Chapter 34 - Catching a Thief

Falma no Eremia, The Sword Saint. Rafal Sen Buran, The Titan. These names echoed in Nerun's and Sylvester's minds like spells and made their blood boil with excitement.

Time flew by as the three of them approached the inn and continued to talk about the enquiries Elijah had managed to make in the main square, but the truth was that no further progress had been made. They were only a few metres from the entrance of the inn when suddenly Nerun noticed a person walking vigilantly about 50 metres from them. Normally, such a situation would go unnoticed in an alleyway in the slums of Corona, but Nerun immediately touched Sylvester's arm and ran towards the person he had seen.

"It's the thief guy who got us into trouble," said Nerun, as he sped off in pursuit of the boy, who had just rounded a corner. Sylvester had only caught a partial glimpse of the thief, but he recognised the silhouette and also ran after Nerun. Elijah did not ask, but disappeared from where he was to support Nerun and Sylvester's "hunt".

At the same time, he was keen to meet this boy who had got his brothers into so much trouble, as well as to find out what it was that he had stolen from Sagat that was so valuable and made the Violent Tigers risk so much afterwards.

Ailan, the young petty thief, at the time, was quite happy and calm: 'I was able to escape from the Violent Tigers, hehehe. I'm going to get a good reward for this. Too bad for those guys, but oh well. Better luck in the next life.' thought the ingrate as he smiled stupidly to himself. He had lost his pursuers in the alleys of Corona, which he knew like the back of his hand. Then he had been making detours through the various alleys, and only when he was sure that no one was following him did he decide to return home and contact someone to show them the item he had obtained.

His happiness was short-lived, however, when he suddenly heard running footsteps behind him. As he turned around he saw a boy running at full speed towards him, with a rather angry look on his face, shouting "Thief, cheat, wait till I get my hands on you. How dare you involve us in your mess".

Ailan was stunned to see Nerun running towards him and without a second thought, he sped off in the opposite direction while shouting inwardly, 'How is it possible? How is it possible? Maybe they also ran away from Jackal's hands. But they were surrounded. Damn it, are they looking for me along with the mercenaries?'

The boy did not stop running with great agility and tried to lose Nerun in the back streets and alleys while remaining vigilant that no one else was chasing him. However, the thought of losing Nerun seemed little more than a beautiful dream. Nerun was equally agile, able to make sudden accelerations and follow him, even when Nerun did not know the alleys. It was as if Nerun was able to see every little clue he left so as not to lose sight of him, and indeed, that was what was happening, with Nerun using his Ocular Meridian, and being able to elucidate at great speed, where the thief was going, so that the distance between the two was getting shorter and shorter. Even as the chase extended over rooftops and into buildings, Ailan still sensed that if he stopped for even a moment, he would be hopelessly caught.

They made many turns in the slums, yet Nerun was jumping between the walls and getting closer and closer. At that moment Ailan realised that apart from Nerun it did not seem that anyone else was chasing him. If that was the case, perhaps it would be best to get rid of Nerun after all Ailan was much older than Nerun, bigger and although it certainly seemed that the brat was more agile and faster, not for a moment did he think that he could not beat a 6-year-old brat.

But Ailan had to stop in his tracks as he reached an intersection when on one side of the junction he saw a tall, lion-haired young man with eyes that looked at him as if he were prey. On the other side, he soon saw a fat boy, who was sweating profusely and panting for air, but who was looking at him with the same angry look as Nerun. He realised it was the other boy, the one he had tricked, and he had no doubt that if he ended up in his hands, perhaps a broken bone would be the least of his worries."You... getting me into all that trouble... making me run around so much... When I get my hands on you," Sylvester was saying between gasps.

While Ailan was not even a Qi Master, he was naturally gifted with incredible agility and speed, which he developed as much as he could in the slums of Corona. Also, his years of hardship in poverty taught him to spot danger, something that had saved his skin on more than one occasion. His instincts told him that the tall boy was far more dangerous even than Jackal and that he would soon be defeated if he went there. On the other hand, the fat boy looked exhausted and panting, but the strength he exuded with his body was such that he was sure he was a Qi Master. Apart from the fact that the Alley was narrow, the possibility of escape was quite improbable. This takes time to describe, but Ailan's thinking was quicker than a blinker, so he quickly made a decision and after leaping towards the wall, he used the rebound to quickly backpedal and face Nerun.

After all, there were no other pursuers behind Nerun, and he believed he could quickly defeat the lad and escape, or he could suddenly use the boy as a hostage and look for an opportunity later.

Nerun did not flinch when he saw the thief change direction and run towards him but paused to watch which path the thief would use to escape and be prepared for any contingency. Ailan, however, did not try to overtake Nerun, but headed straight for him at full speed, and wanted to attack him head-on. Nerun was surprised only for an instant but quickly calmed down when he understood the thief's intent. He couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself and immediately assumed the pose of the First Form of the Free Flowing Fist.

When Ailan approached Nerun, he charged towards him head-on with all his might. But Nerun used his front hand to grab his opponent's wrist with precision and using the thief's strength and inertia, he used it against him to make him lose his centre of balance and with the other hand he pressed on his enemy's chest making him fall to the ground with force, while with his knee on Ailan's stomach, he pinned him down.

