On a night when the full moon hung in the sky like a pretty silver plate on a nobleman's table, I ran across the sleeping city, following Shushruta. Running over the rooftops while people slept, completely unknown to them, felt like being a thief in the moonlit night, and it was quite nice. When else would I get to be a thief in the middle of the night?

The cool night breeze brushed past my hair. Feeling good, I muttered to myself for no reason.

"A great thief, unprecedented in history. That's me."

Shushruta, who was leading the way, glanced back at me. Her expression said, "What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?"

I said to Shushruta, "Ask me why."

"Why."

"Because I'm a romantic thief who steals the hearts of many women and doesn't return them."

Didn't they say the greatest thief is the one who steals people's hearts? It was nonsense I had spouted, inspired by Shushruta's words.

Shushruta let out a small laugh. Was it a sneer? It seemed like a sneer.

"Hey, thieving cat. Why are you laughing? Am I funny?"

"Women would slowly move away just by looking at your eyes."

"You're kidding."

"Only someone like Ashley or Rutie wouldn't run away."

I immediately retorted.

"What are you talking about? Linda doesn't run away either."

That one is the opposite. The problem is that she keeps body-slamming me.

Shushruta snorted, "Isn't she similar to you?"

"What's similar?"

"Her eyes."

"Her eyes?"

"Have you forgotten? Not long ago, she was called Mad Linda. Before she got beaten up by you, she was a famous big shot who ruled the underworld of Blake. It wasn't for nothing that her bounty was high. Even the residents of the underworld would slowly avoid her, so that says it all."

"Hmm."

Is that so? Come to think of it, there was a definite difference between the Linda I first met and the Linda now. I couldn't put my finger on it, but she had become much more docile.

"...?"

Now that I said it, it was strange. Docile? As if she were some kind of animal.

"Since we're on the subject, I'll ask. How did you get away from her?"

"What do you mean, how?"

"As soon as she realized you were gone, she would have rushed out to find you."

"Don't worry."

I said confidently.

"I left a letter so she would understand."

Shushruta laughed.

"A letter. How romantic."

"See? I told you I'm a romantic thief."

The contents of the letter... were they romantic? I don't know. It would depend on the point of view. I had roughly written a threatening letter that said, 'Stay put until I get back. Otherwise, I'll leave you behind.' It was a romantic threat.

Anyway, the investiture ceremony was the next day, so I would have to come back right away. Just for a day.

By the way, I told Shushruta something that had just occurred to me.

"Shushruta."

"What is it."

"Linda was looking for you since you were gone."

"She was looking for me?"

"She seemed to miss you."

To be precise, it was closer to being bored, but isn't that the same thing? Or maybe not.

Shushruta snorted.

"Hmph. There's no way she would."

"It's true. She was all dejected and looked for you all day."

"...."

Since Shushruta was running ahead, I couldn't see her expression.

A moment later, Shushruta glanced back and asked, "And you?"

"Me? What about me?"

"Did you miss me?"

"I don't know. I was busy training."

"Hmph!"

Shushruta whipped her head back around.

We ran over the quiet city in silence for a while.

I lightly jumped over the alley between the buildings and landed on the opposite roof where the moonlight had pooled, then opened my mouth.

"But why did you ask me to come with you?"

Come to think of it, I still hadn't heard the reason. I had just set out because she had asked me to come with her.

The Shadow Phantom, running under the moonlight, answered.

"Do you remember? The reason I left the guild."

"Of course I remember. You hit your sky-like master in a fit of anger and ran away from home?"

"...The old man teased me first."

Is that a reason to hit your master? It was absurd. How could you hit your sky-like master and run away from home just because he teased you? I couldn't imagine it. There's not enough time to even show respect.

Does my master know my heart?

[I don't.]

He says he doesn't.

[I don't want to know either.]

No, that's a bit...

"Anyway, that's not what's important."

Shushruta explained the reason she had brought me along.

"I met the old man after a very long time and said, 'I can steal anything!' At that, the old man asked with a surprised face, 'Did you steal a person's heart?' I confidently nodded. 'Yes!' At that, the old man was very surprised and asked me for an explanation."

Her tone was slightly excited. Like a child bragging to their parents.

"After hearing the explanation, the old man said, 'I can't believe it. If that's really true, bring me what you stole. I'll believe it when I see it with my own two eyes.' I said confidently, 'I'll bring it, so wait!'"

After finishing her explanation, Shushruta turned to me with a shameless face.

"And that's what happened."

"...."

So I was on my way to becoming Shushruta's stolen trophy. What is this?

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean, is that all?"

"But why did it take so long?"

"...Something came up."

"It seems a lot of things came up."

"You could say that."

We soon reached the high walls surrounding Valeria, the capital of Blake.

"Follow me."

We avoided the soldiers' eyes and became a single gust of wind, jumping over the wall as if it were a fence. It was something I couldn't have imagined when my footsteps skills were meager. It was truly thrilling to jump from the edge of the high wall with the wind.

"Hahaha..."

"Be quiet. They'll hear you."

