Stealing for the dead

Three days of staying at home was nothing much for Claud, although he wished that the same could be said for the murderers outside. Fortunately, Claud had enough presence of mind to take a good long nap during the last night, or else he would have to leave Pletsville with bloodshot eyes and dark eyebags.

Such a sight would make anyone who saw him suspicious, to say the least.

Stowing all his preparations into the various pockets sewn into his cloak, Claud got up from this bed. The various bags of herbs that the innkeeper had gotten for him were hanging off his belt, but there were now small holes poked into them. Two days ago, news that the Empire's Spellhound Unit was activated had seeped into the city; those herbs would help muddy the waters by confusing their incredibly acute sense of smell.

Getting up from his bed, Claud gripped the room's key in his hand and made his way out of the inn.

"I hope you enjoyed your stay," said the innkeeper, catching the key that Claud tossed over. "Come back again!"

"If the Moons will it, I will." Claud inclined his head. "May the Moons' light fall on your entrance."

"And the same to you!"

Waving goodbye, Claud walked out of the inn. The madness that had gripped the town for the past three days had subsided. The bodies hanging off the stakes, however, were still there, festering and rotting away. Claud stared at them for a moment, and shook his head. This was an apt representation of how the Dukedom of Istrel treated the unfortunate and the poor; cruel down to the very bones.

Was it his fault? Claud couldn't be sure, but he knew that the biggest culprit of all was Emperor Grandis himself, who had fanned the ongoing flames to incredible heights. He didn't need to visit the other towns to know that similar sights had taken place there; the presence of soldiers here implied an official, concerted effort to seek out the "culprit" behind Ruler Umbra's death…all for the sake of the emperor's astronomical reward.

'I'll go and burgle your treasury one day, Emperor Grandis. Mark my words.' Making a little vow, Claud headed towards the impromptu camp the soldiers had set up. It wasn't all that hard to find, and within minutes, he was at the outskirts of the camp, where a huge group of people had gathered at.

This disorderly mob, who were still holding on to nets and sticks, were precisely the ones responsible for the mass lynchings against outsiders for the past three days, and from the looks of it, their performance had pleased the soldiers, who were now recruiting from their number.

'I wonder what these murderers would do if a fire burned down their warehouse…let's find out, shall we?' His eyes alight with a cold glint, Claud tore up a skillslip that contained Presence Nullification, stored the pieces into a pocket, and hopped over the fence.

For the next thirty minutes, he would be a ghost to everyone else. Even an amateur would be able to do as he pleased, let alone a master thief like him. His eyes alight with a faint light, he surveyed the camp and found his target immediately.

Making his way to the centremost tent, which was the largest mushroom tent in the area, Claud entered its premises, and struck gold immediately. A small pile of lifestones — low purity ones, to be sure — were sitting on the mahogany folding table set in its centre. They were sorted according to size, with the largest one the size of his fist.

Four guards lazed around the circumference of the tent; their eyes glazed over from fatigue. It was the perfect setup for Claud; under the effects of Presence Nullification, the lifestones would seem to vanish under their very eyes. The first one to notice would blame the others, and in the end, their disappearance would be an internal affair.

'Hmmm…for insurance's sake, though...' Claud moved over to a rather nice stack of skillslips, which were bundled up nicely. Occasionally, one of the sentries would glance at the huge stack of skillslips, for the obvious reason that filching one or two would be an act that no one would notice or care about. By the looks of it, before their sentry shift was over, eight skillslips or so would be gone from the stack,

'Well then, let me give you a hand.' Reaching into his pocket, Claud produced a small grey ball. It was a tool that his colleagues would call a delayed arsonist; the ball would ignite five minutes after activation. Removing one half of the grey shell to reveal a thick bundle of smokekush, a plant that was highly flammable, Claud pressed down on the red button in the very centre, before stuffing the whole thing into the bottom of the skillslip stack.

Making his way to the lifestones, Claud grabbed the six largest lifestones, before making his way out of the tent. Crossing over the fence, he made a beeline to the town's gates.

There was still twenty minutes left for Presence Nullification's effect, and as he walked through the gates boldly, the town bell began to ring. The giant town doors closed on their own automatically, but they were just a moment too late.

Claud looked at his spoils of war and grinned. He had secured six lifestones, fully formed. Although none of them were pure-ranked ones, Claud wasn't a particularly picky eater. Lifestones that weren't pure in quality had a diminishing effect the more one used them, but Claud hadn't used that many of them to begin with.

Keeping the five smaller lifestones into his pocket, Claud eyed the biggest lifestone he'd taken from the camp. It was the size of a baby's fist, which would definitely give him at least fifteen years of lifespan. Since it was too big to hide properly, Claud popped it into his mouth on the spot.

The effects were immediate. Claud shivered as a burst of pure energy ran through his body, sinking right into the depths of his bones. The stream of joyful life erupted outwards from his bones a moment later, coursing through his veins and rejuvenating everything in its way.

'Man, I could do this all day, and it'll still be as thrilling as the first time I tried it. What's my lifespan now? A hundred and fifty years? Let me check…'

A small screen appeared in his vision, and he grinned. His current lifespan was now a total of 154 years. A few years had been lost due to the impurity of the lifestone, but this was still a great thing. Grinning dumbly, Claud patted himself on the back — this was, in many respects, a rather unexpected harvest for him today.

Truly, good deeds were rewarded richly.

Shaking his head, his smile faded as he looked at the steady column of smoke that was rising from the camp. The town had done a good job; the gates were closed the moment the fire was started, and the rising smoke was largely kept to one area, indicating that the blaze was already under control.

For now, this was the most he could do for the ones who lost their lives due to Ruler Umbra's murder, which was then pinned on him unjustly. He wasn't relying on the flames, no. Rather, he was relying on people discovering that the largest lifestones had gone missing.

The lifestones were definitely meant for someone higher up in the chain of command; by only taking these five, the investigators of this arson plus theft incident were more likely to think that this was an internal theft, someone making use of the fire to steal them. It was almost a given that this particular company of soldiers would be punished, along with the crowd that they were recruiting from.

The latter, in fact, was even more suspicious. Such a thing happened just as the company was recruiting. The new recruits — which were probably prisoners by now — would have nothing but a grim fate left. Those hyenas would be killed for the very same reason they used to lynch other people: as a performance.

It was the least Claud could do.

Shaking his head, he took out a skillstrip for Flight, and tore it into two. Stuffing the torn pieces into his pocket — they would be burned to ash later — he took to the skies, ascending rapidly. Staring down at the impoverished town of cruel folk, Claud snorted and made a mental note to never come back.

"I should go back first," Claud murmured. "Gotta get more supplies. And then I'll come for you again, Duke of Istrel. Wash your treasury and display your centrepieces. Master Thief Claud Primus is coming for you."

As he left Pletsville, serenaded by the town bells, he flew above a second company of troops that was headed towards Pletsville.

Blue dogs were leading the pack.