Chapter 32: Chapter XXXII - The 'Heist'
Under the cover of darkness, North and I watch quietly as an inconspicuous cart of crates was stopped and unloaded near the storehouses on the outskirts of the town, exactly where the message Hotaru sent us shortly before said it would be.
The driver unhooks the cart from his horse, before engaging in a hushed exchange with another man dressed in white armor- bearing the royal seal of arms.
"...What is a knight from the king's army doing here?" I whispered as quietly as I could, trying to make out the words of their conversation without leaning into the bushes too much or accidentally snap a twig.
"It's not like it's unusual for the royal shield to pass shipments through here- this is the only town between one of the major trade routes from our neighboring country to the capital, " North replied, lowering his voice to a whisper as well.
After a seemingly heated discussion, the knight drops a small pouch into the other man's hand, who seemed surprised for a moment, before nodding briskly and shakes hands before jumping back onto his horse, riding away.
"So, what are we looking for again?" I asked North, watching as the knight moves to stand beside the cargo, his spear glinting menacingly under the lantern.
"'A small square chest, bound by two chains.' Is what the message said," said North, "With a lock of silver."
"There. In the second crate from the right." I said, pointing to the bright glint of the silver metal between the planks of woods lining the crate, catching a stream of moonlight in the darkness of the early night.
The knight pulls out a pocket watch from his pocket every few moments, visibly anxious about something. He keeps pacing back and forth but never trailing far from the cargo.
"We need to distract him...pretend you're a vicious monster maybe, brother..?" I suggested, "Or a ghost?"
North gives me an incredulous look, "That's ridiculous. There's no way I will be able to pass it off as real." He gestures to me, "...How about you pretend you're lost? Since you're a girl he might be more willing to help."
I frown, "...No."
"Do you have a better idea then?"
I give him a small smirk, "I do. Just watch."
I quietly move out of our hiding place just as the knight's back was turned, walking up to him with a few quick strides and just as he starts to turn around- With all my strength, I swiftly deliver a blow with the hilt of my dagger to an exposed point on his neck.
"-!? Aghhh..." He sways unsteadily for a moment, before falling over, unconscious.
"Raven! I hope you didn't kill him!" North emerges from the bushes, quickly rushing to check the knight's pulse.
I shrug lightly, "Relax, he's not dead. Hits to pressure points aren't fatal...for most."
North sighs, standing up, "There could have been a less...brutal, way to do it."
"All he will have is a little bruise. Besides, we should hurry. No amount of theatrics can save you if another one comes and discovers the situation." I locate the crate with what we're looking for, attempting to pry the top off with my blade, to no prevail.
"You're going to deform the dagger if you keep doing that, I got it," North draws his sword from his belt, and I can already smell the ozone in the air as he jams the relatively thin blade between the top of the crate and the body. I can see little white arcs drawn from the air and to the sword- with the heat of the electric current, he cleanly slices through all of the nails keeping it held together. By the end of it, the smell of burnt wood tinged the air as the magic seeps back out from his blade.
"I honestly didn't even know I could use it like that," North commented, examining the edge of his sword, "I guess I didn't realize I can use my magic like that till now."
"Uh-huh," I take the wooden chest from the crate, then placing the wood back into place, hopefully to delay the time they will find out that a semi significant piece of cargo is missing from the pile.
Just then, my hand brushes against the front of the box, and an almost too familiar jolt runs all the way up my spine, making me freeze in place. For a second, I thought I heard the whisper of wind again with the brief whistle of leaves in my ear-
'...fr..Ee..'
"...The more you know I suppose..sister? Something wrong?"
"..Huh? Oh, nothing," I shake my head, getting over the sudden stillness in the night, and pushing aside a strange feeling of eerieness that I couldn't place, "Let's get this to Hotaru before anyone comes looking for it, we still have some business to complete now."
North stares at me for a skeptical moment, then nods, "...Of course."
We make it to the back of the cafe-where Hotaru instructed us to wait- with no further trouble, which surprised me. Something always seems to go wrong on missions like these, but I wouldn't want to jinx it now. Though, something to note, the metal rimming on the chest was almost freezing cold, despite being in the heat of my hands.
While I pondered, something scurries over my feet, catching me off guard-
"Ah!" I jump, dropping the chest in surprise, and it clatters to the pavement with a loud snap! of metal.
"Eep?" A ferret-like creature looks back once, and then darts off around the corner.
North turns around, hand already reaching to the hilt of his sword, "What happened? You alright sister?"
I look down at the now opened chest laying my feet, the two chains holding it closed having been broken by the fall, probably combined with the brittleness caused by how oddly cold it was.
A broken piece of a crystal, as pitch-black as midnight had fallen out of the chest, now pulsing with a dim- almost ethereal glow in the faint darkness.
"What...is that?" North said, looking suspiciously at the crystal, his hand still gripping his sword,"I can feel...corruption, radiating from it. For all we know, it's dangerous."
I kneel to look at it more closely, and a feeling of pressing coldness spikes in my pants pocket, I reach into them to pull out the shard I had picked up, again surprisingly frigid as I pulled it out of my pocket to put into my palm.
The crystal seems to respond to the shard's presence, glowing brighter- and the shard seems to pulse with the same light, growing even colder that I thought I could have been holding ice. I ignore it and move it closer to the crystal, where both start to shine even brighter.
"CAW!"
A sudden blur of black feathers dives in front of me, managing to snatch up the crystal in its talons before speeding away in flight.
I stand, squinting to see which direction the bird flew. I spot the pulsating glow of the crystal, even among the backdrop of stars in the night, steadily becoming further and further away as it was carried through the sky.
"...So a damn crow saw a shiny and took the shiny...thing, what do we do now?" North said, his eyes still a little wide with surprise.
I keep my eyes trained on the glow of the crystal, and the small winged splotch, clenching my fist, "..The one thing we should do- I'm going after it."
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone