Less than two hours after leaving home, Christina encountered the greatest crisis of her adventuring career: the magical lamp she was "escorting" had been lifted by a thief!
More precisely, it had been snatched away.
Having just steadied herself with Dorothy's help, Tina ran a few steps away from the crowd at the subway entrance and looked in the direction the tall, skinny man had fled. But he moved with astonishing agility, as if he had rehearsed—or put it into practice—countless times. In an instant, he vanished into a narrow alley by the street, leaving behind only a retreating figure that seemed to mock Tina.
It was over. That precious Sealed Artifact, the magical lamp that could grant wishes, was gone... At that moment, Tina's mind went blank. A numb, prickling sensation spread through her limbs, leaving her frozen in place.
Before coming to Backlund, she had imagined all sorts of difficulties. Maybe she would not be able to find the way to East Borough. Maybe she would be unable to buy a ticket because she was underage. Maybe patrol officers would give her trouble. But she had never expected that the moment she set foot on an East Borough street, someone would snatch her shoulder bag—and with it, the only reason she had left home to "adventure."
No wonder the Tingen Daily and the radio programs Dad often listened to always said this big city had terrible public safety and an awful environment!
Thoughts burst through Tina's mind one after another, and her limbs, stiff from shock and urgency, quickly regained their strength. She looked to Dorothy for help and found that her sister was not overly panicked. Instead, Dorothy pointed in the direction the robber had gone and said:
"Go after him. We still have a chance to