Through the bazaar’s packed crowd, Latla followed a cloaked man, the thief who just stole her wallet.

Being familiar with this place, she had known best not to carry valuables other than krestling in her wallet. Losing her wallet wouldn’t hurt as much as it normally would, but still would hurt, for there remained a good amount of krestling inside. Considering her financial situation, losing it would mean a considerable setback.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Latla thought. Back then, she had seen him coming and—decided to let him steal from her. I have to take this risk, even if it might not pay off.

***

Past – Caravan, four years before.

‘Now, another quick question!’ Barren, Latla’s temporary mentor, claimed-to-be former guild leader, an aged man who had struck a nerve, asked, ‘Of the four requirements needed to create a guild, which one is the most difficult to attain?’

‘Member,’ Latla answered.

‘Good answer, young Latla,’ his voice was loud and vigorous. ‘I can see that you’ve been raised as a merchant well—’ This again. Latla rolled her eyes— ‘and know that what’s most important is usually most difficult to attain! You’re a bright kid…’ He was doing this on purpose. She was sure of that, ‘but your answer is dead wrong!! Ba-ha-ha-ha-ha!’

That settled it. Latla promised herself that if she were to meet him again one day (and she wished this to happen), she would attack him. How exactly, she didn’t know yet, but she would. For sure.

‘I’ll give you a straight answer for this one, because it had given me a lot of troubles. Of the four requirements, the most difficult to attain is…’

***

Present – Khiva’s Bazaar.

Approval.

The troubles with Approval begin with the fact that the other three requirements: Place, Member, and Quest—were needed to attain it. And not just at face value. Place needed to be a location that was legally and rightfully owned, Member needed to show commitment by signing a binding contract of joining the guild, and Quest needed to be accomplished.

Latla had Quest, the wanted posters, but that alone meant nothing to gain Approval. She needed at least a successful bounty hunt. Only then would they truly be seen as Quest.

This was the reason why she had wanted to bounty hunt: she needed the achievement.

Now, there was a possibility that this thief she was following had his face drawn on a wanted poster. Was there certainty of this? No. But when this opportunity fell upon her, Latla felt the need to grab it, even at the risk of considerable financial setback from possibly losing her wallet.

This thief was good.

His skill at snatching was backed by experience; had his target been someone else, the victim would be clueless about the act. Additionally, he was cautious, evident from his wearing a cloak, hiding his figure and face. Lastly, the way he navigated through this sea of people was smooth, showing knowledge of his hunting environment.

Considering his expertise, he was without a doubt wanted. However…

The thief looked left and right, checking his surroundings before moving in on a target. Normally, this would be a giveaway for a thief, but in a crowded bazaar where people were looking left and right at stalls, he knew he could get away with it.

Seeing this, she knew…

He might be good enough that he is not on a wanted poster, Latla thought, concerned.

Then, as if those two directions weren’t enough, he also looked back. Glanced over his shoulder and—spotted Latla.

They exchanged eye contact through the crowd.

A glance was all it took for him to know that she was indeed staring at him. A moment was all it took for him to understand that she had been following him. And a blink was all it took for him to dash into a run.

Latla immediately chased after him.

***

Trisha. Present – Café.

‘Did he sell herbs at the guild?’ asked she, angry.

‘I met him at the bazaar, not at the guild,’ Trisha explained, showing the bag of purchased items as proof. Trisha could understand Scarlet’s anger; every time she had shown up with Cirrus, it was usually because he had brought her trouble. ‘No, he did not sell herbs.’

‘Did Latla toss Cirrus away?’

‘She said she was very tempted to. But, as far as I know, she didn’t.’

‘Did she?’ Scarlet asked Cirrus.

‘She didn’t!’

Hearing that her brother hadn’t done anything wrong nor been treated badly, her anger subsided. Finally, ready to listen, she asked, ‘What happened then?’

***

At a table, over a cup of coffee that Scarlet had brewed, as Cirrus was reunited and playing with Noir, Trisha explained what had happened in the bazaar. What had led her there, how crowded it was, when she lost her wallet, and why she had joined the pair and gone into this café.

