Chapter 23

A Thief’s True Face

Erin had been so sure of her plan regarding the Midnight Thief that she hadn’t thought of all the possible things that could go wrong. At worst, she had been a bit concerned over the thief’s real goal. Had he been just a greedy bastard hoping to use his popularity to his advantage to run away with his spoils, the redhead was more than ready to simply turn him over to the authorities and claim the bounty. No use in passing up an opportunity to make some cash, especially when you wouldn’t have to feel bad about it.

However, one thing she had failed to consider was the true identity that was hid behind the mask. While it was obvious that the Midnight Thief wasn’t an adult human as his size clearly showed, there was always the chance that he was simply a member of a race that was naturally shorter than most others. This wouldn’t have been an issue in regards to recruitment in the least in her eyes.

What Erin had failed to consider was that the famous Midnight Thief didn’t belong to such a race at all and was instead just a young boy. A skilled one, but still not the experienced adult one was expecting.

Said boy was currently still unconscious from having the redhead’s body crash into his. He was tied to a chair with a cloth covering his mouth, as the two women who had brought him to their motel room without anyone noticing didn’t want him to cause any unwanted noise upon waking up.

The boy looked to be in his teens and had a rather slender built, which was common for most catfolk like himself. He had short silver hair with a pair of cat ears on top of his head. He was still dressed in his thief’s outfit, which consisted of dark clothes along with a black cloak that had a hood. He also had a silver cat tail that had been hidden during the chase.

In all honesty, Erin couldn’t help but feel dirty over what she and her partner had done. While she knew that she wasn’t exactly innocent and was certain that Ryle had her fair share of blood on her hands as well, their victims so far had been adults that were either capable of defending themselves or deserved their bloody ends. This time, they had attacked an innocent child. He might have been a thief, but that was hardly a crime deserving such a punishment. Especially when the people he stole from were nothing but corrupt government officials.

“This did not go as I had imagined,” Erin said with a sigh. “Had I known this was behind the mask, I wouldn’t have gone with my plan at all.”

“Uh huh. Sure. Whatever you say,” Ryle replied in a voice that sounded completely disinterested.

The redhead glanced at her partner and felt incredibly worried. She was certain that Ryle wanted nothing more than to tear the boy apart for all the trouble he had caused, no matter how calm and composed she was acting. Ever since the two of them had discovered the true identity of the Midnight Thief, the blonde had been strangely silent, tense and cooperative. Not only that, but she had kept her eyes on their captive almost the whole time ever since he had been unmasked. If Erin were to make a guess, Ryle was most likely slightly conflicted, since she wanted to kill the boy but now knew the true face underneath the mask that made her hesitate. Even still, the redhead couldn’t help but feel like the boy’s life was hanging on by a thin thread.

Suddenly, the boy began to stir in his seat, showing signs of waking up. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around before attempting to move, only to find himself restrained. Once he realized the situation he was in, the catfolk boy began to violently struggle against his restraints in the hopes of escaping.

Knowing that letting him go on like this would most certainly cause a lot of noise, which in turn would bring unwanted attention, Erin decided to try and calm their young captive, even if it was very unlikely to work.

“Hey, calm down, okay? We don’t want anyone hearing any weird sounds coming from here, got it?” the redhead said in a gentle yet stern tone while holding the boy’s face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. The boy immediately stopped struggling, but still looked terrified. “All we want is some answers out of you and that’s it. Give us what we want and nothing bad will happen. Alright?”

The boy gave a small nod in response before staring down in defeat, as even his ears fell. It seemed like he had completely given up hope and succumbed to his fate.

“Hey, no need to look so down,” Erin said as she gently grabbed the boy’s chin and lifted up his head so they were looking each other in the eye. The redhead was trying to be a bit more gentle this time with their captive in the hopes of showing him that they were not a threat. “We honestly don’t want to hurt you. The only reason we sought you out was so we could speak with you and nothing else. I’m sorry for how we’ve treated you so far, but we had no choice. So take it easy and work with us, okay?”

The boy nodded in response. The motion had more resolve and strength behind it this time.

“Good boy. Now, I’m gonna let you speak, so please don’t scream or yell,” Erin said as she took the cloth off that was covering the catfolk thief’s mouth. “First of all, you are the famous Midnight Thief that is on wanted posters everywhere, right?”

“Y-Yes… That’s me,” the boy answered somewhat meekly. “Although, I d-didn’t make the name m-myself. I-It was made by some of the people that were r-reporting on my crimes.”

“Yeah, I figured out that much. You don’t seem like the type that would declare their name in the middle of robbing someone’s home,” the redhead said with a small smile. “Anyways, what’s your real name?”

“Arkay… Although, friends and family tend to call me Arnie,” the boy answered.

“Alright, Arnie it is then,” Erin said with a more upbeat tone, hoping to clear some of the tensity in the atmosphere. “From what I’ve heard, you seem to only target people affiliated with the government. Why is that? You do know that is incredibly dangerous for you and those close to you, right?”

“I-I know that! But I just can’t sit back while they keep doing the things they do! The people are oppressed with more and more of their rights and belongings being stripped from them every day! How could I just stay still and not try to do something with my own power!?” Arkay said before looking down sadly. “Besides, it’s not like there is anyone out there that would be in danger because of me…”

“...Did you lose your family?”

“Yes… My family lived in a small village not too far from here, when suddenly a group of bandits attacked us. Most of the people were slaughtered, while the survivors were taken captive and sold to someone living in the Eastern Continent. My mom was among those who were sold, but she killed herself before they could transport her. My dad died as he hid me from the bandits that attacked us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Erin said with a sad look in her eyes. “But why are you attacking people affiliated with the government? Shouldn’t you be going after the bandits that attacked you?”

