Chapter 110: Red Cloud (1/2)
”Stop right there, criminal scum!”
”He's a thief! Get him!”
”Somebody stop him!”
A commotion ensued at the wet market on the Southern Borough. The culprit, a thief clad in a peasant's clothes ran towards the direction of the Yang Bridge. He was so fast and so powerful that the burly seamen that tried blocking his way were sent tumbling backwards.
”What in the Goddess's green earth are you doing?! Don't run! You better compensate me and my wares!”
It was an understatement to say that the culprit was fast.
He was so swift that the seamen who wanted to have him compensate for the losses of the merchants whose wares he destroyed abruptly stopped on their tracks realizing that the man's speed didn't seem to be the speed of a human.
The only person pursuing the thief at this moment was Calvin.
Realizing that there was no member of the Cavaliers on the lookout in this area.
He pursued the thief in a leisurely pace that wasn't slow, but also couldn't be considered as fast.
If there was a third-party looking at him right now at this moment, they would think that Calvin was just window shopping through the wet market.
Although his eyes never left the back of that thief.
Crossing over the Yang Bridge and arriving at the Center Borough.
The elusive thief took a turn to a nearby dark alleyway and Calvin stopped his pursuit.
He abruptly stopped beside a beggar asking for alms and asked, ”Do you know any person that acts like a Robinhood these days?”
”Robinhood? What the fuck are you talking about?”
”If you're not going to give me any money, then scram!”
The beggar suddenly became infuriated and kicked Calvin away.
Calvin closely observed the beggar and found nothing strange on him.
But he didn't go away as per the beggar's instruction. Instead, he smiled at the beggar and asked in the politest tone that he could muster as much as possible, ”Why are you doing all of these?”
”Huh?” The beggar raised an eyebrow and looked quite irritated at Calvin's strange questioning. His white beard that looked dark and brownish due to years worth of soot accumulation from the smog that circulated around the city of Ashmelion made him look like a true beggar.
But Calvin begged to differ.
”The soot coming from the chimneys of Ashmelion has a distinct smell due to the unique attributes of the widely-popular wood that everyone uses here in their chimneys in the city of Ashmelion. It's tough being a beggar, not only you're constantly being exposed to the elements of this shithole, but you would also be quite malnourished...”
”Yet, you...”
”Your eyes look perfectly healthy to me...”
”I can't see any trace of jaundice. You're thin, but you are built quite strong. Your skin also doesn't have the dark shade that most residents of Ashmelion have— due to prolonged exposure to the elements and the sun...”
”Do you want to know what does these mean?”
”It means that you're a foreigner...”
”Who are you?”
”A foreigner couldn't possibly be in this city due to the city's strict rule regarding immigrants and if you managed to bypass that rule then it should be through the use of bribes.”
”But that doesn't make sense...”
”A person that could bribe the guards couldn't possibly be a beggar...”
Calvin now had a light smile on his face as she said.
”And being a beggar, you're awfully inconspicuous.”
”See that Yang Bridge right there? Count the number of beggars that you can see on the sidewalk.”
”You can't count them anymore, right? It's because there are too many of them. Those beggars are there for a reason. It's to increase their presence and visibility to the people passing by...”
”But you why are you standing near this dark alleyway? It is as if you don't want people to notice you...”
”Hehehe...” Calvin let out an evil chuckle, ”All of these clues make me think that you're not a beggar at all...”
”Am I right, our elusive thieving doppelganger?”
”You...” The old beggar abruptly froze.
The anger and irritation on his face were gone.
It was replaced by fear and uncertainty as he turned to look at Calvin and said, ”The merchants placed a contract on me?!” He exclaimed and then pushed Calvin backwards.
He then stood up and made a break for it to the nearby dark alleyway.
His movements didn't resemble an old man at all.
He was agile and fast, similar to the thief that Calvin pursued earlier.