Chapter 94: Certified, part 2
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
Upon hearing the news, Lyla decided to accompany me on the trip.
「Nothing can go wrong now, can it?」, she chuckled.
She had attached a string to her wallet, which she would keep close to her chest at all times. Made to look like a cat’s face, it’s the one I had bought her as a replacement. It looked similar to the original.
「Now it won’t fall out by chance, and nobody will whisk it away either. Don’t you think it’s a good idea…?」
「I do indeed. I know that you’re taking great care not to lose the things I give you.」
「N-no, it’s not like that. Money doesn’t grow on trees, so I don’t want to lose it via entirely avoidable means. Don’t be so full of yourself!」, she retorted, looking the other way.
Even among the many types of beings in the royal capital, Lyla stands out due to her beauty. There’s also a certain refined feel about her, probably due to her royal upbringing. It might be inevitable that she looks loaded with cash.
「Just keep your wits about you at all times. I’ll go get the paperwork for the licensing examination done.」
「Okay, I’ll go for a spin around the marketplace then.」
After agreeing on a rendezvous point, we parted ways.
Returning to guild headquarters, the same place where the examiners’ symposium had been held, I found something like a public office. I received a form from the receptionist which I filled up with the purpose of my visit and returned.
「Thank you for waiting. We have confirmed your participation. The examination will be conducted in two parts — one is a pen-and-paper test, while the other will require you to forage for a specific plant. The maximum score for each component is a hundred marks, of which eighty are required in order to pass. Please note that failing either component will be considered an overall failure.」
It’s pretty much what Morley had told me. The practical component was probably designed to weed out candidates who had done nothing other than cram information into their heads. Given that Senpai Morley’s a former C-rank adventurer, he had definitely scored well.
After that, the employee informed me of the time and date of the examination, which happened to be the following day. I’ll be free till then, I suppose.
…I hadn’t expected it to end this early. It’s only a little past noon. Even if I go to our meeting point now, it’ll be quite a bit of time before Lyla is done shopping. As I cut across the bustling marketplace, I heard a familiar voice screaming.
Speak of the devil.
「Waaaaaaait! Don’t run!!」, exclaimed Lyla, darting through the crowd with a fierce look on her face.
「…What’s she doing?」
Training my eyes to the spot she was looking at, I caught a hooded child nimbly threading the crowd holding none other than Lyla’s cat-shaped wallet.
「My wallet! That’s my wallet! My most important possession –! Roland himself bought it for me!」
She looked like she was about to cry.
…In spite of all the precautions, huh?
I noticed that the string attached to her wallet had snapped. Seeing the distressed Lyla, a passer-by tried to help her by catching the child. However, the thief simply moved out of his reach as if he had eyes at the back of his head.
Pretty nimble of him, I have to say. Rather than sensing his attacker’s presence, could he have detected the sound instead?
「Please, wait…! Wait… don’t run…」
Lyla would break down in tears any moment now.
I couldn’t help but appreciate the thief’s agility. He’ll make a good assassin, I thought.
「Let’s use a chain next time」, I sighed.
The child had turned a corner and disappeared. I chased after him. My target apparently heard my footsteps as I turned that same corner, for he turned around and looked at me.
「Wah, it’s a different guy now!」
「Return the wallet. I highly doubt it’s yours.」
「Shush, blockhead!」
Putting a little more effort into my actions, I circled around him and blocked his escape route.
「Uwaaaa!? How did you appear in front of me!?」
「Return it. I’ll give you a light walloping and we can carry on with our lives.」
「What are you gonna do, huh, boomer?」
Boomer…
I had expected him to run back the way he came from, but instead, he pushed off the wall for leverage and landed on the rooftop.
「Seeya!」
「Huh. Interesting.」
He’s not only quick on his feet, but can jump pretty high as well… he’s definitely not human, then. The momentum from his jump had thrown off his hood, revealing two animal ears on his head.