‘You had a tough day,’ Scarlet remarked.

‘Yes.’ Trisha sighed.

‘If you need help, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll be glad to.’

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

‘Nothing to worry about. I’ll figure things out. Hopefully.’

She inspected the café, noticed the expensive furniture and the shiny paneled floor. A luxurious place located in a slum area was—odd to her. ‘I’m glad that you’ve finally gotten a job, Scarlet. But tell me what it is that you do here?’

‘I work as a guild receptionist.’

Guild receptionist? Trisha questioned. Then, trying to make sense of this, she remembered Latla. Not accepted into a guild, she decided to create her own, I see.

Trisha was a guild receptionist herself; she knew that this job wasn’t easy. ‘Are you being paid properly?’

‘Yes.’

‘How much?’

‘500 krestling a month.’

‘500?! That’s minimum wage!’

‘Yes. Isn’t that great?’

‘No, it isn’t!’ Trisha said, voice raised. Minimum wage was, after all, the lowest standard. ‘You should ask for more. It’s only right.’

‘I don’t mind though.’

Trisha hated this. Guilds not taking good care of their members. As if implying that they can always be replaced. ‘If you’re getting minimum wage for this job position, that means you’re being treated poorly!’

Trisha was getting worked up; she knew that. Because although she was talking to Scarlet, she was seeing the guild leader, remembering her confrontation with him. ‘Members can always be replaced,’ his words echoed in her mind. She imagined that Latla was the same. I won’t let that happen to Scarlet. I’ll—

‘Sis isn’t being treated poorly,’ Cirrus joined the conversation, black cat on his head. ‘I checked!’

‘… And what exactly did you check?’

‘Sis was treated nicely! She was told that she can rest whenever she needs if she isn’t feeling well.’

What he said showed that Latla was informed about Scarlet’s weak constitution and that she cared. Trisha shook her head, refusing to accept. ‘That’s not enough.’

‘She keeps buying us dinner so far! And today she bought me and sis clothes!’ Cirrus rummaged through the bag of purchased items, pulling out a few clothes.

‘They look cheap,’ Trisha remarked.

‘They are! Latla is really good at haggling!’

‘That’s not what I meant…’

‘There were no clothes for cats, but she got Noir a tiny hat!’ He put the small accessory on Noir’s head.

‘Meow…’ The cat patted his head with her paw, protesting.

‘What? You hate it? But it looks good!’

‘Meow.’

‘Mm… we’ll find other use for it I guess…’

No matter how Trisha saw it, this was bribery: Latla trying to buy their loyalty, while still in a position of power where she could replace them whenever she wanted to. Trisha wanted to voice this out, but she couldn’t. Not after seeing the smiles on the faces from receiving the clothes.

Sure, the clothes were cheap, but to Scarlet and Cirrus who had worn patched clothes for a long time, new whole clothes were a luxury. It was a gift picked with consideration for the receiver.

… This isn’t bribery, Trisha thought, this is her treating her members properly.

Trisha closed her eyes. Her hand reached into her pocket, grasping the black ring which she had attained from the bazaar.

Can you go back—to being who you used to be?

‘Trisha, are you alright?’ Scarlet asked, concerned.

‘I’m alright.’ Trisha wiped the tears that had welled in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry about what I said. I was being emotional.’

‘If it makes you feel better, you can talk about it.’

‘Thank you, Scarlet, but no. What will make me feel better—is a distraction.’ She wanted to see where this soon-to-be guild would go. ‘What are you working on right now? Let me help.’

***

Latla. Present – Khiva’s Bazaar.

Latla chased after the thief.

They maneuvered through this packed crowd without missing a beat.

Having the same level of skill to grasp leeway to progress forward, neither could further nor close the distance between them.

