‘’What do you mean?’’ Vivian asked with a light frown.

‘’You don’t have to tell me if you don't want to.’’

Vivian slowly rolled next to him and joined him in staring at the ceiling as she chewed her lip. After a quiet minute, she asked with a low voice, ‘’How did you know?’’

‘’You were together with Carl and Hayley when we were returning from the battle but disappeared after my argument with the guards,’’ Ethan said and turned his head to look at her. ‘’I checked with [Mana Sense] but you weren’t among the tier-3s in the group. Since everyone was gathered together, it wasn’t anything hard. After the shower, I checked again and there was an additional tier-3, whereas you were with the guys once again.’’

‘’That’s all? Yes, I have a skill for concealment. Does that make me the thief?’’

‘’Nah, but adding your relief after Malik’s proposition and your ambitious sneak peeks at the most ridiculous items, like my coffee table, makes you the biggest suspect,’’ he said before turning his head back to the ceiling with a smile. ‘’Yeah. I pay attention to detail.’’

‘’I never stole anything from you, nor did I plan for it,’’ she muttered faintly.

‘’I never said you did.’’

After a moment of silence, she grunted as she hid under the sheets and stayed like that for another minute before tossing the sheets and sitting up harshly. ‘’I don’t know! Okay? I like it. I like the thrill. I like the relief that comes afterward. I like the purpose it gives me. Other than hurting others in the process, I like everything about it!’’

Watching the frustrated tantrum of the naked beauty, Ethan chuckled. ‘’Yeah, I guessed as much.’’

‘’W-What you guessed?’’ she asked, baffled.

‘’It’s called kleptomania. A mental health disorder. Being unable to resist urges to steal items that often you don't even need.’’

‘’A mental health disorder,’’ she repeated, knitting her brows. ‘’Like, I am sick?’’

‘’I don’t know. Sorta? Honestly, I’m not an expert on this. Talking with me would likely misguide you, but there might be people on Mirasatra who can help you with that. Would you like that?’’ Ethan asked with an uncertain expression. There were more than a few psychologists in our original group, but I didn’t see any in the free cities. There has to be at least one in Mirasatra, right?

‘’I…I don’t want to give this up,’’ she said, biting her lip. ‘’I really like it. I don’t know what would I do without it.’’

‘’I heard that even the cook’s ladle was missing,’’ he said and watched her open her mouth only to close it again. ‘’You need help, Vivian.’’

She once again lay next to him and pulled her knees up as she curled. ‘’How could they even help? I don’t want to change myself and become someone else.’’

‘’The people I mentioned are experienced professionals. They would just talk to you and try to figure out where this impulse is coming from. No one can do anything to you without your consent, but I think you should at least talk with them once and listen to what they say about it.’’

‘’If it’s just talking, then maybe I will,’’ she said, looking up to match his eyes. ‘’But I’m not giving back the things I took. I think I… feel safe with them, you know?’’

‘’Yeah. The ladles do that,’’ he commented before getting a punch on his kidney. ‘’Ouch!’’

‘’Be serious,’’ she said, suppressing her smile.

Ethan shifted himself to lie on his side, supporting his head with his hand. ‘’Honestly? I started stealing as a kid. It was kind of a necessity to survive, but that changed as I grew older and at some point, I had everything I needed. So, I can understand the thrill you mentioned and maybe even the feeling of being safe, but I have no idea what it's like to not be able to control myself. I think that’d bother me more than anything else.’’

Vivian stayed silent, deep in thought.

‘’On a moral level, I think there is something many people gloss over. They associate stealing with some items taken away from them physically. Is that really it?’’ he asked, eyes sharp as blades. ‘’What about the powerful families who hoard rare skills? Isn’t that market manipulation also stealing from the commoners? Then, they monopolize the inheritance sites and even some testing grounds that were set up by the ascendants for the people of Elisium. Isn’t that stealing our rights? Thanks to these edges they’d gained and their foresighted ancestors, almost all of the rare resources, such as elixirs, also end up in their hands. I think that’s a bit different from stealing a ladle. That is stealing longevity. Stealing life.’’

