Pascoe Rush and Relamy Northland kept their ears pricked as they ate.
In places like this, one could hear the unvarnished voices of the common people, which proved useful in more ways than one—provided the listener was looking for it.
And these two were very much looking.
"...das Company seems to be doing quite well for itself."
"Yeah, I heard that too. Word is they're looking for help. I think I’ll go see if they’ll hire me tomorrow."
"Ah, don’t bother with that. Most of them have been out since yesterday handling procurement and such. If you're going to go, wait until at least the day after tomorrow."
"Tch, is that so?"
It was a diner they had chosen at random, but Pascoe was satisfied; they had overheard more useful information than expected. Besides, the sandwiches they served weren't half bad.
"Thank you very much!"
The two paid their bill and left the diner, conferring in low voices once they were outside.
"That '...das Company' they mentioned—that would be the Meldas Company, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"...Hmm. If the fact that their employees are out is common knowledge among the residents, there's a high probability the thieves know it as well."
"Yes."
Of course, there was no guarantee the thieves would target that specific location. Furthermore, the likelihood of them striking tonight was even lower.
Even so, Pascoe believed that as long as the possibility wasn't zero, no precaution was a waste of time.
"Let's focus our rounds on the area around the Meldas Company tonight."
"Yes, sir!"
The night deepened, and soon it was midnight, the hour the date changed.
The lights in front of the shops had all been extinguished, leaving only a few dim nightlights. It was the hour when darkness reigned.
The moon, Uni, hung high in the southern sky. Its light was faint, yet it was enough to cast weak shadows upon the ground.
"...The date has changed, I suppose."
"It seems so."
Pascoe and Relamy were walking along West Central Street, where the Meldas Company was located.
"I hope nothing happens tonight."
"You mean tonight as well, right?"
"Hm? Ah, quite right."
The two continued their patrol, speaking in hushed tones, until Pascoe suddenly stopped in his tracks and strained his ears.
"Captain?"
"...Shh. I hear something."
At his words, Relamy held her breath and listened.
Indeed, the sound of footsteps was audible from somewhere. And from above, at that.
"It sounds like they're moving along the rooftops," Pascoe whispered. Hearing this, Relamy looked up.
Because rainfall was sparse in this region, the houses were built with gentle roof slopes to make construction and maintenance easier.
However, that design choice had the unfortunate side effect of making it easy for people to walk across the roofs.
"For now, we'll wait and see."
Pascoe and Relamy ducked into the shadows where they could keep an eye on the back of the Meldas Company.
As they stared at the rooftops silhouetted against Uni’s light, two large shadows and one shadow about half that size appeared on the company's roof for a fleeting second before ducking out of sight.
"...Have they come?"
"Wha— r-r-really!? W-What should we do, Captain!?"
Pascoe felt a prickle of nerves at his prediction actually coming true, while Relamy was openly panicked.
"Don't lose your head. Stay calm."
Pascoe privately wished he had called for reinforcements, but it was too late for regrets now. They had to handle this themselves.
"Trying to capture all of them is a bad move. First, we aim to capture just one. If that proves impossible, we'll follow them back to their base."
"Y-Yes."
To be blunt, Relamy had been appointed vice-captain for her Healing magic and her administrative talent. She was not suited for combat or high-stakes physical confrontation.
Pascoe was well aware of this and knew he had to avoid any reckless moves, yet a certain amount of danger was unavoidable in their line of work.
It was something she should have been prepared for the moment she joined the Royal Capital Security Guard, but as her captain—and as a man—Pascoe didn't want to put Relamy in harm's way.
However, his duty to the security guard took precedence. While the conflict troubled him, his sense of duty ultimately won out. He resolved that if things turned dangerous, he would let Relamy escape and handle the situation alone.
After observing for about twenty minutes, the three shadows—two large and one small—reappeared on the roof and began racing back the way they had come.
"Alright, let's move."
"Yes!"
Pascoe and Relamy pursued the shadows from the street level.
However, navigating the roads was a far cry from running across the roofs. While the thieves could take diagonal shortcuts over the buildings, the guards had to navigate the grid of the streets. Within two minutes, Pascoe and Relamy had lost sight of them.
The fact that they couldn't use their Light magi-devices for fear of being spotted only made the pursuit more difficult.
"...Dammit..."
Pascoe muttered in frustration. Relamy looked equally dejected, clearly blaming herself for being slow.
"I'm sorry, Captain. Because I couldn't keep up..."
"No, don't worry about it. We wouldn't have caught them even if there were ten of us."
Though he comforted Relamy with those words, Pascoe kept his eyes narrowed, staring at the rooftops where the thieves had vanished.
(So these are the thieves currently plaguing the capital...)
Unbeknownst to Pascoe and Relamy, there was another observer following the bandit group.
(Two humans and... one unit, I see.)
It was Regulus 2, a male-type Quinta stationed in Alban, the capital of the Klein Kingdom. He was known by the alias Liber.
By erasing his presence with Invisible and maneuvering through the air with his force generator, there was no chance of him being detected.
(Though it is several... no, a dozen levels inferior to the Master's work, that golem is the key.)
Liber focused his gaze on the shadow that was roughly half the size of an adult man.
(A small-class golem, is it? Certainly, with that, infiltration would be trivial.)
It was a golem about 80 centimeters tall with a child-like build. It appeared to be the bandit group's trump card. It could slip through gaps an adult couldn't hope to fit through, and if its strength was even double that of a human, it was a formidable asset.
(Judging by how it runs across the roofs with almost no sound, its mobility is quite high. Its weight must be light as well.)
Liber continued his careful observation and analysis.
The two humans and the golem eventually reached the outskirts of town. The time was 1:00 AM.
The thieves looked up at the sky as if waiting for something. Right on cue, a shape appeared.
(A black hot air balloon...)
A jet-black hot air balloon descended to retrieve them.
(Unless someone was specifically looking for it, it would be nearly impossible to spot against the night sky. In that sense, they have quite the devil's luck.)
Under normal circumstances, only thieves or guards were out at this hour, and guards typically focused their attention on the ground.
The thieves had managed to slip away from Pascoe and Relamy without even realizing they had been spotted, but they couldn't shake Liber.
As the balloon hovered near the ground, the two men and the golem hopped into the basket.
There was only one other man inside the balloon. He greeted the others as they boarded.
"Good work. How did it go?"
"Perfectly, as usual."
One of the men held up a heavy-looking bag, presumably filled with gold coins.
"There's gotta be at least fifty gold coins in here."
They didn't target traceable valuables like jewelry or branded goods; they went strictly for cold, hard cash.
"That'll do. Alright, let's head home."
The black hot air balloon began to move, gliding slowly through the night sky before picking up speed.
The Quinta, Liber, followed after them, silent and unseen.