The lights cutting made evryone get on guard. Though nothing instantly happened.
Karin jumped back behind Rex. Blades blurring through the darkness. Rex dashed forwards cutting through the fighter in front of him.
Chaos broke out in an instant. The glass shattered, screaming cut through the dark. "It's the thieves guild!" Karin shouted.
The thieves didn't hesitate, they moved fast, cases broke one after another, artifacts disappearing into bags. "The crystia!" Karin shouted.. too late.
Adventurers that were watching the aution began attacking the nobles.
Karin bit her lip. "Dammit, they were already here!"
Dante across the room pushed Toni out of the way of an attack.
Toni fell to the ground, rolling to avoid another attack. "Wait a dang minute, I ain't actually rich!"
Bein watched the chaos, laughing watching it all insue. "Humans can be so dang entertaining sometimes!"
More thieves surrounded them, Jessie finally woke up and she smiled. "Oh something good happened?!" She surged with lightning and blasted her way through the group. "You guys watch here, i'm gonna make sure no one gets hurt!"
Jessie darted off in an instant, Jin following. Toni began playing, empowering Nanami and Dante as they attempted to hold their ground. The numbers however began quickly overpowering them.
Kaito took the mascot hood off and sprinted over to his friends.
The beautiful trade hall, had turned into a mess of blood, broken glass, and an all out brawl.
Karin noticed the thieves beggining to spill outside. "Spread out!" She called. "Don't let them split up!"
The fight was quickly getting out of hand, other adventurers didn't even bother standing up, the situation was out of control, but they didn't even bother trying to help. Haruko only fought when the they tried to interfere with her drinking.
Karin grew annoyed with the woman from earlier. "Renae, mind helping?!"
Renae smiles. "Why would I, this poses no threat to me, unless of course I get the bulb for free."
"No way in hell!" Karin barks.
Renae takes a sip out of her wine glass. "Then I will not lift a finger, you lessers can handle this."
Karin furrows her brow. "I can't stand you evolvers."
Nanami took a swing for one of the thieves, her attack seemed to phase right through him.
"That..." Her hand twitched in brief recognition.
Kaito dashed outside after the theif, he closed the distance on one of them, catching the edge of their cloak. "Got you!"
But when the cloak ripped back his smile vanished.
Rika, stood in front of him. For a second, neither of them moved, both looked at eachother as if they were shocked.
As the smile appeared on his face, power flared in her hands. Kaito barely got his arms up before the blast hit him, sending him skidding across the ground, the impact cracking stone beneath him.
His ears were ringing, he looked up and she was already stepping back, with the other thieves as they began loading a cart.
Dante ran out, his eyes landing on her as well. "What are you doing?!"
Rika smiled before posing. "You really didn't figure it out?" She called, before striking another pose. "You were all tricked by the trickster!"
A small pause. "Our travels were nothing more than another trick, so you're better off just leaving me alone!"
The silence hung in the air for a moment. before it was broken by Kaito's laughter.
Rika's expression flickered. "What?! Why are you laughing!?"
He shook his head, pushing himself fully to his feet. "Because," he smiled. "I know when you're lying."
That.. that landed. She didn't respond, because in the next second the cart vanished into thin air.
Back inside, Karin was PISSED. "FORTY BILLION!?" Karin's voice hit harder than any explosion had. "Do you understand what that means?!" She snapped, spinning on a group of clients who looked like they wanted to disappear. "Do you have any idea what I just lost!?"
No one answered.
She barked at all the useless security she hired.
Renae still smiled. "If I was hired, then this would never have happened."
"Enough out of you!" Karin barked.
The guild hall still carried the echo of shattered glass and Karin's fury by the time she found Haruko again.
Haruko hadn't moved far from where the chaos had ended, half-sprawled in a chair, bottle in hand, as if the robbery had been nothing more than a passing inconvenience. Her eyes were half-lidded, unfocused… but not unaware.
Karin didn't bother easing into it.
"I need your help."
Haruko let the words hang, tilting her head slightly. "That so?"
"The thieves guild hit us," Karin said, her voice tight, still burning from the aftermath. "They didn't just hit us... they planned it. They knew exactly what to take." Her fists clenched. "Forty billion is gone. I'm not letting that disappear."
For a moment, Haruko said nothing. She took a slow drink, thinking.. or maybe just stalling.
"…That's a lot of money," she muttered.
"It's not just money," Karin snapped. "It's everything tied to it."
Haruko exhaled, dragging herself upright with a quiet groan.
"Alright," she said. "I'll help." Her gaze drifted past Karin, toward the others gathering nearby. "But if we're doing this, we're doing it right." A small smirk tugged at her lips. "So what do the kids want out of it?"
Toni stepped forward immediately, like he'd been waiting for the question his entire life.
"My sacred arte," he said. "Free."
Karin shot him a look. "You're negotiating after we just got robbed?"
"Best time to do it."
Nanami's eyes lit up, "thank you," she said simply.
That was all Toni needed.
"Yes!" he shouted, pumping his fist. "Rika back, Nanami powered up, this is perfect, friends!"
Haruko snorted, shaking her head. "You've got guts, I'll give you that." She took one last swig, then pointed the bottle at him. "Fine. Deal."
Toni looked like he might actually start celebrating on the spot.
"Save it," Karin muttered, already turning away. "We're not done."
By the time they returned to the guild hall, the tension had already started boiling over.
"I'm telling you, you knew something!"
Jin's voice cut sharp across the room, aimed squarely at Kaito.
Kaito didn't flinch, but his jaw tightened. "I knew Rika. That's it."
"That's not 'it'," Jin shot back. "She was part of this!"
"And you think I knew that?" Kaito snapped.
Toni stepped in before it could escalate further, planting himself between them. "Hey, back off," he said, tone losing its usual playfulness. "You're reaching, Jin."
Jin clicked his tongue but didn't push forward, his glare lingering.
Haruko didn't even glance at them.
"Enough," she said flatly, walking past as if their argument barely registered. One sharp clap cut through the room. "Focus."
The noise died down.
Her eyes swept across the guild. "Sasha back yet?"
A few shook their heads.
"Still gone."
Haruko clicked her tongue in irritation. "Great. Love that for us."
Jin crossed his arms, redirecting his frustration. "Then what's the plan? You got a way to track them or not?"
For a brief moment, Haruko didn't answer.
"…Not yet," she admitted.
A ripple of unease moved through the room.
"But we will," she continued, voice sharpening. "They didn't pull something like that without a reason. That wasn't random."
Karin stepped forward slightly, arms still tense at her sides. "They went straight for the crystia."
"Exactly," Haruko said. "Something that valuable—and that dangerous—means they've already got a destination in mind."
Her gaze hardened, cutting across everyone present.
"So we figure out where they're going," she said. "And then we take it back."
A beat of silence followed.
"And while we're at it," Haruko added, a faint edge creeping into her tone, "we figure out why they wanted something that strong in the first place."
In an interesting turn of events, Nanami had raised her hand. "I know of a way to track them." She timidly spoke out to the crowd.