An ordinary person would have been seriously injured or fallen to their death, but we were masters of footsteps, so it was easy.

Tat!

After lightly landing on the ground, we shot out and moved the stage to the forest.

As I used footsteps in the forest... the time when I was being chased by the demons who were after the dagger and running through the forest path with Shushruta came to mind vividly. Come to think of it, it didn't seem that long ago, but it felt like several years had passed, which was strange.

Shushruta, as if she had been thinking the same thing, smiled and looked at me.

"Do you remember? The first night we traveled together. I drew on your face with ash while you were sleeping."

"Actually, I was awake then. I had a hard time pretending to be asleep."

"What? Lies."

"Huhu. You were completely fooled by my secret technique, 'pretending to be asleep.' With my personality, would I sleep with someone I just met?"

"...Now that I hear it, that's true."

After that, we ran, sharing a few more memories. The time we acted like a close brother and sister. The time we walked with her on my shoulders. The time we shot starlight into the night sky with the Dagger of Ophosis. The time I was startled by the crow that was acting as a carrier pigeon and fell backwards. The time we ran away from Frost. The time we beat up Sir Fluffy while running away and took his sword again. The time we solved the Sphinx's riddle, and so on...

As I was talking, I realized. I had been through a lot with this girl. In eight or nine out of ten incidents, Shushruta was there. It was no exaggeration to say that we were together almost every moment.

Suddenly, Shushruta looked at me and said, "You run quite well now. You've grown up a lot."

I snorted, "What are you talking about? You were caught by me right away at first."

"That was because I was careless. How could I not stumble when you were running on the trees, screaming like a madman? Even the old man would have been startled and misstepped."

"Excuses."

Shushruta looked at me with a very annoyed expression.

"Want to try?"

"Let's go."

"Alright. It's a straight path from here, so you can run as much as you want. When should we start—"

"Start!"

I shouted before Shushruta could finish her sentence and shot forward. My footsteps skills had also improved. I am not confident. I am not confident that I will lose.

"Eek! You cheat!"

Hearing the sound of the very annoyed Shushruta chasing me fiercely from behind, I used my footsteps with all my might.

"Hahahaha..."

My laughter mixed with the wind and stretched out like a piece of taffy.

***

"Heok... heok..."

I had overlooked one fact. That as much as my footsteps skills had improved, Shushruta would have also gotten faster. Since she was a genius of footsteps, it wasn't strange. In fact, that was more natural. Because geniuses grow by leaps and bounds in the short time you don't see them.

...Damn geniuses.

Shushruta looked down at me with her hands on her hips, looking triumphant.

"Do you admit defeat?"

"...."

"I asked if you admit it."

"...Shut up."

How is she so fast? Even when I ran with all my might, she would laugh teasingly and run back and forth in front of me, teasing me. Even considering that it had been a long time since we had run together, her growth was surprising. Did she secretly eat some kind of elixir without my knowledge? Or was it thanks to the Mana Circulation Breathing?

I didn't know, but what was clear was that she was one step ahead in footsteps.

"No, why are you so slow? It was like watching a turtle run. Why were you taking a walk by yourself during a race? I almost fell asleep in the middle."

Her teasing skills had also improved by leaps and bounds. I wonder who she learned it from.

I put my hands on my knees and caught my breath, then retorted with a growl.

"...Let's race again on the way back."

Shushruta smiled leisurely.

"As you wish."

The morning sun was already rising from the eastern sky. How long had we been running?

"Ah, I'm thirsty."

"Catch."

I gulped down the water from the canteen Shushruta had thrown, then asked.

"So. Are we there?"

Shushruta nodded.

"Look over there."

The place we were at was a low hill, and there was a village located below.

"Is that it?"

"That's it."

"Hmm."

We had arrived without realizing it while running frantically.

"Welcome to the headquarters of the Thieves' Guild."

***

I walked down the street, looking around.

"...This is the headquarters of the Thieves' Guild?"

It was a village that seemed far from being secret. It was very different from my imagination. I thought it would be hidden deep in a valley in the mountains, but it was just out in the open.

...Is this right?

"That's right."

Shushruta, who was walking next to me, nodded.

It wasn't small, but it wasn't as developed as a city either. It was a moderately sized village. Just an ordinary village that you could see anywhere.

In the ordinary village, ordinary villagers were going about their business, passing by on the street. A man loading goods onto a carriage, a woman carrying laundry on her head, and even shabby children laughing and running around.

"...."

As I looked around in disbelief, Shushruta smiled slightly and said.

"Why. Is it too ordinary?"

"The headquarters of the Thieves' Guild, which moves so secretly, is such an ordinary village? Would you believe it if you were me?"

Suddenly, Shushruta stopped walking and looked at me.

"Ashuban."

"What, you brat."

"Do you know where the most secret place is?"

"Where."

Shushruta slowly raised her hand and then...

"In the crowd."

She snapped her fingers.

Snap!

At that moment, the passersby who had been walking through the village all stopped and looked this way.

"...!"

Creepy.

I got goosebumps.

(End of Chapter)