The Silver-Plated Butter Knife

"That girl is named Sally. I was actually quite familiar with her father."

The bartender fished a dirty glass from a bucket under the bar and wiped it meticulously with a rag. "That child has had a rough fate. Before she was six, she had both parents and a comfortable home, but all of that changed completely the year she turned six."

"Honestly, I don't know what kind of massive trouble a kind-hearted accountant could have possibly gotten himself into."

"But that is the reality. Her parents were taken away by people from the Obsidian Hall when she was three; after her relatives carved up her parents' estate, they dumped her into that orphanage on the north side of town."

"Back when that orphanage was still running, it was a nightmare for the children."

"That Director Blaney was a man who would haggle over every penny. Even though he received subsidies from the town government, he still considered raising a group of children a losing business, so he made them [self-sufficient]—which meant sending them to factories as child laborers."

"Child laborers." Lude gently chewed on the word; it was a relatively unfamiliar term to him.

The bartender nodded slightly. "Yes, sir, child laborers."

"When I saw that girl again, she had been brought over by the orphanage staff. By then, she had lost her former refinement; her pretty face was covered in coal dust, and she was wrapped in nothing but a few rags."

"Sounds like a chimney sweep," Lude remarked.

"That's exactly what she was." The bartender glanced at the red-brick chimney behind him. "She was quite nimble with her hands and feet, but after she grew too big to fit into the chimneys, the director sent her to the textile mill. I suspect she worked as a cotton cleaner and a winder back then."

"Cotton cleaner and winder..." Lude recalled the meanings of these terms. "How so?"

The bartender tapped his own head. "Because when I met her again, I discovered she had shaved her head bald. Aside from hair-loss diseases, the only reason a girl would shave her head would be to prevent her hair from getting caught in the machinery."

"Then how did she end up like this?" Lude asked curiously.

The bartender handed the mixed cocktail to a hurried waitress before continuing. "Nine years after the girl was taken in by the orphanage, she had grown into a beautiful young woman. But no one was happy for her; we were all quite pessimistic about her future prospects."

"Because we all noticed that Director Blaney had forced her to grow her hair out. That was an ominous sign."

"It's common knowledge that Director Blaney was in league with the back alleys; the pretty girls in his orphanage only ever had one destination: the brothels."

"But just on the eve of her being sent to the brothel, something bizarre happened."

The bartender's voice suddenly turned eerie, causing Lude to lean forward involuntarily. "How so?"

"Director Blaney died." The bartender's voice dropped to a whisper. "Not just him, but every single staff member in the orphanage died overnight. I don't know what kind of evil possessed them, but one by one, they all hanged themselves on the crooked tree in the backyard!"

"At the time, there was a person hanging from every single tree in the woods behind the orphanage. It scared the sheriff who went to investigate so badly he wet himself!"

"After that, the Blaney Orphanage dissolved along with the unnatural death of its owner, and those children were adopted by various parties. When Sally appeared in this town again, she had already become the strange little thief she is now."

Lude frowned slightly upon hearing this. "I recall that in the Rhine Kingdom, habitual thieves can be hanged at the town entrance."

"That is the strange part about her."

The bartender clattered his glass. "She never targets money when she steals, nor does she target the locals. She only steals from passing strangers, and she usually steals things that are inexplicable and worthless."

"A thief who doesn't target money." Lude sipped his drink; things were getting interesting.

Seeing Lude's glass was empty, the bartender immediately refilled it with whiskey. "That's right. To the townspeople, her behavior seems more like some kind of quirk than theft, which is why the magistrate hasn't caught and hanged her yet—would you like some appetizers?"

"Bring me some smoked venison and a side of sauerkraut." Lude held his glass. "So, how does she sustain her livelihood?"

"I don't know."

The bartender shrugged, skillfully slicing the venison. "People have pondered this question before, as she does indeed purchase daily necessities in town. But since no one has reported their homes being burglarized, everyone just stopped caring."

No job, no interest in money, yet she has funds to spend? Things were becoming increasingly intriguing.

Lude was now basically certain that the girl's behavior wasn't some mere quirk, but that she was genuinely working for [someone]. The girl's mysterious source of funds was one aspect, and the overly specific targets she chose when stealing were another.

A silver-plated dinner knife—that was what the girl had stolen from Lude.

But that was no ordinary dinner knife.

The knife didn't belong to Lude; it was part of the silver cutlery prepared by the train for distinguished guests, and it had previously been used by Lord Hypnos.

After the old man left, Lude noticed that a cold, biting chill still lingered on the blade, so he had tucked it away.

However, fearing that the old man might have left some contingency on the knife, Lude hadn't placed it into his Glazed Pouch.

The fact that the girl didn't steal the money on Lude's person but instead swiped this knife meant her target was likely transcendent items. But if her target was transcendent items, it didn't explain why she hadn't attempted to steal the Glazed Pouch.

The Glazed Pouch was a genuine alchemical tool, even a precious relic left over from centuries ago.

Lude's interest had now completely shifted to this girl. He was very curious about who was behind her, why they wanted her to collect such items, and a whole series of other questions.

The knife wasn't important; knowledge was. In this world, nothing was more precious than knowledge.

The bartender hesitated for a moment before continuing, "If you want to retrieve what was stolen, you can go to the ruins of the orphanage on the north side of town. She and a few other orphans who grew up with her live there."

"Generally speaking, if the victim goes to ask for it personally, she will obediently return the item. So I hope you... sigh, never mind, beat her if you want. She deserves it. I only ask that you spare her life after you've vented your anger."

Is it because those who come to ask in person are all people who have, to some extent, stepped into the hidden world, and she can't afford to offend them?

Lude pulled out a silver coin and pushed it across. "Take it—no, don't refuse. I don't like letting people who work for me suffer. I'm going out for a while now, and I hope that when I return, I'll have a clean room to stay in, alright?"

"Yes, sir," the bartender replied politely, his expression growing increasingly respectful.