Ailan was stunned. He did not understand how he had been defeated so easily, without even a hint of resistance. When Nerun grabbed him by the wrist, he felt his entire strength slipping away and as if Nerun was absorbing his strength and using it against him. "Let me go, we can work this out," he started to say, but it wasn't long before Elijah and Sylvester arrived, the latter red-faced and gasping from all the running he had done.

"I have told you repeatedly that you must lose weight, fatso. Look at you, you already look like a little piggy and we've barely had a little run," said Nerun mocking the fatty.

Sylvester was quick to reply, "What do you know, you little brat? I've been working out every day, but I don't lose weight no matter what I do. I'm still stronger than you and you better learn to respect me a little bit too."

"It's no use all that strength if you can't even catch me. We were lucky this fool didn't run to you, as exhausted as you are I'm sure he could have escaped," Nerun laughed. When Ailan heard Nerun's words, he felt his world spinning and he fainted. This child was possibly capable of making stones angry.

...

When Ailan woke up it was already dark. He was lying in a strange bed and did not recognise where he was. He tried to stand up but realised at that moment that he had a rope tied to his legs and hands. Beyond that, he was unharmed and no injury had been done to him. This did not reassure Ailan, however, and he was markedly fearful of what might happen to him, but he put up a façade of calmness and that he would die before he said anything at all.

It wasn't long before he suddenly heard the door creak. Turning to look at it, he saw an old man entering the room. It was a person dressed in rags, wearing a threadbare waistcoat, with several missing teeth and a look that made Ailan think he was stark naked before this person. He couldn't help but tremble, and began to scream and shout in fear as tears gushed from his eyes: "Please forgive me, please, I swear I don't know anything, I'll return the item. Please don't do anything to me, please don't use me for your macabre games, please".

Maikal stood dumbfounded at the boy's reaction and quickly spread his Qi in the room so that the boy's screams could not be heard. Elijah, Nerun and Silvester rushed into the room, and seeing Ailan crying with a desperate look on the bed while his bound hands protected his private parts, they couldn't help but give Maikal a quizzical look. He felt completely wronged by his "children" as he said "Don't you know me at all? I didn't do anything to the brat, I just came into the room and the kid started squealing."

Yet his words seemed only feeble excuses to Nerun and the rest, and they still looked at him as if they were just meeting him for the first time. Maikal couldn't help but twitch his lips, as he turned to the thief who was still shouting non-stop, and grabbing him by the shoulder he sat him on the bed, trying to calm him down, in his most soothing voice "Easy boy, nothing is going to happen to you. Come on, tell them I haven't done or said anything to you, we've barely even met."

Maikal tried to make a hint of a friendly smile, but Maikal's black, absent-toothed smile, as well as the alcoholic fetidness, made Ailan's fear go to a greater extreme and he started to scream louder "Please Mr Child-Taker, don't do anything to me, don't take me to your scary valley, buaaaaah".

Even Elijah began to feel strange when he saw Ailan's reaction and wondered if Maikal had in the past done some unspeakable thing in the Borderlands. What none of them knew was that in fact, among the Slum of Corona, there was a legend among the poor children, of a ragged old man with missing teeth who took children who misbehaved to torture and kill them. He was called Mr. Child-Taker and the adults used him to make the children behave and be obedient. In fact, the Legend had only started to circulate a few years ago, and Maikal didn't know it but it did have something to do with him. Some years ago Maikal had adopted several children who had been left homeless in the border towns to take them to the orphanage, and some of the people who heard about it, without knowing the background, decided to turn Maikal into an urban legend for their own children and other slum kids.

Maikal lost his patience and ended up giving the thief a hit in the back of the head "Shut up. You're throwing my reputation on the floor," he said.

Ailan almost bit his tongue from the blow, and was about to start crying again, when he saw Maikal's angry look and quieted down as he continued to whimper. Eventually, under Maikal's menacing gaze, as well as Elijah's effort to calm him down, he composed himself and began to examine his captors. At first, he thought they were associated with Jackal and the Violent Tigers, but soon realised that they were nowhere near. When he explained to Nerun and company why he had begun to cry inconsolably when he saw Maikal, he explained the legend of the Child-Taker, Maikal and Elijah did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Nerun ended up approaching Ailan and said to him as he looked out of the window as if looking out to the horizon for freedom: "What a trauma you have been through little brother, but I fear you were not mistaken. We had already been captured by the Child-Taker and now we are forced to do everything he orders us to do". But before Ailan could panic again, Maikal gave Nerun a big hit on the head and looked at him with an unfriendly face.

"Funny joker. When we get back I'll tell Maya you'll be in charge of cleaning the latrine for a month. Then it will be my turn to laugh" said Maikal.

Now it was Nerun's turn to be scared out of his wits, and Sylvester and Elijah began to laugh boisterously. Ailan calmed down and started to think that they were not going to hurt him, but he quickly started to get nervous and tremble again when the 4 stopped joking and turned to look at him in unison.

"Alright brother thief. I guess you had fun using Sylvester and me to help you escape, so let's just say you owe us one. What did you steal from Sagat to be chased like that?", Nerun asked, staring at Ailan.