Master Thief

Sighing somewhat with regret, he didn't feel any accomplishment from uncovering a sultan's hidden offspring. Originally, he would have found this secret thrilling to unveil. Much to his dismay, it only made him feel guilty. Another side effect of his soul's growth, no doubt.

At the sight of the siblings breaking down into tears, he actually felt bad. Taken out of context, it seemed he bullied them even worse than Luca had. Despite learning a lot of things from Muchen's memories, his EQ wasn't very advanced and he had no idea how to soothe them or make amends. At the end of the day, he was still an orphan child himself.

"Well, now that the cat's out of the bag… Why don't you tell me everything? Perhaps I could even help a little."

Having covered the grave, the group was already making their way back, with Leonardo still in the lead rambling on and on as the children reacted with silence.

"As far as I'm guessing, you three are just children caught off in a dispute among your uncles, right? Royal thrones are always a bloody affair, be it among christians, muslims or buddhists.

"That said, it's not as if you lost everything. For one, you're still alive. Secondly, no matter how much danger your status brings you, there are positives too.

"Your education, for example. I can tell that you're all well-read; especially you, little princess. Your latin and tunisian proficiency could be put to good use in Malta, you just don't know it yet.

"I can only imagine you earn your livelihood through begging? Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's really wasteful. Not to mention you're foreigners and fewer people take sympathy on you, there's way too many urchins in Valetta for your plight to make a splash.

"Have you considered pickpocketting? Oh— you did? Didn't go well for you either, did it? This little boy here had it worse, with his hands broken entirely. Sigh, if it weren't for this here good Samaritan helping patch him up, he might have been welcoming Luca at the underworld gates by now."

Despite trying to lighten the mood with a joke, it fell flat and even Fino joined the trio in sulking.

"What you lot don't realize is that pickpocketing takes more than just bumping into people and robbing them clean. It isn't at all about being swift or courageous. On the contrary, one needs wits above all.

"Observation, premade plans and escape routes, cooperation and task distribution. All of these cannot be lacking. Skills can be easily trained over time, but organization is essential.

"Take you three for example. You could have teamed up. Princess can pick the targets since she's clearly the smartest, the short runt can 'incidentally' get bumped into. With practiced hands, he snips the pouch. But, instead of breaking into a sprint that basically screams he stole something, he passes the pouch to his brother who just so happens to pass by. He then apologizes to the big mister despite not being at fault."

Letting the scene play out in their imagination, he then grinned.

"Of course, chances are the target realizes his pouch is gone by now. He grabs you by the throat and is about to beat you up, but the sister comes in and pleads for the brother's innocence. 'Look, mister, your pouch is not on him. Clearly, he is not at fault. Now that we apologized, please have mercy and let us go, lest we call the guards.' And so, by the time you two beg, the brother with the pouch has long since made his getaway.

"The most important part about thievery is public opinion. If you can sway the crowd into thinking you're innocent, no matter how guilty the target thinks you are — if they lack evidence, you are unlikely to be beaten too much.

"Of course, in the event the actual thief is caught in the act, the group could act too. An elephant can be bitten to death by too many ants, and you're no ants, are you? A well timed shove can free your brother and together you can escape.

"Naturally, you would need to practice, prepare the getaway routes in advance, and stick to a few busy streets you know like the back of your hand. Only then will you be safe. Just don't get recognized, because once you do… the public is against you, and they abhor thieves irrespective of age or gender."

Turning around with a proud grin, Leonardo assessed his students with expectation, only to deflate upon realizing just how dim their auras looked.

"You got it, right?"

Outright abandoning hope for the two brothers, his eyes shone as he looked at the princess. Yet, she too seemed dismayed despite the simplicity of his lesson. For a moment, he wasn't even sure they paid attention to his rant.

'I be damned.' Groaning at his wasted time and breath, Leonardo was all but ready to give up on turning them into modern pickpockets.

"I got it!" — A sudden unexpected intrusion, coming from none other than the timid Fino.

"Ah, little thief, I knew you had it in you!"

Beaming proudly at his latent pupil, Leonardo puffed up his chest then drew the boy over, slinging an arm over his shoulder as he continued to corrupt him.

"In truth, the most important thing a thief can grasp isn't the gold tari."

Pausing dramatically while giving the royals a look of disdain they could perceive even in darkness, he continued, "It's information."

"Well-grasped information can weigh much more than any pouch carried around. Knowing whom to steal from, where to fence it, when it is fine to sell and when it's better to starve even if you hoard goods, all of this is pivotal to being a thief.

"If the local thieves were to unite, the sight of urchins being caught and beaten every other week would surely disappear. There's strength in unity. Whereas someone is faster on his feet, another is nimbler with his hands. Someone else might be better at negotiation with fences than picking potential targets. These aspects can be supplemented by others until a cohesive hand is formed.

"Naturally, distribution of loot is something you can't get past easily in this situation, and that's why none of these groups can truly last.

"The royals here, being siblings, could totally pull it off. Alas, they're too—"

As if to prove him wrong, the girl interrupted the insulting mockery he thought of before he could get it out. Her prior fear seemed to all but vanish, and she enunciated with clarity and previously untapped determination.

"My name is Sana Al Bejaia. Please, teach me everything!"