Petty Criminal

"The Carmesi: A sign of barbarism and bad luck. Ever the superstitious crowd, that is the many people of the world-- whenever this rare trait - children with crimson hair which identifies them as the rare race that is the Carmesi - is seen on someone, people become fearful and discriminatory because, as stated, it is a sign of barbarism and bad luck due to an old historical event in the past, where a tribe of Carmesi went on a war path causing the deaths of millions.

From then on people had looked at the Carmesi in a bad light, mainly because one of the most prolific criminals in the world known as the Demon Lord was a Carmesi themself."

- Head of Education, Nikolai Marinaise

******

"Are you Carmesi?" A ragged old man asked, resting their head on their fist, looking a young man in the eyes-- a crimson-haired young man with a black patch of hair on the nape of their neck, one long strand of red hair reaching his shoulder, a hanging earring on his ear, their peculiar eyes of amber color looking at the older man as if he was insane - His name was Diego.

Diego distanced themself from the old man, looking at him with a cautious gaze, "What do you want?"

The man had a curious gaze, looking down at Diego, head uptilt, "I'm just curious about your hair is all…" He paused, "What brought you here young man?"

Diego took a moment to answer, glancing into the elderly man's eyes, "It was a job."

"A job, where?"

Diego sighed, looking away to the distance, specifically at a bench just outside their cell, "I was a fall guy-- did it for money. Each job takes some cash off my debt."

"Someone so young such as yourself has debt?"

Diego grimaced, "Yeah… I guess," He sighed, scratching his inner thigh before turning back toward the old man. "I'm Diego."

"I am Spietzev… I come from Kirlaand."

"Hm…" They both became silent.

"Were you born in Haflastus?"

"Born in the slums."

"Family?"

"I don't know any other family than my Ma… she's gone now."

"Your father…?"

"Like I said."

"No… what happened? Where is your father, do you know anything at all?" Spietzev leaned toward Diego who took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"My father left us shortly after I was born…" Diego shook his head, "Other than that I don't know anything about the bastard." They sat in silence for a few seconds more before Diego turned to the man, "What about you? Why're you here?"

Spietzev contemplated for a moment, pressing his lips together, throwing his head back, hand on his chin, "Well~," He smirked, looking Diego directly in the eyes, "I see this place as a resting place."

"What?"

A knocking on the metal bars of their cell alerts Diego, "You're free to go," The Guard said, unlocking the cell, motioning to a disheveled breaded man with long black hair, adjusting his coat and baggy pants before looking up at Diego with a smirk.

Diego sighed, getting up, bowing to Spietzev, and leaving with the long-haired man. "C'mon kid," he motioned for Diego to follow him, which he did, staying a few steps behind them as they left the jail and into the bustling ragged streets of Haflastus's underground world, criminals, peasants, and slaves alike walking in different directions to each other, buying from sketchy merchants, or scamming, the rare normal deal happening now and again. It was a breath of fresh air for Diego, seeing normality taking place, his heart sinking, not letting it show once a juxtaposition occurred in front of him - a noble dragging a young girl by a collar, clearly excited by his haul by the wide smirk on his face.

"We found something," The long-haired man spoke - Logan Haus, "Wanna know what it is?"

"What?"

Logan glanced at Diego, "We searched your place," Diego almost stopped for a moment, quickly moving back into a walking pace behind Logan, "Found some interesting things."

"Why did you do that?"

"I thought it odd that you decided to do a normal job, one in a Noble's Mansion," Diego's expression grew grim, glaring at Logan, "Were you plannin' on doin' all that by yourself?"

"I wanted what was in the treasury to pay off my debt."

"You can't keep doing jobs like that… especially without us knowing," The air grew cold, his voice becoming stern. "We almost thought you were colluding with someone… like the authorities for example."

"They don't touch you guys."

Logan chuckled, "You don't know anything. Of course, they touch us, it's just the simple guards who don't do jack," Logan paused, "Why would they?"

"Well, I wasn't."

"But, while under our watch, you still did jobs, illegal jobs, without our knowledge." There was a moment of silence between the two, walking for a solid minute before Logan continued, "How much did you make? In total."

Diego ran his tongue across his molars, looking off to the side, observing passersby, "In total, not counting the cash given to you guys…" Diego paused, "300 jules."

"Hoh~? Pretty good, partner."

"Why did you- why did you mention the mansion earlier?"

"You were planning on stealing from there, yeah?"

Diego hesitated, "Y-Yes."

"Well, we planned on doing that as well, and once we figured out you've been there," Logan turned to Diego, stopping, "You know the rest."

"Are-Are you…? What are you planning?"

"There is something that you missed there- no, rather you didn't care for it."

"What would that be?"

Logan smirked, "That'll be explained once we gather our crew."

"Can…" Diego sighed, "C-Can I participate?"

Logan burst out laughing, "No shit! Of course, we wouldn't have gotten the blueprints for the place if it weren't for you!"

"W-well… you broke into my place."

"Doesn't change the fact that this was originally something you found-- a job that you practically created."

"This job…"

"If we get through this job, your debts will be cleared."

"W-wait, is the job that big?" Diego took a couple of steps back, "I don't remember anything being that significant, what type of heist is this?"

"Something that can change lives, Diego."

Diego swallowed a pool of saliva, "O-Okay… who is the team?"

A group all sat in a small room, waiting for someone to arrive. Diego was sat in one of the corners, legs crossed, looking at them, specifically paying attention to Spietzev.

"You…"

Spietzev noticed Diego, chuckling, "Hello there."

