Chapter 179
As Alise and Ryuu chased the thief, he navigated the bustling streets with practiced ease.
Cutting through the crowd, sometimes leaping onto buildings and running along walls, the two girls quickly closed the distance between them and their target.
“You better stop while we’re still nice; you can’t escape us!” Alise yelled.
‘Shit! Shit! Shit!’ the thief cursed internally, panic rising as he recognized them.
He particularly noted Alise; there weren’t many human girls with red hair tied in a ponytail who were known for delivering justice on the streets.
‘It’s the Scarlet Harnel,’ he thought, cursing his luck. Not only had he ended up with little money from the god he had mugged, but now he was being pursued by the worst possible duo of vigilantes.
“Gahhh!” the thief gasped in surprise. In his attempt to keep track of his pursuers, he had run into something as solid as a wall.
“What the…” Clutching his aching forehead, he looked up to see what he had collided with.
“Come on now, Mr. Thief, stealing isn’t right, you know. We all have to work for our money, right?” a young girl scolded him.
“Adiii!” Ryuu exclaimed in surprise.
“Oh, Leon-san, you’re looking pretty as ever, and you smell nice too! Mind if I hug you for a bit?” Adi inquired, her expression serious.
Ryuu, however, averted her gaze and took a wary step back.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that,” Adi pouted.
“Don’t—” Ryuu began, but Alise interjected, her expression brimming with pride.
“Ahem, I got to hug her yesterday when I slept in her bed. You should have seen her blush; it was adorable!” Alise boasted.
“Really now? Then Itadakimasu!” Adi replied, speedily closing the distance to Ryuu and pulling her in for a hug from behind.
“Snifff!” Adi inhaled, savouring Ryuu’s pleasant scent.
“Oh my, this might be a bit addicting,” she muttered.
“Hmmmf, too bad she is mine,” Alise chimed in, hugging Ryuu from the front.
“Please, both of you, focus on the job!” Ryuu yelled, her pleas falling on deaf ears.
She wanted to die of embarrassment, tears forming in her eyes as she remembered what had happened the night before with Alise.
“You all sure are good friends,” a little girl’s voice interrupted.
It was Leah, who had detached from her mother and followed Ryuu and Alise while they chased the thief.
“Ahahaha, that’s enough playing around!” Adi said, releasing Ryuu and turning to confront the thief, who remained frozen in place.
The thief could have bolted while the girls were distracted, but he decided it wasn’t worth it.
With Ganesha and the Astraea Familia involved, there was no point in fleeing.
“Let’s see the wallet you stole, mister,” Adi demanded.
‘Argh, damn it,’ the thief cursed internally, his fist striking the ground in frustration.
“Sigh, just throw me in a cell and leave me to rot already. My life is already over,” he said.
“Well, that’s new; I’ve never seen a thief give up so fast,” Alise remarked, a hint of disappointment in her tone.
“Please don’t make things worse; just keep quiet, Alise,” Ryuu urged, aware that her captain had a knack for not knowing when to stop talking.
It was good that things were moving toward a peaceful resolution.
The thief however suddenly started ranting.
“The strong will never understand what we weak people have to do to put food on the table. We can’t work, we can’t sell anything, and we can barely breathe without some crazy fanatic blowing up a building across the street!” he complained.
The man was nearly as ragged as the outlook on his life.
He was rather old looking, with a short white beard, wearing some basic light armour, strapped across his shoulders down to his stomach.
Such outfits were common in the area, at least offering some protection against random knife attacks.
The times were that dangerous for civilians.
“It must be good for you lot who are strong and can find work easily! Why don’t you go apprehend the true villains instead of picking on an old man like me?” the man exclaimed, hoping to elicit sympathy.
Ryuu was affected by his words, it somewhat resonated with her inner turmoil.
‘To think this criminal has a point. It’s true that our failure to maintain public order has forced some upstanding civilians to resort to such means for survival, but… this is wrong. What do we do?’ Ryuu pondered, her expression conflicted.
Alise and Adi were also impacted by his words, though to a lesser extent, but they had no immediate response to his claims.
Seeing that his words were getting through to them, the thief staggered to his feet.
“That’s right,” he continued, emboldened by their silence.
“You made us like this! Everything happening now is a result of your failure. I am the victim here!” he accused.
At this point, Adi refused to entertain any more nonsense from him and stepped forward.
“Is that all? Is that the only excuse you could come up with to justify your actions?” she questioned.
“Uh…” the man stammered, but Adi cut him off.
“Bad things are still bad. If stealing is okay as long as someone else has stolen from you first, then what makes you any different from the thief who stole from you, hmm?” Adi pressed.
The man was at a loss for words. Adi’s logic was clear; there was no blame in her words, only an explanation of how things were.
“So what do you want us to do? Just watch and starve to death, or abandon everything and leave the city?” the man muttered tiredly.