In a normal chase, Latla, the chaser, would be at an advantage, for she needed not to decide a route and needed only to follow the thief from behind. However, in this moving crowd where the pathways were always shifting, she too had to search for her own route—while keeping track of the escaper. If anything, here, being the chaser was a disadvantage.

Currently, Latla was able to maintain the distance only because she ran faster than the thief did, overcoming her disadvantage with her physical ability.

This will boil down to luck, Latla thought. If the situation remained the same, either of them—given time—would stumble upon a good route, and that would be the decider. Should I take a risk and shoot him through this crowd?

She reached into her waist bag, feeling a ring—a mana storage tool. She could tap the mana within it, then utilize it to shoot a small fireball.

But for what? At best, she was only going to regain her wallet. At worst, she would repeat what happened at Shadow Wolf guild, but worse. Too much risk.

What then? She didn’t want to rely on luck. How could she change this situation? Should she—

That’s the fourth time now, Latla noted, and this one is too fast. The thief had been glancing over his shoulder periodically during the chase, keeping track of her. Gaining information was a good move, for he could make better decisions from it. However, this time around, the interval between shoulder glances was too fast. Not to mention, Latla could tell that she was closing the distance, could tell that…

He’s running out of stamina, she concluded.

Due to this, the situation had changed. It wasn’t her who needed to change the situation—it was him.

The thief began bumping and pushing people around, causing them to fall on the ground, obstructing her path.

In the face of obstacles, Latla—kept the same speed. She kept her calm, retained her quick wits, and hopped over the people on the ground, then found new leeway without losing any time. His creating obstacles had only served to slow himself down.

Panic move won’t help you.

She was closing the distance.

Noticing this, he shifted course and started running through stalls, toppling down items to create obstacles. This surprised the crowd, causing them to move differently, progressing the difficulty to find leeway.

At the cost of taking more attention to himself and possibly gaining more chasers, he was slowing her—

Bwoosh!

A pillar of fire rose toward the sky.

Latla had overtapped her ring, using all the mana to create that flame pillar. This brought attention to her, dispersed the nearby crowd, and when she dashed forward people—scared of getting burnt—made way for her.

This had turned into a normal chase. With Latla having better physical abilities and with the thief being low on stamina.

Immediately, she closed the distance by a gap, until he was within her reach.

Latla stretched an arm, grabbed his cloak. To which, refusing to give up, the thief surrendered his cloak to her. Like a lizard detaching its tail to escape. Without the clothing, she could get a better view of his figure: a young man in his twenties. How early had he been thieving to be this experienced?

One more time.

As he was stumbling, losing his balance, he touched the ground. All while glancing over his shoulder toward Latla.

Near them was a wooden shelf, two men tall, used by a complex stall to showcase an array of sharp weapons. The ground beneath it had risen, the thief had casted earth magic, toppling the shelf.

Latla could continue running; she knew that at her pace, she wouldn’t be crushed under it. However, dodging would mean letting the shelf fall—onto a passing old man, a random merchant who happened to be there at the wrong place at the wrong time, whose bones would be too old to withstand the impact from the falling shelf; not to mention, the sharp weapons inside it.

Screams erupted as the showcase was falling. The crowd wasn’t going to help the old man.

Curses!

Latla stopped her run, then broke the shelf’s fall with all her strength, and deflected the falling weapons by swiping them away with the thief’s cloak.

No one else was harmed. However, until the old man stepped away, she had to remained where she was to support the shelf from falling.

The thief, realizing what he had done, had stopped his run. Latla had a good look of his face: black hair, black eyes, square face, and ordinary nose and lips. His appearance was the perfect description of the word “average”. Not only had he hidden himself under a cloak before, but he had also taken the effort to disguise his look to appear average and to have no distinguishable characteristics.

If there was anything about him that struck her, it was that guilt ridden expression of his.

That enraged Latla.

If he wasn’t ready to face the consequences of his action, then why even do it?

Blood trickling down her forehead and into her eye, she glared at him. Scared, he turned, showed his back, and disappeared into the crowd.

Latla promised herself that when she will meet him again, she would punch him. Without any restraint.