I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills - Chapter 46

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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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Episode 46. Krash’s Sister

Clatter—

With the rattle of the carriage, Krash opened his eyes that had been closed.

It had been several days since deciding to return to Valheim.

Krash had spent the entire time in the carriage.

But there wasn’t much left to go.

They would arrive soon.

In Krash’s view, Bianca lay sleeping with her arm wrapped tightly around his.

Ever since Krash had recovered his right arm not long ago, she had been holding it while she slept.

It seemed that Bianca’s memory of Krash losing his arm had become a trauma for her.

Krash raised his hand and slowly stroked her white hair.

Her small head swayed this way and that as it followed his hand, and soon her tightly closed eyes furrowed slightly.

Her tone, drowsy with sleep, conveyed a plea not to be bothered.

“Mm.”

Yet seeing her press her head closer into his palm, Krash couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.

Bump!

The carriage came to a stop.

Krash caught Bianca, afraid she might fall from her seat, and lifted his head.

What met his eyes was a familiar sight.

Cheongsonggwan.

He had finally returned here.

“Bianca.”

When Krash called out to Bianca, she belatedly cracked open her eyelids.

Her eyes barely open, her face still heavy with sleep, she glanced around groggily.

“We’re here. Go rest in your room.”
“Okay.”

Bianca unsteadily rose from her seat.

Watching her anxiously, Krash caught her just as she stumbled toward the carriage door.

Unable to help himself, he sighed and lifted her up, supporting both her legs and torso.

Bianca, still before her growth period, was remarkably light.

She seemed to trust Krash, leaning naturally against his chest.

Because of this, Krash had to descend from the carriage in that state.

“Young Master Krash, it’s been quite some time.”

In that moment, Krash saw Alliod, who had come to greet him.

It truly had been a long while.

All that hardship just to obtain a single Golden Dragon Sprout.

Winter had already ended and spring was at the doorstep—there was nothing more to say.

‘The first enrollment period for Rahelrn Academy will be starting soon.’

Krash was only fourteen.

He hadn’t yet met the academy’s minimum age requirement.

He would need to train without rest until next year.

“Alliod, I’m heading to Bianca’s room. Come along and brief me on everything that happened at Cheongsonggwan while we walk.”
“Yes. First, after hearing the report that Young Master Krash was in Hadenhartz, someone sent from the main house found you.”

Normally, such things could be brushed aside, but this situation was different.

“So when reporting to the main house that Young Master Krash had gone with Lady Bianca, I prepared a cover story of a missing middle link in the information chain, which prevented Cheongsonggwan from raising any objections. The man responsible had always performed his duties sloppily, constantly belittling you as an incompetent. The main house investigated his usual conduct and work performance, and dismissed him accordingly.”

The exact process of how it all unfolded, no one could say—but Alliod appeared to have handled it entirely on his own.

As expected of Alliod.

Capable indeed.

“There is more.”
“Regarding the Slaughter Hound that Young Master Krash dealt with, the main house has had further discussions.”

As he expected.

Krash had known this would come.

These recent incidents had sown seeds of doubt in House Valheim about him.

And this latest matter would have definitively answered their questions.

That the house’s “incompetent” had made a comeback.

“It seems the Chief Steward will be coming to Cheongsonggwan soon.”

The Chief Steward.

By that standard, Krash’s score was the lowest.

Which meant he couldn’t escape the stigma of Cheongsonggwan.

But since Krash seemed different this time, the Chief Steward had come again to rescore him.

‘This is getting tedious.’

Originally, he’d tried to plant only hints of significance in House Valheim whenever possible.

But this incident had made it impossible to avoid their attention.

‘Well, so be it. I can put it to use anyway.’

Besides, he needed House Valheim’s power to meet the one who possessed Moon-Devouring Physiology.

“Anything else?”
“Darling sent word. He says to bring the materials when you return.”

So their preparations were done too.

Originally, collecting materials to craft the Elixir had been the starting point for everything.

