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Chapter 3 : The Thief

It had been six months since I left my dagger with Gerard, and we never met again. Several times I had hoped to cross paths on the street, but the universe had never been on my side. There's a lingering regret in my heart when I think of Gerard. Why did I leave my dagger with him, when I didn't know if he would actually take care of it or just throw it away.

Yes, I was hoping to bump into him on the street just to ask how my dagger was doing.

After making up my mind to join The Vigilante Union, I reduced my intensity in searching for my two younger siblings and also my father. My focus was now divided on training. It was never lost on me how Gerard had captured a tiger to use as a training tool for the troops, and I was lucky to know about it before enrolling so I could train harder.

It was like getting a grid before an exam. I just needed to focus on the part that would be tested. Of course, I also added going to the library as one of my daily routines in addition to running for 2 hours every morning. Plus I had to work for 8 hours a day at a bakery for no pay and get a place to stay in exchange.

It's exhausting living like this. But at least I have something to strive for, at least I know this exhaustion won't be in vain.

Tomorrow is the registration day to become a Vigilante Union trooper and this afternoon the bakery was crowded. I, who usually only worked on carrying ingredients from the warehouse to the kitchen, was forced to move to the front to help serve the customers. To be more precise, I helped the customers in choosing bread so that the shop wouldn't be filled with people who were confused between choosing plain wheat bread with crispy skin that hadn't been cut into pieces or the same bread that had been cut into pieces.

The later it got, the more crowded it became. My anxiety became real. Whenever the store was crowded, I was always wary of mischievous hands taking advantage of the situation. My keen eyesight caught someone taking an uncut slice of warm wheat bread and stuffing it under his oversized jacket. I wasn't sure if it was a man or a woman because almost all of his hair was covered by a large beret.

My eyes were alertly watching his movements, as well as the man's, only he didn't notice my presence. He slowly moved towards the door, as did I who was trying to make my way through the people. When I heard the bell above the door that would ring when someone opened the door, I knew I wasn't fast enough.

Once I made it out of the store, I was lucky to see the man running and he turned to me.

"Stop, you bread thief!", I shouted, attracting the attention of people, including my boss who was overwhelmed inside the store.

Noticing the thief speeding up his run, I immediately chased after him, ignoring the shouted call from my boss.

The thief ran restlessly, occasionally looking back to check if I was still chasing him. It was his misfortune today to have to meet and be caught off guard by me who never knew the meaning of giving up. Thanks to my daily training, I didn't feel exhausted at all while chasing after him, unlike him who seemed to be out of breath.

He took a sudden turn when there was a small river in front of us that irrigated the garden. The sudden change in direction almost sent me plunging because I braked too late. I managed to save myself but not with my clothes dirty with mud. Because it was already too late, I had a stronger desire to chase him until I got him.

We were still running, attracting the attention of people who might think we were playing. My breath started to catch because I was the one running while continuing to yell for him, the situation was somewhat different from my routine training. I looked a few tens of meters ahead, the thief also seemed to be exhausted, judging by his slowing pace and how often he turned his head towards me.

I saw that as an opportunity. Especially when we came to a rocky road with lots of gravel, even though it was difficult, I considered it an advantage for me. I quickly picked up some pebbles and threw them at him, hoping he would slow down even more.

Sure enough, knowing I was constantly throwing pebbles at him, he didn't focus on his pace until his foot accidentally stepped on a large rock and then failed to maintain his balance and fell over. I stopped in my tracks, a little surprised and pitying at the sight of him in pain while clutching his leg.

"Are you okay?", I asked guiltily as I stepped closer.

He unceremoniously threw a pebble at me, then stood up and continued his run. Damn. I missed my chance.

The thief kept running and looked back. As he looked back, a herd of cows ran across the road and nearly killed him by being run over and trampled by a dozen cows. He immediately braked by throwing himself to the ground and looking at the opportunity I jumped up and crushed him.

The first thing I did was take off his hat. I should at least know the face of the thief who had added to my training time today. I was stunned when I threw off the thief's hat and revealed his face.

In my mind I would have caught an unkempt vagrant with no place to stay and food to eat. But this thief was so clean. His face was too clean and well-groomed for a thief. Or have thieves evolved and started paying attention to their looks?

Before I could say a word, his free hand threw a handful of dirt at my face and managed to blind me for a moment. Flakes of dry red soil entered my eyes and it really stung. Just closing my eyes stung and the sting only intensified when I opened my eyes.

My defenses were down. I could feel himself letting go and I heard the sound of his footsteps running away.

"Damn thief! At least give me some water to rinse my eyes!", I shouted in frustration.

It took a while for me to see again, thanks to the cowherd who came over and doused my face with the water he brought. But this was no time to be happy, because I had an angry boss waiting for me at the store and a long walk back there with my clothes as dirty as a pig from a mud puddle and my face just as dirty.

My prediction was correct. When I arrived at the store, there weren't many people around and my boss vented all his emotions on me, blaming me for chasing after the thief, and bragging about his kindness to me. Even though when compared carefully, his kindness didn't outweigh my kindness to him.

The climax was when he brought up my family and called it bad luck because of me. If he insulted me, I could still endure it. But not if he mentioned my family.

Without hesitation, I took a long piece of bread from her basket as if pulling a sword from its sheath. With casual steps, I approached him. I deliberately gave him a sharp and serious look. I could even see his frightened face as I split the bread in my hand in half and forced a large piece into his mouth.

"Your bread is so good that I'm so sick of even just smelling it!", I snapped with emphasis and left.

Before passing through the exit, I picked up a basket of sandwiches and turned around, "I'll take this as my payment for all these days. Thank you for your kindness in letting me work without pay." , I said and walked away.

As I passed through the door, a few people had already gathered to see what was going on but they moved away slightly when they saw me come out. My angry gaze still remained as I stared at them. Well, although it's not a good impression, I don't have to worry because I won't even step foot here again.

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