Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 799: Fate Aligns It All

Late would’ve been an understatement of just how deep into the night Raven had left the inn. The streets were quiet, and the daily workers were sweeping the roads and the footpaths. Already, the city seemed clean, and the number of dustbins by the roads was sort of a peculiar sight for Raven. Such a simple thing, and yet it helped keep the city posh and made him wonder if he should implement the same idea in the cities over which they rule.

Deep in thought, he walked through the silent streets, making his way back to the adventurer’s guild. Keeping his head low despite the shapeshifter’s mask already being on, he tried not to stick out to anyone wandering late in the dark. Pretending to be just another adventurer–a local man who just happened to be enough of a recluse to not be seen by anyone before–was quite the tough job, especially since by pure instinct, the Raven’s body reacted faster than most people could blink their eyes.𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

First, holding back against the guild’s battle prowess judge and then spending all day collecting and distributing herbs instead of simply using his senses and the monsters within to get them for him at once. It was more tiring than fighting any horror, this pretence. Which in turn reminded him of something Amedith had said during the trial of the demon servants.

’He was right. Pretence is more exhausting than fighting any monster.’ The ever-conscious decision and the constant reminder to hold back drew so much of his mental strength that long before the day would end, all he wanted to do was lie down and relax.

Adulthood–it was finally catching up to the hero. The weight of his responsibilities was immense, and although his body was more fit than ever, the more stress he took on over the years, the worse things would be for him later on. But alas, with a promise to end this journey in a few years, he only had to drag himself for a little while longer compared to what he’d been through.

"AGHhH!" Suddenly, as a woman ran into Raven, his body remained standing still as steel, but his adventurer’s badge slipped out of his fingers. And as he turned his head to his right, he found the woman lying on the ground and caressing her back from the fall. "S-sorry..."

He tried to offer her a hand, but the woman got up on her own and kept looking back into the alley from which she’d run out. Dusting her clothes with her hands, she quickly squatted and, without looking, picked up what she assumed to be her dropped coin. At the same time, Raven couldn’t help but stare in the same direction as her.

A pair of elusive men using the shadow hide ability were charging in their direction. The glint of their weapons was clear to him, but not knowing what was happening, Raven didn’t want to intervene.

’Don’t stand out...’ Clicking his tongue in frustration, he looked down again. But this time, the woman was gone and coincidentally so was his dropped guild badge. In its place was a strange coin with a skull facing up.

"What the–" Grabbing the coin by getting down, he felt those men breezing past them. "God fucking damn it, she took the badge."

With an exasperated sigh, he quickly turned around and charged like the wind. Leaving a trail of dust behind him, Raven blinded those chasing men for a moment and kept going forward. After a few twists and turns, he eventually noticed the woman slipping into another packed alley. Wasting no time, he used heightened senses and appeared right in front of her.

"Stop!" Placing a hand on her collar, he stopped her in her tracks.

"WHAT?!" Shocked by the sudden appearance, the woman screamed and, without a second thought, tried to stab Raven in the heart with her dagger. Catching her hand mid-trajectory, however, the hero shook her for a spell before making her look into his eyes. "Y-you? How did you get here so quickly?"

"You dropped this and took my guild badge instead. I need it back." Holding the coin in front of her, Raven demanded his badge back.

The sound of the assassins drew nearer as the two stayed still, but with her coin in front of her and an alleged adventurer as well, Garcia–the elf–reached into her pocket and took out both the badge and a handful of gold coins.

"Help me get rid of those guys chasing me, and I’ll pay you well!"

"I don’t need your gold; I just need my badge."

"O-okay, but please! You’re an adventurer, right? Help me!" Right as those words left her mouth, one of the assassins appeared behind the woman with his hand raised high. Catching a glimpse of his weapon, Raven heaved a sigh.

"I’m going to regret this." Pushing Garcia aside, Raven balled up his fist and, with razor-sharp reflexes, hit the man in the jaw. "I don’t want to hear Amedith complain if I don’t save you."

"A-Amedith?" As the man was sent flying back, Garcia whispered that name back to herself. She’d heard it somewhere. It felt familiar, but where exactly, she couldn’t remember all that well.

’Whoever that is, I need to thank him later.’ In the time that it took to try to remember who that name belonged to, Raven was done with the assassins and the pile of their unconscious bodies was lying in front of him.

Staring at him in utter disbelief, the elf stood frozen in place, not sure whether she was still conscious or dreaming.

"The badge..." Turning around, Raven returned the woman’s gaze. "Give it to me and I’ll give this creepy coin of yours back."

His words made her clench the badge harder. The badge was important to him as was her life to her, but if they went their separate ways now, another round of assassins would come after her. And since gold had already failed to persuade him, Garcia forced herself to play a trick on her savior.

"Toss it to me and I’ll toss the badge back to you," she said, resting the badge over her thumb.

"Fine," getting ready to toss as well, Raven did the same.

With a look of acknowledgement, the two tossed both the coin and the badge. However, before the badge could reach Raven’s hand, Garcia’s magic chains brought it back to her, all the while the coin now lay pressed between her palms.

"What the hell are you doing!" The hero screamed, but unfortunately for him, the coin had landed on a blackjack.

"YES!" Squealed the elf, and with a smile, she looked up at Raven and said. "Just listen to me, okay? I know this looks bad, but I need your help, so help me, and I’m sure that I can also help you in some way."

Feeling safe for her coin had confirmed that she wouldn’t be killed, Garcia slowly drew Raven’s attention away from the swindling and brought it to her tale. Who she was and how she’d escaped the tower, and in return for his help, she could give him anything once her name was cleared as the murderer.

To the hero, of course, it all sounded bogus. But upon touching her and looking into her memory, the only thing he could say was...

"Fate aligns it all, I guess..." She was their key to the other side of the tower and perhaps even more if they played their cards right. Either way, as a servant of Fortuna, the least she could bring was what the party needed the most...an absurd amount of luck out of nowhere.