Thief Elf

The Thief Elf hid in an alley in the Lower District. The alley's exit lay on the main route from the Upper District to the seaside docks.

It was not that there was only one street from the Upper District to Castleton's docks; this route was simply much shorter.

His alley ran between two rows of attached little buildings. It was narrow to begin with, and it was piled with useless construction debris—wood, bricks, tiles, discarded wooden furniture, and more—making the already cramped space feel even more crowded.

The clouds overhead had turned scaly like fish scales. Gusts of wind swept through, carrying the salty, damp chill of the sea.

He tugged at his half cloak. The weather was bad; it looked like it was going to rain.

It had been raining a lot lately.

In Castleton, this kind of half cloak was popular in the Lower District, mainly because it was convenient.

When elves went scavenging along the shore on rainy days, they wore this kind of half-length... cloak that could not even cover their butts.

It was lightweight...

And it did not interfere with walking or outdoor work, such as shore gathering or hauling cargo at the docks.

Its only flaw was that your pants would get wet.

The elf thief tucked the dagger at his waist into his coat.

Seaside rain was highly corrosive to metal. If the dagger was not promptly treated with grease after getting wet, it would rust quickly.

This dagger was one of the elf thief's most important possessions.

He had chosen this alley to ambush the young human mainly because there was another escape route nearby. Even if his plan failed, he could slip into the alley and flee.

As for his plan, the elf thief had arranged it like this.

When that human boy ran down the long street, the elf thief would rush out of the alley while he was distracted, snatch the books from his hands, and charge straight into the alley opposite.

If that human boy had even a little spirit in him, he would chase after him.

The elf thief planned to lure him into the opposite alley. It was a Back Street and also a dead end. The entire alley was lined with shop back doors, with household waste usually piled outside. Hardly anyone came through even during the day, making it the perfect place to act.

As long as he could stay out of the human boy's sight for a few seconds, he could hide himself again.

Once the human boy came in, he would circle behind him, draw his dagger, and slit his throat.

Then he could flee to the countryside overnight to lie low. Once he killed this witness, no one would know who had stolen the Holy Grail.

While he was waiting for the human boy, rain unexpectedly began to patter down from the sky.

The elf thief worried that the human boy might go find shelter. He pulled his cloak's hood over his greasy hair.

The rain grew heavier, and the elf thief stood trembling in the cold rain.

Just when he thought the boy was not coming and was about to find somewhere to shelter from the rain before trying again another time...

He saw the boy running through the curtain of rain.

The elf thief immediately grew tense. Even in the rain, he could not tell whether the moisture in his palms was rainwater or sweat.

Just as he was about to rush out, a carriage suddenly burst through the rain. The elf thief hesitated, then realized that the carriage had stopped by the roadside opposite the alley entrance, completely blocking his route to attack the human boy.

The elf thief wiped rain from his face. He had barely cursed his bad luck when several young Silver Moon Elves jumped down from the carriage.

He was startled and instinctively wanted to run, only to realize that none of the elves had even glanced in his direction.

The elf thief immediately retreated deeper into the alley.

Peering through a crack between the bricks, he saw the Silver Moon Elves chasing after the human boy. The boy stopped at once, then suddenly changed direction and ducked into the dead-end alley ahead of them.

The elf thief stood stupidly in the rain, realizing that his plan had failed again.

Rain was still falling from the sky...

Roy ran hard down the street. There was no one in the small alley, and seeing that it was full of clutter, Roy plunged straight inside.

The young elves in cloaks followed Roy into the alley.

Because of the rain, the stench of decay in the alley had faded considerably.

Steve pulled down the rain hood over his head, widening his view and allowing him to see the dreadful surroundings more clearly.

"You can't run..."

he said viciously.

There was garbage everywhere in the alley, and shop back doors lined both sides. Household waste was piled beside those doors, carrying a rotten stench. Some heaps of trash even sat in flowing sewage.

For several young elves who had always lived pampered lives, such a terrible environment was practically the end of hell...

