Journey to Become the Zenith

The Thief’s Broken Act

She clasped it tightly with both hands, her fingers trembling around Videl’s palm.

”Please...”

The woman’s voice was soft and frightened, almost fragile enough to break beneath the weight of the word.

Videl felt the trembling in her fingers.

For a moment, she simply stared down at their joined hands.

The woman’s grip was surprisingly strong for someone who appeared so terrified. Her breathing came quickly, her shoulders rising and falling beneath the tension. She kept close to Videl, almost pressing herself against her back as though the two men standing before them were monsters waiting to devour her.

But Videl had learned something during these past few days.

Fear did not always mean innocence.

And desperation did not always mean truth.

Her instincts quietly sharpened.

Something wasn’t right.

But what?

She didn’t know but she found quickly.

Videl’s sapphire eyes narrowed slightly.

Behind her, Aria had been watching the entire exchange.

The moment she heard the woman’s desperate plea, something inside her snapped.

A dark murderous aura slowly began leaking from her body.

Her hand instinctively moved toward the sword at her waist.

Those two men had threatened someone who had come to Videl for help.

That alone was enough to irritate her.

Aria took one step forward.

Then Videl glanced back.

It was only a look.

Nothing more.

Yet Aria immediately understood.

Don’t act.

Aria’s fingers paused above her weapon.

She reluctantly lowered her hand.

”Stay calm,” Videl said quietly.

Aria frowned.

”She could be telling the truth.”

”I know.”

”Then why are you stopping me?”

”Because we don’t know yet.”

Aria stared at Videl for a moment before sighing.

”You’ve become too cautious.”

Videl gave her a faint smile.

”And you’ve become too quick to draw your sword.”

Aria’s lips twitched.

”Someone has to protect you.”

Videl shook her head.

”I’m the one who is supposed to be protecting you.”

”You say that every time.”

”And you ignore me every time.”

”Because you’re impossible.”

Videl almost laughed.

Despite the tension surrounding them, that brief exchange brought a little warmth between the two women.

Their relationship had changed considerably over the past few days.

Videl was technically a student knight of the academy. Aria, despite Videl repeatedly telling her to treat her like a sister, stubbornly insisted on serving under her.

Yet Videl had never treated Aria like some disposable subordinate.

To Videl, Aria was closer to family than a servant.

And Aria respected that more than she could properly express.

She had once been someone who had lost almost everything.

Now she had someone she could trust.

That mattered.

Still, neither woman allowed that small moment of warmth to distract them from the situation.

Videl turned her attention back toward the woman.

The woman’s trembling hands were still wrapped around Videl’s palm.

She looked terrified.

Too terrified, perhaps.

Videl had seen frightened people before.

Real fear was messy. It made people forget what they were saying. It made their eyes wander. It made them struggle to breathe.

This woman’s fear was almost too convenient.

Her words came quickly.

Her tears appeared at precisely the right moments.

And yet...

Videl didn’t accuse her.

Not yet.

Hearing the story of each side made Videl sigh.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that the woman was the one in the wrong.

A thief.

Probably an experienced one.

Still, Videl refused to make the same mistake twice.

The memory of his previous judgment remained unpleasantly fresh in her mind. He had acted too quickly, trusted appearances too easily, and punished someone who hadn’t deserved it.

That mistake had changed something inside him.

He couldn’t afford another.

Videl looked toward the two men.

”Did anyone else see you talking to this woman?”

The man whose money had supposedly been stolen answered almost immediately.

”Yes, there were some people there at the time.”

His response came too quickly.

Videl noticed.

The woman noticed too.

Her fingers tightened around Videl’s hand.

For the first time, the confidence hidden beneath her frightened expression cracked.

Videl continued watching her.

”How about we ask those people what they saw and see who’s telling the truth.”

Silence.

The woman’s expression froze.

It lasted barely a heartbeat.

But Videl saw it.

Her eyes widened.

Her lips parted.

The trembling stopped.

And then—

She ran.

”She’s escaping!” Aria shouted.

The woman spun around and bolted down the alley.

Her previous weakness vanished as though it had never existed.

She moved quickly.

Far too quickly for someone who had been trembling moments earlier.

Videl’s expression hardened.

So that was the answer.

She had been acting.

Aria reacted immediately.

She kicked off the ground and pursued her.

The woman’s footsteps slapped against the stone pavement as she desperately tried to gain distance. She twisted through the narrow alley, knocking over a wooden crate behind her.

”Move!”

A passerby barely managed to jump aside.

The woman didn’t even look back.

She was no helpless victim.

She was a practiced thief who had simply misjudged the people standing in front of her.

Aria closed the distance within seconds.

The thief glanced over her shoulder.

Her face went pale.

”No...”

Aria reached her.

One hand caught the woman’s shoulder.

With a sharp movement, Aria used the thief’s own momentum against her and drove her to the ground.

The woman gasped as her cheek struck the cold pavement.

”Let me go!”

Aria pinned her down without difficulty.

”You should have thought about that before running.”

The woman struggled beneath her.

”I didn’t do anything!”

Aria narrowed her eyes.

”Then why did you run?”

The woman fell silent.

That silence told Aria everything.

Videl slowly approached.

His footsteps were calm.

The two men followed several paces behind, still looking somewhat stunned by how quickly the situation had changed.

Videl crouched beside the woman.

”You could have stayed and proven your innocence.”

The woman refused to meet his eyes.

Videl sighed.

”I really wanted to believe you.”

For some reason, those words seemed to affect her more than an accusation would have.