Chapter 96: The Falling Thief (2)

The moment Louis became a hostage, his mind raced with thoughts.

At first, he was bewildered.

Huh? I’m… actually being held hostage now?

Then came amazement.

Wow, I’ve done it all in life—becoming someone’s hostage!

Who ever expects to be taken hostage at some point in their lives? This unique experience elicited a hollow laugh from him despite himself.

What struck Louis next was fury.

Sheesh… How pathetic must I look for you to take me hostage like this?

True enough, appearances can be deceiving, but Louis didn’t appreciate being underestimated so blatantly.

This surge of anger led directly to what happened next: within fifteen short seconds, the kidnapper found themselves flat on the floor.

Pablo observed the hostage-taker lying on the ground like a log and asked, ”…He must be dead, right?”

“He’s not dead. No… wait, is he?” Louis had exerted slightly more force than necessary; after all, his face had made a loud cracking sound upon impact with the floor. Upon closer inspection, the man’s chest was rising and falling—signs of life.

Suddenly, something white poked its head out from beneath the unconscious figure.

“Huh?”

Louis carefully lifted it up.

Skreeee…

”…A hedgehog?”

The creature that emerged from the hostage-taker’s chest was a small hedgehog with pure white fur and green eyes. It flinched at Louis’s gaze before averting its eyes and trembling uncontrollably.

Look at this.

The creature had instinctively recognized Louis as the dominant presence upon making eye contact, judging by its immediate trembling.

A spirit beast, perhaps?

A mysterious figure falling from a roof and a spirit beast—it made for quite an intriguing combination.

Suddenly, Louis sensed energy rapidly approaching up the inn’s stairs.

It must be those chasing after the hostage-taker…

This commotion in the middle of the night was undoubtedly caused by that strange figure.

Should I ignore it? Or keep watch?

As he grappled with his decision, Louis’s instincts caught a whiff—literally. He felt like there might be some benefit to him in all this…

His deliberation was brief, and action followed swiftly.

Thud.

Louis kicked at the creature lying in the middle of the room. It rolled into a corner as he simultaneously activated two sacred scriptures:

Invisibility, Spatial Distortion.

With these powers, Louis completely hid the unconscious creature from view.

A few seconds later, a group of warriors burst into their chamber. Each one carried a sword at their side and radiated an air of roughness. They paid no heed to Louis’s party but instead scanned the ceiling with sharp eyes.

Taking a step back, Louis sent a message to Pablo.

“Find out what’s going on.”

Pablo stepped forward upon receiving this instruction.

“What… is going on here?” Pablo asked, his voice tinged with annoyance.

The representative of the guards replied, “Did a strange figure in black not appear here?”

Of course such a figure had appeared. Upon arrival, his head had been smashed open, leaving him unconscious on the floor.

But Pablo wasn’t observant enough to notice this detail. In fact, after two years of extreme deference training, he’d reached an entirely new level when it came to reading people’s intentions.

Pablo grasped why Louis might be hiding the hostage-taker and fabricated a story on the fly:

“Yes, something did come. The ceiling suddenly collapsed, and this dark thing fell from above. You can see how startled our men were, right?”

After all, deception requires perfect coordination between its perpetrators.

In this sense, Louis and the twins were a perfect match for Pablo.

“Ugh…”

“Haaah.”

“T-three seconds… I’m scared. What about those old men?”

No sooner had Pablo finished speaking than Louis and the twins burst into tears, their faces etched with fear.

The flustered guards slightly relaxed their guard and asked.

“That man… Where did he go?”

Pablo, his expression unchanged, continued his web of lies.

“He left in a hurry, saying he was busy… No wait, who will pay for the damaged ceiling if we let him go like that? Which organization do you represent? Should we bill the cost of the ceiling to your group?”

“Cough, umm…” The guard looked perplexed.

Noticing this, Pablo glanced back nervously.

“Well, since there are children here… Let’s discuss this outside.”

