Chapter 11
<11>
“…….”
“Now you understand why I hate the police.”
As she said this, the lady emptied her third glass of brandy.
“Thanks to that, I’ve searched the entire city, the entire country, for nearly 20 years since.”
Brandy was poured into the empty glass again.
“At first, I thought I’d find the child alive, but later my goal changed to finding even a corpse, no, even proof of death. I thought that was the only way I could escape this endless hell.”
Where is the missing heir?
This was the title of the article I had read.
In this world, the missing heir of the Hunt family was like Princess Anastasia in the world I lived in.
Conspiracy theories abounded, and swindlers claiming to be the heir flooded the scene. The more this happened, the more the media, like ravenous hounds, pounced on it.
What was an interesting story for others must have been agony for the lady.
“This story is half a sad ending, half a happy ending.”
As she said, the old lady’s smile was only half-hearted.
“My son and daughter-in-law couldn’t return alive, so that’s the sad ending. But ultimately, I found my grandson, so it’s a happy ending.”
A few months after I arrived here, I saw an article stating that the lost heir had returned.
Fake. Real. I remember there was much debate.
Many people clicked their tongues, saying the lady, who had gone mad searching for her grandson or had dementia, was being fooled by a swindler and was about to hand over the Hunt family.
But seeing the lady in person today, I understood. It was all baseless rumor.
The sharp, piercing gaze of the old lady, who seemed incapable of shedding a single drop of blood, vividly conveyed the pain she had endured.
“My grandson is deeply scarred. He went through terrible things. But he thinks it’s his fault. He seems to think he’ll spend his life atoning like a prisoner.”
I had heard that the heir never showed his face anywhere and lived in seclusion, so that was why.
“That’s why he has no interest in women and doesn’t seem like he’ll get married, so this necklace has lost its purpose.”
Mrs. Hunt lifted the box upwards. In the pouring light, the jewels sparkled brilliantly.
“It should never have been a case of me getting this back. I can’t stand the sight of this necklace.”
That brilliant light now looked like tears.
“Here.”
The lady closed the box and placed it at her feet.
“Steal it.”
“…….”
“You must have a reason to steal this.”
I had one, but it was gone.
[Steal Mrs. Doris Hunt’s sorrow!]
Objective: Steal the Emerald necklace of Mrs. Doris Hunt, who lives in the penthouse of Hunt Tower.
It was simply because it was an emerald necklace that I couldn’t just pass by. It might have been the necklace of the lost ruby.
‘Isn’t stealing sorrow a good thing?’
I had thought that simply. Until I knew the nature of the sorrow.
What I received from Gemma were only traits assigned to the character: beauty, courage, intelligence, pride, confidence, and so on.
That meant I still had my original conscience.
‘I can’t take something like this.’
No, there was still a reason I had to steal it.
If I didn’t steal it, I would lose 100,000 Notoriety Points, which I had painstakingly accumulated.
It meant moving further away from the reward of the final level, the hint for the final mission, the end of this ordeal.
I hesitated for a moment, then made up my mind.
“I am truly sorry. Please……”
After leaving the old lady with a long final word, I turned and leaped out the window.
The moment I soared high into the sky and opened my umbrella, my eyes met Hunt’s, who was looking out the window.
At that moment, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Mission Failed! 100,000 Notoriety Points deducted.]
In the 10 years I had lived as a thief, I had given up stealing for the first time.
* * *
The beautiful thief who stole the Scarlet Queen’s Heart is actually a warm-hearted owner?
Two days after that. I was sitting at my office desk, frowning as I looked at the morning newspaper headlines.
[The Mollaone Family respects you.]
[The Tuna Dissection Squad looks down on you.]
As expected. Favorability messages arrived one after another.
[The number of members in your fan club ‘Everything Shiny is Mineee!’ has increased by 398 in the last 24 hours.]
By giving up the jewel that held the old lady’s heartbreaking story, my reputation among citizens rapidly improved.
[The Eden City government expresses bewilderment.]
The government seemed troubled by my improved reputation among citizens.
But I wasn’t particularly happy about my reputation improving. Because I wouldn’t get bonus Notoriety Points.
The tragic story contained within the Hunt family’s Emerald necklace!
Praise for Mrs. Doris Hunt’s courage poured in from all walks of life.
– Theories of dementia and mental instability rapidly lost traction.
I frowned even more as I read the feature article in the next section.
Mrs. Hunt wouldn’t have blabbed about that day to the press. So, who was to blame for the article and the changed reputation?
Since Mrs. Hunt had given her statement as a witness to Thieving Crow, the investigators knew what had happened that day.
‘Whose doing is this?’
Holding my coffee mug, I glared at the officers chatting in small groups in the break room.
‘A $7 million ear.’
As I activated my skill, the conversations happening in the distant break room became clear.
“The Hunt family heir, haven’t seen them at the penthouse at all, right?”
What is this? They’re just having useless gossip.
“Maybe the Captain is the heir?”
“Hmm, then it makes sense that they never showed their face outside and weren’t at the penthouse.”
“But their surname is different from the Captain’s, isn’t it?”
The Captain’s name was Raven Hunt. The heir’s name was James Hunt III.
“Then maybe the Captain is at least from the same family?”
“But they didn’t seem to know Mrs. Hunt at all. Neither did the staff.”
“Not everyone with the surname Hunt is from that family.”
The conversation, which had been heating up, suddenly lost steam, and the officers moved on to another topic.
“Anyway, it’s a good thing, but it’s also disheartening and hurts our pride.”
Thieving Crow, after stealing the Scarlet Queen’s Heart, didn’t hesitate to commit another theft right away. That means they don’t fear the police at all.
Furthermore, it was more disheartening and frustrating that the old lady solved it alone, something hundreds of police officers couldn’t do.
“Defeating a phantom thief with just words.”
“Could they be in some sort of relationship with Thieving Crow? Perhaps……”
One officer paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and whispered.
“Maybe Mrs. Hunt herself is Thieving Crow.”
“Stop making up conspiracy theories.”
A rebuke immediately followed.
‘Ugh, you tax thieves.’
I turned off my skill and clicked my tongue. The so-called guardians of the people are receiving their salaries from the people, yet they’re gossiping about them.
‘There are no competent police officers.’
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this place was essentially a one-man band, with Inspector Hunt doing all the work.
‘That’s why Mrs. Hunt couldn’t trust the police.’
The thought of that story naturally resurfaced, and my mood sank.
‘This whole thing feels so unsettling.’
I needed to achieve the final mission quickly and wash my hands of this, which meant I had to level up.
‘Open Mission Window.’
Several missions appeared in a row. I sorted them by the reward of Notoriety Points, from highest to lowest, and opened them from the top.
I needed a big one to make up for the 100,000 lost Notoriety Points.
‘Oh, 500,000 points!’
But I gave up after seeing the mission objective.
Steal the movie star Elizabeth Sailor’s colossal diamond engagement ring.
I’m done with missions involving jewels with a story.
I opened the next mission.
‘A whopping 300,000 points. It’s more than enough to recover what I lost. A lot more. But what am I supposed to steal? A diamond?’
The moment I saw the name of the jewel, I almost clapped like a seal.
