After what happened to Vinal’s blade, Olivin had the rest of the memoirs moved to a different location. It wasn’t worth taking the risk at the moment, especially considering all the preparations he had to make sure of for his birthday. Even though it was a few weeks away, Olivin liked to plan ahead in case of any unforeseen problems arising.

His mind kept wandering to whoever would pull such a heist? Perhaps it was high time he updated the security he kept. For a man of his power, that felt too akin to admitting weakness, however. Although he wouldn’t admit it, it was a welcome distraction from what usually plagued his mind during this month.

He brushed the surface of his ring with his thumb, thinking about his late wife. No, not today. He pulled his finger away from the ring. The lights passed Olivin by as he sat in the back of his luxurious vehicle, staring out of the windows and admiring the streets he had helped build. Arinal was his driver for today.

“I would think you wouldn’t be so adamant on driving, considering your condition,” he stated to his butler.

“I assure you, Sir, it’s just a slight throat problem.” Olivin believed him, though offering his own workers the chance at rest never hurt. Zavja would have been the one to offer, were she here. Olivin gave a slight nod of acknowledgement and put his back to his seat.

Not soon after, they had arrived. Having the king at one of your events was a prestigious honour, so of course Olivin had to make a grand entrance. He let Arinal open the door and let himself out to the cheers and camera flashes of the crowd. They paraded him and he waved as he made his way into the venue where the event would be held.

And as a king was want to do, he began to receive guests at the location, people thanking him for his presence, offering to have talks or make dealings all the while displays were held. Thankfully, Jiji had helped him to learn some social etiquette so that he wouldn’t be bumbling about like a child. She always did have a way of entering conversations easily.

Olivin grabbed some wine from a server offering it to him. Some of the local variety. The server pulled away after delivering the drink, not noticing the piece of his apron that hung onto an edge. Olivin watched as the man crashed into another server and their trays flew into the air. He instantly jumped into action and grabbed both plates out of the air.

He wasn’t precise enough to stop the drinks from spilling, but he did end up catching the glasses. He sighed in relief and looked around to notice the eyes of the attendees solely on him. His clothes were wet with wine as he stared across the room.

“Heh, Drinks on me.” The crowd erupted into laughter and snickers while a young waiter handed Olivin a towel to wipe himself off. A series of apologies followed which Olivin waved off. In the washroom, he flexed his hands a few times for effect. I can go faster than this. I know I can. So then why is it that no matter how fast I go, I cannot think faster? Jiji could, her control was impeccable.

Bah, those were thoughts for scholars, not someone like him. He cleaned up to the best of his ability and returned to the party with renewed vigour.

****

Olivin roamed the city streets, filled with laughing children and markets that were set up all across the main pathway. The old oracle had told him of a great destiny that he had to fulfill, one that he had taken up reluctantly. He had ended up in the city as a sort of temporary resting place. So here he was, with but his friend Zavja and Exinal, and a small device to his name. He moved through the markets happily, wondering about each and every single one of the products on sale.

Exinal haggled happily with the townsfolk for the fruits on sale. Olivin idly picked one up and started eating it. He tossed a coin to the vendor and walked to the curb to sit down for a second and enjoy the snack. Zavja would be trying to arrange contact with the king of the small city, so he had time to spare. A little girl walked up to Olivin with begging eyes. Olivin felt bad for the child, so he spared a few coins and put them in her hand. He looked on happily as the girl walked off with his coins… and his pouch… and his knife?

Olivin quickly touched his belt to find both things missing. “Blot my soul, that brat took them!” he tossed the fruit to the side of the road and started running after where he thought the girl had left. She looked behind herself and exclaimed in surprise before sprinting. Olivin had the stronger body obviously, no child would be able to keep up with him. But whenever he found leeway, she seemed to slip away. It was like playing a game of catch with oiled up hands.

He looked like an idiot to the crowd as he dashed through the crowd. Eyes from all over watched the display with interest. The girl ducked between some wooden fences into an alley. The hole itself was too small for Olivin so he opted to vault over instead. He leaped between a few wooden boxes as the girl scrambled underneath. She stopped at a wall and Olivin leaped down from his vantage point to corner her.

“Finally caught up to you, you annoying little thing.” She seemed somewhat offended by that.

“I ain’t little, just thin boned, you lanky freak!”

“Whatever you are, it’s slippery. Now hand over the things you stole like a good little gir-“

“I ain’t little!” she screamed again.

Olivin gave up trying to convince the girl and just snatched his belongings back. “Now, you’re coming with me to have a talk with the city guards. You need to be taught some manners for all this.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Olivin grabbed her by the hand. She tried pulling on it but was unsuccessful. He was about to exit the alley when he caught Zavja staring at him in anger. “Olivin, please drop the girl. This is embarrassing,” she said to him.

“But she’s a thief! I let her get away this time and who knows what trouble she could get herself stuck in with this behaviour,” he retorted. What he failed to notice was the sobbing noise coming from behind him. He looked over to see her hand red from his grip on her. Olivin let her go and Zavja took over, soothing and consoling her.

“It’ll all be alright, child. Can you tell me your name?” she asked in a calm voice. The kid spoke up after wiping her face.

“J-Jiji, that’s what they normally call me.” Zavja asked a few more questions after that, each one making Olivin feel a bit more guilty. She was barely even 3 years younger than him. The malnutrition and the clothing disguised that fact. After enough time, Zavja resolved to bring her along with them for the night, something Olivin didn’t try and argue against.

