"This kingdom really is a wonderful place, isn't it?" The young woman remarked with sparkling eyes. She had long blonde hair and was dressed in clothes perfect for climbing mountains and rocky terrain. Her shoes looked expensive and sturdy and the fabric of her clothes was made with a special fiber which adapted to temperature changes.
Her guide was disgruntled looking man dressed in similar attire as hers. He was leading her around the town with as little interest as possible. A skilled observer would pin down their relationship easily enough. It was obvious- she was a well-off traveler and he was a local she had recruited from somewhere.
"Come on now, Norris. Be a little more energetic!" The young woman looked at her companion with a pout. She had gone through a lot of trouble to hire him from a renowned guild after the master assured her that he was the best they had but his personality was terrible.
"Yes, ma'am." He grumbled, still looking half asleep.
"My name is Sayla. I already told you to just talk to me casually!"
"Yes ma'am."
Sayla shook her head in defeat. Norris was a rather stubborn person. "Besides, why did you tell me to skip this town? It's a beautiful place."
"Only on the outside. This place is filled with thieves and scammers."
"Don't be ridiculous!"
As if the heavens had heard her bold denial, a stranger suddenly whizzed past her with a purse in hand as someone from the other end started shouting- "Thief! It's a thief! He stole my purse."
Norris glanced at what was happening as if it was nothing of importance. "See, I told you."
"That's bad, Norris! We can't just let him get away." Without wasting another second, Sayla ran in the same direction as the man from earlier- determined to stop him. She could barely hear Norris in the distance- 'What are you doing?!' He seemed to be yelling. It was a pity she couldn't turn around to see his normally calm face in panic.
The man with the purse had been slowed down after running into a cart which gave her enough time to catch up and see him turn a corner into a dark alleyway. Sayla jumped over a crate obstructing her way and turned into the alleyway but it was completely empty.
"Look what we have here." A sinister voice spoke into the eerie silence.
"Wha-" Sayla spun around to see a hefty man grinning at her. He held a long and sharp knife in his left hand and had long scars across the right side of his face. She stumbled upon seeing him, tripping onto an uneven slab on the ground and falling backwards.
"A tourist I presume? Looks like you've got a lot on you."
"No, I really don't!" Sayla shouted desperately searching for something she could use as a weapon. Unfortunately she had left almost everything at her accommodations thinking that they were just going on a short stroll. She had gone after a scrawny petty thief and so she hadn't processed the danger of turning into the alleyway. Her heart thumped wildly and she found herself praying to God for the first time in years. 'Please save me.' She repeated over and over, unable to think straight.
"I'm sure I can find something." The man laughed as if amused by her predicament. Her stomach twisted in disgust. How could such people walk freely in the world?
In a split second, he lunged for her. Sayla closed her eyes, sure that she would feel the slash and burn of the knife any second but there was nothing. When she opened her eyes, she saw a purse- the knife had gone cleanly throw it.
"What the hell..." Her attacker was as puzzled as her, ripping the purse off his knife and looking around wildly. There was a metallic clack from above as a nimble figure suddenly landed on the ground beside her. It was the thief!
The thief cursed under his breath, grabbing the purse which had been thrown aside and passing it to her. Sayla caught it, still confused by the quick turn of events. "Hold onto that for me." The thief said, lunging for the knife that the man had. The man quickly stepped back and the two of them were engaged in a back and forth- the man unwilling to let go off the knife as the thief held onto it. At one point, the thief finally managed to grab the blade but it cut through his gloves and Sayla could see streams of blood running down the knife.
It seemed that the blood was unexpected to the burly man because he loosened his grip on the knife enough for the thief to grab it.
"You!" The man looked at the thief with hatred burning in his eyes. Now without a weapon, he raised his fist to strike the thief. As the thief's hands were now rendered useless, he had thrown the knife away and was also defenseless.
Just when Sayla thought it would be the end for the thief, there was a sudden burst of fire and her attacker fell over backwards, hitting his head on the pavement. Sayla looked up amazed to see the thief holding out his arm. The glove on his right hand was in tatters and she could see burn marks across his palm.
"Y-you...you're a magic wielder!" She exclaimed. The man looked at her with a frown. She had already noticed it a while ago but he seemed to always be in a bad mood since the start of the fight. Never once did he shout or look like he was troubled- his expression always remained moody as if he was in a place he'd rather not be and wanted to leave as soon as possible. Well, she supposed that was also true of his situation.
"Tha-thank you!" She found that she still hadn't fully recovered from her shock but gratitude was overflowing and she was determined to make it up to him.
"Give me the purse!" The man ignored her words and held out his left hand.
"No, you can't!" Sayla shouted, "How are you going to hold it? Your hand is still bleeding. Let me carry it for you!" The words came out of her mouth naturally and she froze as it dawned on her that the purse was stolen. "Er actually..." But she would feel bad if she just took it back now. He looked like he was in a desperate situation.
"I know! I'll give you another purse or something else. Think of it as reimbursement and we can return this purse in the meantime. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you're the thief!"
The man groaned. "Forget it. Just leave me alone."
She watched bewildered as he began to walk off. She quickly got up ready to follow him when he suddenly fell to his knees, clutching the ground.
"What's wrong?" She ran up to him. Beads of sweat were running down his face and his breaths were shallow. "Are you hurt? Wait, I'll call someone."
"Nevermind." The man grabbed her hand all of a sudden, wincing again from the pain. "It's over for me." It looked like he was doing everything in his power to compose himself. "My sister...she lives in the blue house above the apothecary. Tell her I went on a trip and give her a purse. Tell her it's my-" He coughed abruptly, his voice becoming hoarse. "-Gift to her."
"Hey! Stay with me! You can't just die and-"
But it was too late. The man collapsed onto the ground. Sayla felt for his pulse but there was nothing left. She didn't understand. How had he died? He had been fine just moments ago. Was it the use of magic? Or the knife wound? But neither of those were extreme enough.
"Sayla!"
She turned around to see Norris, drenched in sweat and dragging another guy behind him. "Sorry I'm late. This guy must be the thief's accomplice because he stopped me and-" Norris trailed off as he saw the sight before him- Sayla sitting on the ground with a dead person lying in front of her and another possibly dead person lying a few feet away.
"Hey what happened here..."
"That man tried to kill me and the thief saved me." She said bluntly. Norris didn't ask any more questions, simply nodded.
"Okay, you don't have to explain right now. Is he gone?"
She nodded. "He's gone." The words of the thief replayed in her mind as Norris went to handle everything. It seemed that the man who attacked her and the other man who stopped Norris were famous for selling the body parts of young people to cults who believed in using them for potions. They would kill their victims with a knife and then steal anything they had on their person. The mere thought of that being her fate sent shivers down her spine.
As for the thief who saved her, nobody knew who he was. Norris was right in saying that thievery was commonplace there so he didn't have a name for himself or anything like that. The only person who seemed to recognize him was an old woman selling fruits.
"Oh that guy. He comes here every once in a while and looks around. I remember him because he's always frowning. It's a pity what happened, he was so young too..."