Pablo nodded after glancing at Louis and the twins, who were still sniffling.

”…Very well.”

As Pablo led his men away, Louis called out to him:

“Find out more details!”

Pablo gave a slight nod, barely perceptible.

Once everyone had left, Louis kept an eye out for any returning guards before standing up. He stuck his head out the door, peering around cautiously.

“They’re really gone, aren’t they?”

“That’s what it seems like,” Fin replied from where she was perched atop Louis’s head.

After completing her reconnaissance mission, Louis walked to one side of the room. There he unrolled the sacred scripture and began dragging over the strange creature he’d captured earlier.

“Let’s see… Who are you?” Louis stared at the motionless figure on the ground before swiftly removing its mask with a whoosh.

The face beneath was that of a woman—a revelation that caught him off guard.

“A female…?”

Initially, her deep voice had led him to believe she was a slender man. But the creature who’d fallen through the ceiling was undeniably a woman.

She appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. Her small face bore a faint tan and long eyelashes, along with delicate yet striking features. Despite blood streaming from her nose, which marred her otherwise quite pretty appearance, it wouldn’t have been far-fetched to call her attractive if not for that detail.

At the sight of her, Whitey covered his eyes with one paw as if appalled by what he saw.

Keeeo…

Hearing the soft cry of a squirrel, Fin remarked:

“It seems to be saying that you’re quite a sight…”

“Huh?” Louis turned slightly towards Fin, startled.

“You… understand what it was saying?”

“Of course!”

Louis found her response utterly absurd.

“What do you mean ‘of course’? Why is that obvious?”

“Well, every fairy learns one or two animal languages. You never know when they might come in handy!”

”…Really?”

“Yes indeed! I can’t understand all animals, but I’ve studied hard enough to interpret at least some rodent languages! My parents were proficient in bird and reptile tongues too!”

“That’s fascinating… What a useful skill.”

“Of course! This is the least I can do to welcome Louis-nim properly! Hehe.” Fin’s pride swelled with accomplishment for her first successful transaction in ages.

As Louis and Fin chattered away, Pablo returned.

“I’m back…” Pablo trailed off as he stepped inside the room.

His eyes locked onto the face of a strange figure lying unconscious in the middle of the room.

Instantly, his pupils dilated into blank circles.

For several long moments, he stood frozen just inside the door, unable to speak.

“Pablo?”

”…”

“Pablo?”

Louis frowned at Pablo’s lack of response despite being addressed directly.

“Pablo!”

”…Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, s-sorry about that!” Finally snapping out of it, Pablo began fidgeting nervously.

Throughout this exchange, his eyes remained fixed on the unconscious woman.

Louis ignored Pablo’s preoccupation and pressed him with another question. “So what happened next?”

“Pardon me? Wh-what do you mean?”

“Are you still out of it? I told you to find out more information!”

“Oh! Right.” Realizing at last what Louis wanted, Pablo began spilling everything he had learned.

“A warning letter featuring a night bat was delivered to Lord Samuel’s mansion.”

“Night bat?”

“He’s a thief who started making waves in the Autumn Continent about twenty years ago. He became infamous for sending letters illustrated with white bats before each burglary…”

To summarize Pablo’s explanation:

The notorious thief plaguing noble estates across the Autumn Continent.

The thief, who had never failed once after sending a challenge letter, had notified Lord Samuel of their intent.

The target was Jonwick’s last masterpiece—a priceless artifact crafted by the continent’s greatest artisan a century ago during autumn.

This treasure held dear to Lord Samuel was hidden away from prying eyes, considered his most closely guarded secret.

With today being the date specified in the challenge letter, the entire city had been on high alert. And sure enough, the Night Bat had tripped the security measures…

As Louis processed this information, his eyes sparkled with realization.

Wait… If we look at the situation as a whole, doesn’t that make her the Night Bat?

A single thought crossed his mind:

What if this woman, the Night Bat, had just finished pilfering Lord Samuel’s hidden treasures when she was caught?