“Because it was the government officials that were behind the whole thing,” Arkay answered, shocking the redhead. “A lot of the higher-ups like to make some extra money, like their big paychecks aren’t enough for them. Some have illegal gambling operations, others run underground fight pits and some sell people to slavery. The ones above them don’t really care, unless whatever they do becomes an issue somehow. One of the people stationed here hired the bandits to attack my village, so he could have merchandise to sell.”

Erin looked down with a sad frown on her face. Yet another person had been harmed due to her actions.

In all honesty, the redhead could no longer even think about recruiting this person to aid them in attacking the military base in the city. While he was definitely skilled and had abilities that would certainly prove useful, Arkay was still a child. It was also clear that he had no actual combat experience, so bringing him with them would put him at great risk of losing his life. It seemed like they had ended up wasting their time.

“Erin,” Ryle suddenly called out to the redhead.

Erin sighed. This was not going to go over well with her partner.

“Ryle, I know you’re upset and all, but-”

“We’re keeping him.”

“...Excuse me?”

“We HAVE TO keep him!” Ryle exclaimed in an extremely happy tone with a huge smile on her face as she walked over to Arkay. She put her arms around the cat boy before proceeding to rub her cheek against the top of his head, while she had an expression of pure bliss. “He’s just so cute and precious! I mean, look at these ears and tail! And he has magical abilities as well! How could we pass up on making him a member of our group!? He’s just perfect!”

For a moment, Erin could only stare at her partner with wide eyes, having not expected such a joyous outburst from her. At first, she wondered what this was about, before she remembered something from back when she used to play Five Realms with Devin and his group.

The developers had actually made it possible for you to marry almost any NPC that you could find. This included characters that were younger, which caused quite the controversy. Luckily the game didn’t have any too risky content, so it never got too out of hand. It was explained in the lore of the game that the age for marriage was lower in the game’s world than in the real world.

It seemed like this had carried over to this real version of the game world. While Erin knew that the laws and customs were different here than her own world, she couldn’t help but be somewhat disturbed by how Ryle was acting.

“Umm… Ryle? I’m not sure about “keeping him”, as you put it,” Erin said as she tried to get her partner to back down on her desire to recruit the young catfolk boy. “I know I was the one who originally wanted to make him part of our group and all, but think about it more rationally. This really isn’t a good idea.”

“What!? How could this NOT be a good idea!?” Ryle asked in a shocked tone as she hugged Arkay tighter, who blushed furiously at the contact. “We need help and he obviously has the skills we need! What suddenly made you change your mind about him!?”

“Well, for starters, he’s too young to be doing this. I honestly doubt he has enough experience.”

“Hey, I was around the same age as him when I started bounty hunting! I’m sure he’ll be able to keep up with us and won’t hold us back! Besides, you’ve seen how he handled himself during his robbery. He almost got away from you!”

“I know that, but what we are doing is on a whole different level! We won’t be breaking into the home of some random noble, but into an actual military base! Taking him along will only-!”

“Ummm… Excuse me?” Arkay suddenly called out, getting the attention of both women. “Are you talking about the military base in the city? Why are you trying to break into there?”

“Oh, that’s because we have a bone to pick with General Lune, so we need to-”

“RYLE!” Erin yelled, angered by the fact that her partner had so easily revealed their plans.

“Did you just say Lune!?” Arkay asked with wide eyes. “Take me with you! Please!”

“W-What?” the redhead asked, taken aback by the sudden request.

“Do you have a grudge against him as well?” Ryle asked.

“Yes. It was him who hired the bandits to attack my village and sold off the survivors,” Arkay said while gritting his teeth in anger. “I’m sure it was him who caused my mom to kill herself. I watched as the people were being handed to the human traffickers that would take them to the Eastern Continent. Before being taken away, mom used to be a beautiful and bright woman, but after Lune got his hands on her, she was nothing like she used to be. She looked more like a zombie than the person I remember her being. And when they were moving her, she… She…”

“She what? What happened?” Erin asked, already fearing the answer.

“She collapsed on the ground with blood falling from her mouth after biting off her tongue!” the cat boy yelled as tears were now falling from his eyes. “After she died, Lune just left her body there before leaving! I had to bury her myself!”

Arkay began to quietly sob as he thought about the loss of his mother. Ryle tried her best to comfort him with her hug, as Erin could only look at him in sympathy.

“I-I’m sorry. It’s just that-”

“It’s okay. We understand,” Ryle said with a small smile, cutting off the cat boy’s apology. “We have all suffered losses by the hands of Lune, which is why we are here now.”

“...Arnie, I understand your desire for revenge, but are you sure about this?” Erin asked. “If you join us, you will be putting yourself in far more danger than ever before. Do you still wish to come with us?”

“Yes… I can’t forgive Lune for what he has done. Besides, I’ve already tried to get inside the military base a couple of times,” Arkay answered, surprising both women. “I managed to make my way through some of the defenses, but never got in all that deep. The security measures get tighter and tougher the deeper you go. But with you two, I feel like we can make it happen.”

“Then it’s decided!” Ryle exclaimed happily. “Arnie will become our new member and together we will make Lune pay for what he has done to us!”

“Agreed,” Erin said with a nod before looking at Arkay with a smile. “Welcome aboard. It’s good to have you with us.”

“Thank you. I won’t fail you,” the cat boy said with a smile. “Although, can I ask for something?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Can you untie me already?”