Krash nodded.

“You’ve done well.”
“Not at all. And Krash—”

Wondering if there was more to report, Krash turned to look at Alliod.

And Alliod wore an expression that was, for once, distinctly uncomfortable.

It was rare to see Alliod make such a face.

Krash’s gaze sharpened with curiosity.

“Charlotte is staying at Cheongsonggwan.”

But the moment he heard what followed, Krash’s body went rigid.

What had he just heard?

Who was staying at Cheongsonggwan?

“…Alliod. Say that again.”
“Charlotte is staying at Cheongsonggwan. In your room, in fact, making herself quite at home.”

At the rest of that sentence, a wave of dizziness washed over Krash.

‘Has the cooldown period really ended?’

Charlotte had always been prone to dropping by Cheongsonggwan.

There was never any real reason.

She’d simply show up, prattle on endlessly about her own affairs, pester him, and leave.

Each time it happened, he was left so drained that he didn’t even want to think about it.

And now she was here.

Which meant there was no telling what might happen next.

“Have you told Charlotte that I’m here?”
“Not yet, sir.”

Krash was about to order him to keep it that way when his sixth sense suddenly prickled with warning.

His instincts flared in alarm.

“…Too late.”

Footsteps echoed from around the corner of the corridor.

The moment Krash heard them, he clicked his tongue and turned in that direction.

Then hair swept past—strands that held both azure and deepest black in their depths.

She approached slowly, her frame standing noticeably taller than Krash’s.

Sharp eyes inherited from Krash, brightened by the radiant beauty of her mother Aria—she bore both legacies with striking clarity.

Most unsettling were her eyes themselves; the peculiar light that should dwell there was almost entirely absent, lending her gaze something that made observers’ skin crawl.

“Ah.”

The Sword Star.

Charlotte Valheim.

Krash’s sister had arrived.

She glanced briefly at Krash’s right arm, then lifted the corners of her mouth in what might have been a smile—though her eyes remained cold, utterly unmoved.

Charlotte’s smile always sent a chill down the spine.

Her eyes never smiled with her.

Only her voice, edged with mockery, and the slight upward curve of her lips suggested what might be called a smile at all.

“Hello, little brother. Making your older sister wait forever, then getting bored out of your mind—how inconsiderate of you.”
“…Charlotte.”

Krash regarded her with undisguised discomfort.

She was supposed to be out on an expedition against World Corruption. Had she already returned?

‘I’ve never seen her back this early.’

The tyrannical aura flowing from Charlotte made Krash exhale a hollow laugh.

‘She’s crossed it.’

She had broken through the Master threshold.

And she was only fifteen.

‘A monster.’

Even for House Valheim, this was a rare occurrence.

To reach the threshold of Master at fifteen years old—that was a monster among monsters.

Here was someone who’d regressed and still hadn’t reached Master yet.

But she’d entered that realm at fifteen through pure talent alone, without regression.

The real reason Krash called her a true monster, though, was something else entirely.

Charlotte had never made a Divine Contract.

And it remained that way afterward.

Despite receiving more contract offers from the gods than anyone else in the world, she’d rejected every single one.

A human legend who’d reached the pinnacle of the sword’s domain with nothing but a single blade.

That was the monster known as Charlotte Valheim.

‘It’s absurd.’

Krash swallowed a bitter laugh as he felt Charlotte’s talent anew.

There he was, desperately devouring everything he could grasp, clawing his way forward—while she’d reached the summit through pure talent alone.

The gulf between them was beyond words.

“Little brother, I’ve been hearing some amusing rumors lately.”

Charlotte had drawn closer to Krash in the meantime.

She still wore that half-smile as she reached out and gently squeezed Bianca’s cheek in his arms.

“Something about a gallant knight throwing himself into danger to rescue his betrothed.”

Krash turned his body, placing himself between Charlotte’s hand and Bianca.

Watching him, Charlotte stared at Krash for a moment before withdrawing her hand.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to steal her. She’s your precious betrothed, after all.”

