Chapter 24: Venom
"Hyung, you-"
"Yoo Jin, don't interfere." Sungha narrowed his eyes at Yoo Jin, who was preparing to stop him.
"...Yes, hyung." Yoo Jin heard the change in Sungha's tone and obeyed.
In the end, Yoo Sungha was someone he would forsake his life for, whereas he had only met Aria for a day.
To him, he would be forever indebted to Sungha. There was nothing that could pay off this debt of his.
Although feeling dejected, he didn't pursue the matter and let his brother do what he wanted.
"Get out of this house." Sungha repeated. "Leave, and don't come back."
Aria's eyes narrowed. She was in no position to deny that request. The house was his. She was an outsider.
"...Is that so. Thank you for housing me for the night, then." Aria properly showed her gratitude and went towards the door without looking back.
The two did not come out of the house to check if she was still there.
Now outside the house, she debated on her next move.
She definitely needed a place to stay. As long as there was a solid place to lay down on, she could fall asleep.
Water magic took care of her thirst and sanitary needs.
Food was procured from wild fruits and hunted animals.
In short, she only needed a place where she could hunt, right?
Her first action was to come back to the city.
Her speed was optimized to be at the fastest rate. Traveling by feet, she reached a residence in minutes.
Several houses decorated the street, all with a similar design with only slight differences.
Jumping on top of a roof, something caught her eye.
There were clothes hung over a rack, exposed to the outside air to dry.
Nothing seemed to be protecting it.
It was a very enticing offer.
'...Surely no one would catch me, right?' Aria was attracted by the easy target.
She wanted clothes other than her current coat. It was roughed up from both Il-hoon wearing it and her previous battle with the Ogre. If she wanted to enter the society, she had to look presentable first.
At least to the point where she wouldn't stand out.
She quietly approached the rack with her agile body.
The owner of the house seemed to be a woman.
The hanged clothes suited Aria's style, so she set her mind on it.
"..Sorry but I will be stealing this," Aria took the clothes she picked off the hanger and stored it inside her coat.
Feeling bad, she used the same hanger clip and pinned one paper currency out of the total money Il-hoon gave her.
It was necessary to relieve her of the shame even if it was just by one bit.
She then saw another house. And another.
A thought rose.
'Should I...' Aria groaned.
A few minutes later, Aria had already 'visited' more than seven homes.
She continued to 'borrow' small things from everyone, one piece of clothing at a time. She managed to piece out a complete set of outfit.
A set of underwear, a top, a skirt, and a pair of boots.
"This is a bit embarrassing." Aria facepalmed, wondering how she managed to stoop this low.
However, dignity was no longer a prioritized thing inside Aria's mind.
Her money decreased as she kept leaving one bank note to each victim.
Sometimes, she also took fruits from nearby trees for food.
"Dianthe!" Aria called out the spirit, who readily appeared.
Shamelessly, Aria told the water spirit to hold her items.
Not long after, her coat was filled.
She knew it was time to stop.
She jumped off the roof and continued her travels.
Aria scoured the area for a place she could change in.
She found a cubicle where people of both genders frequently went in and out of.
It had two signs, a blue one and a pink one. Both looked very similar.
She saw that females only entered the pink cubicle, whereas males entered the blue one.
With just casual thinking, she was able to recognize that the public cubicle was meant to be a private place.
She waited for the perfect chance.
For the cubicle to not be entered by anybody else. So that she could freely commence her business without being seen.
Currently, she was unaware of the convenient thing named a 'surveillance camera'. It didn't need magic, and could operate on its own to record people.
The object was placed sporadically throughout the streets. One could even install their own security system to look out for thieves.
She didn't know that all of her actions would be caught on camera and filed as a crime, and that she would be listed down as a devious criminal.
Yet.
She lost to a security camera!
___
Blythe, real name Cha Jeong-in.
Hailed as a heroic figure by the masses, with a myriad of people trailed behind his back everyday.
From the people who shared the same values as him to the people who wanted to eradicate his annoying presence, his life was constantly put on the risk.
Just like today.
Blythe was standing alongside a woman that had more or less similar features to him. He looked quite normal, donned in a white suit with a golden insignia portraying a raging lion puncturing the cloth.
'How admirable.' Aria almost wanted to roll her eyes at the stupidity the 'Hero' had.
It was one thing if he knew he prevailed over everyone, as his life would not be that endangered even with numbers.
However, Aria, who could judge a person's strength just by taking a good glimpse at them, begged to differ.
'..Hold up. The woman behind him..' Aria narrowed her eyes as she masked her presence and blended with the crowd.
The woman behind Blythe made Aria's danger sensor tingle like crazy.
The next second, Aria widened her eyes.
Although she utilized no energy, the dangerous woman was still able to detect her presence.
The woman kept her amicable smile as she attended to the press by calming them down, but she had diverted her attention to seek for Aria, who had triggered her radar.
'She's bad news.' If Aria still had her original power, she would be fearless, but she couldn't afford betting her life with her current state.
Biting her lips, she knew that the other party was still trying to search for her even when she was fully intermingled with the crowd.
'I need to get out of here.' She thought.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone