Nuno, No

Nuno was a street urchin. For as long as he could remember he was a street urchin. He was told that his father was one of the transport vehicle drivers that frequently made their stop at this particular transport station in Golden Ayodhya, but no one knew exactly which one.

His mother gave birth to him in this station and ever since then he had spent all his life in this station. He was born to be a street urchin then, and to this day, he was still a street urchin.

But unlike the other street urchin, Nuno has got a record he was most proud of: he has never been caught. Ever.

Probably due to the fact that he was born in this very station, Nuno could see the things happening in different ways the rest of us could. Not only he remembered all there was to remember about this station, what he understood had gone beyond the tangible, it was almost psychic!

According to Nuno, the place was not a mere space on the physical plane. Since it was formed by an aggregation of living, breathing beings, then the place itself would be the very amalgamation of life! It would have its own beat, its own pulse, its own personality! Only by understanding this one would be untouchable in this place!

It was never clear whether this theory of his has got any bearing or not. It sounded great and inspired, and actually made a lot of sense. But it could also be a random bullshit he was spewing.

This particular day Nuno was standing on a peculiar spot in the transport station. From this spot he would be able to observe almost the entirety of the massive place. Almost, as there were still some blind spots that he wouldn't be able to directly observe. But it was not a problem for Nuno as with his understanding of the place he would be able to fill in those blanks with very precise conjectures by deducing what was happening in the other areas he could observe.

In this way, he could get a live view of the stations while at the same time avoiding being completely sneaky and suspicious. He looked very natural while he stood there.

Within his sights, he could see several of his colleagues being very sneaky while they stalked for prey. They thought they were being candid, but Nuno could see everything.

Nuno mused to himself, "These half-wits really won't learn a lesson! I repeatedly taught them how to not be so obviously suspicious, but look at them!"

'Judging from their positions, movement, and sights it is obvious which each of their targets are, and it's also too obvious!'

'Why do they always target these obviously loaded prey? It is too obvious! These kinds of targets will always be on high alert, which makes the chance to get caught to be higher! Not to mention the time needed to spend on hounding them down, it's totally not worth it!!'

Nuno unconsciously shook his head repeatedly, totally disappointed in his fellow urchins.

He averted his gaze from that disappointment toward the arrival gate. He carefully looked among a crowd of passengers that just got off a modern-looking transport vehicle

This kind of optimized for comfort vehicle was becoming more common nowadays. The fare was a bit high, but not too much. As long as one was willing to be just a little bit generous, one would be able to afford it.

To Nuno, it meant the passengers would be loaded, but not too much to make them too alert, but also not too poor that it wouldn't be worth targeting. This was the middle ground.

Nuno carefully scanned all the passengers getting off the transport vehicle, being very quick but very thorough. His eyes finally lit up when he saw a young man with simple clothing and a bag get off behind a middle-aged man with an eye-catching get-up.

His eyes focused even harder on this youngster's shirt, especially on its front near the chest.

Nuno finally smiled and gleefully thought to himself, 'This one should be perfect!'

—

It was no longer dark when Satoshi and Mulah arrived at the first stop, the Golden Ayodhya. This was a transport station countless times busier than the one at the border of Mhasgara and Istindi. There was an ocean of people, lines and lines of different kinds of vehicle going through and fro, and also different kinds of sights, sounds, and smells that assaulted the senses.

It was chaotic.

Someone would be hard-pressed to believe if they were to be told there was some sort of order in here.

Satoshi had never been in this kind of environment before, this chaos, most people would be dizzied by the utter neglect for order. But not Satoshi, not at this time, this time Satoshi was pissed for an entirely different reason.

"I can't believe you duped me. I trusted you, and you duped me, you villain." Satoshi heart-wrenchingly voiced his disappointment.

Both his hands were filled with things, stacked up to his nose, on his back, and even slung on each his shoulders, were even more things. Right now Satoshi was practically just two walking feet and a floating head. The rest were replaced by random things.

"Hahaha, come on, don't be like that. It wasn't entirely my fault, who in the world would believe that there is a city entirely made of gold?" Mulah responded, half pleading, half teasing, which pissed Satoshi even more.

Satoshi looked at Mulah with a look of utter disappointment, which actually made Mulah feel guilty a little bit.

"hahaha…I'm sorry, okay? Anyway, why did you insist on carrying all these things? I could handle the heavy ones, you should get the small ones." Mulah asked Satoshi curiously.

Satoshi had insisted on this arrangement ever since they hadn't even arrived. Aside from that, Satoshi has changed out of his loosely fitted white linen suit and shorts. He was now wearing fitting buttoned shirts and long canvas pants.