Vivian shivered lightly, causing him to pause. ‘’Continue,’’ she said and added softly, ‘’please.’’

Ethan sat up and leaned forward to grab the sheets before covering her gently. ‘’People of this caravan probably hate you because you’re taking what’s theirs, they are taking it personally. Yet, they turn blind eye to the ones who were robbing them ever since they’ve born. Since they never had, the absence of it doesn’t bother them either. I think it’s sad, and I think if I were in your shoes, my first act would be to have control of my targets. I would’ve given these pitiful people a break and used my talents to go after the ones who deserve it. Of course, that’s a relative concept, but in my opinion, there are plenty of people in this world who deserve more than death, let alone getting robbed.’’

‘’Do you think I should do that?’’

‘’No. I believe there is no right or wrong in this, but still, that’s what I would’ve done. Your judgment is yours. Never let others decide for you, and that includes your involuntary urges as well.

Vivian gazed at him with a faint smile and moved forward, planting a kiss on the corner of his mouth. She then lay on top of him and placed her head on his chest. ‘’You’re a good man, Ethan.’’

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Ethan gave a mirthless chuckle as he embraced her. ‘’It’s the world that fucked up.’’

They both fell asleep soon after and woke up the next morning. As always, Ethan picked everything into his ring and cracked a smile when he noticed Vivian’s glances at his coffee table. Without saying anything, he got out of the tent and saw that the others had already started their breakfast.

‘’Morning!’’ Liam called, waving his hand. ‘’You were a bit late, so we picked up your meals as well.’’

‘’Thanks,’’ Ethan said as he joined them. At the back of the table, he saw that Beet was practicing with his [Spectral Division]. The phantom Beets were sparring against each other, and since neither of them was made of biological matter, they were both becoming ephemeral and solid according to the situation, causing a bizarre fight. ‘’Hey, buddy. You already ate?’’

Beet looked at him and nodded, focusing back on his phantoms.

‘’I was saying to others that this is the coolest skill I’ve ever seen,’’ Liam said, watching Beet with interest. ‘’The only problem is that I can differentiate the copies easily with [Mana Sense]. You should keep working hard, little one. If you can manage to fix that weakness at the higher ranks, this skill would become even more epic.’’

Beet turned to look at him and the death aspect mana started to gather around him with intensity before disappearing altogether and reappearing around Liam the next instant.

Liam stared at Beet, blinking. ‘’Yeah… or that.’’

Ethan didn’t miss the chance and sent their signal. He rolled his eyes toward Beet and gave a nod.

This time, the death mana gathered under the ground and a giant skeletal hand made an appearance with rumbles next to the table, giving a middle finger to Liam.

Everyone burst out laughing. Fraeya almost fell from the chair while Carl spat out the water he was drinking.

Liam turned to Ethan with a wry smile. ‘’How the hell is it that every skill of your mantis is better than ours? Not to mention they are all with death affinity. Isn’t that supposed to be rare?’’

‘’Naturally, it's good karma,’’ Ethan said with a smirk, putting his hand on Liam’s shoulder. ‘’Did I tell you about the heroic deeds of Saint Beet? No? Alright, let me start with the one where he saved the kids from a burning orphanage.’’

As Ethan entertained the others with his bullshit stories, Vivian also joined them, but she seemed a little dispirited.

In the end, Hayley couldn’t help herself but ask, ‘’Are you okay, Vi? You’re too quiet.’’

‘’Y-Yes, I’m fine,’’ she replied, forcing a smile. ‘’Just a little tired.’’

Knowing her dilemma, Ethan changed the subject to help her out. ‘’Right. What happened with the cores, Liam? Did you get them?’’

‘’No,’’ Liam replied with a troubled expression. ‘’It turned out it wasn’t Malik who gave the order.’’

‘’Joey?’’ Ethan probed, raising an eyebrow.

‘’Yeah. Apparently, he used Malik’s name and seized half of our cores.’’

‘’And? What did Malik say?’’