Because it was raining, a layer of water covered the ground. Rotten fruit peels floated on the surface, making the street look even filthier and more chaotic.

Steve took a step forward, and the heel of his finely crafted lambskin boot landed on a fruit pit. The horrible sensation made his stomach churn.

The young elves chased dozens of meters into the alley before the wretched environment forced them to stop.

Seeing that his friends were unwilling to go any farther, Steve could only raise his hand resentfully and call off the pursuit.

Roy ran to the end of the alley and discovered that it was a dead end.

But he could not go back the way he had come. Although he could not see the elves behind him, who knew where they might be hiding?

At that moment, he had no idea where to go.

As he hesitated in place, he suddenly saw a door open not far away.

A shop assistant came out carrying a box of household garbage.

Roy did not care what kind of shop it was. He rushed forward a few steps and plunged into the store.

He was soaked through, and his sudden dash through the narrow passage frightened the shop assistant into overturning the box of garbage in his hands. He nearly fell to the ground as well.

Only after Roy rushed inside did he realize that this was a Tea Restaurant.

Elf City had no restaurants in the true sense, because elves only ate fruit and fish.

For elves, food was simple and bland.

Thus, in Castleton, Tea Restaurants of this style had become popular. The tea-and-fruit set meals served there were young elves' favorites.

But because of the rain, there was almost no one inside this Tea Restaurant. A few elves were sheltering under the eaves by the entrance instead.

They did not seem to have any intention of coming in for tea.

Roy had rushed in from the back...

The shop staff thought they had encountered a thief. Several servers first heard shouting, then saw someone run in, soaked from head to toe.

"Hey! How did you get in here? What do you want?"

an elf waitress asked Roy.

"Is he a thief? Stop him! Don't let him get away..."

The other staff members immediately chimed in.

How could Roy let them stop him? He had not stolen anything. He was only carrying two books wrapped in oil paper, so he shouted, "Excuse me, excuse me... I'm not a thief. I'm a student at Elf Academy. I just took a wrong turn. Excuse me, excuse me..."

At Roy's shout, the staff members hesitated.

They had not seen him take anything, and he looked thoroughly miserable, drenched from head to toe. No one wanted to make things difficult for him anymore.

After causing a commotion all the way to the front, Roy darted out. Without hesitation, he pushed open the shop's front door and charged back into the rain.

This was no longer the street from before, so naturally, the carriage parked in the rain was nowhere to be seen.

He did not stop until he reached the street corner.

He turned and glanced in every direction. Only after confirming that the young elves had not caught up did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Then he quickly left the intersection.

He was still grumbling inwardly: Sure enough, I can't casually agree when people strike up a conversation with me, not even at the academy. Nothing good ever comes from that kind of approach.

He had no idea that, by sheer coincidence, he had escaped a murder planned by the elf thief...

Roy suddenly stopped running in the rain. Some rainwater had gotten into his eyes, making them sting. He wiped his face, but water continued dripping from his hair.

Roy suddenly thought, How did I forget that taverns have always been dens of thieves? That waitress, Lucy, said she did not remember what the thief looked like without even listening to my detailed description... There's definitely something wrong.

He probably would not be able to get any information from that tavern.

He could still ask at other taverns, but gathering information in a tavern usually required money. At the very least, he would have to buy someone a drink...

Roy thought of the four hundred kele weekly wage the temple paid him. Spending a few Kole to ask around was still manageable.

But if he was going to another tavern to ask about the thief anyway, he might as well ask Sabrina to draw a portrait. That would make it easier to inquire around.

After all, she had to draw portraits of those runaway sailors that evening.

Yes, that was what he would do!

The problem that had troubled him for two days had unexpectedly been solved while he was running through the rain.

It seemed there really was something to the idea that exercise made the brain work faster...

With that thought, Roy started running through the rain again.

Through the distant curtain of rain, he could already see the blurry outline of the Goddess of Freedom Temple.

The harbor docks were gradually coming into view as well.

Only the distant sea and clouds remained a gray expanse, their boundary impossible to make out.

Far out at sea, several ships were still waiting to dock.