****

Olivin exited the celebration as it was coming to a close, citing some important business he had to deal with. Of course, what this business was in fact was a mystery to most all people. All except one very patient butler. Olivin jumped into the vehicle and said, “Now, Arinal, drive.”

And so, he did, the engine humming until he arrived at a small inconspicuous location. Olivin had made sure that the rest of his priceless relics were transported safely that night. He had arranged for a quiet transport of the objects, quiet enough that no one besides him, Arinal and some very outspoken workers of his would know.

The security was laxer than could be expected for something that was to be delivered for a king and Olivin made sure this fact was reiterated to his blustering friends. He left his own personal vehicle and bid Arinal a good night as he strode onto the street.

****

A loaded truck drove down a well-lit road in the middle of the night. Soon enough, it had company in the form of a few other cars that drove alongside it, making sure to guide this old machine to its destination. Then they broke its legs. The truck skirted to side of the long road, quite some distance away from the nearest bit of civilization. The cars covered it from all sides as soon as it stopped.

A man popped out of one of the vehicles, with a distinct snout visible from underneath his clothing. His other features were indistinguishable in the night. The truck driver opened the door to his truck and walked out, trying to make himself and his coworker look as unthreatening as possible.

“Search them,” their leader ordered as he trained his gun on the drivers. They looked terrified; a bit too terrified in fact. Their cries were almost comical. No one paid much attention to that fact, instead searching them as quickly as possible for the keys to the truck’s container. Once they were found, they stationed some guards on the workers while the majority of the group moved to the back of the vehicle itself.

The lock clicked and fell away from the door as one of the thieves dragged it upwards. What he was greeted by was a daunting Jonzuan man, cradling a sword so freakishly large it should have been impossible to utilize correctly. Olivin beamed a confident smile at the thieves, before taking a step forward and leaping towards them with all his might.

He crashed into the first man and tackled him to the ground. He held back his punches so as not to bruise them too harshly. The others just stared at him in horror from near the container entrance. Olivin took that opportunity to throw the unconscious body near his feet towards some of them, forcing them into the vehicle.

The leader of the group regained his composure quickly and shouted out, “Scatter!” Olivin resigned to taking out their vehicles first. He jumped past them, finding their cars before they could. He took Lawbringer off his own back and slashed downwards, utterly destroying any hope of escaping for them. He repeated the process again with the other cars until his enemies were trapped in the middle of a desert with only him to provide company.

Using his blade against living beings always disgusted Olivin, and especially against petty thieves. So, he sheathed the weapon and used his fists instead. It wasn’t difficult at all to take them out, considering his overwhelming strength as compared to the average person.

“Your acting needs some work, Rynk,” he said, tying up the remaining thieves.

“Aww, I thought I’d improved over the last time, boss.” Olivin had no idea why the man called him boss instead of the usual royal address, but he let him be on that matter.

“If your goal was to be the star of a theater performance, then sure, Rynk,” said Dolam. Olivin tuned their conversation out of his brain and slapped awake the leader of the group of misfits.

“Now, tell me where you hid Vinal’s blade, scum,” He ordered.

“W-what? Please, have mercy…” he begged, terrified. Olivin hated that.

“You’ve got a broken connecter in your head if you think you’ll be able to go free after this. I cannot promise you freedom, but I can promise you alleviation from a much harsher sentence. Now, tell me. Where. Is. My. Blade.”

The man writhed around in fear and said, “I swear on Hath herself; I don’t know. Please, It’s the truth.”

Olivin had no way to confirm the man’s statements out here in the open, so he opted to instead press further for a half hour before finally giving up. Either the battle had terrified him to his core or he was actually telling the truth on the matter.

“Who told you about this transport?” he asked the man. He expected the answer to be them overhearing the conversation that he had told Rynk and Dolam to spread all over every bar in the city, but was surprised to find that it was not the source of their information.

“This woman came up to us, said she had a tip on a job as long as she got a cut of the profits. Gave us this mapping of the route, pictures of the vehicle and everything. That’s all.” Olivin paused as the wheels in his brain turned.

A woman? How did she know? Then, did that mean? All these questions and more slammed into his psyche and stopped him from doing the most important thing, returning to where he had actually stored his priceless relics. He left Dolam and Rynk right there in the middle of the desert with some halfhearted instructions. The Wheels on the men were broken, so they wouldn’t be breaking out of those bonds anytime soon.

He took off faster than any vehicle on the road that night, the cool air chilling him to his core.

****

Olivin rang the bell over and over again, trying to get a hold of someone who would let him back into his own mansion. Failing in that, he decided to just jump the fence and break in himself. He dashed madly through the halls until he came upon the room where he had safely stored the other priceless artifacts. He pulled open the door with all his force, only to find what he feared most. Jiji’s handkerchief, an item she had entrusted to him before her untimely demise, was nowhere to be found in the confines of the room.

Olivin went down onto his knees and smashed a single fist onto the floor, cracking the tiles that covered it into pieces. Arinal arrived not long after, putting a hand on his King’s shoulder in reassurance.

“Check the cameras again, Arinal,” he whispered out.

“Yes, your majesty. I shall as quickly as I can.” It was probably unsightly to see a king in such a state, miserable and lying on the floor of his house. One might have thought Olivin mad, but it was just despair that he felt in the moment.