"Shall we give it a try? We’ve been there before, so I don't think it’ll be too dangerous."
"Oh, no, it’s not that. It's just... do you think we look strong?"
Sherry directed her question to Roxanne. It seemed she hadn't been put off by how quickly Roxanne had jumped at the idea after all.
"It’s all right. As long as we’re with Master, there won’t be any problems."
"But there are only three of us."
"We’ll just have to kill them if they try anything."
They were having a rather unsettling conversation.
"That’s a bit grim, isn't it?"
"It is the 13th Floor, after all."
"Thieves are common on the 12th and 13th floors of the Labyrinth. Even so, it's not as if we can simply avoid them," Sherry explained when I asked.
It sounded like things were becoming quite perilous.
"Thieves, huh."
"Yes. Most people on the lower floors are beginners, so their equipment usually isn't worth much. But from the 12th Floor up, the monsters get stronger, so intermediate adventurers come after investing in better gear. That's when they become targets."
"I see. They wait for people to buy better gear to handle the monsters, then steal it."
Since even thieves work for profit, they only go after people who actually have money. Attacking low-level players might be easier, but it's a waste of time if they're broke. On the other hand, people on the highest floors have the best gear, but they're far more dangerous to pick a fight with. The 12th Floor was likely the sweet spot for their earnings.
"The 12th Floor still has many monsters from the floors below, so thieves who find those monsters insufficient—or those who want to blend in—often hang around the 13th or 14th Floors. They act like normal adventurers, hunting monsters while they scout for targets."
"If they’re strong enough to do that, they should just earn a living the honest way in the Labyrinth."
"Robbing people is just faster money."
"The world is a cold, hard place."
It was a bitter truth.
"Naturally, thieves don't just attack anyone. They observe their targets while pretending to fight monsters. Sometimes noble heirs or the children of wealthy men enter the Labyrinth to farm experience points while surrounded by powerful support members, so they have to be careful."
So they sized up the opposition. They were opportunistic predators.
Come to think of it, it was no different from the pirates in the Caribbean. Most of the time they were just merchant sailors, only turning into pirates when they spotted a vulnerable enemy ship. Even modern-day burglars in Japan were opportunistic. They avoided houses near streetlights because it was too easy to be seen, or houses at the end of a long, single path because there was no escape route. They looked for homes near intersections so they could secure an easy getaway.
It was exactly the sort of thing a thief would consider.
"Is that why you were asking if we look strong?"
"If we look like a threat, they'll leave us alone."
That made sense. However, the real complication for me was that my Appraisal would reveal their Job as Thief the moment I saw them.