Eternal Thief

The center of Runic Forge City was dominated by the colossal King’s Anvil Tower. At this moment, at the highest point of the tower’s spire, a tall middle-aged man with a sharp pair of eyes stood without any hint of worry about the strong winds or temperature.

From this highest spot of the tower, he can see the entire magnificent Runic Forge City, but his look was that of an admirer, but that of a cold hunter as if he wanted to capture prey.

Furthermore, his background and status were extraordinary because even a Runic Marquise would be executed if they were found standing above the King’s Anvil Tower, yet this man seems completely at ease.

After gazing at the city for a while, he looked down and with his excellent sight, he saw a massive crowd, and they all had murder written over their faces.

‘Sigh…’ A frustrated sigh escaped his mouth, and he shook his head before vanishing from the top of the spire and reappeared on the top floor of King Anvil’s Tower.

Three men with noble demeanors seemed to be waiting for this middle-aged man, and their expressions were somewhat grim.

The moment he appeared in the spacious hall, the two men quickly stood up from their seats, and with flurried looks, one of them asked, “Anything, your lordship?”

The middle-aged man who was being called the Lordship was the Runic Count Gavil Anvil of the Runic Forge City, also known by everyone as ‘Count Anvil.’ He was the Lord of this magnificent city, and his authority was higher than anyone else’s.

Only a Runic Duke ranked above a Runic Count within the Runic King Crown Palace, not to mention that Count Anvil wasn’t like other Runic Counts of the Palace. Even other Runic Counts must be respectful to him, and Runic Dukes must give him some face.

Count Anvil coldly glared at the three men, and they hurried to avert their eyes and look down with clear shame and humility, which were rare for them.

“I gave your three clans the highest authority in the Runic Forge City, and in return, all I expect from you is stability and prosperity of my city, since I can’t be bothered with those small matters. But what happened a few hours ago…”

Count Anvil released his spiritual pressure on the three clan leaders of the top three clans of the Runic Forge City, and instantly, their expressions paled as their knees caved in. They instantly fell to their knees and gasped for air.

These three clans weren’t simple at all, for they were all members of the Runic King Crown Palace, and these three clan leaders were actually Runic Marquises. But they were all under the authority of Count Anvil, and because of this, they enjoyed the resources and wealth of the Runic Forge City just like other Runic Cities and their authorities.

Nonetheless, this prosperity and wealth came with a price: keeping the cities in order and protecting the Count’s prestige and power at all costs. If they failed to do so, the Counts could deal with them without even bothering the Palace. This was the price for their wealth and status!

“I…I…we don’t really know what happened, your lordship!” one of the leaders with light blue skin and a bald head tried to explain.

“You don’t know?!” Count Anvil was instantly infuriated.

“Then let me enlighten you on what happened! Theft happened! Not just any theft of some random person or clan, but a theft of terrifying magnitude took place a few hours ago!

“12 out of 29 inns of the Inner Region of MY city were hit by theft! And I’m not talking about the inn’s personal wealth, NO, the people staying in it were all robbed of their belongings, including those trivial staff members. The hateful, vile thing didn’t even leave treasure clothes and left many people completely naked!

“To further add salt to the injuries, that hateful, vile thing even left its ‘marks’ on those victims’ bodies. The marks on the fingers are the least ‘sophisticated’, I’m talking about the marks on victims’ necks like some glorious symbols!

“Lastly, that hate vile thing even leaves behind his ‘name’ in most of them, and some even have ‘peculiar’ writings like ‘I only exist in Hearts, not in Reality…’! And guess what? Those marks are curses, they can’t be removed even if one cuts off their infected limbs!”

The more Count Anvil spoke about the reports he had received within these few hours, the more furious and agitated he became. At first, he couldn’t believe it and thought someone was pranking him, but only when those victims suddenly gathered outside King Anvil’s Tower and started a riot did he finally believe it.

However, the situation was both embarrassing and infuriating, and Count Anvil was afraid of showing his face because it was simply too humiliating, so he naturally summoned these three to settle things with them.

After all, those thefts happened within his city and in the inner region, which was called the most secure area of the city. They even collect extra fees to enter here and give access to only third-grade power, yet despite all of this, the theft still took place, and a huge one at that.

If there were only one or even a hundred victims, the Count might’ve compensated them, condemned the thief in public, and promised to seek justice for them. But the victims were over fourteen thousand, and they all belonged to third-grade powers—some of them were even high-ranking disciples!

Even if he was willing to compensate them, he didn’t dare because no one would honestly tell them how much or what kind of wealth they had, and they might try to rip him off.

So, this became the biggest scandal of Runic Forge City—in fact, it became the biggest scandal of the Runic King Crown Palace ever since its founding—and Count Anvil became the biggest laughingstock because of it!

After venting some anger, Count Anvil glared at those three with a hint of killing intent, “I’ll give three days! Search every nook and cranny of the Great Crown Domain, I don’t care who you have to offend or who stands in your way, I want any clue about this hateful, vile thing! Dig all the information about this hateful, vile thing, Sky Stealer!

“And deal with that crowd outside, I don’t care how you do it, but if that crowd still exists by the end of the day, I’ll make sure you and your clan won’t ever see the light of day!”