"So you lost the person, but they returned the stuff?" Perfikot looked at the Golden Touching Rod and Flying Stone brought back by Claudia, with a pensive expression on his face.
Claudia, with an apologetic look, nodded and answered with self-reproach, "The other party is very familiar with the city’s terrain; I was always thinking of capturing him alive, that’s why he got away."
Upon hearing Claudia say this, Perfikot rubbed his chin, not angry but rather intrigued: "Interesting, a thief who can escape from your hands took such a huge risk to steal things, but returned them when you almost caught up. What was the thief’s intention?"
It’s not surprising to have a thief come to steal; it’s either for money or for other purposes.
Seeking money is easy to understand; a thief steals things just to get something valuable to exchange for money. Since ancient times, the profession of a thief has almost existed for this purpose.
As for having other purposes, it’s also understandable. A foreign spy might want to obtain confidential information from us, or someone might know about the Philosopher’s Stone and want to steal it, etc...
Hiring a thief to steal one’s own things is also a very understandable action. After all, if it were her, she would consider using such a means when encountering the same thing.
So Perfikot wasn’t at all surprised why there would be a thief.
What really made her curious was how this thief stole and why he stole.
From the stealing process of this thief and the subsequent escape, it seems he didn’t have a meticulous plan or accomplices to support, it’s likely he was alone.
He relied on a magical disguise ability to blend into the venue, then pretended to bump into her to steal. After succeeding, he wanted to quickly leave the scene, but ended up being pursued by Claudia, the Assassin.
Finally, when he couldn’t escape, he thought of getting rid of the pursuer by returning the stolen item, which obviously doesn’t align with the general logical behavior of thieves during theft.
For ordinary thieves, they’d either discard the stolen goods at the beginning to escape pursuit or hold on to them until captured.
The reason for such behavior is understandable; the former cherishes life, the latter loves wealth, all for livelihood’s sake.
If a thief steals only for money, he wouldn’t risk his life stealing. When clearly foreseeing that his thievery might bring unbearable danger to himself, he’d choose to stop stealing or abandon the stolen goods.
But if the stolen item is crucial to the thief, such as money for survival, or the item is more important than the thief’s life, he wouldn’t abandon the stolen goods even if caught or killed.
From this thief abandoning the stolen goods, it’s clear he didn’t value the items more than his life.
Yet, according to Claudia’s account, this thief apparently didn’t consider from the start abandoning the stolen goods to eliminate suspicion.
Instead, after being chased by Claudia all the way, almost getting caught and injured several times, he left the items behind only when escape seemed impossible, showing that this thief is somewhat different.
Leaving the items was to divert Claudia’s attention, making her give up the chase and first return the items.
Not until he was almost unable to escape did he return the items, proving that before he had no way out, he didn’t think he couldn’t escape. This indicates he had considerable confidence in himself.
In addition to his magical disguise ability and the skills that allowed him to be chased by Claudia all the way and still lose her, these all prove he is an Extraordinary.
Although in the Victor Empire, most Extraordinary professionals are Knights and Alchemists, with a few Mages, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other Extraordinary or professions in this world.
For example, in churches, although most Priests are ordinary people, some are Extraordinary with holy powers.
As for society, having an Extraordinary thief isn’t surprising. Though rare, it’s not nonexistent.
At least Perfikot knew that the Imperial Intelligence Department had a few skillful Extraordinary thieves used to steal confidential information from enemy countries.
Although not all Extraordinary live very wealthily, maintaining a decent living is not hard.
In Perfikot’s view, this thief likely wasn’t stealing for livelihood. After all, thievery is one of the professions that avoids danger and seeks fortune the most. Even if skilled and daring, they wouldn’t simply steal for money at an occasion where a colonial Governor and Empire’s Count were present, challenging the Governor’s residence’s security.
Such actions have risks and rewards that are disproportionate to them.
"Do you think the thief was specifically hired to target me?" After ruling out the possibility of money-driven theft, Perfikot had to consider more serious possibilities. Chapters first released on novel•fire.net
"That can’t be ruled out, but if it was targeting you, why didn’t he take the items away?" Claudia showed a puzzled expression. At that time, she had almost lost the other party; even if he took the items, she might not find him again, not in line with the logic of purposeful theft.
"Not taking the items away is understandable. The thief might have been around you then; if he didn’t leave the items, you’d continue searching, and without confidence to escape your pursuit, he could only use this method to have you bring the items back instead of chasing him." Perfikot could understand this survival logic, but still found it hard to understand why the other party would steal her items.
"Miss, should we continue to investigate this? The scent mark I left on the thief can last for three days." Claudia was merely Perfikot’s bodyguard. Although having an important item stolen from Perfikot in front of her put her in disgrace, her primary task was still to protect Perfikot.
"Hmm... let the Governor continue the investigation. If you’re unwilling, you can try to find him." Perfikot didn’t seem too concerned, but then said to Claudia, "Also, inform the White Bear Knight Order to seal off the entire city before that thief is caught. Arrest and brutally interrogate all thieves and those connected, just say I lost a crucial research result of the Empire, and if it’s not recovered, I’ll start killing, like last time."