‘’That Joey wouldn’t do that to fill his own pockets and he’ll definitely use it to compensate for the families of the guards who died,’’ Liam explained, shifting his eyes. ‘’And that he’ll talk with Joey about using his name without his consent.’’

‘’I see.’’ Ethan stood up with an amused smile and started walking toward the center.

‘’It’s just 10 mana stones, Ethan,’’ Fraeya called from his back.

‘’And it’ll go to those families,’’ Liam added.

‘’It’s not about money,’’ he said as he walked, shaking his head. ‘’It never is.’’

The others looked at each other helplessly and started following him.

As he walked toward the area where guards ate, many people noticed the five following him from behind and tagged along as well, whispering to each other curiously. Ethan walked in a carefree manner and didn’t seem to notice that everyone was looking at him or the fact that no one was talking anymore.

Under the solemn gaze of the guards, he sat on the empty seat at Joey’s table and without saying anything, he took Joey’s plate in front of him before starting to eat leisurely. The more he ate the more Joey’s face got darker. Until he jumped to his feet and growled.

‘’You are not welcome at this table.’’

Ethan ignored him and resumed his casual eating.

Joey put his thumb on his sword’s hilt like the last time. ‘’I said, you are not welcome here, cunt.’’

Ethan gobbled the last piece and fetched a napkin from his ring before cleaning the corners of his mouth elegantly. He slowly rose from his seat and turned to face Joey. ‘’You really like that pose, huh? Very well. I’ll remove that thumb next time.’’

‘’The next time?’’ Joey said, sneering. ‘’I thought you came to–’’

Ethan activated [Overcharge] and swung his feet up with all his might just before [Blink]ing right in front of him. The moment he appeared was also the moment he crushed Joey’s nuts.

What followed was a low-pitched scream from Joey who was in the air, but it didn’t last long because his eyes rolled over as he passed out, dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Let alone the others who had gathered, even the guards were in shock. Only a few of them stood up quickly, unsheathing their weapons. Yet, Ethan ignored them along with his throbbing leg and bent over to pick up Joey’s spatial bag. He found the cores he was looking for inside, while Joey's own wealth was around 15 mana stones with everything he had.

He limped away toward the guard who lost his brother yesterday and dropped the cores next to him on the table before looking at the guy’s eyes. ‘’I am sorry for your loss. Please distribute these among the others,’’ he said and turned around, making his way toward his friends as he played with the spatial bag in his hand. ‘’As for the rest? I’m taking these as compensation for my granny.’’

As expected, Liam piped in from the crowd, trying hard to not laugh. ‘’Your granny?’’

‘’Yes. She’d passed away when a donkey kicked her in the field. May her soul rest in peace.’’

Liam bit his tongue, his expression turning weird. ‘’That’s…’’

‘’Reasonable?’’ Ethan offered.

Liam nodded readily. ‘’Very.’’

Ethan nodded as well and limped away without a word. His friends followed him once again while the guards looked at each other, not sure what to do. Until the one who was still sitting at the table shook his head. Then, two of them went to check on Joey while the others sat back quietly, eying each other anxiously.

The crowd also dispersed slowly albeit much more lively than the guards. Malik was nowhere to be seen, but the small incident didn’t disturb the caravan's plans. After their breakfast, everyone packed up hastily, and soon their journey resumed at full speed.

Though, they had to change their destination a bit since yesterday's battle had ruined the soil thoroughly. As there was no way they could pass through it, they went around it.

Or at least they tried.

A tremor shook the ground, much, much more intensely than yesterday.

‘’Oh, not again!’’ Vivian cried aloud.

Ethan [Blink]ed on top of the caravan and barely managed to keep his footing. He looked around in panic, but there was no dust cloud this time. Instead, he saw a crack appearing on yesterday’s battleground. The split on the ground widened at fast speed and it was stretching toward their caravan swiftly.

‘’Fuck,’’ he whispered.

Even before the crack had reached them, the ground beneath them collapsed at once and swallowed the caravan in whole, accompanied by many screams.