I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25. The Fourth Princess Can’t Help Herself

In that instant, Sizley’s body lifted with a soft whoosh.

Serra had slipped her hands beneath the princess’s arms and hoisted her up without warning.

“I won’t let anyone handle Your Highness’s person, no matter what they say.”
“Serra.”

Despite Serra’s grumbling, Sizley kept her gaze fixed ahead without protest.

“Someone interesting has shown up at this Martial Tournament.”

Hearing this, Serra released a quiet sigh.

“How many times have I heard that now?”
“This time it’s genuine, I assure you.”

The Martial Tournament had been organized under the guise of recruiting new students for Raheln Academy.

Perhaps this tournament would truly prove entertaining, Sizley thought, and smiled.

-Good fortune, running into the Fourth Princess the moment I arrive.

Had Crimson Garden noticed as well?

Krash scratched his head.

He hadn’t expected to bump into the Fourth Princess so soon after arriving.

That tomboy had always been prone to reckless behavior, popping up from unexpected places.

‘She stumbled, and I caught her without thinking.’

Krash found himself bothered by the look on Sizley’s face as she regarded him.

It was unmistakably the expression of someone who’d just discovered something amusing.

‘Getting tangled up with that woman would be a headache.’

Sizley’s intellect was so sharp that she deliberately concealed it.

Krash knew her fate in the Empire.

It was an end that seemed to clash entirely with that brilliant mind.

And yet it was precisely because of that brilliant mind that such an end was possible.

‘That settles it.’

She wasn’t someone he particularly wanted to get involved with, at least not yet.

So Krash proceeded to register for the Martial Tournament.

Name: Krad. Age: fourteen.

Origin: the remote frontier village of Oziwen in the Empire.

After filling out a brief form to complete his registration for the Martial Tournament, Krash stepped back outside.

Fortunately, Sizley hadn’t pursued him.

‘All that’s left now.’

To place in the top three and obtain the Golden Dragon Herb.

With that in mind, Krash set off to find an inn where he could stay for the Preliminary Round scheduled two days hence.

That was, of course, before he discovered that every inn in the city was packed solid with people and had no rooms to spare.

“Damn it.”

He’d always known the Empire was densely populated, that much was certain.

But Krash hadn’t expected the inns in the Capital City to be so utterly full that he now sat in a corner, exhaling a long sigh.

Spectators and competitors alike had flooded in until there wasn’t room to set foot anywhere.

At this rate, he’d be sleeping rough tonight.

‘And not just tonight.’

He’d need a place to stay through tomorrow and beyond, right up until the Main Tournament was finished.

“You there.”

That was when Krash heard a voice calling out to him.

He looked up and saw an old woman standing nearby.

“No place to sleep tonight?”

The old woman asked with a sympathetic expression.

“That’s right.”
“Dear me, no guardian with you? I’ve been watching since earlier—you’re all alone, aren’t you?”

The old woman worked at the shop in front of the park where Krash had been sitting.

So she’d observed him throughout her shift, sitting by himself and lost in thought.

“Are you here alone to compete in the Martial Tournament? My, what a plight. If you’ve nowhere to sleep, why don’t you come stay at my place?”

There was no deceit in the old woman’s expression.

She was asking him genuinely, moved by his predicament.

An appearance of youth turned out to be useful in this way.

It was enough to stir the kindness in a good-hearted adult’s heart.

“Thank you very much. I’ll gladly accept your kindness.”

So Krash accepted the offer without hesitation.

—Didn’t you hear as a child that you’re not supposed to follow strangers?

Crimson Garden had asked playfully, but Krash gave it little thought when it came to sleeping on bare ground.

Sleeping rough was manageable enough with World Erosion at his side.

The place the Old Woman led him to was a house situated a short distance from the heart of the Capital City.

The city center commanded such exorbitant prices that this arrangement was hardly surprising.

The Old Woman’s house wasn’t particularly large.

Just comfortably modest in size.

But it was more than adequate for living.

“There’s only one vacant room left at the moment—lucky timing. Are you hungry? I’ll have a meal ready in no time.”
“Thank you.”
“Go on up to the room at the far end of the second floor. That should suit you fine.”

The Old Woman treated Krash with the sort of warmth she might show a grandchild.

