I bolted, running to find the man.
I dashed through the streets at full speed, desperately scanning the area to see where he could have vanished so suddenly.
As I ran, an endless flood of questions raced through my mind, refusing to let go.
Who was that man?
Was this another hidden test by the organization?
And that farm…
why was there nothing there?
These questions crashed into each other inside my head, and I knew damn well that the only way to get answers was to catch this mysterious stranger.
After a few minutes, I stopped for a moment, leaning against a brick wall.
I was fully aware that I was panicking and that, caught up in the heat of the moment, I could no longer properly analyze the situation.
This wasn’t like me at all, and I absolutely had to pull myself together if I wanted to survive.
In a moment of absolute clarity, I forced my heart rate to slow down and forced myself to think.
The man was fast—inhumanly fast—and that clearly wasn’t natural.
But that was just a technical detail for now.
Above all, I had to figure out where he might be heading.
I laid out the facts: I was in the middle of a test to join a shadow organization—and not just any organization, but a massive, fearsome league.
To dare rob a potential member of such a structure required either superhuman courage or the reckless stupidity of a brainless thief.
No, that was impossible.
As I dove deep into my recent memories, I recalled the details of the man’s clothes.
He wore pitch-black attire and a sort of perfectly tailored tunic that covered his face.
A basic slum thief would never prepare that thoroughly just for an ordinary mugging.
Even though I didn’t know the city of Malbour perfectly yet, I was now certain this couldn’t be a coincidence.
It was premeditated.
But by whom?
My analysis began to deepen.
I realized that since the start of this recruitment test, things hadn’t been easy.
First, I had been forced to kill a man with my own hands, and then I had witnessed a sordid scene in the establishment’s basement that had deeply shocked me.
And now, I was dealing with a theft orchestrated by a man with impressive physical abilities.
If this really was just another part of the test, I had to find a logical way to trace him.
Otherwise, if I was wrong and it was an actual robbery, the money would be gone for good, and I would die at the hands of Eresboros.
At one point, I stopped to observe the people passing by, living their lives peacefully, completely unaware of the city’s darkness.
It was then that the memory of my father and mother hit me dead in the face: I saw them again, lying on the ground, pooling in their own blood, while the scarred man with the dragon tattoo stood there, staring down at me with pure contempt.
Against all odds, a smile crept onto my face.
Before that wretched night, I too had lived a fairly peaceful life with my parents, but now, that was over because of that man.
This memory, far from weakening me, fueled my desire to find the thief, reclaim my loot, pass the test, and finally begin my ascent to power.
I walked on slowly, meticulously inspecting my surroundings.
I eventually reached the grand market and headed straight toward where Louis Ponti usually stood.
As always, he was there, standing in the middle of the crowd, a cigarette between his lips, dressed in yet another spectacular and extravagant outfit.
“Ponti!” I barked, stepping up to him.
He stared at me, looking utterly flabbergasted by my sudden appearance.
He stopped smoking for a moment, the cigarette dangling between his fingers.
“Oh, kid, it’s you!
It’s barely been two days since we last saw each other.
What, did you miss me that much?”
He had his usual stupid grin on his face, genuinely believing he was funny.
I remained stone-faced.
“A few moments ago, someone stole something very important from me,” I told him, ignoring his joke.
“I wanted to know if you’ve seen or heard of a man with his profile around here.”
I immediately described the thief to him: he was about my height, had a slender build, and wore a full set of black clothes along with a tunic to conceal his face.
Listening to my description, Ponti lost his mocking look.
He grew quiet and spoke seriously:
“I don’t know if he’s the guy you’re looking for, kid, but I did hear some merchants mention a rather mysterious fellow who slipped through here just a short while ago.
But I have no idea where he was heading next.”
Hearing this, my mind went into overdrive again.
I wondered why the thief had come this way.
Normally, the Malbour market acted like a giant crossroads, making it extremely difficult to predict his next move.
My mind was on high alert, but I knew I had to stay focused.
I pulled out the picto-map to look at the glowing dots once more.
But after a few minutes of close observation, I noticed a blatant anomaly on the picto-map: the slums were displayed after the market, whereas in reality, they were located well before it.
I took the picto-map and turned it every which way, but still nothing.
I dove back into my thoughts and realized something crucial: every place I had been sent to since the beginning represented or hinted at precise coordinates.
Whether it was the Cross for Crossfield, the location of the orphanage on the northern facade, or the league’s warehouse.
By rearranging all these points on the picto-map while deliberately keeping it inverted to correct the slum error, the path finally made sense.
With the information I had gathered, there was only one unique location the map was now pointing to.
Looking closely, I recognized it: it was the Church of Duali, the exact place where I had first met Callis.
Without a second thought, I set off at a brisk pace toward the Dias District.
When I arrived at the church, I noticed the surrounding area was dead silent.
Normally, there should have been worshippers or even Graces guarding the premises, but the courtyard was entirely deserted.
I crept inside the building with muffled steps.
And there, right in front of the altar, the thief sat quietly, locking eyes with me the moment I crossed the threshold.
It was the confirmation I needed: from the very start, this robbery was just another test from the organization.
The seated man rose slowly and began to applaud, clapping his hands.
“Bravo.
I didn’t think you’d track me down this quickly.
My congratulations.”
“Was this another test?” I countered in a neutral voice.
“A farm with nothing there, and now a thief…
Sorry to break it to you, but your storytelling skills are terrible.”
I thought I heard a muffled chuckle from beneath the man’s mask before he replied:
“Perhaps.
But despite all that, you still don’t know who is standing in front of you right now, do you?
Though, I don’t need to hide it anymore.
At first, I was honestly afraid you wouldn’t make it.
If you hadn’t managed to find me, I didn’t really know how to fix the situation afterward.
But you succeeded, so now I can relax.”
The more he spoke, the more his voice shifted, losing its deep timber and returning to its natural tone.
The moment he uttered those last words, I recognized him instantly.
“Lucas…
So it was you.”