His linen shirts' arms were loosely fitted and flanged wider at their ends, it was also cut short at the elbows. The one he was wearing now was long sleeved which he rolled up to his forearms. His usually unkempt hair was now laid neatly to one side.

"It's just in case," Satoshi answered briefly.

Since Satoshi didn't want to explain, Mulah wouldn't ask any further. "Alright, just don't go run off with my things then, hahaha."

Satoshi wasn't sure whether Mulah really meant it or not. To be able to say such a thing to someone who was practically a stranger a couple of days ago. Either Mulah was a genuinely good person that believed Satoshi wouldn't screw him over, or he believed Satoshi wouldn't dare to do such things since he already knew Mulah was under protection.

Or probably, Mulah was simply a very naive person.

Satoshi wasn't sure what to make of this but he wanted to believe that it was the first possibility.

The two of them walked together through the crowd, Mulah in front, Satoshi in tow. When they approached, the crowd before them seemed to part on its own to give way. Mulah now understood the reason why Satoshi made him change into more eye-catching and obnoxious attire. Various trinkets with subtle Imperial Descendants crests were now all over him, looking weirdly put and mismatched.

Satoshi was basically treating him as a trail-blazer in this crowd.

'This punk, hahaha. Who would think of things like this.' Mulah mused to himself.

It took no time whatsoever before the crowd noticed that there was a person with glaring signs of Imperial Descendants Crest plastered over him walking through the crowd. Behind him, there was a little twig of a man carrying a whole lot of things he was practically buried with.

This sorry youth was obviously the servant of this hot shot with Imperial Descendants crest.

From his appearance, the swag he walked with, and his pace, everyone that looked at Mulah thought: this man must be a very important person in an important delegation mission somewhere. Naturally, everyone knew better than to be on his way and invite trouble upon themselves, so they moved out of the way.

Just as they were moving through the crowd a scream could be heard, even though the station was practically clamoring with cacophony, this particular kind of scream could be heard clearly above all else.

"SNATCHER!!"

Everyone's ears perked up as soon as the scream got to that distinct 'tch' sound. By the time it got to the 'er' they already looked up, eyes trained on their surroundings trying to figure out where that scream came from.

Both Satoshi and Mulah slowed down when they heard this scream, but before they could look around Satoshi fell down hard as he was being tackled from behind. The stack of boxes he was carrying on his hands fell to the floor. His hands reached out trying to collect those boxes as fast as possible, but when he did there was another hand grabbing them as fast as he did.

Satoshi was so startled when he locked eyes with a youth, their hands were both holding on a same box. Satoshi noticed the youth's clothes were missing one of its sleeves and in an instant he reached out for another box.

The youth Satoshi locked eyes with ripped out his remaining sleeve and began collecting the other boxes Satoshi hadn't already grabbed and began stacking it like Satoshi did.

This youth was Nuno.

'Dammit why the hell would there be someone with these many boxes in such a crowded place, are you an idiot?!'

While he was secretly cursing Satoshi, his hands were still moving agilely in grabbing those boxes. In a blink, just as he and Satoshi were done collecting the boxes, a youth in simple clothing bursted out of the crowd behind them, breath labored.

The three of them locked their gaze in surprise, each equally surprised and unsure as the rest. At this moment the youth looked at Satoshi and Nuno alternatively. He wasn't sure.

Satoshi also noticed the ripped fabric the simple-clothed youth had in his hands. It seemed to be part of a regular sized adult man jacket or robe. Nuno who initially stood behind Satoshi slightly moved from where he was standing as if allowing the simple-clothed youth to have a better look.

The youth in simple-clothing was the one that yelled at the snatcher. He was able to grab the sleeve of the snatcher but unfortunately the sleeve got torn, so now he was left with a torn piece of fabric as his sole proof.

He looked at Satoshi and his neat clothing and was sure it wasn't him. He looked at Nuno, and while Nuno's sleeveless clothing aroused his suspicion, Nuno's small body exonerated him out of it.

In the youth's mind, the snatcher should be an adult male, as the size of sleeve suggested. He thought a small kid like Nuno wouldn't even have the strength required to tore this sleeve like it did.

While all of this was happening Nuno was squirming inwardly.

'Fuck! How could this happen?? First, this motherfucker caught me in the act and got my sleeve, then this complete idiot stood in the middle of the alley with stupid boxes and hindered my escape. Now, this motherfucker has caught up! He shouldn't have been able to catch up, I took a very calculated route to escape!' Nuno grimaced in his mind.