Ah ha! That would explain it all.

Otherwise, Lord Samuel’s soldiers wouldn’t have been chasing after the Night Bat as if their lives depended on it.

The corners of Louis’s mouth naturally began to curl up.

“Heh-heh-heh.” Pablo shuddered at his sinister chuckle and took a step back from him before asking hesitantly, “Wh-what do you plan to do?”

“Well…” Louis grinned even more widely in response to Pablo’s question. His eyes sparkled mischievously as he said, “I need compensation for the mental trauma caused by that hostage situation—so we’re going to extort… I mean, obtain some ‘therapy fees’!”

Considering the dragon himself served as a hostage, surely this much is warranted? Don’t you think?

Pablo frowned deeply while observing Louis clenching his fists tightly. “Did you just say ‘extort’…?”

“Shhh! Let’s not quibble over details.”

“…”

“This is for my therapy—therapy! It’s a reasonable fee to heal my wounded heart!”

“But shouldn’t you get reimbursement from them?” Pablo stared at Louis as if he’d lost his mind.

Louis ignored him completely.

No wonder there was such a strong stench of money—I guess it rained down on us.

The thought of stuffing his rabbit wallet sent Louis into involuntary spasms of joy.

“Fin!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Search her immediately! Leave no stone unturned!”

“At once!”

Under Louis’s orders, Fin infiltrated the night bat’s lair like a thief in the night. Soon, every inch of her body quivered with movement. Moments later, Fin emerged with a puzzled expression.

“There’s nothing here…?”

“What?! Nothing?”

“Yes! It’s gone!”

“What is it? Did you hide it somewhere during the chaos?”

Louis wore a serious expression as he pondered this. His gaze eventually fell upon a white weasel trembling between the twins.

Quickly grabbing the weasel by its nape, Louis shook it vigorously and demanded:

“You little rascal… Tell us where you hid it! Where did you put it?!”

Skreeee! The weasel shook its head defiantly.

Fin interpreted for them: “It says it doesn’t know.”

“Hmph? Are you trying to uphold some kind of loyalty in all this mess?”

Keeek!

“It’ll die before it tells us anything,” Fin translated.

“Oh-ho, how long will that loyalty last?” Louis smirked mischievously before tossing the white weasel towards the twins. “Here you go, Twins.”

The twins eagerly pounced on their prey.

“A weasel!”

“Is it tasty? Can we eat it?”

“Does it taste good?”

“I want it grilled!”

“I want it fried!”

The twins approached slowly, salivating at the sight of the white-legged weasel causing a commotion with their presence.

Skreeee! The struggling creature let out pitiful cries that echoed sadly.

Observing this scene, Fin cautiously asked Louis, “What do you plan to do, sir?”

“What can I do?! If she wakes up, we have to face her!”

“But will she willingly pay for treatment?”

“Heh-heh, Fin.”

“Yes?”

“We’re not here to ask politely; we must take what’s owed by force.”

Pablo muttered softly upon hearing those words:

“See there? Didn’t he just say ‘take’ earlier?!”

Naturally, Louis ignored Pablo’s grumbling once again and instead flashed a bright smile at Fin.

“Don’t worry too much. I always have my ways.”

Louis’s eyes lit up brightly.

Pablo watched as Louis became absorbed in his own world again before turning back to Fin.

“So Pablo…”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what ‘kang’ means?”

“I’m not sure…”

How would Pablo know? He just assumed there was some scheme brewing within Louis’s mind.

He felt sorry for the unconscious Night Bat lying on the ground. It seemed like fate had conspired against her: choosing a collapsed roof as her escape route; falling right where Louis and his companions were standing; even being taken hostage by Louis himself—it all pointed towards destiny playing cruel tricks.

Though it might be a lifetime curse she never wished to encounter again…

Not only unlucky but incredibly so.

As he gazed at the still-unconscious woman, Pablo’s eyes filled with deep sorrow.