The lord's Manor stood on the western edge of town, near Twilight Forest. It hugged a mountain range that stretched into the forest, with a wheat field separating it from the town.
The location was hardly ideal. It had been chosen entirely for its soil—
The closer to Twilight Forest, the better the star plums.
The star plums grown by the townsfolk were mostly black, flecked with white like mulberries dusted with a little sugar.
The Manor's star plums, by contrast, were a deeper purple. That made it impossible to pass off inferior fruit when handing over the required share.
So when someone emerged from the dim forest into clear skies and sunshine, the first thing they saw was usually the vast, sparkling berry orchard surrounding a three-story villa.
Tang Qi walked with the mercenaries for twenty minutes before they finally reached the Orchard. By then, he was certain Anbi could not be the thief.
How could a little girl have found the time to move a ton of star plums and make a forty-minute round trip?
"Take me straight to the footprints, would you?" Tang Qi suggested.
Black Snake said nothing and led the way.
By now, merely hearing Tang Qi's voice irritated him for no apparent reason.
He realized a spell had affected him without his noticing.
That left him wary as well as impatient—
He had no idea how a Spellcaster had fallen as low as Tang Qi had.
Keeping his guard up was the least respect he owed a Spellcaster.
As they entered the Orchard, the scent of plums filled everyone's nostrils.
Star plums grew on bushes half as tall as a person, with thick foliage. Even after a morning in the sun, much of the ground remained soft and damp.
The closer they came to the foot of the mountain, the fainter the fragrance grew.
Soon, Tang Qi spotted star plum bushes near the mountain that had nothing left but green leaves.
"There."
Black Snake stopped the others from going farther and pointed to a clear trail of footprints.
The damp soil had preserved them well.
Judging by their directions, the thief had wandered around that part of the Orchard for some time. The prints overlapped in a messy, irregular pattern.
It was hard even to tell whether they belonged to just one person.
Then, apparently having gathered enough star plums, the thief had climbed over the fence and headed toward town.
The footprints were small and distinctive.
"The fruit farmers all saw a short thief! Now the footprints match exactly. What's left to argue about?"
Jackal pointed at Anbi's shoes.
They had compared her shoes with the prints that morning. Otherwise, they would never have put her on the execution platform.
"It really wasn't me. I've never been here."
Anbi clutched Tang Qi's hand, on the verge of tears.
Poet was her only hope.
Tang Qi examined Anbi's shoes.
They were ordinary handmade leather ankle boots, muddy and filthy. Yet the longer he looked, the more familiar they seemed—
The boy beneath the execution platform had seemed to be wearing a pair just like them.
"Where did you get these shoes?"
"My sister bought them from Tobias the shoemaker."
"Is he the only shoemaker in town?"
"Yes, but my sister bought my boots. She didn't steal them..."
Tang Qi turned to Black Snake.
"I've seen other people wearing the same style. Only the sizes differed."
Black Snake understood what he was getting at.
"But this size matches, doesn't it?"
"The shoes are a little big for me," Anbi protested at once.
Tang Qi shrugged and explained:
"She's still growing. Her feet will get bigger, and Catherine wouldn't have shoes custom-made just for her. Of course she'd buy a pair with room to grow—
"In other words, bring over the other children in town around her age and you'll get the same result.
"Besides, I heard some of the shoemaker's boots were stolen, weren't they?
"You can't use this as proof of guilt."
"Oh? So you wanted to clear her name? You've done it."
Black Snake folded his arms and looked Tang Qi up and down before continuing,
"But that changes nothing. If we can't find the stolen star plums, I'll still honor our agreement."
Tang Qi gave no answer.
Beside him, Anbi gripped his sleeve tightly.
Though her name had been cleared, she looked more worried than ever.
Tang Qi stroked the little girl's fluffy ears to comfort her.
Then he crouched and carefully examined the seemingly chaotic footprints.
They were the only clue.
And the strangest one—
"A ton of star plums would fill twenty standard wooden crates.
"To move that many in one night, the thieves would need to work as a group or make several trips.
"But only this short, irregular trail of prints crosses the fence."
Tang Qi had found the problem.
Black Snake narrowed his eyes in thought.
Jackal, not following, blurted out the first thing that came to mind:
"Then they moved them over several days. It didn't rain the two days before yesterday. Any old prints would've been washed away."
"There was a downpour last night, so it's understandable that the Orchard wasn't watched closely. But if the thief could get in on a clear day..."
Tang Qi left the thought unfinished.
Jackal still seized him by the collar, furious.
"You're saying it's our fault? Don't get too full of yourself, bastard!"
His anger only showed that Tang Qi had struck a nerve—
There had never been a theft in previous years.
So the salaried mercenaries had done nothing but drink.
No one had bothered to do their job and watch the Orchard properly.
Tang Qi looked at Black Snake. "We're in the same boat."
Mindful that Tang Qi was a Spellcaster whose abilities he did not know, Black Snake pulled Jackal back for the moment.
"Let him keep looking."
Jackal let go and spat.
Tang Qi straightened his clothes and asked another question:
"When was the Orchard last tended?"
"Three days ago."
A thin fruit farmer answered with a tremor in his voice.
He was the one who had spotted the thief last night, only for the culprit to vanish in a flash.
The moment he realized the Orchard had been robbed, he reported it to the mercenaries, who were returning that morning after a night of drinking.
That was how they had arrived at this point.
"It's humid here, so close to the forest. Even in summer, we only need to water it once every three days..."
"So the first star plums might have been stolen three days ago."
Anbi could not help muttering, "Wouldn't they have gone rotten by now..."
Tang Qi kept studying their only clue. He nearly lay flat on the ground, his gaze fixed on the prints as he analyzed them.
"The trail points straight toward town, but almost every household grows its own star plums. I can't see why anyone would go to all this trouble to steal the lord's.
"And the steps are spaced about the same distance apart, which means the thief left without hurrying—
"Wait. No..."
"What's wrong?"
Everyone had been listening quietly to his analysis. Now they hurried to ask.
"The depth of the footprints is wrong," Tang Qi said, startled.
Jackal came over and stared at them for a while, but saw nothing amiss.
"I don't see it."
Tang Qi pointed ahead.
"Follow these footprints to the fence. Walk as naturally as you can."
Jackal scowled. "You're ordering me around?"
Tang Qi looked at Black Snake.
Black Snake cleared his throat twice.
"Do as he says."
Jackal pulled a long face and trudged to the fence.
"Now come back."
Tang Qi directed him again.
"This time, walk backward."
Jackal had no idea what Tang Qi was after, but under his boss's watchful eye, he grudgingly complied.
"So? What's that supposed to prove?"
"Now bend down and take a good sniff."
"What's so special about how footprints smell... Ugh! When the hell did I step in horse shit?"
Only then did Jackal realize what had happened. He glared at Tang Qi.
"Wait. You tricked me?"
Tang Qi gave him a cheeky grin, as though looking at an idiot, but said nothing.
Yet Jackal's movements had shown them something. Even Anbi noticed it, let alone Black Snake.
"When you walk backward, your toes touch the ground first?"
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