บท 34: Behind the illusion.
Everything was dark. Even if it was 11 in the evening, there should be some light from the stars and the moon. But currently, we are surrounded by darkness. All I could feel was someone holding me. That someone was Spade Echo.
Yeah. Westa's most notorious thief was holding me. When I fell off the tower, she jumped off and saved me. She then activated her wings and started flying away.
Unfortunately, the bandaged man shot a ball of darkness which she failed to avoid. That was why we were surrounded by darkness since the ball swallowed us.
It took some time until the darkness faded away. We used to be flying over Pavolian but now we were above a sea of trees.
Spade Echo's wings started glowing and we slowly descended. We landed on a forest clearing.
"What's going on? We were just flying over Pavolian and now we're in a forest?" I asked.
"That ball probably had a teleportation spell embedded on it. When it swallowed us up, it transported us to another place", Spade Echo answered.
"So that means we're in a place where the Unkindness wants me to?" I became alert and looked around.
"If all went well, then we could be in a place they want us to be in. But I foiled them", she said.
"What do you mean?"
"My wings are an ancient artifact. Aside from letting me fly using little mana, it also prevents me from getting forcefully teleported. It would use up its power to teleport me a few kilometers in a set direction from the place I was forcefully teleported from. This time, I set it so that I would get teleported a few kilometers east."
"So we only need to travel west. Why do you have that precaution anyway?"
"There are some rooms that have a teleportation trap. They would send the intruder to a prison or another room. That's why I have a precaution to avoid that. A thief can never be too careful."
She took out a compass and began walking.
"Come on now. We need to go back to Pavolian", she said.
"Are you sure you want to return there? This is a good chance to escape", I asked her.
"And what? Leave you here to die? It's true that I could just fly away but having you try to travel alone would leave a bad taste in my conscience. Besides, you don't look like you have a compass so you might get lost", she grinned.
We began walking west. I never thought that I would be walking with a famous thief. She was really short and in the darkness, her white clothes was really eye-catching.
"So... Why is your name Spade Echo?" I asked her.
"Are you that curious about me?"
"Just trying to start a conversation. Is it about an echo of a shovel?"
"No! The "Spade" part of my name clearly talks about the spade suit in a deck of playing cards! It's NOT a shovel. Sheesh."
"What about the "Echo" part?"
"The "Echo" meant "Trace" and "Vestige." Sounds cool right?"
"I thought "Echo" meant the echo of sounds."
"That's what most people think."
She stopped on her tracks. A large beast was in front of us. It sniffed the air and then found us. The beast let out a deep growl.
"Ah great. A monster", she said.
The beast charged at her and I made my shadow form a wall between the two of them. It crashed into the shadow wall. I turned my shadow into a spike and it lunged at the beast. My shadow stabbed it and it howled in pain.
Spade Echo took out a card and threw it at the beast. The card glowed and exploded.
"Exploding cards?" I asked.
"Like it? I call it "Dangerous Gambit." I don't normally use it when I'm on a heist since explosions are not that elegant. But a thief must always be prepared and I have to be able to defend myself", she grinned and took out another card.
The beast backed away and managed to have the impaled shadow removed from its body. Spade Echo threw another card and it exploded. I charged at the beast and swung my sword.
It raised its fist and swung it at me but I blocked it with my shadow. Spade Echo threw a card at its face and blinded it with an explosion. Taking it as my chance, I stabbed its face and killed it immediately.
"Nice work", she praised me.
"You're also amazing yourself", I returned the praise.
I looked away and then for some reason, I could remember her face. She has pink hair with two buns and has green eyes.
"This is strange. I could remember your face. Does your artifact have a time limit?" I asked.
"Ahh!! I dropped the Mirage Mirror!" she ran towards the ground and picked up a small pendant.
"Mirage Mirror?"
"It's the artifact that makes my face unrecognizable... Although you probably remember my face already."
"Sure do. You got pink hair tied in two buns and green eyes. You are kind of cute too."
"Being called cute is nice but this is bad for a thief like me. I'd better be careful and not meet you in Westa."
"So your base is in Westa?"
"Ah crap. Why did I reveal that to you? Although I guess it's an easy guess since most of my targets were in Westa."
We then continued our walk.
"Why are you helping me out this much? If you just lend me your compass, you could fly away in peace. Is it part of your courteous thief persona?" I asked.
"You could say that. Although I also have a personal reason to save you", she answered.
"Personal reason?"
"You see, you look a lot like my old friend. He used to be my neighbor when I was young."
"I look like him? How?"
"Everything about you looks like him to the point it's creepy. Your hairstyle, your eyes, your voice, and even your height. I even mistook you for him when I first met you. Until I remembered that he was probably older than you now."
"What happened to him?"
"5 years ago, he moved right next to my house. He was a summoner, a mage that specializes in bringing summon creatures to this realm and making them do his bidding. Then 2 years passed and he said he was asked by an organization to do something important. That was the last thing I heard from him. He mysteriously disappeared."
"I see..."
"That's part of why I became a phantom thief. He would often talk about a thief from his world and how he was a popular game character. We even came up with the name "Spade Echo" together. That's why I thought if Spade Echo became famous, he might contact me."
"And what's the other reason?"
"I'm looking for a rare gem called the Alexandrite. It is said to be able to grant a wish of a person once a certain comet passes through. One way to find out if a gem is the Alexandrite was to put your mana on it. If it makes a pure white light, then it is the Alexandrite", she took out the Red Rose.
However, it didn't glow.
"Another dud... Oh well", she continued walking.
We continued walking until we reached the exit of the forest. It was already 12 AM and the only light we had were the moon and the stars.
"Mikage!!" a familiar voice shouted.
I saw Amelia, Pekora, and Moona walking towards us.
"And luckily, Spade Echo's here too", Amelia grinned.
"Those three are your friends?" Spade Echo asked me.
"Sort of. They're my companions", I answered.
Amelia and the others stood a few meters away from us.
"What are you going to do, miss detective? Are you going to catch me?" Spade Echo asked.
"Normally, I would. But if you return the Red Rose, I will let you go as thanks for saving Mikage", Amelia answered.
"Oh my. Letting me go this easily? Are you sure?"
"Yep. I hate owing a debt to a thief. I'll be sure to catch you next time."
"Alright then. I look forward to it", Spade Echo tossed the Red Rose which Amelia caught.
White wings appeared on her back and she flew away.
"Are you okay, peko?" Pekora asked me.
"Yep. How did you find me anyway?" I asked back.
"It's one of my abilities as the vessel of the Primordial Moon. As long as I know the face of the person, I can find them anywhere whenever they are underneath the moonlight", Moona answered.
"Anyway, it's good that you are safe. Let's head back and return the Red Rose", Amelia said.
We headed back to Pavolian and returned the gem. Everything was going fine...
Until I remembered I had to share a bed with Amelia.
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