She was impossible to pin down.

With her, there was no telling what she might do, and that made Krash tense.

“Still, your sister isn’t pleased with the way my little brother’s been looking at me.”
“It’s difficult to regard kindly someone who barges into one’s home uninvited.”

Charlotte tilted her head.

“Your home? Little brother, anywhere House Valheim’s name is attached—it’s our home.”

As she spoke, she tapped the nearby wall with her hand.

The arrogance etched across her face made clear that House Valheim was hers to claim.

“Any place bearing the name Valheim is our home. I’ve come to my own house, and this is how I’m treated?”

In that instant, Krash instinctively put distance between them.

It was because the aura emanating from her formed an overwhelming pressure.

“Don’t you think that’s too much? Little brother?”

Charlotte was willful by nature.

Unlike her cold eyes inherited from her father Vallock, her temperament took after her mother Aria, marked by emotional sensitivity.

In truth, Krash shared that quality as well.

After all, they were siblings.

Only Charlotte’s gap between her appearance and her nature was particularly pronounced.

She was perhaps the person who least embodied the saying that one’s face reflects one’s life.

And just moments ago, Krash had sensed that overwhelming pressure emanating from Charlotte.

Charlotte was angry about something.

From the very moment she first saw him.

“…Are you angry right now?”

So Krash asked her plainly.

Direct confrontation worked better with Charlotte than roundabout tactics.

“How do I look?”
“Angry.”
“Exactly. I’m angry right now. I thought I was closest to my little brother, but he didn’t tell me a single thing.”

Close as they were, my foot.

For a moment, Krash felt utterly speechless.

“You made a Divine Contract with a god.”

Yet the moment Charlotte laid eyes on Krash, she had discerned his Divine Contract.

“And you’re mid-tier Expert level, no less. My little brother has grown tremendously.”

Charlotte rattled off Krash’s cultivation level one after another.

Krash bit his lip.

He knew what technique she had awakened.

The Mind Eye.

An eye that pierces through all things.

She had awakened it through talent alone—an eye most would never reach even in a lifetime.

And with it, she had seen through Krash’s level entirely.

“And for some reason, I also sense an unpleasant aura around my little brother. It’s quite strange.”

But the moment he heard what came next, Krash went rigid.

What she awakened was not the Mind Eye.

The next stage.

‘The Star Eye?’

Had Charlotte been at this level by now, back then?

The Star Eye, which sees through the stars, pierces even through World Corruption.

But as Crimson Garden had said, she couldn’t simply conclude that what she perceived was the aura of World Corruption.

She’d recognized it as a Curse instead.

‘Now I understand why the Slaughter Hound was defeated by Charlotte in the past.’

At the point when the Star Eye awakened, the Slaughter Hound’s illusions became meaningless.

She would have seen through everything with the Star Eye.

The problem was that Krash himself would now be seen through just as clearly by Charlotte.

There was no way someone bearing the power of World Corruption would be viewed favorably.

Charlotte might even try to kill him.

So he had to brazenly pass himself off as cursed instead.

“What are you carrying around with you like that?”
“Just trying everything I can think of.”

Charlotte studied Krash with an unblinking gaze.

He’d expected her to say something about the fact that he carried Curses on him, but fortunately, she said nothing.

“Yes, you’re like me after all.”

And she actually seemed to accept it.

She understood well enough that if he had the same stubborn, ruthless temperament, he’d swallow poison sooner or later, whether it took time or not.

‘Though I inherited it from Mother, not Charlotte.’

Krash didn’t bother correcting her.

“And thanks to that, you’ve defeated the Slaughter Hound and grown so much stronger.”

Even as Krash tensed, Charlotte slowly raised the corners of her mouth again.

“Leave her in her room and come to the training ground.”

Charlotte said this and turned away.

“I need to see how strong my little brother has gotten.”

A sparring match with Charlotte was suddenly upon him.

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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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