Chapter 11
“…….”
“Now you know why I hate the police.”
Saying that, the lady drained a third glass of brandy.
“Because of them I spent nearly twenty years searching the whole city, the whole country.”
Brandy was poured into the empty glass again.
“At first I thought I would find a living child, but later my goal changed to finding a corpse — no, even just proof that they were dead. I thought if I could do that, I might be able to escape this endless hell.”
Where could the missing heir be?
That was the headline of the article I had read.
The vanished heir of House Hunt in this world was like Princess Anastasia in the world I used to live in.
Every conspiracy theory and every impostor claiming to be the heir sprang up, and the press pounced on it like a pack of starving dogs.
What was a fascinating story to others must have been torment for the lady.
“This story is half a sad ending, half a happy one.”
As she said it, the old woman’s smile was only half there.
“The son and his wife couldn’t return — that’s the sad ending. But in the end I found my grandson — that’s the happy ending.”
A few months after I arrived here, I read an article saying the lost heir had returned.
Fake. Real. I remember there was so much talk.
People clucked and said the lady had gone mad searching for her grandson, or that she had dementia and been fooled by a con into giving House Hunt away.
But seeing her in person today, I understood. All of that was nonsense.
The old woman’s clear, unyielding eyes — so steady you’d think you couldn’t draw blood from them with a knife — conveyed the pain she’d endured as if it were happening now.
“My grandson carries many wounds. He went through horrific things. But he thinks it’s his fault. It seems he plans to live his life paying penance like a prisoner.”
I had heard that the heir never showed his face anywhere and kept to himself — now I knew why.
“So he takes no interest in women, and he doesn’t seem likely to marry, so this necklace has lost its purpose.”
Lady Hunt lifted the box up. The jewels glittered in the pouring light.
“This should never have been returned. I can’t even bear the sight of this necklace.”
That brilliant light now looked to me like tears.
“Here.”
The lady closed the box and set it at her feet.
“Take it — steal it.”
“……”
“You must have a reason to have to steal this, right?”
It was there, and now it was gone.
[Steal Lady Doris Hunt’s Sorrow!]
Objective: Steal the emerald necklace of Lady Doris Hunt, who lives in the penthouse of Hunt Tower.
I couldn’t just pass by because it was an emerald necklace. It might even have been the lost ruby necklace.
‘Wouldn’t it be good to steal sorrow?’
That was the simple thought I had — before I knew what sorrow really was.
What I received from Gemma were things like beauty, courage, intelligence, pride, and confidence — just traits assigned to my character.
Which 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, I would lose 100,000 Infamy Points I had worked so hard to collect.
I would be that much farther from the perks of the final level, from the hints for the ultimate mission, from the end of this ordeal.
I hesitated for a moment, then made up my mind.
“I’m truly sorry. Please forgive me…”
Leaving those last words to the old woman, I turned and leapt out the window.
As I soared into the sky and opened my umbrella, my eyes met Hunt’s, who was staring out the window.
At that moment, a message appeared before me:
[Mission Failed! 100,000 Infamy Points deducted.]
For the first time in ten years of living as a thief, I gave up on stealing.
* * *
A beautiful phantom thief who stole the Scarlet Queen’s heart turns out to have a warm heart herself?
Two days later, I sat at my office desk, frowning at the morning paper’s headline.
[The Molione Family respects you.]
[The Tuna Dismantling Gang looks down on you.]
As expected, affinity messages began pouring in.
[Your fan club “If it Sparkles It’s Miiiiine!” has gained 398 members in the past 24 hours.]
Because I gave up the jewel tied to the old lady’s heartbreaking story, my reputation among the citizens skyrocketed.
[The Eden City Government expresses its embarrassment.]
The government seemed troubled by my rising popularity with the citizens.
But I didn’t feel particularly pleased by it. After all, I didn’t get the bonus Infamy Points.
—The tragic tale contained in the Hunt family’s emerald necklace!
Praise from all sectors for Lady Doris Hunt’s courage — rumors of dementia and madness rapidly lose strength.
When I turned the page and saw the special feature article, I frowned even deeper.
Lady Hunt would never have blabbed to the press about what happened that day. Then whose fault was it that the story got out and my reputation changed?
Since Lady Hunt testified as a witness to the phantom thief Raven, the investigators already knew what had happened that day.
‘Whose doing is this?’
Holding a coffee mug in hand, I cast a sidelong glare at the officers chatting idly in the break room.
‘Seven-Million-Dollar Ears.’
When I activated the skill, their distant conversation came through crystal clear.
“Didn’t the Hunt heir never show up in the penthouse?”
What the—seriously? Just pointless gossip.
“Could it be the Captain himself is the heir?”
“Hm. In that case, it does make sense that he never shows himself outside and wasn’t even in that penthouse.”
“But their names are different, aren’t they?”
The captain’s name was Raven Hunt.
The heir’s name was James Hunt III.
“Then maybe at least the Captain is of the same family?”
“But he didn’t seem to know Lady Hunt at all. The servants didn’t either.”
“Just because someone has the surname Hunt doesn’t mean they belong to that family.”
The topic fizzled out with a hiss like steam escaping, and the officers jumped to another subject.
“Still, it’s frustrating. Good thing, but it stings our pride too.”
The phantom crow thief had stolen the Scarlet Queen’s Heart, then brazenly pulled off another heist right after. That meant he had no fear of the police whatsoever.
And to make matters worse, something that hundreds of police officers couldn’t solve, the old lady had handled alone. No wonder they felt both humiliated and deflated.
“Can you believe it—defeated the phantom thief with just words.”
“Maybe she has some sort of secret connection with Raven? Perhaps…”
One officer paused dramatically, then lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“What if Lady Hunt herself is the phantom thief Raven?”
“Cut it out with the conspiracy theories.”
A rebuke came flying back immediately.
‘Ugh, you tax-wasting fools.’
Clicking my tongue, I shut off the skill. These so-called guardians of the people were squandering the wages paid to them by the people, gossiping behind their backs.
‘There isn’t a single competent cop here.’
Honestly, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say Inspector Hunt was basically a one-man band keeping everything running.
‘No wonder Lady Hunt never trusted the police.’
As that story came back to me, my mood sank again.
‘This whole thing leaves such a bad taste.’
I had to finish the final mission and get out while I still could. And to do that, I needed to level up.
‘Open mission window.’
A flood of missions appeared. I sorted them by the Infamy Point rewards, highest first, and started checking from the top.
I needed a big job, one that could make up for the 100,000 Infamy Points I’d lost.
‘Oh, 500,000 points!’
But once I saw the mission target, I gave up immediately.
Steal actress Elizabeth Saylor’s gigantic diamond engagement ring?
No thanks. I was done with stealing jewels with tragic backstories.
I opened the next mission.
‘Whoa, 300,000 points. That more than makes up for what I lost. Way more. But what do they want me to steal? A diamond?’
The moment I saw the jewel’s name, I almost clapped like a seal.