So Krash made no fuss and simply followed her directions.

‘Lucky break.’

He hadn’t expected to find lodging quite so easily.

As Krash climbed the stairs and passed down the wooden corridor of the second floor, a door creaked open.

One of the room doors on the second floor swung ajar with a soft squeak.

Krash turned his head, wondering if it might be a family member of the Old Woman.

What he saw made him go rigid.

“Oh, it’s you!”

A blue-haired girl, as if they’d bumped into each other by pure chance, pointed at him and cried out.

“The one who helped me out this afternoon!”

And Krash felt a dull throb building behind his eyes.

Blue hair, a face as delicate as a porcelain doll.

She was none other than the Fourth Princess, Sizley Ephania.

Her face was not known beyond the Imperial Palace.

Believing no one would recognize her outside those walls, she moved about so openly.

‘Damn it.’

And then it struck him.

Somehow, she had orchestrated his arrival at this very place.

Though why she’d employ such a brilliant mind for something so trivial, he couldn’t fathom.

Krash held her gaze for a moment, then turned and made his way into the room the Old Woman had indicated.

“Hmm, are you shy?”

She shut out the voice drifting in from beyond the door, refusing to acknowledge it.

And so began the brief cohabitation between Staron’s pride, Balheim, and the Empire’s highest authority—the Imperial Princess.

＊ ＊ ＊

Knock, knock, knock!

The next morning.

Since today was the final registration day, the Preliminary Round would begin the following day—which meant Krash was savoring one of his rare mornings of uninterrupted sleep.

Knock, knock, knock!

But whoever was at the door seemed determined not to let him rest, for the knock came again.

Krash turned his pillow over both ears to block out the sound.

Creak—

Yet when he refused to answer the knock, the door swung open anyway.

He’d locked it before going to bed. He was certain of it.

As Krash sat up in bed at the sound of the door opening, the first thing he saw was a head of blue hair.

Sizley Epania, naturally.

She held a small length of wire in her hand, displaying it with unmistakable pride.

What manner of princess carried wire around, picking locks like some common thief?

It was absolutely ridiculous.

“The early bird catches the hunt. Look at you, sleeping away the morning like this.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to pick someone else’s door lock. It’s not polite.”
“Then what should I do? You’re avoiding me so obviously, I can feel it from a mile away.”

She spoke naturally, deliberately dropping all pretense of her royal bearing.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

At her question, Krash straightened the blankets and rose from the bed.

Talking to her was not wise.

From his own direct experience, her intellect operated at a dangerous level.

If he engaged her in conversation, there was a ninety percent chance something would slip out.

“You’re not my type.”

So he gave her an answer she wouldn’t expect.

And it clearly struck home.

Sizley’s large eyes went wide and round before she burst into a laugh of disbelief.

“I’ve heard nothing but ‘pretty’ and ‘cute’ my whole life.”

Shameless.

Yet her appearance matched the boast—it was anything but ordinary.

“There are plenty of women more beautiful than you.”
“Really? Who?”

Sizley’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked.

Krash caught himself thinking of Bianca for a moment before pushing the thought away.

“I’m not telling.”
“You’ve got quite a few secrets. Your face is as playful as your tongue.”
“I appreciate the compliment.”
“Then you should be grateful. Who do you think was complimenting you?”

Krash ignored her and walked into the corridor, but Sizley soon followed him with quick, light steps.

“Where are you going?”
“Don’t follow me.”
“Why? If I’m going to be your type, we need to get closer, right? And here I am, putting in all this effort, being as beautiful as I am.”

It irritated him.

Krash felt it honestly.

An urge welled up in him—to stuff chestnuts in her mouth just to shut her up.

The problem was that the moment he did, Serra—her attendant who never left her side—would appear.

‘If I cross blades with the Mad Swordsman, I’m dead.’

She was a master-class swordmaster, after all.

Even now, he could feel her gaze from somewhere, and it sent a sharp tingle down his spine.

“How about it? Am I your type yet?”
“More irritating by the second.”
“Interesting.”

As if experiencing such treatment for the first time, Sizley’s eyes widened.

“Even knowing I’m a princess, you keep that attitude?”

The moment those words left her lips, Krash’s body went rigid.

