Zero Langham
The five of us continued down the marketplace as though nothing had changed. Merchants sat in their wooden chairs under an umbrella to shield them from the scorching sun. Children darted between wagons with wooden toys in hand, and the smell of fresh pastries drifted from a nearby bakery. At a glance, Gotarum looked just as peaceful as it had one minute earlier.
Only we knew otherwise.
I folded the mission map beneath my arm and kept my expression relaxed. The urge to scan every rooftop and alleyway was almost overwhelming, but that could confirm what the thieves already suspected. If they truly had people watching us, then the worst thing we could do now was acknowledge it.
"But the children? Could they really be in on this?" I said quietly.
Julius walked beside me without changing his pace. His eyes remained fixed ahead, though I noticed his shoulders tense slightly.
"It's the world we live in."
Toho resisted looking over his shoulder.
"So... what do we do?"
"We pretend we haven't noticed," Terra whispered harshly.
Toho frowned.
"Seriously? That's our move?"
"If they think they've fooled us, they'll make a mistake," Terra nodded beside him. Her expression remained as calm as ever, though her eyes wandered naturally across the storefronts rather than lingering in any one place.
"They're waiting for us to react," she said. "If we don't, they'll have to."
Gia stretched her arms behind her, intertwining her fingers.
"So we're the bait."
"Pretty much," I muttered.
Nobody liked the idea, but nobody could argue against it either.
We continued walking, stopping every so often to speak with another shopkeeper or passerby. The conversations were genuine enough that even I began forgetting we were pretending. An elderly florist described one of her past interactions: catching a child stealing fruit from her. She scolded the child and even tried taking her to her parents; however, the child repeatedly told the florist that she had no parents.
It was not unusual for children to steal from merchants. Some even embraced it and allowed it to happen, understanding the poor situation of the young society. This side of Celestiala was particularly underdeveloped. Many reforms were put into place in hopes of turning it around, but none had achieved much.
What was unusual was children stealing on this large scale. If we were to hypothesize that groups of children, under the orders and guidance of adults, were stealing, then this whole investigation would make a lot more sense. It is the best theory, and most likely, that this was the current case.
Our paranoia began growing steadily. It was only a matter of time before the thieves made their move. Our act of feigning ignorance of their current location would make them believe they possessed the advantage and element of surprise. Yet, when they strike, we're expecting. However, that could be any moment, and the dragging wait made us grow more unsettled.
A loud crack echoed somewhere farther down the street.
All our heads snapped backward, our waist rotating to allow us to gaze down the street.
A merchant's handcart had tipped onto its side, spilling crates of oranges across the road. The owner cursed under his breath while several bystanders hurried forward to help gather the fruit before passing wagons rolled over it.
For the briefest moment, the entire street focused on the commotion, including us.
Whatever
I dismissed the situation quickly, but just before I truly let go, multiple possibilities ran through my head. My forehead tensed up, causing my eyes to narrow. Out of all the possibilities, I settled on the likelihood.
"...Diversion," I whispered.
The word had barely left my lips before another crash erupted behind us.
A wooden balcony overlooking the street suddenly collapsed. Thick support beams and shattered planks rained toward the crowd below.
"Move!" Gia shouted.
She thrust both hands forward. Thin silver threads shot from her under her fingernails, weaving together almost instantly into a broad net beneath the falling debris. The timber crashed into the webbing instead of the civilians, the strands stretching under the weight before snapping one by one. Even so, the delay gave the people enough time to scramble clear.
Screams erupted throughout the marketplace. The thieves had made their move.
Figures emerged from every direction, abandoning the disguises they'd worn throughout the morning. One threw off a merchant's apron. Another tossed aside the cloak of a delivery porter. A third vaulted over a fruit stand with surprising agility, a curved knife already in his hand.
"You're telling me these children are Sorcerers from the World Council?" one of them scoffed. He was clearly not aware that we weren't Sorcerers yet, nor did we work for the Council. We were still Academy students.
The scar beneath his left eye caught my attention immediately.
It can't be... It's him again! The ringleader with the group of Marks from the alleyway. The night Professor Ruthra had to save us. How the hell is he walking free?!
It stumped me as to how he could have escaped. Professor Ruthra surely handed him to Report Services. People like him belong in a prison cell. Instead, he smiled as though he had no care in the world.
"I'll keep the leader busy! The scarface," I shouted.
The team moved almost instantly.
Toho disappeared first. His Innate Technique activated without a word. His pupils narrowed as fragments of the next few seconds flashed through his mind. Before a thief even swung his iron pipe, Toho had already stepped inside the attack, twisting around it before driving a punch into the man's ribs.
"I knew you were going left."
The thief stumbled backward in confusion.
Nearby, Terra reached out and placed a hand against Julius' shoulder before briefly touching Gia's arm. A soft current of wind circled around the three of them, light enough that it barely disturbed their uniforms.
It was Terra's Innate Technique: Gale Burst. It allowed her to grant herself and those she touched faster reaction speeds and lighter steps. She used it once on me during the rescue mission. The breeze vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Julius immediately surged forward. His movements became lighter, sharper. The cobblestones beneath one fleeing thief suddenly cracked as thick roots burst upward from the gaps. They coiled around the man's ankles before climbing higher, locking his legs together.
This was Julius's Innate Technique; he simply referred to it as: Roots. As evident by the name, it allows him to summon roots, nearly indestructible. It's versatile and best for fighting large groups of enemies.
"You won't be moving anytime soon," Julius muttered cockily.
Another thief lunged toward Julius from the side. Before he could reach him, thin strands wrapped around his wrist. Gia covered Julius from external threats he couldn't react to because he was occupied with his fight. With just a flick of her fingers, the threads tightened.
The man's balance disappeared beneath him, sending him crashing face-first into the street. This gave Julius the opportunity to bash the thief's face into the ground with a downward axe kick.
Gia's Innate Technique was in play: Silky Threads. She can cast string-like threads from beneath her fingernails, adept for trapping and subduing enemies. When she focuses, she can make her threads razor-sharp, but she's not great at maintaining it.
While my team handled the rest of the thieves, I rushed straight toward the scarred leader. His eyes were set on me too. As he watched me charge towards him, he grinned.
"So it's you again."
He slammed his palm against the side of a market stall. The entire wooden frame shuddered in reaction. Afterward, it exploded entirely. Splintered boards and shattered crates burst outward like arrows, hurtling toward the frightened civilians behind me.
My feet stopped before my mind even had time to think.
Damn it.