Chapter 7. The Righteous Thief (5)
Ted, who had been stealthed, was not viewing this situation through an entirely positive lens.
‘If that bastard obtained Constable as his dual class…’
Face Chronicle, where unlike other games, the job class
However, there were also plenty of mechanisms to catch criminals.
The class
The passive skill
And so on; there were many powerful skills for catching criminals.
Ted ran with him, engaging in a chase toward the outskirts of the city for about 20 minutes.
When Ted used
"Y-you bastard!
At his skill activation command, mechanical puppets wearing constable uniforms sprang out from the empty air.
A dozen mechanical puppets, each at level 300!
It was a powerful A-rank skill usable only by high-ranking deputies to punish criminals.
At the same time, a blue barrier formed within a 10-meter radius around Gat Juntae.
As an effect of the skill
Accordingly, Ted's body, which had been turning transparent, returned to its original state.
‘With this, I've baited out
Ted had no intention of running away anyway.
He had merely drawn out the man's skills to secure a definite victory.
‘Killing him would be easier, though…’
The moment the man revealed he had Constable experience, Ted gave up on killing him.
The moment a Constable dies, the skill
"You bastard… I don't know where you crawled out from, but don't think you'll get away peacefully. Armored Constable Squad. Protect me and surround him!"
At his command, six of the armored constables—half the squad—protected him, while the other six surrounded Ted and slowly approached.
"
Keeeek!
Ted summoned the Goblin Trio.
"Goblin Trio."
Keek!
"Don't aim at that human; only target the nearby armored constables. Got it?"
Keeeek!
"Go."
Ted finished the brief tactical talk and raised Black and White.
Then he attacked the armored constable leading the charge.
Bang!
The armored head shattered and vanished in a single hit.
Bang bang bang bang!
‘Gasp, that's insane no matter how many times I see it! What the hell kind of damage is this… If this becomes a war of attrition, I'll definitely lose.’
"
The surprised man ordered the skill on the summoned armored units. Soon, the twelve armored units abandoned caution and defense, rushing at Ted all at once.
And a chaotic battle began.
The Silver Goblins were powerful, but their opponents were also high-level armored units with added defense against firearms.
The three goblins desperately opened distance and fired, while the armored units struggled to close in.
‘Right now, I don't care if I die.’
Gat Juntae finished assessing the situation at that moment.
He too had spent many years rolling around in the gaming world.
Priorities were naturally set.
‘I'll use my life as collateral to land the skill
Although it carried the risk of being tagged with
To do that, he had to catch Ted.
Fortunately, he held the advantage in speed.
If he was prepared to throw away his life, there was no reason he couldn't catch him.
And just as he thought that.
Ted was thinking something similar.
‘As expected, he's clinging on.’
The moment he learned his opponent was a Constable, Ted judged
Because the moment his secret ledger was taken, all his plans would end.
Conversely, his opponent only needed to recover the ledger even if he died. He would charge in desperately.
‘He won't die.’
Ted used
Then he unleashed
Bang!
The guy who followed Ted onto the roof was hit by the bullet and staggered.
But as if he had expected it, the man once again rushed toward Ted, using a footwork skill.
His speed was faster than Ted's.
Naturally. His level was nearly double.
Now, as the man who had closed in to point-blank range tried to hurl his body at Ted.
‘This is troublesome… I'll aim for his legs so he doesn't die. If I inflict
Bang!
Ted focused and fired his musket at the man's leg—specifically his ankle.
And the bullet pierced his ankle exactly within the margin of error Ted had anticipated.
"Damn it! It's useless!"
But a motion like shattering glass erupted from his entire body. And seemingly unaffected, he perfectly launched his body at Ted.
‘Indomitability? So the innate ability he mastered was Indomitability.’
Ted frowned.
An innate ability that converts half of attack power into defense when vitality drops below 10%! The instantly added defense seemed to have protected his leg.
The surprised Ted hurriedly unleashed Thousand-Li Path, but the man who had already desperately launched himself latched onto Ted's lower body.
Ted stomped on the man clinging to his leg with all his might.
"Ugh! Give it back! My ledger!
Even as his face was being crushed, the man desperately cast his skill. But because Ted nimbly dodged this way and that, the hand containing
But then Ted suddenly stopped moving.
‘What? Has he finally given up?’
The surprised Gat Juntae hurriedly grabbed Ted's collar with the hand charged with
Soon, the items Ted had stolen from him floated up in a list. Gat Juntae hurriedly selected the most important one among them.
"I got it!"
He had finally recovered it!
Gat Juntae shouted in ecstasy.
"You're finished, you petty thief! Aaah… huh?"
Gat Juntae, who had been shouting with hope-filled vigor, froze.
"Who's finished?"
Because Ted was holding
"Wh-what… no way…"
The surprised Gat Juntae hurriedly opened his inventory to check the ledger he had seized.
It was the genuine article that he had personally recorded.
‘What the… then what that thieving bastard is holding is a fake?’
But what Ted was holding was also completely identical. As if it had been duplicated…
‘Wait! A duplication?’
