The moment Rayne and Kanna stepped into the tavern, curious glances flickered their way.
When those eyes landed on the oversized greatsword strapped to the boy's back, the patrons' expressions shifted to outright disbelief.
A child carrying a blade taller than himself? That was… unusual.
But this was a prosperous pottery town, and the people here had seen their fair share of oddities. Soon enough, the onlookers returned to their drinks—though the occasional curious peek was inevitable.
Rayne led Kanna to an empty table and sat down.
"What can I get for you?"
A waitress approached with a practiced smile, though her eyebrow twitched at the sight of the greatsword leaning against the wall.
"Kanna, you pick."
After a brief skim of the menu, Rayne handed it over to the little dragon beside him.
"This one! This one… and this one too!"
Kanna's tiny finger jabbed at the pictures with zero hesitation.
"Uh… isn't that a bit much?"
The waitress hesitated, eyeing Rayne with suspicion. Two kids ordering enough food for a small party? This reeked of troublemaking.
"Don't worry. She's got a big appetite."
Rayne's reassurance eased her doubts.
"Very well. Your order will be ready shortly."
With a polite nod, she walked off. If the kids wanted to waste their money, that was their problem.
Leaning back in his chair, Rayne scanned the room.
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The tavern was a mix of locals in simple clothes chatting with staff, merchants in finer attire, and their armed guards—men and women with weapons and leather armor, exuding a sharp, no-nonsense aura.
Even in safe countries like Fiore, merchants traveling between towns never left without protection.
"Hey, you hear? Talia's underwear got stolen!"
"Wait, that bombshell widow?!"
"This batch of goods better sell for a good price…"
"Boss! Two more ales over here!"
"Tch. Finn's raising prices again! Says stuff's been disappearing all over town. Like hell I'm buying that excuse!"
The overlapping chatter made it hard to pick out individual conversations—but Rayne's sharpened senses (and growing inhuman perception) caught the gist.
After listening for a while, he exhaled through his nose.
"This 'thief' has… eclectic tastes."
His finger tapped the table thoughtfully.
A widow's lingerie. Random missing items. No discernible pattern in location—east side, west side, anywhere, really.
At this point, he wasn't even sure it was a thief.
What kind of burglar ignored valuables for random junk?
"A magic beast?"
His mind immediately went there. When in doubt, blame the monsters. Their logic was anyone's guess.
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
"No. If it were a known beast, Master Makarov would've mentioned it."
The guild master had decades of experience. If a creature matching this description existed, he'd have recognized it from the request.
"A dark guild, then?"
The next easy scapegoat.
"…But would dark mages really steal a widow's underwear?"
He grimaced. If a dark guild was involved, the woman would've lost more than just her smallclothes.
"So no magic beasts, no dark guilds… just a weirdly dedicated kleptomaniac?"
His finger stilled. This was getting frustrating.
At least beasts and criminals followed some logic. A mundane thief with this level of randomness made no sense.
"Unless they get off on the act itself… or there's more than one thief."
His mind raced, already plotting ways to lure out the culprit.
Tap.
A plate clinked against the table, snapping him back to reality.
"Enjoy your meal."
The waitress set down their food with a smile before retreating.
Steam curled from the dishes, the rich aroma making Kanna's mouth water—literally. A tiny droplet glistened at the corner of her lips.
"No! Can't eat yet!"
She shook her head violently, her twin lavender-and-white pigtails whipping side to side.
Rayne was deep in thought. She refused to dig in without him. That'd be rude!
…Even if the food smelled amazing.
"Kanna? Why aren't you eating?"
Rayne's voice snapped her attention up.
"Rayne's done thinking?"
Her starry-eyed gaze bore into him.
Ah. She'd been waiting for him.
Pushing his theories aside for now, he smiled.
"Yeah. Let's eat."
"Yay~"
With a quiet cheer, Kanna grabbed her spoon and dove in.
After weeks in this world, she'd learned table manners—no more biting the utensil in half like her first meal.
Bellies full, the two stepped back into the streets.
"Kanna, notice anything strange about this town?"
Rayne watched her hop along the cobblestones.
"Mmm… no bad smells. But sometimes, magic particles vanish for a second."
She tilted her head.
"Not a lot, though! Less than when a person uses magic."
"Even magic particles are disappearing?"
That gave Rayne pause.
If stolen objects were one thing, intangible energy being siphoned was another.
Kanna said it was minor—fleeting, even.
But when pieced together with everything else?
This wasn't some pervy thief's hobby anymore.
This was something far weirder.
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