It was possible Braun used his connections to gain admittance to the Sect, cronyism existed after all. But I would think that the Sect would have a way to control and sideline him if that were the case. Keep him out of sight and fixated on chores until he either had proven himself capable of gave up in frustration.

Elder Shadow examined me carefully. I didn’t have anything else to contribute, I’d explained as well as I could, and I was not stupid enough to voice theories or suggest conspiracies. I wasn’t sure what the Elder was looking for, but I hoped he would move on. If he chose to ignore my testimony, which was possible, I at least hoped he would not make my entrance into the Sect harder.

Braun was a lost cause at this point, there was nothing I could do to change how he would interact with me in the future. I knew I had made an enemy here today when I’d felt the killing intent of his aura. It would be nice if his punishment for thievery would be banishment from the Sect.

No such luck, his actions were done outside of Sect property. They might have impacted the relationship between the town and Sect if Elder Shadow had not responded in a fair matter, but this fairness did not require expulsion.

“What items did you take?” Elder Shadow demanded his focus finally moving from me to those that had helped Novice Braun.

Store employees had searched and emptied out the tailored pockets that they had sewn into their Hanfu, the items displayed on a checkout lane for the Elder’s inspection. The artifacts that they had stolen were a strange mix, but all items had one thing in common, they were used by Cultivators that hunted; they were manufactured beast lures and had been designed to attract. Each item broadcast a sound that exuded a frequency that called to different species of beast.

The number of devices they had collected was alarming. If placed and activated anywhere near a population center, the beasts that would be drawn in would decimate that area. The only reason to have stolen that many beast lures was to trigger a beast tide. The real question was where and why Braun, or his supporters would want to do something like that.

I was sure Flowing Water’s protection array could keep even the strongest beast tide from gaining entrance to rampage the grounds, but that offered little solace to the town. That also assumed the Sect’s protection array wasn’t compromised. If even the tiniest part of the array were damaged or disabled, then the bloodbath that would result from those beast lures would be catastrophic.

I began to think that worrying about Braun and whatever revenge he might orchestrate was the least of my problems. If he really was backed by people powerful enough to protect him, it seemed likely that this larceny spree was done as part of a plan those backers had instigated. But why would someone want the Sect, the city, and the populace to be decimated?

“What is the value of these items?” Elder Shadow asked the store manager, failing to comment on their use.

The manager motioned one of the floor attendants forward. The clerk began using a device that scanned each item, much like a cash register, an inventory of exactly what had been stolen was generated with the listed price tabulated. Bowing deeply, the attendant delivered the report that had been generated to the store’s owner.

“Some of these items were not merchandise owned by this establishment,” the owner reported. “They appear to have been stolen from other local merchants. Of those goods that were pilfered from here, the total comes to twelve low-level spirit stones.”

I almost gasped at the price. That was enough money for my family to live comfortably for half a dozen years. If these devices were created for and used by Cultivators to hunt, it certainly increased my incentive to take as many hunting missions as the Sect would allow.

“Novice Braun, you will pay the merchant the sum of eighteen low-level spirit stones. You have a month to reimburse the shop owner. If you cannot or do not pay that sum within thirty days, the Sect will bear the expense, and you will be stripped of your status as a Sect member and demoted to a servant position until those funds are repaid in full to the Sect. If you are demoted to a servant, you will be expelled from the Sect after you have earned enough to pay back the monies loaned.

“As for his accomplices, they have no connection with the Sect, so I leave their fate to you,” Elder Shadow informed the owner. “The Sect stands as guarantor for the debt, I will make sure to inform the Sect’s Discipline Master of Novice Braun’s actions. Suitable lessons will be administered to ensure that any other Sect member that may consider theft a legitimate endeavor, rethinks that position.”

The crowd began murmuring at the sum of money Braun would have to repay. It was a staggering amount, but not enough that I thought he would wind up a Sect servant. If he had the connections I thought likely, then those behind the scene would have the funds necessary to cover his fines.

That is if they thought it expedient to protect Braun at this point. They may decide it made more sense to cut their losses at his stupidity. The fact that they had stolen items from other merchants suggested that they had gotten greedy as they succeeded in robbing targeted merchants, and that this shop had not been part of those establishments that he was supposed to target.

Braun had been simmering in anger the entire time, but because he could not direct his rage at the Elder or the shop owner, the only safe outlet was towards me. The glare of retribution he sent my way was a precursor to what I should expect. He had no intention of letting this go. I wasn’t certain what his spirit root, affinities, or cultivation level was at, but I fervently hoped he wasn’t a prodigy or genius that could ascend through the stages effortlessly.

I sighed in resignation, accepting what would come as punishment for my impulse, for proclaiming his infamy and detailing how he lied and what actions he took to conspire with his henchmen. I doubted he could do much to me in the more public areas of the Sect, but I didn’t know how expansive those areas considered private were and how often I would have to frequent those places.

Elder Shadow considered the judgment settled, removing the barrier that he’d placed across the entrance, and swept from the store as abruptly as he’d arrived. The only difference was that he forced Braun to go with him, refusing to listen to excuses or delaying tactics.

Once the pair had vacated the premises, the store owner had his security restrain the two men that had been left and held for the city patrol. Once that was organized, he motioned for the protective arrays to be reset and the door cleared.

He approached me as I was preparing to leave, bowing deeper than was seemly in thanks. My status as a Sect member gave us parity as far as Caste and position were concerned, but he was my elder I returned his bow with my own, checks blazing with color as I blushed.

“You have my deepest gratitude, Initiate. Your testimony was precipitous in explaining how the men were involved and working together,” he said after I completed my bow.

“We have learned much from the details and explanations you shared, your observations have been noted and new policies will be employed to counteract their methods from happening again. The shop owes a debt. I owe you a debt. Please choose any item as a reward, I will be responsible for any expense for the item you choose.

“The shop will repay with your honesty with VIP status. Once you begin hunting, any items you sell here will be placed for sale or commission without our standard service fee. The shop will also extend a discount on items purchased, unfortunately, our inventory is arranged and made available employing brokerage techniques so that the discount will not be equivalent to the great service you have done today.

“We have very little room to offer discounts on items that we are selling since most have been placed on commission, but any item you choose to purchase in any of the establishments I have shares or ownership in will allow you a ten percent discount.”

I was pleasantly surprised by his offer and accepted the VIP card that established my bona fides in any of his establishments. I also knew what item I would choose. The spatial ring that I had been forced to ignore that morning because of cost.

Perhaps someone else would have been humble enough to refuse the reward and perks that he had offered. I was not one of those people. I acknowledged that my actions hadn’t been done as a gesture of goodwill or honesty. My careless exclamation had been thoughtless and impulsive, but that didn’t mean I would refuse his largess.

Especially since I knew my actions were going to come back to bite me in the ass.