' I'm hungry '
Thought a Raven-haired man as his stomach begins to growl. He walked along the busy Lugunica streets catching the attention of many civilians. His hair color was foreign to the country, but his attire was even more so. The man was wearing a foreign uniform (tracksuit) as a makeshift cape, a sleeve as a makeshift bandana and torn pants made from expensive looking fabrics. But what truly caught their attention was the contrast between the expensive looking materials and the obvious social ranking of the man. Yet they try with all their might to avoid eye contact with the man, as his eyes seemed to be quite sharp for a slum dweller.
'Too many people in that shop, too little food in that one...hmmm. Found it.' Subaru searched the marketplace to find a perfect target. Only to focus on a small food stall owned by a muscular green-haired man. 'I see a sack of apples behind the shop, a few silver coins by the counter and he appears to be too muscular to be quick on his feet. A perfect snatch for me hehe.' Subaru thought as he slowly neared the shop in question. The man and a few civilians in turn, focused their gaze at the nearing suspicious boy. They know the boy is up to something, they just don't know what it is. Would he murder someone with the daggers sheathed in his belt? Would he steal from someone? These questions alone caused everyone in the vicinity to raise their guard in case something really did happen.
"Hello sir, how much are those apples?" The Raven-haired man asked as his face slowly wore a grin. He knew full well what they're called, but he needed to buy just a few more seconds for the plan to commence. And with the second he bought he knelt down and grabbed a handful of sand. "What are apples? Do you mean these appas? They cost 2 copper coins." Answered the shop owner with hints of caution in his voice. "2 copper coins huh, let me just get my...pouch" As the boy said the last word, he threw sand in the shop owner's eye temporarily blinding him for a split second. But by that time the boy has already stolen the sack of apples and a few silver coins from behind the counter and has already started running as fast as he can away from the shop. His body was imbued with mana thus he ran faster than a normal man could. Yet a normal man wasn't chasing him, but instead a nearby patrolling knight.
"Hey you there stop" said a patrolling knight as he quickly gave chase to the speeding boy with a sword in hand. The knight, being trained to physically enhance their bodies with mana, actually came close to catching him.
"Shit, a knight. I guess I need your help guys." The boy said as he began pulling the strings of his contracts. Different colored lights then appeared out of thin air. A single black light and white light appeared out of thin air to help the fleeing boy.
"Your way too energetic, shi" Spoke the black colored light as he casted shamak to disrupt and blind the chasing knight. From the spirit came a cloud of smoke that easily engulfed the knight, making him lose the ability to know where he currently is.
"As expected of dear contractor, ne" Spoke the white colored light as she casted augeo to her contractor. Augeo is a yang magic that enhances the physical properties of the thing or person they casted it on, thus giving the Raven-haired man enough strength to jump to the roofs of the buildings in the capital effectively escaping from the authorities. After a few minutes running on top of the building, Subaru lost the knight from his trail thus securing the success of his steal.
"Wooh that sure tired me out. Thanks Shi, and Ne."
"No problem Subaru"Responded the two full spirits in unison, as they joyfully circled their contractor. Earning them a smile and a giggle from the sharp-eyed boy.
"Now then let's see what we hauled today. A sack of apples, and...10 silver coins. That's...not as much as I thought I had. Agh! I thought I grabbed at least 50..." But as Subaru looked from where he came from, he saw the streets riddled with a few silver coins, 40 silver coins to be exact.
"Aww man, I lost more than half of my steal running. But at least I got the sack of apples." Subaru said as he began tearing up from his loss of profit while biting one of the apples he successfully stole. He then leapt down the building and tried his best to blend in with the crowd. As he carelessly walked through the busy streets he accidentally bumped into a fiery red-haired man.
"Ah Sorry, are you alright uh sir...?" Asked the red-haired man to the careless boy. 'The Heck, why's he apologizing to me? The nice boy index of this guy is way too high' Subaru thought as he saw the person who he bumped into apologize to him faster than he could even blink or react to the situation.
"Subaru, the names Natsuki Subaru and I'm broke beyond compare!" Subaru introduced himself with his trademark smile and pose. After hearing his introduction though, the fiery haired man suddenly wore a frown on his face showing his sympathy to the Raven-haired boy. Not only did he admit he was broke but he admitted it with such pride. As the Fiery-haired man introduced himself the smile on Subaru's face quickly disappeared.
"Nice to meet you Natsuki Subaru, my name is Reinhard van Astrea, a member of the royal knights and currently on vacation, is there anything I can help you with?"
'He-he's an Astrea, and I thought my day can't get worse, what's next... I'll die or something. The heck is an Astrea doing in this part of town.' Old man Rom warned me of them. They're one of the elites of the royal knights known to be strong combatants and seekers of justice. And the person in front of him is the Reinhard van Astrea, the current sword saint and sword of the kingdom. Strongest fighter across all four nations, even getting a lifetime ban from entering foreign soil. Yet that powerhouse is one of the kindest people I've ever met. To say that Subaru was flabbergasted is an understatement. He was gaping at the sudden revelation and was lost beyond words.
"Uh, Subaru-san are you alright?" Reinhard asked the suddenly silent boy. 'Of course he'd be quiet, he just saw a monster in the flesh.' Reinhard thought as he couldn't stop blaming himself for the sudden silence. Of course it was his fault, he's the strongest person in the world yet he still can't ensure the happiness of the citizens he swore to protect. Father and Grandfather may be right, I truly am pathetic. But before Reinhard could say anything else Subaru began increasing the distance between the two of them, ever so slightly.
"Umm a-a-actually I-I-I gotta go. See ya later Reinhard-san." Subaru said as he hastened his sprint. He was a thief and Reinhard's a knight. There's only one-way things would go down if Reinhard knew. At best he'd only get caught and be sent to the dungeons to pay for his crimes, at worst he'll suffer the fury of the sword saint.
'Did I scare him or was he truly busy?' Reinhard thought as he simply waved goodbye to the running Subaru with a smile embedded in his face. 'Well then time to continue my vacation' Reinhard said as he continued patrolling the capital trying to help as many civilians as he could.
'Did I lose him?' Subaru mentally asked his spirits as he was afraid to look back to see if the Sword saint actually chased after him. To think that the sword saint's grandfather and a current member of the sage council actually defeated old man Rom in his prime, still gave him chills. Granted, old man Rom only used his brute strength, but still to be able to defeat a massive foe, who's in their prime no less, is a great feat in itself. His grandfather wasn't even the successor of the sword saint's Divine protection.
"He never actually gave chase, shi"
"You're just running like a fool, ne"
'You don't need to phrase it like that Ne!' A flustered Subaru responded.
Knowing he's free from the watchful eye of the sword saint he finally halted his tiring sprint. Seeing as the day was just young, Subaru began thinking of a way to make even more money than ten silver coins. But before he could think of a plan, he saw a silhouette of a girl running through the rooftops at Sonic speed. Seeing his lil sister's iconic speed and trademark strategy, he then tried approaching her as he was curious as to what she was doing.
"What the? She's running with her Divine protection. She's doing something serious huh. Welp Ne, let's not get bested in speed by my lil sis, kay!" Subaru said as he took on a sprinting stance that would put even Usain Bolt to shame.
"El Augeo" Subaru casted the spell with Ne acting as his gate. With Augeo, Subaru's speed is comparable to that of a somewhat experienced knight, with El Augeo, his speed even rivals Felt's Divine protection, with Ul Augeo, his strength is comparable to old man Rom's in his prime, but his mana reserves still can't afford casting Al Augeo, even if he suck every single drop of mana from the air, it still remains insufficient. With the physical buff he gained from the casted spell, he jumped on top of a nearby building and quickly caught up to his running sister with ease.
"Yoh, Feltu-chan!" Subaru mocked as he immediately neared the ruby eyed girl. Shocked by the sudden appearance of her big bro, Felt momentarily lost her footing only for her to regain it a mere second later.
"Ni-Nii-chan?" Felt asked in shock.
"The one and only. Hehe" Subaru said as he had a toothy smile adorning his face.
"What are you doing here? You know what nevermind." There's no use in learning the inner workings of Subaru's mind. Learning it is as difficult as escaping a labyrinth that spans the length of the world...nah the labyrinth would be way easier.
"I need your help losing the owner of the insignia I just stole for a client." Felt commanded as her situation is getting too dire. The owner of the insignia seems to be very persistent and still keeps giving chase even if she's already lost track of her. Seeing her bro, who seems to know a lot about magic, could help her ease her current predicament.
"You forg~ot to say plea~~se."
"PLEEEAAASE!" Felt shouted as she had no time of goofing around with her brother.
"Very well then, you heard her Ne, Shi. We have a person to lose...um... by the way where and who are we trying to lose again?"
Felt giggled after hearing what her big bro just said. The contrast between the way he said his first line was all cool and big brother-like and the way he said the second half was enough to make her laugh out loud, if the situation wasn't dire. He had her in the first half not gonna lie.
"She's the girl I'm trying to lose." Felt pointed at an alleyway in which a beautiful girl with silver hair was running as fast as she could. The way she ran with all her might, truly was a sight to behold. Subaru was silenced by the beauty his eyes were viewing. It was as if an angel was desperately trying her best to retrieve an important relic.
'She's cute, too cute in fact.' But Subaru's eye candy session was interrupted by a slap in the face.
"Stop staring and do something!"
"Ah, right, right, I forgot. Hehe." Subaru said as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
During Subaru's three year stay in Lugunica, the spirits had given him knowledge of the countless magic a person can do with their aid. Yet he still strived for more, which caused him to make a few spells to help him escape, flee, or steal from anyone. And he had the perfect spell for this very occasion. Umbra, one of Subaru's Pleiades series spells, is a spell Subaru vowed to only use when the situation calls for it. By combining the blinding features of both Yin and Yang magic, Subaru can create mirages of anyone and anything with ease. The downside of such a spell is its heavy mana cost, and the chaos it instills to the public. Seeing ten to fifteen copies of a person running around town is not actually a common thing that happens in this country. Also, the mirages aren't clones, they're simply illusions made to misdirect anyone thus they can't interact with items. The only time Subaru actually used this spell was to confuse a squad of knights who were chasing him after he stole a few gold coins from a nobleman. But he remembered the woman's relentless will to catch Felt, and fifteen mirages won't work on her. Thus Subaru gave a little bit more effort.
"El Umbra" Subaru casted as fifty mirages of Felt began littering the rooftops of every building the eye can see. And each mirage ran towards different directions causing even further chaos.
"I guess...hah... I'm spent. I got...hah... no more mana...hah... on me...ha" Subaru said as he was genuinely exhausted after casting several spells within a single day. 'I guess I went overboard, huh'
"Wa-wah? What happened?" The Silver haired girl said as the assailant who she was chasing earlier started appearing on every rooftop she could see. Even Puck, a Great Spirit contracted to the silver haired girl, was confused by the copies. "Are they twins? triplets? Hundredplets?" This was the only question that riddled the Silver haired girl's mind.
"What's going on? Are we being attacked?" Asked a random civilian. Suddenly seeing several figures jumping up and down roofs is a scary thing to imagine.
"I can assure you sir, we are not under attack." A certain fiery haired man assured.
"Ah if the Sword saint claims it's not an attack then we all can be assured." Said another nearby civilian.
'Still, what could have caused all this?' Reinhard thought as he kept on looking at the figures jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
"This will be enough to lose your pursuer. Now then let's go back to the loot house and tell me what exactly was your job." Subaru said as he finally caught his breath. Before they moved, Subaru grabbed an apple from his sack and bit on it before he and Felt walked their way towards the loot house in question.
"It's a funny story actually." Felt said with a prideful smile.
[ONE FUNNY STORY LATER]
"Fi-fi-fifteeeen HOLY COIIIINS!" Subaru shouted as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. A holy coin is enough to buy a small home and fifteen holy coins are enough to buy a small mansion. A single holy coin is the same as 300 gold coins or 90,000 silver coins or 900,000 copper coins.
"It truly was a bargain hehe" Felt proclaimed smugly as she took pride in herself for finding such a deal.
'It truly was a good bargain...way too good. What's the catch? In these types of deals there's always a catch.' Subaru thought, as the smile he previously wore was now nowhere to be found. It appears old man Rom also had the same train of thought.
"And when is this client gonna be here exactly?" Asked old man Rom as he's starting to be wary of the entire deal. Nobody would pay that much without a catch.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
But before she could answer, somebody knocked behind the loot house's wooden door.