"Move, move, move away! Let us through! Let us through!"

While the three of them were locked in a loss, a predictable sound could be heard moving toward their direction. It was of course the security of the station, several of them finally came to see what was going on.

"What is going on? Why are you three making a scene?" One of the security began questioning them while alternatively scanning them up and down.

The youth with the simple clothing was eager to make his complaint so he quickly answered, "There was a snatcher, sir, and I wa-"

The youth's words were suddenly cut short by a scream that sounded angry. Everyone was startled by this sudden scream out of nowhere and switched their gazes to its source. It was Mulah, right now his face looked very ugly, obviously he was angry.

After he got everyone's attention, Mulah once again began to yell, this time he was livid. He was even visibly waving his hand and was pointing at the personality personals.

Everyone was confused, not only by Mulah's sudden outrage but also by the unfamiliar language he was yelling in.

"Forgive me, Your Excellency! There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding. Please have a little patience, this little one will sort this out shortly!" Satoshi looked absoulutely flustered and panicked while he said this to Mulah, he didn't even dare to look at him.

Everyone was watching how Satoshi was treating this angry man with what seemed to be utmost respect. Still, none of them understood what he said, it just sounded a lot like broken Xinjia-korean and some unfamiliar dialects mixed in.

There was only one word everyone present could perfectly hear and understand: Excellency!

Satoshi turned to look at the stunned security personals and the youth and politely bowed at them before saying, "Fellow brothers, please allow me to announce his royal presence, this is the Left Imperial Magister of Xinjia-kor's Imperial Descendants for the delegates of Istindi Province."

Everyone now understood Satoshi as he was speaking in Commoners. As a result they were visibly even more surprised than they were before

The one most surprised out of all would be Nuno. He stole a glance and Mulah and just now realized that his clothes were obviously exceptionally well made.

Before anyone got any chance to get out of their shock, Shatosi added," We actually just arrived from a long journey from Xinjia-kor through Mhasgara and his Excellent Magister has not gotten the chance to enjoy a proper meal. We were actually heading for the restaurant when all of this happened, and I am afraid the misunderstanding had irritated His Excellent Magister."

Hearing this further explanation from Satoshi everyone's shocked due to the sudden outburst of anger lessened. This man had been on a long journey for official duty, he hadn't got a chance to rest, then suddenly this whole chaos happened.

"Fellow brothers, how about this? Let's both compromise. We will definitely cooperate in sorting out whatever kind of misunderstanding this is, but first would you please at least allow His Excellent Magister to have a proper meal? He was really looking forward to lunch."

The security personnel present at the scene were looking at each other as they were not sure what to do. On one hand, it was their job to maintain order and curb any kind of disorderly conduct that disturbed public order. On the other hand, this was a Magister from the Imperial Descendants of Xinjia-kor they were dealing with!

And the polite way this young servant had addressed and pledged to them made them feeling reluctant to not be at least a little bit accommodating.

Satoshi displayed a clear sign of pledge and worry on his face while he waited. After a while he said again, "How about this, my fellow brothers, please have a couple from your ranks to accompany us while His Excellent Magister is having his meal? That way you brothers could rest at ease that we will not renege on our cooperation."

After pondering for a bit one of the security personnel, the one that spoke before said, "I think that would be alright. Some of us will go with you so His Excellent Magister can have his meal in peace. We wouldn't anything untoward to happen to His Excellent Magister after all."

Satoshi nodded and gave the man a very gratified smile, "Thank you brother, for being generous! My name is Di Zheng, His Excellent Magister personal servant, and this is Xiahn, a cargo boy we took with us from Mhasagara. We will come with you to tend to His Excellent Magister needs."

The man from the security personnel nodded and began ordering some of his men to escort His Excellent Magister. The man himself turned his attention toward the young man with Nuno's torn sleeve. They began to converse as they walked to the security office.

Satoshi, Mulah, and Nuno were escorted to a big restaurant in the vicinity of the station. From the look of its exterior and interior, it should be considered the best restaurant they have on the facility.

One of the security personnel talked to the manager of the restaurant and the manager hurriedly went to prepare a better table. They were going to use the private room they rarely use.

In a jiffy, the room was ready, and two security personnel went into the room to make sure that it was really safe inside. After that, they allowed Satoshi and company to enter.

Satoshi expressed his thanks and the security personnel walked out. From the look of it they were going to give His Excellent Magister some privacy and they were going to wait by the door.

Mulah took a seat at the prepared table and then Satoshi sat opposite him. "Sheesh, what a day, huh?"