The Tales of Draconic Warlock

Chapter 162: Completing my first mission (2)

I recorded everything that the young man said to me and took a look around his residence, with his permission of course.

I wanted to see how the thief broke into the house. After that, I glanced around the neighbourhood.

There are only two reasons for theft to happen. One the house held something valuable that tempted the thief or the thief saw that the house was an easy mark.

Of course, there is another reason. the thief hates the person and tole the items to make the owner suffer but if that was the reason then only one person would be a victim or did something change?

I need to find that out by myself.

In a neighbourhood such as this, having a valuable in their possession is likely impossible. Of course, they could have gotten it recently and before it was sold, the thief appeared.

The problem with that was that there were no records of anything pricey stolen from among the items the victims had told the city guard.

Did they hide the information about such an item?

There is a chance that the victim wanted to retrieve it by themselves. The item probably is a stolen item or they were afraid that someone would swallow it if they knew such a costly item was among the stolen.

There is also a chance that the victim has never come forward about the theft in the first place. If that's the case, the person I just interviewed might not be the first victim.

Well, I don't if that is the case. As long as I follow wherever my investigation leads, I think might find the answers.

After observing the neighbourhood, I recorded everything that I observed and left.

Next, I went to the other victims. There are still nine more left to observe.

---

It took four days to observe and record every theft that happened, which shares similarities with the first theft.

In these four days, there were other thefts that happened in this district but only these ten bored similarities. It is the reason why the city guard believed that these thefts were done by the same person.

I too believe it so after taking a look at the crime scenes and talking with the victims something started to bother me from the start and it became more prominent as I was examining the fifth victim and his residency.

What it was I had no idea at that time. So I decided to take a rest for the evening and think about it the next morning.

When the morning arrived, a surprise awaited me.

Another burglary happened and it can be seen that the thief was the same as before.

This was because this time he left a clue for me, my name on the walls of the victim.

Asshole.

He thought that he was clever by writing my name on the walls. It was like telling the city guards that they couldn't find him no matter who they brought in because he had eyes on them.

Eyes on them?...NO.

There is no way that a small-time thief or thieves would have their eyes on the city guard. Even if they stayed outside the station, there was no way that they could find out what was happening inside the station. It means that they learned my name and my purpose outside of those walls.

The only way that could have happened was when I visited the victims.

Wait a minute...it can't be right?

I need to check this out before I can tell the city guards anything and moreover, I need to come up with a plan.

Now that the thief has made a mockery of me, then the pressure on me would increase from this moment. I need to catch this bastard if I want to escape the pressure. Moreover, if I can complete the mission quickly, I can do another mission or use the saved time to fully invest in improving my Rank level.

I already wasted four days on this simple mission. I need to wrap this up within three days. I can use the remaining three weeks to improve my level, which is paramount.

---

Three Days Later...At Night...

"Damn it. He ran away", the city guard cursed.

I found the pattern in which the thief picked the houses to loot. Tonight it was supposed to be a trap but that didn't work.

After I identified the pattern, I went to the city guard station with an idea but they were too busy and the manpower was too low. They only gave a single guard for me.

I wouldn't need the help of the city guard but in the city, I can't use my full speed or my skills easily. So I decided to use the city guard and apprehend the thief or thieves with their help but that failed.

They could only allocate a single person for the work and that created a lot of gaps in the trap and the thief easily escaped but that doesn't matter.

All I wanted was to see if what I found was true. My Scent Recognition skill picked up some clues that the city guard didn't at the latest crime scene.

The issue was that I didn't have enough evidence to prove that as my skill can't be used as evidence of that. So a trap was needed. Now though the thief escaped, he would lead me to the evidence.

If I am right, he would definitely destroy all the evidence that can send him to prison.

I already Tagged him and Tracking is the only part that remained for me.

"No, he didn't", I chucked at the city guard and disappeared in the direction that the thief escaped to.

---

City Slum Area...An abandoned house...

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck", the young man cursed, while trying to catch his breath.

"If I was a second late that brat would have caught me and everything would have been for naught. I shouldn't have given into greed and taunted that school brat. What they say is true. It's better to avoid those academy brats", the young man cursed out loudly, knowing that no one would be around

"You are right at least about that", a voice chuckles from the shadows.

"Who?" the young man shivered knowing that he was not alone.

A boy who is in his teens walked out of the shadows clapping his hands and with a smile on his face.

The young man recognized who the newcomer was, but what he didn't understand was how he was here.

"Ah, Mr. Magnus, Nice to finally meet you and that too in a place like this. You know it would be dangerous to wander in places like this at this time", the man said, hoping that Magnus wouldn't recognize him.

Magnus clapped again, and said, "I say Four out of Five".

"I don't understand", the young man said.

"Give it up. Your gig is up, Mr. Shawn", Magnus smiled, a smile that said that you are done for without any chance of escape.

Seeing that he was caught and there was no escape, he tried to attack Magnus but Magnus already reached tier-5 and Shawn stopped at Tier-1. It was easy for Magnus to beat him down in seconds.

Magnus recovered the evidence needed to prove that Shawn was the thief from the abandoned house.

Shawn was very intelligent. He didn't take a direct line to here but made the roundabout way. he wanted to shake off any tails but what he didn't know was Magnus was always beside him but Shawn had no idea at all about his presence.

After that, Magnus presented Shawn and the evidence at the City Guard station. once everything was checked, they gave him the slip that said the mission was completed.

---

I never thought Shawn, the first victim was the thief himself.

Who would have thought that?

Even I didn't think of that possibility when I started the investigation. Many ideas started to appear in my mind but I never thought the thief portrayed himself as a victim of a theft and then proceeded to steal items from others.

It is an excellent way to take yourself off the suspect list.

It only works if he knew one of the victims and could possibly have a motive against them. By being the first victim, he cleared himself of any suspicion that would rise in the future.

This was because he had prior connections with one of the victims, Mr. Shrof, who was the fifth victim.

Shawn and Shrof were small-time business partners. Shrof came into a small inheritance recently and Shawn wanted him to invest that into their business but Shrof rejected it.

This was because Shrof understood the business better. Never put all your eggs in the same basket. Moreover, he had other costs that needed that inheritance. So he rejected Shawn's idea.

The problem was that the business didn't show much of a profit and Shawn had debts to clear. He saw that the inheritance was the only way to clear his debts.

Anyway, now that was done, it's time to return to the academy and collect my points.