A new day had started, and Hannah and Esme had bought–or rather, had stolen masks and hoods from two different shops during the morning. It had been easy, they just went in, took the first one they saw, and went out. It wasn't really a popular shop, and people were too engrossed in their activities and browsing to pay attention to them. Esme was determined to get to level 10, and so, they got stealing. But they didn't want to just steal from one or two people like they usually did. They wanted this to be big. It had to be a shop this time, not just a stall. The plan was that today, they would only steal from the market after locating a good shop target and then go in tomorrow. They would need to shove as many valuables from the shop in their bag and sell them back to a fencer or someone who bought goods that were clearly stolen. Was there a [Fencer] class? Probably.

The girls were still stuck in the Lower Winsor District. Of course, they didn't know it was called that. They were starving for information. They had considered just asking someone directly for answers, as they had done with Auden, but they didn't want to attract attention by asking really obvious questions. They couldn't venture back to Main Street again. They would wait until they were a higher level.

The streets were muddy, like usual, and there wasn't much of value here. The girls had amassed a grand sum of... three silver coins. That wasn't much, but it showed you the wealth disparity in the city. Hannah wondered how people could stay at that inn they were on their first day here. Fourteen silver coins per night was some crazy amount. Their inn currently was twenty bronze coins per night though, which was easily manageable. The inn they had been kicked out of wasn't actually a cheap one. It was actually really expensive for this area.

Hannah and Esme stumbled upon a weapons shop. That could be a good target, but it was risky. The shopkeeper probably knew how to use these things. It was on the border of the district, and neither of them had any intention of stealing there, so they walked back. The slums didn't really have many shops compared to the other districts, and for a good reason, but that reason wasn't [Thieves] anymore. In fact, the number of [Thieves] and theft crime had gone way down in the past seven years. But they didn't know that. Regardless, the shop they found was surprisingly... a jewelry shop. Yes, a jewelry shop. In the poorest district in the city. That sounded like a recipe for disaster, but here it stood. They had never seen it before. The shop had tall and muscular men in front of it. Hannah thought they were [Guards], but in reality, they were [Thugs]. One had a basic looking sword that was sheathed. The other had a large wooden club that he was leaning on. Hannah and Esme looked at each other, then Hannah whispered.

"What do you think? Worth the risk?"

"It's jewelry. It could be worth gold. I think we go in, but at night. They're bound to go home and sleep at some point, then we just find a way in. The problem would be if they have people that rotate during the night."

"Yeah, but we're sure to level if we succeed right? I think we should go for it. I distract them, you go in. But first let's go inside to see if there are alternate escape routes and find the most valuable things."

They nodded at each other and walked towards the shop. The tall men blocked the way in.

"D'you have your pass to get in?"

Esme and Hannah internally cursed. A pass? How did you even obtain that? Esme quickly regained her composure and answered.

"No. Forgive us, we didn't know we needed a pass to browse this shop. We were interested in buying."

"Well ye need a pass, and if you don't know how to get one you don't belong here. Scram."

They both looked at the girls menacingly. They suddenly seemed a lot more threatening. Was it a skill? Regardless, Hannah and Esme left. They resigned themselves to going to the market. They went to a back alley and put on their masks and hoods. Hannah's mask was the mask of a man with blond hair and a crown. Esme's mask was the same.

"We meet back here in an hour then? Or back at the inn maybe."

"Let's meet here. If we don't see each other, run back to the inn."

"Okay."

Esme walked out first. Her hood covered a large portion of her face, and it was actually hard to tell she wore a mask unless you were close. Two minutes later, Hannah walked out. The sun shone on her, she felt like it was getting hotter. Did they arrive in this world in Spring? She found a suitable target in a few minutes and started to use [Pickpocket]. It was a really useful skill, as it would be hardly noticeable by someone who had their backs turned to you. Things were going well enough for a while. She only targetted money these days. They had gotten past their lives of starvation. She was used to this now. She was on 'autopilot' mode, thinking of many things, like skills she could get, or if she could learn magic one day. Maybe she could become a [Mage]. Magic was an extremely interesting concept to her. She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice the man in armor grabbing her hand when she tried to grab the bronze coins in an old lady's bag. Her head snapped up, her face twisted in horror behind her mask.

"Nice mask."

And then he flung her on the ground.

-------------------------------

Triston Olguar had been hired to guard the Lower Winsor District, along with his party, and multiple other adventurer parties. They usually didn't pick guarding jobs. They were boring 90% of the time and paid like shit. But he had been offered this job directly from a [Mayor], and the pay was five silver coins per hour. And that was per person! It was too good to pass up. His party had unanimously agreed.