‘Damn this woman.’

That remark was no casual throw-away.

She had figured out that he knew who she was.

In just that single night, she had arrived at certainty.

Her eyes, gleaming with golden light, sparkled as they fixed on him.

Her eyes held all the wisdom of the world, and they seemed to see straight through him.

“What nonsense is this? Why would you be the princess?”

Krash affected innocence.

But Sizley only smiled faintly.

“I’m joking. Just joking! There’s no way I could be the princess, right?”

As she laughed, she extended her hand toward Krash.

“I’m Sizley. Nice to meet you, Krash from Staron!”

Hell.

Krash barely stopped a curse from escaping his lips.

Not only had she revealed his name outright, she’d even figured out where he came from.

“Not glad to meet you at all.”

Krash didn’t even accept her handshake and turned away.

Watching him retreat, Sizley withdrew her extended hand awkwardly and placed it at her waist.

“Fourth Princess.”

At that moment, Serra appeared quietly beside her.

“Is that boy truly from Staron?”
“Yes. The Empire and Staron share the same language, but Staron places slightly heavier emphasis on explosive consonants. He’s picked up some Imperial speech patterns, but one cannot change one’s essence—it shows through.”
“……Only you would notice something like that.”

Seeing how she discerned his origin in such a peculiar manner, Serra shook her head.

“Does knowing the Fourth Princess’s identity mean something?”
“Literally what I said. There were certain behaviors that emerged because his manner of approaching me showed he’d already recognized who I am.”
“Could you give a simple example?”
“His behavior when he first met the Old Woman differed from his behavior when he first saw me.”

Serra blinked.

“Isn’t that simply the difference between how one treats adults and children?”
“The crucial point is ‘first.’ The manner in which people treat someone they’re meeting for the first time varies, true enough—but there’s a clear distinction between ‘first’ and ‘familiar.'”
“I still don’t quite understand.”
“It’s a matter of observational capacity. I absorb more information faster than others do.”

The direction her mind operated was fundamentally different from that of ordinary people.

Her observational capacity in particular demonstrated overwhelming efficiency.

Where an ordinary person’s brain would register information through the eyes and move on, her brain retained everything and distilled it into actionable knowledge.

And so she saw more.

Her information absorption rate bordered on what could only be called perspicacity.

Which made Sizley all the more of a mystery.

“But I’ve never seen that child before in my life.”

How could someone who didn’t exist in her memories treat her so familiarly?

Could she be pretending to know her?

But unless she were a con artist of legendary caliber, there was no way to fool those eyes.

As she ran through the possibilities, a soft laugh escaped her.

“A con artist would actually be better.”

That was actually the most plausible explanation.

“Shall we apprehend her?”

If she were from Staron, she’d be hiding her identity and participating in the Martial Tournament under false pretenses.

As Serra quietly posed the question, Sizley raised her hand and slapped her on the thigh.

“When something this entertaining shows up, why would I ruin it? Leave her be.”

Serra, who’d taken the blow without warning, could only pout silently in response.

“More importantly, Serra—have you learned anything about my sister’s situation?”

Hearing Sizley’s question, Serra turned to face her while rubbing her thigh.

“Yes, I’ve looked into several matters as you requested. Judging by what Your Highness the Fourth Princess mentioned, Sigrin is certainly different from how she used to be.”

The Third Princess of the Empire, Sigrin Epania.

Sizley’s elder sister, whose exceptional talent with the blade had drawn expectations that she would become the Empire’s shining sword.

Sizley had already noticed that something about her had shifted subtly a year ago.

“Hmm, what a mess. I wonder what’s happening in the Imperial Palace.”

Sizley clicked her tongue lightly and moved on.

“Will you take action?”

When Serra asked, Sizley shook her head.

“No. Palace affairs are for the Palace to handle. Why should I get involved?”

She had deliberately chosen to distance herself from the Imperial Palace.

She’d looked into Sigrin’s changes purely out of personal curiosity.

There was no other reason.

Only a vague sense that the First and Second Princes might be in some danger.

“Besides, I’ve just discovered something far more entertaining.”

Sizley’s eyes sparkled with interest for the first time in a while.

She could only quietly hope that this discovery would satisfy her curiosity.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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