“I only ask for patience. We are trying our best, but if you civilians become part of the problem, what motivation do we have to continue fighting evil?” Adi replied.
The man clenched his fist, feeling ashamed for his actions.
Adi’s words made sense, but ultimately, they were just words.
“I want you to promise me something,” Adi said, her gaze steady on the man.
“What?” he asked, confused.
“Promise you will never resort to crime again. Promise me that, and we can forget all this nastiness ever happened today,” Adi proposed.
The man looked bewildered, taken aback by Adi’s sudden offer.
He wasn’t the only one surprised; Ryuu was also shocked by what she was hearing.
Adi planned on letting a thief go.
“Adi, you can’t do that!” Ryuu immediately protested.
“Why not?” Adi replied.
“Are you serious? He committed a crime and needs to be punished accordingly! What you are doing right now is setting a precedent for others like him. How can we maintain public order if you’re this lenient? Or do you plan to be biased only for him?” Ryuu questioned.
But Adi was resolute; she had already made up her mind.
“Hmm, I believe I have the right to settle this case. This man didn’t lie to me, and I know stealing is wrong, but we got the money back, so no harm, no foul, right? Additionally, no one got hurt except him,” Adi countered with a smile, hoping Ryuu would see her perspective.
“Still, Adi, a crime is a crime; you shouldn’t bend the law,” Ryuu insisted.
Ryuu’s remark wiped the smile off Adi’s face, her eyes closing in contemplation.
“The carrot and the stick, isn’t that what they say?” Adi asked.
“Huh? What’s that got to do with any of this?” Ryuu asked.
“I am trying to be the carrot to your stick. Too much stick wears everyone out,” Adi explained, her aqua-coloured eyes focused on Ryuu.
“You mean…” Ryuu muttered, beginning to grasp Adi’s meaning.
She had never considered that her harsh crackdown on crime might be a factor in forming the current problem.
Perhaps she could blame the age of darkness they lived in; because of it, she didn’t have the luxury of turning a blind eye even if she wanted to.
But the truth was, she didn’t want to. She had been content imposing her sense of justice on everyone.
This realization shook Ryuu’s core values, leaving her confused.
Alise, observing the argument, decided to intervene.
“You know, Ryuu, I think I agree with little miss Adi here,” she said.
“Alise, not you too!” Ryuu exclaimed, disbelief colouring her voice.
‘Alise should share the same core values as me. Why is she siding with Adi?’ Ryuu wondered.
Unaware of Ryuu’s turmoil, Alise turned to the thief, pointing a finger at him.
“You won’t get a third chance, understood? You can bet your life as a free man on that,” Alise stated.
“A—are you really letting me go?” the man asked, astonished.
“Yep, you’re free. Although I’ll probably get in trouble for it later,” Alise replied.
“You definitely are with the foolish thing you girls are doing right now,” an annoyed voice suddenly interjected.
“Draco!” Alise, Ryuu, and Adi muttered in unison, recognizing his voice.
“What do you mean?” Alise asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
“It’s exactly what I said. You girls are being rather stupid and naive right now,” Draco stated.
“Explain,” Alise said, a bit annoyed by his remark, but Draco didn’t care.
He had been wondering what was keeping Alise and Ryuu from returning with the thief.
Both were peak-level 3 adventurers, so catching a civilian without a falna should have been quick, yet minutes had passed without them returning.
Draco had left Michalis with the god who had been robbed to find them, and he was irritated to see and hear the naive actions of the three girls when he found them.
Not only were they arguing about letting a thief go without knowing anything about him, but they were also displaying their unseemly actions in public.
“Do any of you know anything about this man besides today’s robbery?” Draco asked the three of them.
“No,” Alise replied, frowning.
“Then on what grounds are you letting him go? For all you know, he could have been stealing for years, be a murderer, or maybe even an Evilus member. But without even a basic investigation, you’re letting him go out of what, pity?” Draco pressed.
“I don’t know who you are, but I’m not a murderer, and god forbid I’m an Evilus!” the thief defended, disdain evident in his tone.
“Shut up. I’m not accusing you; I’m just giving an example,” Draco replied, his reptilian eyes narrowing as he spoke, causing the man to turn away in fear.
“As I was saying, you should have at least arrested him first, and If after investigating him, finding his crime to be minor or his first, you could then have released him with a warning. But instead, you girls argued like children and somehow two of you decided to be biased and bend the law in the public eyes based on what, exactly? Nothing,” Draco scolded.
‘I….’ Alise wanted to retort, but held her tongue.
She had never seen Draco this emotional, and he made a fair point.
‘Ryuu you might have been the only sane person here, but it seems like it wouldn't have taken much for Alise and Adi convince you’ Draco thought, briefly glancing at her.
He knew his outburst was unwarranted, and he had planned to remain a bye-stander, but the way the three girls approached the situation irked him in an odd way.
“Running purely on your emotions is not what justice means, and if you all insist on upholding it, then at least be fair to all” Draco stated.