But when he saw that after just less than a single day of patrolling, he had caught one of the thieves, he had to admit. He was disappointed. How could a job with such a high payroll be this easy? He wished it took longer to finish but alas.

His target was on the ground, clutching herself, writhing in pain. He had expected some opposition but it looked like this would be it. At least he made fifty silver coins from it, which was good money.

"I am adventurer Triston Olguar. Silver rank. I was hired to stop the [Thieves] that have plagued this district for weeks. You are under arre-"

The girl had leaped back to her feet and started running, but the small crowd got to her first and grabbed her. The [Thief] spoke.

"Let me be."

Triston was suddenly overtaken with a strange feeling. He didn't want to do this job anymore, he nodded and the crowd did the same.

And then he snapped back to reality.

"Damn it! A [Charm] spell?"

He turned his head back. The girl was still in view, but she was running. The civilians were also slowly snapping back to reality. The adventurer was furious. He had never been subject to a mind-control spell before, and he felt wrong. Violated. He started running after her, but his armor was heavy. He couldn't catch up. He screamed out in frustration. He couldn't contact the members of his team either, he was no [Mage], and even if he had one in his party, only they could contact you, and not the other way around.

He had underestimated her. What kind of [Thief] used these kinds of skills? He had never seen such a thing. He calmed down and walked around to think, but he got a [Message] spell.

"Thief found. Come to Polgar Street."

His frown turned into a smirk. She had not escaped! He instantly jogged towards the designated street, not paying attention to the people who tried to stop him to thank him for his service. He got there in around twenty minutes and his team greeted him.

"Ah. Triston. You took your time."

"Shut up, Pauline. Show me the [Thief]."

Triston's team was made of four people, including him. He was their leader, and a [Warrior], and Pauline was their [Mage]. The last two members were a second [Warrior], who's name was Robert, and their newest member, a [Archer], who was called Jamie. They were all in their early level 20's. Triston looked past them and saw a woman tied up on the ground. They had removed her hood, but her mask was still on her face. She had brown hair, and looked taller than the woman he had seen earlier. Robert spit on the ground next to her with a scowl.

"Caught her red-handed stealing from an old lady. Knocked her out. She's scum. How dare she wear our [Emperor]'s face and commit-"

Pauline quickly interrupted him. Robert was a fervent supporter of Vitelius, and his dream was to go to become a [Knight], Draele and enlist in the [Emperor]'s personal guard.

"We thought we'd let you have the honor of taking off the mask. You can do it now."

Triston squatted next to her and slowly took off the mask. The girl was... pretty. But a criminal nonetheless.

"So you're one of our [Thieves], huh."

"Oh, she can't talk. I put a [Silence] spell on her, hold on."

Pauline closed her eyes and muttered something. It was all magic gibberish to Triston, but after a few seconds, the girl started talking.

"Oh my god, okay. Okay. Please. Mercy. I won't do it again I promise. Please."

Jamie snickered and Robert scowled again, but Triston held up his hand to stop them.

"If you were a first time offender, you'd be having only a few weeks in a jail cell. But we have dozens of witnesses. That means you lose a hand. Or if you're unlucky you get hanged. Not my problem. At least for now though, you're going to jail so they sort your sentence out."

He grabbed Esme and carried her like she weighed as much as a feather and started walking back towards Main Street. His team followed closely behind him.

-------------------------------

Hannah was panicking. Everything was going to shit. After that close call with the man in armor, she had never been happier to have her [Lesser Persuasion] skill. She had run faster than she had ever run before. But she made it to their meeting spot in an okay shape thanks to [Lesser Endurance]. There, she waited. Esme was never late, and yet it was forty minutes after their designated time to meet. She had then decided to take the short walk back to the inn and had hurried through the crowded, muddy streets. When she made it back, she inspected the lobby. Left. Right. Left again. Nothing there. She then ran up to their room, jumping three stairs at a time. She had to be there. She had to be. She opened the door.

"Es-"

It was empty.

Empty.

She ran back down the stairs and quite literally jumped down. She burst through the inn entrance and started running. But running where, exactly? Had Esme been captured? She had to have been. So the most logical place she could be is...

The city guard building on Main Street.

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

She rushed down towards Main Street. Adrenaline was pumping through her. She was starting to get tired from all the running, even with her skill, but she held on. As she got close, she slipped in an alley, put her mask and her hood on and went out from the other side. There she was. After weeks, she was back on Main Street. The floors were paved again. The buildings were made of bricks, and they were tall. The people looked wealthy. Some of them even were fat. Some were giving her funny looks. She didn't care about them. She didn't care about anything.

She would save Esme, or she would die trying.