Chapter 2329: The Impulsive Mercenary
“Honestly, I thought it was some earth-shattering technique, but it turns out to be just a smoke-and-mirrors trick. This method isn’t theft at all; it’s more like a magic show or a robbery. What a disappointment,” Jayad shook his head repeatedly after observing.
“Yeah, the process was too cumbersome, feeling like showing off. If I had done it, I would have stolen it in the first round. Why would I need such troublesome steps?” Giselle also chimed in. Only when it came to theft did she shed her usual taciturn personality.
For thieves like Jayad and Giselle, who hailed from the Slums, the perfect theft was to leave no one alerted, stealing the target item without a trace. Ideally, the owner wouldn’t even realize their item was gone.
Doing it so brazenly, like the thief in white, attracting so many eyes and completing the theft under everyone’s gaze, was no different from a robbery, and a highly risky one at that.
Because Jayad and Bailing Ding had both lived in the Slums, relying on theft was their hope for Survival. Therefore, their purpose for stealing was clear: they would never steal from someone who had guards if they could steal from someone without. They would always choose the safest method and avoid unnecessary risks.
Since their goal in stealing was merely to survive, they were extremely careful, trying not to risk their lives. Getting caught during a theft meant being beaten to death, and death meant losing everything. Thus, they avoided risks whenever possible.
This thief’s seemingly ostentatious actions didn’t align with the style of theft that Jayad and Giselle approved of. They had originally expected the item to be taken without anyone noticing, with the guards not even knowing when it was gone. To their surprise, such a commotion had been caused.
Furthermore, even the thief’s methods had Jayad and Giselle shaking their heads. The steps were too complicated, overly showy, with too many uncertain elements, and involved a considerable gamble. Although the thief likely had backup contingency plans, Jayad didn’t think highly of it, considering it an unnecessary complication.
“Wait a minute! What are you two talking about?!” A mercenary with sharp ears vaguely overheard Jayad and Giselle’s whispered conversation. Honestly, these two only talked so much when theft was involved.
“Ah, nothing, mercenary. I was just saying that it’s useless for you to investigate us here. With that thief’s skills and efficiency, by the time you reported it, they would have already left the memorial hall. If you delay any longer, they might have already left Corsica,” Jayad said with a smile.
“What do you want to say, young master?” The mercenary felt he was being mocked and showed his displeasure, becoming somewhat aggressive as if wanting to intimidate Jayad.
“Nothing, it’s just that your skills at catching thieves are really amateurish,” Jayad replied, still speaking calmly, but everyone could detect the disdain in his tone.
After all, mercenaries were not professional thief-catchers. You couldn’t expect them to have the discipline and professional quality of the Police, nor the keenness and deduction of a Detective. In Jayad’s view, they were just ruining the scene, letting the thief escape, and couldn’t even understand such a simple method.
“Young master, this isn’t your home. No one will indulge you!” The mercenary was very displeased and leaned closer, seemingly intending to use his tall physique to push Jayad slightly. This was a common provocative move.
Unlike other feudal states with their strict hierarchical order, although the commercial Republic had distinctions between the rich and the poor, it wasn’t as pronounced, and the overall quality of mercenaries was not high.
This particular mercenary had a rather hot temper. He was already agitated about being pulled in to investigate the Case of the Stolen Battle Flag, and perhaps with a bit of resentment towards the wealthy, he was also very unhappy with Jayad.
Compared to this big and tall mercenary, Jayad only reached his chest, looking like an older student bullying a child. However, despite such a stark height difference and what appeared to be a build that would easily topple over, as the mercenary lunged, he lost his balance and stumbled downwards.
He didn’t even touch Jayad. A light emanated from the necklace Jayad was wearing as he approached, pushing him away. This was a Magic Apparatus, enchanted with a rejection spell.
In fact, with this mercenary’s strength, even if he hadn’t been able to knock Jayad down, he could have easily maintained his footing. Unexpectedly, Jayad managed to counter-charge, causing him to lose his balance and fall.
Merely falling wouldn’t have been much for a mercenary who exercised daily and had excellent resilience. But already disliking the person and now being pushed down by him, the mercenary was furious. He jumped up and swung a punch at Jayad.
“What are you doing? Stop it!” A mercenary captain, seeing him act so impulsively, shouted to stop him. Dragging someone in to assist with the investigation was understandable, but hitting someone was a very serious offense, absolutely not permissible, especially since this person appeared to be a wealthy young master.
Then, two rings of arcane script erupted from the pendant hanging on Jayad’s chest, and a wave of light sent him flying. The recoil force this time was particularly immense, slamming him into an Armor on display in the memorial hall, scattering the meticulously arranged Armor.
“You, damn it!” The mercenary stood up, clenching his fists, his hands accumulating fiercely burning flames. Their group was called the Fire Fist Mercenary Group, and it turned out they could actually use fire fists; how fitting.
“Hey! You ask questions, but don’t hit people,” Jayad finally put on a panicked act. In reality, with this mercenary’s speed, he couldn’t have even touched him. If Jayad had wanted to block the punch, it would have been incredibly easy.
But that would easily turn into a mutual brawl, leading to endless entanglement. So, he feigned ignorance, letting the magic apparatus that was automatically triggered push him away.
As the mercenary’s fire fist surged towards Jayad, and both his necklace and rings detected danger to their master and automatically activated, emitting light, a hand reached out and firmly grasped the mercenary’s wrist.
The fire fist extinguished. The mercenary looked up to see the captain staring at him with a dark expression, and his anger vanished. He stammered, “Cap, Captain, I didn’t, I didn’t mean to. He attacked first!”
“Get lost!” The captain angrily flung him away, making the mercenary stumble back several steps, then cursed, “Do you even know what you’re saying? He attacked first? He didn’t lift a finger from start to finish! You idiot!”
“Captain, I, I didn’t…” The mercenary’s face turned pale, and he still wanted to explain, but so many people around had seen that Jayad hadn’t made a move from beginning to end. At most, his tone was slightly sarcastic, and what he said made sense.
“Shut up! You troublesome good-for-nothing! You’re fired. Go back to Headquarters, return your Armor insignia, and get out!” the captain said mercilessly.
