It seemed no matter how long I planned on stalling, Elder Shadow was prepared to wait. Niake could offer no help, and honestly it was spurious of me to expect her too. I’d been the idiot that spoke my thoughts out loud.

I hoped Braun wasn’t as well connected as I feared, but there was no other recourse by this point. I was going to have to respond, and it was better to respond with truth, knowing as I did that Elder Shadow had the ability to discern truth from a lie.

“When I was browsing on the third floor,” I began parsing my words carefully, I wanted to tell the truth without hinting that Niake was with me, “I noticed the three of them.”

“I’m not sure why, or what they did to draw my attention, but as I started to observe their behavior, their actions seemed almost rehearsed. I watched as the two you searched and found to possess stolen goods moved methodically around the room. Choosing an item, examining it, and either pocketing it or returning it to the shelf.

“What was interesting was that each item they examined was held up for display in a manner that made certain the third-floor attendant would not notice, while Sect Novice Braun would. While the two men were pilfering items, Novice Braun had engaged the attendant. His actions and where he stood kept the attendant's focus on him, and not the floor at large. Although Novice Braun seemed to be engaged in fierce haggling and debate about the price of a certain item, from where I stood, it looked more like he was doing everything he could to make sure the two men stealing were not discovered.

“I wasn’t certain of his involvement with the two thieves at first, or if his efforts to keep the attendant focused on him was part of the plan. That is until I noticed that the two men who were pilfering items would occasionally hold it up for inspection, they were examining it in clear view of Novice Braun, making it easy for him to identify the object. Novice Braun would signal the men, flashing hand signs at that point, and the item would be either tucked in a pocket or returned to the shelf.

“The hand signals were simple,” I said, demonstrating for Sect Elder Shadow the signs that Braun had flashed. “with only two hand gestures it wasn’t hard to discern the pattern. A clenched fist meant to keep the item, an open hand with the palm turned outwards meant put it back.

“When it became obvious to the third-floor attendant that the Novice would not budge on price, he revealed the details about the commission, instructions a Sect member had left requiring an acceptable price and a firm bottom line.

“With no point in continuing to haggle, there was no way to dispute the attendant's claim, Novice Braun ended the conversation loudly. Everyone on that level heard his words and watched as he turned to leave, his anger clear.

“These two men followed almost immediately.

“It was soon after that the anti-theft array activated, and the sirens and lights signaled it had implemented the appropriate defenses. When I reached the first level, I saw the three of them trapped in an energy field, and knew that however they had planned on getting the stolen items out, it had failed,” I concluded.

“Why didn’t you inform the third-floor attendant what was happening before they left the floor?” the store owner demanded.

“A few reasons,” I answered honestly. “The first, Novice Braun is a Sect member, perhaps his actions were not what they appeared and had a deeper meaning. I thought it possible they had given him a mission to test the store's response to the theft. If that were the case, by reporting my suspicions then the test would have been flawed and compromised.

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"Second, I am here as a customer, not an employee. It isn't my responsibility to interfere in actions that are clearly related to the duty of store personal. I didn't think it was any of my business.

“The last reason is more self-serving,” I admitted, “I didn’t think it made any sense to anger a Sect member that I might encounter daily and would probably hold a grudge. Not knowing how influential Novice Braun is, or who he may call upon for support, I thought it made the most sense to ignore what I saw and let it play out as it would.

“Truthfully, I am sure there were others that saw what was going on and refuse to say anything for the same reasons,” I finished, uncertain if being brutally honest would be beneficial or not. It was a risk, but at this point, the only thing I could do was tell the truth and hope Elder Shadow thought favorably of me.

“Then why did you speak out at all?” Elder Shadow demanded.

“I hadn’t meant too,” I explained, “The word slipped out, I gave voice to what I was thinking unintentionally. It wasn’t until those around me noticed what I had said that I realized that I had spoken aloud and given voice to thought.”

“It was still possible to claim one other than Novice Braun was the liar,” Elder Shadow suggested knowingly.

“That is true, Elder Shadow, I could have attempted to shield Novice Braun, but I realized after your probe, that that was impossible. When you were able to use Qi to discern my spiritual roots and elemental affinity so easily, I made an assumption, your mastery over Qi led me to believe that you can distinguish truth from lie.

“Once I had made that assumption, I thought it more important not to insult you or your gifts. Angering Novice Braun may increase the hardship I will be faced with as I begin Sect life. I may have entered into a vendetta today that I have no hope of surviving. But his anger and those that he can call upon for support, no matter the repercussions, are only a possibility. Not as immediate to me as the repercussions I might entertain if I attempted to deceive a Sect Elder.”

I could feel anger, disgust, and hate in response to my testimony, not cultivation talent or Qi, the fury and killing intent I felt was rawer, an explosion of pure aura and hate focused on me by Braun. He wasn’t using Qi, yet his presence became more substantial as his emotions towards me became palpable, creating an energy everyone could feel. He had to have known, no matter his lies, that Elder Shadow knew the truth, still, I understood why he directed that resentment towards me.

What other choice did he have? Directing that anger at Sect Elder Shadow would have been ruinous. I was just another cog in the wheel for this mess, a bystander that had allowed myself to become involved. Someone that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and was stupid enough to give voice to what I had witnessed. Braun singled me out for my stupidity, honest stupidity sure, but my words allowed him a focus, a place to vent his anger.

I hadn’t mentioned how I thought he planned to get away with the theft. That I was sure he had someone waiting at the Sect to answer the store’s origami message crane. Someone powerful enough to allow him to maintain his innocence and could cast all blame on his two accomplices.

I still wasn’t certain what the end goal had been either. Why bother stealing from a shop they had to know was well protected. Unless the theft that had occurred so far wasn’t the real item they were after. As of right now, all anti-theft protections were disabled. Now would be the perfect time to steal an item.

A Cultivator with a movement technique should be able to grab the item and flash out the door before anyone noticed or recognized what was happening. I think Elder Shadow answering the crane missive threw a monkey wrench into whatever plans they had made. His sealing the entrance, and cultivation base would certainly register anyone attempting to escape.

Either that or Braun was as stupid as he appeared, and I didn’t believe that for one second. Sect’s only offered membership after awakening and induction opportunities to those youngsters that had passed the standard written curriculum the Empire required. Tests based on math, language, culture, and history.

Flowing Water Sect required inductees to have received not only a passing grade but have scored excellent in all four subject matters. They would offer only those that ranked in the top ten percent of all students a Sect invitation.

I couldn’t reconcile the intellect required to pass the stringent entrance requirements with someone stupid enough to not realize that theft arrays were in place and active. Unless thievery wasn’t the only skill he practiced. Perhaps he was much better at cheating than he was at stealing.

Or maybe his connections were powerful enough or wealthy enough the bought or bribed his test scores.

Just who was Novice Braun?