Gat Juntae suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
"Don't tell me, is that a
"Who knows."
Ted put the duplicated grimoire into his inventory.
The plan had been a complete success.
An item he had purchased from an undead merchant for 1 coin just in case.
It was a grimoire that perfectly duplicated any document—except for grimoires themselves—a single time.
‘Whew, thank goodness everything fell into place.’
The reason Ted had deliberately engaged in a chase with him for over twenty minutes.
First, if they fought in a narrow place like the Sauron Underground Market, it would have been impossible to subdue him—a level 400 Constable—without killing him.
Second. The moment the man boasted that he had obtained the
Since losing it would mean the end, he needed time to duplicate the document, and Ted succeeded in duplicating the document while running for over twenty minutes, recovering mana with potions.
‘That was close.’
Document duplication was quite a time-consuming task.
Fortunately, the duplication was completed properly just before the man used
"F*ck… you lowly, despicable thieving bastard…"
"Huh? Watch your mouth."
"…"
Gat Juntae knelt down and glared up at Ted.
Even though it was a duplicate, it was completely identical to the original.
But because it wasn't stolen, it couldn't be taken by
Moreover, the only thing stolen that
With the two things Ted currently possessed, the report would be established without issue.
He had been completely beaten.
"Why the hell are you doing this to me? Who hired you! And what do you plan to do with my ledger? You damned petty thief!"
Gat Juntae spoke, almost on the verge of tears.
"If I were you, what would I have to do to keep you from reporting me? Respected night customer, sir… is what I should have said."
"Ugh…"
Gat Juntae suppressed his rising anger.
A landlord like himself illegally extracting stolen goods and selling them in an illegal market?
If that were reported, he would lose far too much.
"I'll do anything. Just please don't report me…"
Ted's voice grew lighter at his deflated words.
"Good. Now it seems like we can talk."
* * *
Ted revealed that he belonged to the Sivori Musket Academy.
And he requested the write-off of overdue rent and a prohibition on additional excessive levies.
"What? No, f*ck… how am I supposed to make a living?"
"You're already living well. And did I tell you not to collect rent at all? Collect it all. Collect it all, but don't arbitrarily raise excessive levies."
"…Fine. But the moment you report me with that ledger, that academy of yours is finished."
Gat Juntae couldn't raise objections about the other things Ted had stolen.
And so, Ted and Gat Juntae reached a somewhat fair(?) agreement.
Ted took Gat Juntae and returned to the Sivori Musket Academy.
"Ted, you have returned. Ah?"
Raiden flinched in surprise the moment he saw Gat Juntae accompanying Ted. He then looked back and forth between Ted and Gat Juntae, as if asking what was going on.
"Things went well."
"Tch. Listen up. I've come to rewrite the documents regarding the rent."
Ted explained the detailed circumstances. And he had Gat Juntae confirm it.
"Therefore, you will pay based on the rent from four years ago going forward. Know that if the rent is late this time, it's over."
"Aah…"
Raiden's expression as he listened began to change from moment to moment.
From worry to surprise.
From surprise to gratitude.
"Huh… is this true? Truly…"
Raiden knelt down.
"It is true…"
And he bowed his head to Ted.
Ted, surprised inwardly, silently watched Raiden.
"Thank you, Ted. You… you are the benefactor who pulled me from the swamp when I had failed to carry on my master's will and had to give up on everything. From now on, I shall serve you as my senior brother. Thank you for saving me, and our Sivori Musket Academy. As the master of the academy, I sincerely bow my head."
He shed tears and performed a deep bow all the way to the ground.
"I merely did what had to be done. I am a disciple of the Sivori Musket Academy, after all."
Ted spoke calmly and raised him up.
Soon, a status window popped up.
—Quest Complete—
Quest Difficulty: A
You have resolved the Sivori Musket Academy's financial crisis.
Reward: Achievement
'It's an achievement?'
Ted stole a glance at the status window.
He had thought he wouldn't get anything because the academy was currently dirt-poor, but he had obtained something quite decent.
And affinity at 100%!
NPC behavior changes depending on affinity.
But at 100%, Raiden would fight for Ted with his life on the line at least once.
'Good. Good. This place is settled for now.'
Ted roughly wrapped up matters there and quickly went outside.
And headed for the Sauron Underground Market.
Right now, achievements and everything else were invisible to him.
Because something far more important was there!
'So you were here.'
Arriving at the underground market, Ted found the undead merchant from before. The one who had sold him the
Ted, having found the undead merchant, picked up one of the items laid out on his stall.
"Give me a discount on this."
"…Impossible…"
"I'm only asking you to cut 1 coin."
Ted threw the same obvious tantrum as before.
"…Outsider… why do you keep hoping for discounts…"
"Hey. This time it's a whopping 40 coins; can't you cut even 1 coin?"
Contrary to his whining voice, Ted's face inside the doll mask was incredibly bright.
Because he had finally obtained it.
The D-rank exclusive skill orb to adorn his Sixfold Constellation slot.