"Spietzev…"

"Sorry, that isn't my real name-- but I am from Kirlaand."

"What's your real name then?"

"Yokev," Diego looked doubtful, "I swear it, alright?"

"Shouldn't say real names, even if they're fellow people, also, humoring that Carmesi brat?" The young man shook his head, "Couldn't be me." Chazen, not too far in age from Diego, being 22 years old - his short black hair is parted to the side, looking to be of Shihon origin, wearing his equipment at all times over thick leather garments. "By the Lords, where is Logan!" Chazen clicked his tongue, "Being stuck in a room--" He glanced to Diego, "Fillin' this fucking place up with the stink of bad luck."

A woman sitting next to Logan, twirling her hair around with one finger, looking at Diego, "If it weren't for his red hair I'd think he'd be a good candidate for my future harem."

"Big dreams there girly."

The woman's name is Fia-- long black hair reaching her shoulders, and deep caramel skin contrasting the bright colors of her outfit. "I hope this job is good, had to leave the club because of this." A cabaret club - a popular one in the slums - one she regularly works at, considered the most popular girl there.

Logan barged into the room, a big dumb smile on his face, passing by everyone over to the front, placing down a large dusty projector onto the table. They looked at it curiously, the only one in the room to have ever seen one before was Yokev.

"What is that?" Chazen asked.

Logan tapped the machine, "New tech," Logan moved out of the way placing Diego's blueprint into the machine, light quickly being projected onto the wall behind him.

"Oh, shit." Chazen looked impressed.

Fia pointed at the screen, waving her finger, "I-I… hmm, mayhaps I've seen something similar?"

"What's that blueprint?" Chazen pointed.

Logan tapped the wall, "This right here is a blueprint of the Romangers Household-- the same ones hosting a celebration in 3 days."

"Okay… so…? What's the big deal? You made the recruitment seem urgent." Chazen leaned into his chair.

"Indeed it is," Logan scanned the room, "In my eyes, you guys are the best we got,"

"The old man?"

"He's a very prolific thief."

"What about good 'ole redhead over there?"

"Diego has shown incredible consistency, it's just that he did it all in secret," Logan tapped the table a few times, "Now… why do you think this job is as it is?" The room fell silent.

"I know heists are big but…"

"Take a guess-- what is the most valuable thing you can think of?"

"Uh… Gold?"

Fia smacked Chazen on the arm, "Dumbass, it's obvious that it'd be some sort of artifact!" Fia paused, "I can't imagine an artifact though being… Logan, what is it!? You're really hyping this up!"

"It's something none of you would ever expect," Logan smirked

Diego grimaced, "Is it…?"

"What do you think it is?"

"There was something I found, it looked all rusted and bad-- it was planted in a tree. I looked at it and it had engravings in the blades-- a trident."

"Yep, and what do you think that Trident is?"

Fia butted in, "Quit it with the teacher bullshit! Just tell us!"

"The Boss wants us to steal that Trident, and that Trident is none other than a real bonafide Mantra Blade!"

"Oi! Oi! Ain't that dangerous!?" Chazen shouted, standing up from his seat, hands gripping the table.

"There are a lot of risks involved, which is why the pay is very high," Logan made an "ok" symbol with their hand, "20 Dias-- that's how much we're all getting for this job-- enough for a lot of you to become nobles," Logan looked at Diego, "And enough to pay some debts." Logan smiled, looking at the full group, "Are you guys down?"

Chazen snickered, tapping the table, leaning on it with one arm, "I'm 100% down."

Diego sighed, "I don't have a choice."

Fia smirked, "How difficult can it be?" She paused, realizing something, "Wait, when are we doing this? Wouldn't there be a lot of people otherwise? We planning on killing a bunch?"

"No, this is happening during a party, so we only have guards to deal with." Fia nodded, not saying any more.

Yokev raised his hand, "I'm ready any day."

Logan nodded enthusiastically, "Good…" Logan showed a content expression, closing his eyes before looking back up at the group, "We'll meet here," Logan spun around, putting another blueprint into the projector showing a larger version of Diego's blueprint.

"When did you do that?" Diego mumbled, leaning to the side.

"It's not very well known, very minimal guards as Diego had mentioned though he didn't put in where specifically our group would have to meet up since… he wasn't originally going to let anyone else in on the plan."

"You keep saying this like it's some sort of cardinal fucking sin, Logan." Diego spat sternly, arms crossed, glaring at Logan.

"Getting too big for your boots there, Diego?"

Diego clicked his tongue, and turned his head away from Logan, backing off.

Diego sat a few inches away from his desk, a dim lamplight hanging from the ceiling making the various tools and trinkets visible in the dark. Diego held his chin with one hand, contemplating what else he should bring, standing up and moving to the first floor of his home, grabbing a long knife from the wall, lowering himself to the ground near a cabinet, grabbing another blade, a smaller knife, but of practically the same type as his long knife.

Diego made his way back upstairs, grabbing his bag and placing the various picks and trinkets into it, closing it, taking the long blade and placing it into a sheathe, another one in a smaller sheathe strapped to the ankle of one of his boots.

He turned toward his closet, putting on an all-black outfit with various straps and belts placed on his person, quickly taking it off again, back on again, seeing how quickly he could do it until finally reaching an optimal speed. He practiced with the blades, lockpicks, and the like, making sure he would make as few mistakes as possible.

He was scared-- more people led to getting caught faster - they're more visible. He was fine if it was just him. He knew every path he could take to completely avoid detection-- it was the same path they were going to take in fact but it becomes a much harder path the more people there are.

He has to do this though… it's his only way out.