Across the river in a less rowdy restaurant, the young men who had run into the fleeing hoodlums were being served their food and drinks. They were not sitting at one of the balcony tables but had a clear view of what was happening across the river.

“Young Master should put on a heavier cloak. Spring in the capital is still not warm enough especially if you’re wanting to see the view,” commented the attendant while gently draping a fur lined cloak on his master’s shoulders.

The scene of the young women seemed quite sombre for a short while until another party approached the table, a shabbily dressed girl who was being held by the scruff of her neck and the tough looking man urging her forward. By the looks of it, the girl was tired of struggling, not that it would have done her any good against her capturer.

“Oh, Brother Corvis has brought along a guest for me?” asked Kamaria.

He let go of the girl and pushed her towards the table and she fell on her knees in front of them, but no one offered to help her up.

In fact, two of the three young women ignored her and continued drinking their water. The girl defiantly stood up and dusted herself off as if her ragged clothes were the cleanest in the world. There were a few injuries on her face from who knows where, but they looked a few days old.

“One of my men brought in this little brat after she tried selling this to one of our shop brokers,” he said while taking out something wrapped from one of the leather compartments on his belt.

He held the accessory with the cloth and let it hang down, allowing the spider lily ornament to swing back and forth while the tassel at the end also playfully moved along.

“Hmm, that does look like something I lost earlier.”

The girl still eyed this accessory that had brought her so much trouble. Usually, she considered herself very clever but never imagined such a small thing would get her caught.

Wasn’t it just some accessory?

Even if it was shorter than most belt ornaments and the pearls were small, but they were milky and luminous which would have fetched a nice price.

Lili stood up and accepted the accessory on Kamaria’s behalf and the girl made a look. The owner couldn’t take a few steps to get her own property?

“I don’t have to answer to you or anyone for that matter about something that I found on the street.”

“Do you believe that I won’t fix that little mouth of yours?” asked Raisa very calmly.

“Thank you Brother Corvis, I’ll deal with this. Let me know once any of you need anything else.”

“There’s something else, a note in the cloth from our Second Boss.”

Lili opened the cloth and found a little note. Kamaria eyed the note for a few seconds before making a face.

“Tell your Little Boss that I don’t read chicken scratches.”

“But Doc-”

“And if he appears in front me again, I’ll personally poison him,” she insisted.

The man awkwardly nodded at Kamaria and bowed slightly before he turned and left.

“What’s this even supposed to say? Now he follows you around like a stray puppy, maybe you should adopt him,” laughed Raisa after looking at the note.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Please don’t insult stray dogs,” said Kamaria with a smile.

The girl had noticed that no one tried to stop the man as he led her up the stairs. Everyone was minding their own business and ignoring her as if this was an everyday occurrence, but she had a feeling that she would not get very far if she tried to run.

She thought she knew the streets of the capital well enough, but she was not familiar with the people in front of her. Which district or group did they belong to?

The style of their clothes was casual and rather handsome with a touch of elegance shown through the few ornate embroidered patterns. Only now she noticed the chained headdress that was worn by who she assumed was the leader wore.

The headdress was made of delicate gold chains that had a few pearls scattered in between irregular beads seemingly made of semi-precious stones and gold. The central piece was a small but bright scarlet gem that hung like a delicate drop of blood on her forehead.

To anyone else this was a pretty little accessory, but if one really paid attention, the value of the materials was shocking. The girl had been too busy looking at the single easy to steal accessory that she did not properly study her chosen mark.

“You’re lucky one of the Crows got to you before you brought more issues on yourself.”

‘Is getting into conflict with the Crows already not enough of an issue?' thought the girl.

The Crows were one of the biggest and most powerful syndicates in the capital but even they seemed to respect this young woman. Although the group was considered a gang, they barely made the usual trouble but owned many gambling houses, brothels, and a few other types of businesses.

With their power, they kept many other groups under control. Their most important thing was making a profit that wouldn’t bring them much trouble.

The waiter started bringing food to the table and the girl’s eyes began shining at the fresh steaming buns and glistening duck. When Lili poured out the tea with it’s interesting wine like colour, it looked as if it would be especially tasty.

After all, even a cup of cheap sweetened tea was a treat for the girl, not mentioning any flower or fruit teas.

“What’s your name and how old are you?” asked Lili.

The little pickpocket looked at Kamaria but she was focused on her tea and Raisa was already happily chewing on a stuffed bun. The girl shook her head to get her thoughts in order.

How weak was she to get tempted by some food? She couldn’t let herself be bullied by people who looked as if they had never had a hard day in their entire lives. Why else walk around with such expensive accessories?

Just because they had slightly better clothes and groomed hair, they thought they could bully her.

“My name is No One and I’m fourteen.”

Kamaria smiled as she had reckoned that the little street urchin wouldn’t be willing to say much.

“And what was No One doing with my personal ornament?”

“Anyone who wears something that expensive in this part of the city is obviously donating to the needy,” said No One.

“Or someone who isn’t worried about getting robbed,” finally commented Raisa.

“That’s one of the basic things you learn when you live on the street, and you obviously haven’t fully learnt how to tell such people apart or the value and significance of what you’re stealing.”

Raisa studied the girl’s dirty and slightly injured face.

“You’re not part of any group, are you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have tried selling that pendant by yourself. Besides, before you were brought here you would’ve gotten a beating for getting your boss entangled with the Crows.”

No One suddenly looked at Raisa in a new light. Everything she had said was true and messing up one of the basic lessons was when people would find themselves in trouble.

Beggar children sometimes ended up working for people who were not friendly just so they could get a bit of food when their boss felt generous, but they would also get a few slaps when he wasn’t in the mood.

The girl prided herself in operating alone since being recruited brought more trouble than it was worth. She had seen a fair share of girls in her age group and younger boys getting sold to seedy brothels and rich people with perverted hobbies. It was the only way to end up if she wasn’t vigilant enough.

One had to be ruthless and cunning to survive such situations especially as a young girl who didn’t have much fighting ability.

There were beggar groups which didn’t steal and relied solely on soup kitchens, donated cash, and cash they received for running small errands, but things could still go wrong very quickly.

Anyone who could make such accurate observations about her had to be speaking from experience or close enough to someone who had experienced it.