playing here?'
While the couple was caught up in their game, Will glanced toward the alley's exit.
He knew that even if he ran, he couldn't outrun these two. But now he looked toward the alley's entrance because he saw someone who might be able to save his life.
"Na-Nacho!"
Like grabbing onto a lifeline, Will scrambled and crawled toward Nacho, who happened to be passing by.
Originally, Nacho was only strolling around the central district in his beggar disguise, hoping to gather some useful intel.
But the moment he heard Will's voice, Nacho had an urge to die.
'Why is this hot-blooded kid still haunting him?'
"Nacho!"
Will rushed up to Nacho and hurriedly pulled out the wallet he had just stolen from Leon.
"Look, look at this! I stole this from someone in the royal family. It can serve as my entry pledge for joining the Lionheart Society, right?"
Nacho lowered his eyes to glance and was instantly stunned.
'This wallet... Looks kind of familiar.'
"This 'royal person' you mentioned, where are they?", Nacho asked.
"There! Those two over there!"
Will pointed into the alley.
The couple had paused their rock-paper-scissors game and turned their heads to look this way.
Seeing that it was Leon and Rossweise, Nacho's face under the disguise momentarily didn't know what expression to make.
Leon and Rossweise were also taken aback, why was Nacho here?
The three looked at each other, none speaking.
In the end, it was Will who broke the silence.
"Hey! You two, weren't you so cocky just now? What's with the silence now?"
"...Hey—", Nacho tried to stop this lunatic from going off.
But Will acted like he hadn't heard a thing, continuing proudly, "Let me tell you, I'm actually a member of the Lionheart Society, specializing in robbing the rich to help the poor. Now, as long as you two obediently walk away and pretend nothing happened, then maybe, when Leon Casmodeous leads us to overthrow the Empire, you two might get to keep a bit of property."
"Leon... Casmodeous?"
"Yeah. What, don't tell me you've never heard that man's name before?"
Leon smirked, "Hmm... never heard of him."
"Then you're all hair and no brains!"
Leon: "..."
"Anyway, all you need to know is that Big Brother Leon will lead us into the next era."
"Will, I suggest you shut up."
"What? Oh right, right, we need to keep it a secret outside. Can't leak info about the organization. I get that rule."
Will quickly shifted gears and glanced at the couple in the alley.
"But they already know both our identities, so how about—"
As he spoke, Will made a throat-slitting gesture.
Nacho silently facepalmed.
"Seriously, I'm begging you, just shut your mouth."
Will scratched his head, "What's the matter?"
Nacho slowly raised his hand and pointed at Leon.
"He's not a royal."
Will froze, blinking blankly, "Then he's…"
Before he could finish, a large scarred hand suddenly clapped down on Will's shoulder from behind.
Will's small frame trembled, as though a jolt ran down his spine, raising goosebumps instantly.
"I'm Leon Casmodeous. Can you give my wallet back now?"
———
Leon took the wallet from Will's hand.
Looking up again, the phantom thief's swagger from ten minutes ago was long gone.
His lips were pale, cold sweat pouring down, and even through his slightly loose straight-leg pants, you could see his legs shaking a little.
This was understandable. After all, a deft phantom thief who had always dreamed of joining the Lionheart Society could never have expected that one day he'd steal from the leader of the Society.
Leon looked Will up and down. Still seemed pretty young. He then asked, "How old are you?"
"Ei-eighteen…"
"Tell the truth," Nacho said sternly from the side.
Will immediately corrected himself, "Seventeen! My eighteenth birthday is in two months!"
"Oh, then at this age, shouldn't you be in school? Why did you drop out to become a thief?"
"Bro, my profession isn't a thief," Will explained seriously.
Leon raised an eyebrow and looked down at the wallet that had just been returned to him.
"This isn't thievery… then what is it?"
"Phantom thief! Oww, that hurts…"
Nacho smacked him on the back of the head, "Little brat, didn't study much but sure good at talking back."
Will scratched his nose and smiled awkwardly, "Okay, actually, my dad got me a decent job not long ago. The phantom thief stuff is just, ah ah, a thief! I mean thief! Thief is just my side gig."
Nacho snorted and lifted a foot like he was about to kick him in the butt.
But Will nimbly dodged it.
Leon also chuckled. He'd never heard of anyone treating thieving as a side job.
That kind of thing only shows up in bizarre comic books, right?
By day, a miserable office worker bullied by his boss and coworkers, but by night transforms into a masked superhero or misanthropic villain.
But someone like Will, who turned into a thief, was probably a rare breed.
"To do a side gig this well, your main job must be even more impressive?", Leon joked.
Will grunted, "Pssh, not really, bro. I just do night shifts at a warehouse."
Before Leon could comment on Will's day job, Nacho teased from the side, "Letting you guard a warehouse is no different than sending a monkey to watch over a peach orchard."
"Hey, Nacho bro, you can't say that."
"Then how should I say it?"
"I'm way smarter than a monkey."
Nacho once again facepalmed helplessly.
This was one of the reasons he didn't want Will to join the Lionheart Society.
Aside from his age, the guy could be seriously unreliable sometimes.
Recently, Nacho had looked into Will's background a bit. One thing was certain: he was 100% born and raised in the Empire.
His family originally came from the lower district, and thanks to his dad's efforts, they gradually worked their way up to the middle district, starting some small businesses.
But as everyone knew, doing business in the Empire might earn you a little money, but the Empire never loses.
Those without background or power were the first to suffer under oppression.
So logically, Will was eligible to join the Lionheart Society.
It's just that this arrogant little brat was… too hot-blooded.
"What kind of warehouse would hire you as a night guard? Isn't your name, Phantom Thief Will, already known across the central district?", Nacho asked.
"Locals know I'm a phantom thief, but outsiders don't. That warehouse isn't built by the central district, it's a temporary one the royal family set up by borrowing some land here."
He paused, then changed his tone angrily.
"Speaking of it pisses me off. They clearly occupied land from our central district but only paid half the normal rent. They call it 'royal requisition, you're honored.' Bah, what bull! One day I'll set that damn warehouse on fire."
Search keywords: Royal family, central district, temporary warehouse.
Leon and Rossweise exchanged a quiet glance.
The couple was perfectly in sync, no need for words.
"That warehouse, what's it used to store?", Leon asked.
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