Chapter 128

───────────

Episode 29 - Preparations [3]

─────────────────────────────────

Rowan let out a long yawn as he got out of bed, which felt far too warm.

His dream had been very mundane. He was a 14-year-old boy living in a convenience store, nothing out of the ordinary.

Especially compared to the other stores.

The owners of the other shops in Parliament D-1 were practically millionaires or nobles.

After getting out of bed and stretching his body, Rowan checked the time and noticed it was six in the evening.

Yesterday, he had done a few activities around Academy City.

So he had been quite sleepy and, without realizing it, had literally slept through the entire day.

Rowan went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and took an ice-cold bath.

The drowsiness he had felt earlier disappeared only a few seconds after stepping into the tub.

Then he got out, got dressed, and checked the time once again.

Six thirty.

After that, he looked at the calendar, where today’s date had a red circle around it.

The previous dates also had red circles, with gaps of several days between them.

It was April 7th, and after taking the note attached to today’s date on the calendar, Rowan briefly reviewed it before nodding.

He grabbed a simple mask that covered his face and a black hooded jacket, then put them on.

Then he walked toward a door that had a padlock instead of a latch.

He took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

On the other side were display cases and several tables.

All of them were filled with different items.

At the center, where there seemed to be an altar, there was an empty slot.

Rowan stared at the empty space as his heart pounded heavily.

’Today’s the day. I’ll finally obtain that item.’

That was, of course, as long as he did not get caught.

But Rowan was confident he would not be caught.

And in any case, this would be his final theft. He had no intention of drawing any more attention from the Academy.

He had considered the possibility that they might, just maybe, send tracking experts after him.

If that happened, Rowan was not confident he could get away with it.

’Once I get it, I’ll move to Arlumeria in two days.’

He looked at the empty slot on the altar one more time before finally leaving the room he liked to call the secret room. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Rowan went down to the first floor of his convenience store.

There was a small living area with a kitchen and, in front of it, several shelves with only a few items on them.

His store barely had anything.

He had not received a single customer in the past two months.

He had no parents and had been living alone for years.

He did not have any friends either, since most people in Academy City were adults.

And as for the cadets, well, they were four years older than Rowan, and those were only the first-years.

Rowan did not particularly enjoy building relationships with older people.

At least with people his own age, he felt more comfortable, and even though there were not many things to talk about, the conversations still felt interesting.

Meanwhile, conversations with cadets or adults were far too complicated to follow, and he did not even understand the topics they talked about.

Rowan took one last look at his store before leaving through the back door.

He walked through the darkest alleys, avoiding being seen by any passersby.

Being seen would make people recognize him as the most wanted thief in the city these days, so he stuck to alleys and climbed across several rooftops.

He avoided making noise as much as possible and, from time to time, moved agilely through certain crude structures.

He even passed across the balconies of several houses without anyone noticing him.

Then he arrived in front of a structure completely different from all the other stores in the city.

It was known as the Hall of Fame.

There were photos and portraits of cadets from every generation who had accomplished great feats after graduation.

But there were also objects that had belonged to those same cadets.

’I originally planned to steal that elixir, but then I came here and saw this object.’

He couldn’t believe how valuable it was. In fact, it wasn’t even well known, since at first glance it didn’t seem like anything special.

On top of that, it was kept in a fairly remote place, so, in theory, almost no one knew about the object.

Not until Rowan had the hunch that there was something special about it.

So, out of curiosity, Rowan had asked about some details and its price.

It was valued at five billion gold coins.

’An absurd valuation for an object like this, but it’s understandable.’

In any case, Rowan circled around the Hall of Fame, which looked similar to a museum.

Over the last few days, he had been observing different routes.

Both entry and exit routes, as well as possible escape plans in case he was discovered.

Rowan climbed onto the roof of the place and headed straight toward a small opening.

There was a glass dome in the center. Rowan moved around it and soon reached a ventilation duct.

He had already prepared the route, so all he had to do was go down through there, and he would finally be able to enter.

Rowan entered the ventilation duct and descended. Then, after making sure there was no one nearby and that he hadn’t made much noise, he crouched and moved through the hallways.

He searched for a large door in the farthest area from where the cadets’ paintings and other objects were displayed.

He soon found the door and slowly pushed it open.

Crack!

The door creaked, and Rowan cursed.

’Shit, I didn’t know the hinges were this rusty.’

Rowan shoved the door open and ran toward the object he was looking for.

Inside a display case, resting on a cushion, was what looked like a small emerald-colored sphere.

It was a titan core, belonging to enormous beings made from different materials, such as minerals.

A single core contained a massive amount of mana, enough to power the entire Imperial Capital for a whole week.

Without hesitation, Rowan grabbed the small sphere after smashing the glass.

Then he ran toward a cubicle inside a room that, unexpectedly, had a door that could only be opened from the inside.

Rowan ran toward that door, and at the same time...

"A thief, I need reinforcements now."

"He stole an object from the ancient and high-value section."

The footsteps of two people running in his direction echoed through the silent place.

Rowan’s heart started pounding, but he quickly exited through the door.

Then he grabbed a wooden plank nearby and braced it against the door.

That would prevent the guards from getting out.

With that done, Rowan broke into a run toward his house.

Before anything else, he circled around the city several times to avoid any possible pursuers.

And a few minutes later, he returned home.

He went up to the second floor and took off his mask and jacket.

Sweat covered his entire body as he dropped onto his bed with a wide smile.

On the way home, he noticed several guards moving around. They seemed aware that the thief had made an appearance.

’Fortunately, I’ll be leaving soon. Otherwise, they might suspect me and carry out some kind of search through every house in the area.’

That last possibility worried him quite a bit, because he did not have a discreet place to store everything he had stolen.

That was why he had decided to leave as soon as possible, disguising himself as a merchant who was finally departing from the Academy City.

Naturally, he had a way to leave without anyone becoming suspicious.

’Phew, anyway, I already have everything I wanted.’

A chuckle escaped his lips.

"Ha, ha, ha... now this is exciting."

The adrenaline rushing to his head made his laughter grow a little louder.

Everything he did thrilled him, and although he knew he should not be doing this...

What could he do? He was poor, and selling everything he had stolen in Arlumeria would guarantee him enough money for three lifetimes.

He planned to buy a house in the center of Arlumeria and live comfortably without ever needing to work.

’A good life is waiting for me...’

But just as he was thinking that, a voice made his laughter freeze.

"Mhm, you’re good at stealing, despite not being an Awakened."

Clap! Clap!

Followed by applause that echoed throughout his room.

"...?"

The next instant, Rowan jumped up from the bed and stumbled in an extremely clumsy manner.

"W-who are you... how did you find me..."

His voice trembled as he finally raised his gaze and noticed a man leaning against the frame of his bedroom door.

’A blind man...? No, that’s not the important part. Since when has he been standing there?’

Rowan crawled backward until he was pressed against the wall while his heart pounded harder and harder.

Sweat was already running all over his body, especially down his back.

He looked at the blind man with conflicted thoughts.

Meanwhile, Adel’s thoughts were filled with irony.

’Why does everyone get scared? Yesterday it was Mia, and today it’s this thief.’

He shook his head inwardly and sighed.

He truly did not understand why both of them reacted that way. In its own way, it was exasperating.