「A demi-human? No wonder.」
I quickly looked for footholds on the same wall. Finding a couple, I soon traced out a path to the roof with my eyes, then climbed all the way up in the blink of an eye.
「Eh!? Uwaaaaa! He came up too!?」
「Don’t think you can escape, kid.」
「And he’s also intimidating…!?」, he exclaimed, the colour draining from his face.
Panicking, he leaped onto another building. I, of course, followed him, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he gave in.
「Fine! Enough! I’ll return it!」
He dropped the wallet and fled. It was empty.
「…After emptying its contents, huh?」
In the time I took to realise that, the cutpurse was long gone. He must know his escape routes well, I figured. Probably does this for a living.
「Guess I’ll have to punish him.」
He can’t have gone far. Perhaps he hid himself nearby, or is still trying to put some distance between us…?
…Oh, there he is.
I had only caught a glimpse of his ears, but that was more than enough.
This isn’t something I use often, but I have no choice now. There’s no way I can catch up to that nimble child with this crowd in the way.
I started creating platforms mid-air. With my limited magicka, they’ll disappear in a fraction of a second, but it’s good enough for my purposes. Spawn and jump, spawn and jump — before I knew it, I was high up in the sky. Not being able to pause at any point during the manoeuvre made it a little tough, though.
The pickpocket was quickly negotiating the space under the eaves when he looked around out of curiosity. To his surprise, I was way up above.
「Uwaaaaaaaaa!? He’s flying…!?」
「Far from it. Granted, it looks like I’m flying. But actually, I suspended my magicka in the air for moments at a time, creating platforms and using them to climb to where I am now.」
「I have no idea what you’re on about!」
From his position above the ground, he continued to run, and I chased him from even higher up.
「Return the contents of the wallet, demi-human!」
「It’s not like there’s a fortune in there! I only found five thousand rin! Can’t I just have that…!?」
「It’s not good to steal others’ things, no matter the amount. Didn’t your mother teach you that?」
That last part had hit hard, for he stopped and glared at me momentarily before dashing off again. From his lack of hesitation, it was clear that he was familiar with all the nooks, crannies and alleyways of the capital. Before long, he hit a river that flowed out of the capital itself. Could he be ditching this place altogether –?
「Damn it! This is bad! What on earth is that guy!? He’s flying! That’s illegal!」
There was a boat moored to the riverbank, which the thief jumped into. Without wasting a second, he pushed off with an oar and paddled away. He seemed considerably familiar with this too, and quickly made it downstream after paddling for his life.
「Phew… hahaha! Seeya for real now, boomer!」
Feeling relieved that he had given me the slip at last, he laughed as he continued rowing.
Boomer, huh…
Suddenly, he stopped rowing and squinted back at where he thought he had left me.
Splish, splash. Splish, splash. Splish, splash…
「Hm? Am I hearing waves? On a river…?」
If I can make the scarce water vapour in the air coagulate easily, what do you think will happen if you allow me to reach the water? Exactly — if I can do it in the sky, I can do it on water as well.
「If I can run on thin air, what makes you think I can’t do the same on water?」
「Whaaaaat!? No, that’s not cool anymore! Somebody, help meeee!」
「No prey has ever escaped me.」
「Whaaaaaat!?」
Even though he was rowing with all his strength, I still outran the small boat easily. Not to mention that I was running more slowly than usual due to that aerial manoeuvre earlier. When I jumped onto his boat, the demi-human folded at last.
「Fine, you can have it! The five thousand rin! Just take it!」, he said.
He took a bill out of his chest pocket and handed it to me.
「That was quite a bit of work.」
「That’s my line! You chased me all the way here just for five thousand rin! What are you, boomer? This is absurd!」
Boomer? That’s the third time now…
「I’m a guild employee from the Lahati branch.」
「I’ve never seen a guild employee like you… what, do all guild employees fly these days?」
「Yeah, we can.」
「What the hell…?」
I give up, he said, collapsing onto the floor of the boat fully spent.
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