17

👍︎︎︎♒︎︎︎♋︎︎︎◻︎︎︎⧫︎︎︎♏︎︎︎❒︎︎︎ 📂︎🖮︎🖳︎ 👍︎♋︎⧫︎♍︎♒︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ♋︎ ❄︎♒︎♓︎♏︎♐︎

"Catch the Crimson Thief of the Urak Forest." Thor read aloud, "Relatively average height non-dwarf. Very noticeable crimson colored hair. Bring back stolen items or gold the value of the stolen items (350 gold) and the culprit. Time Limit: 3 days. Reward 150 gold."

"You sure about this one?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, I mean how hard is it to catch a single thief?"

"It is considered a Silver B mission."

"We got you with us, don't we Thor?" The Puppeteer replied with a smile, "You're one of the strongest people in the world aren't you?"

"Well… yeah?"

"Then it's settled! C'mon Ben!"

"Yes sir!"

The crew began walking through the forest, the sun shining brightly, chatting about the events that happened yesterday.

"So what exactly happened after the fight?" The Puppeteer asked.

"Well Hades just left," Thor explained, "He apparently took one of your cards as a prize. We rushed over to you and it took forever to even patch up that wound. Thankfully we were able to find a doctor quick enough who was able to seal that wound of yours." He glared at The Puppeteer, "Which is why I'm on this trip with you. To make sure you don't die."

The Puppeteer gave a nervous smile, "Hey… I'm still alive… though right…?"

"But you—" He stopped, "Don't move!"

The Puppeteer took a step forward, "Huh?" a massive explosion went off.

"Sensei!"

"Ben! Thor!"

The ground underneath The Puppeteer began to shift and he plummeted into the earth below.

* * * * * *

"Ugh… That fall sure was nasty…" The Puppeteer could barely stand up. He glanced at his surroundings, finding trees planted in the ground and birds freely flying. He was shocked. "Hadn't I just fallen several hundred feet? Why am I still on the surface." He looked up to the bright day sky only for a branch to fall on top of his head.

"My, my, you've awoken." a feminine voice from in the trees, "Had I not helped you, you would've taken a much more dangerous fall." The Puppeteer looked up towards the voice and saw someone in a dark red cloak and a hood covering her eyes and face. It seemed like she gave him a smile and lept down from her place. She gently picked up his chin and asked, "Who were those people you were traveling with?"

"I-I-I um… you're a little close there." The Puppeteer stammered.

"Oh my apologies," She said, removing her hand, "It's just that whenever I see a cute face, I can't help but talk to them. Anyway, who are they?"

"Well, the child is Ben. He's my student. I'm teaching him how to play The Wells of Truth."

"Ah, a student. I could be your student, but I want to learn something else from you."

"Uh-uh wha…"

She gave out a tiny giggle, "Oh I'm just teasing you. So who's that blond guy?"

"Him? Oh he's Thor, He's a good friend of mine. Saved me a few times." The Puppeteer didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but it seemed like her face turned a little sour at the sound of Thor's name.

"I see, but what are you guys doing here? The Urak Forest is quite a dangerous place."

"Oh that?" The Puppeteer responded as he pulled out a poster, "we're on a mission. We're supposed to catch a thief who's been running about lately. You should probably stay safe."

She glanced at the poster and sighed a bit, "I'll do my best. Well I guess I'll be…"

"Sensei!" a voice shouted.

"Puppeteer!" another followed.

The girl seemed to bite her lip in disgust and anger, "I-I have to go." She dashed away only to be hit by a bolt of lightning.

"Thor! What the hell? Why'd you hit her?"

"She's the enemy, you dense block of wood! She's literally wearing a red cloak! Crimson is a shade of red!"

"Well how am I supposed to know that she's actually the bad guy? Maybe she just happens to be someone who wears the color red?"

"Other than the Crimson Thief, who else could she be? Little Red Riding Hood? This is a mission not a time to dawdle aroun…"

"It's not crimson and it's not red!" She shouted in a pouty voice, "It's scarlet! My cloak, scarlet! My hair, scarlet! My eyes, scarlet! Even my name, SCARLET! It's not some boring old red and it isn't some dumb crimson. It's scarlet!"

"So you are the bad guy?"

"What tipped you off? The insane rant about the difference between crimson and scarlet?" Thor retorted.

"Well, it's a shame then. I really thought you were a nice person. Guess I was wrong. I play the card—"

"Did you really think I wasn't prepared? I am the Scarlet Thief after all. I cast the Truth, Steal! Time to see what's in that box of yours."

"What? No!" The Puppeteer quickly dived towards the box lying nearby on ground and clutched it in his arms.

"Success!" Scarlet cried as she opened her hands, "what… are… these?" Inside her palms were two tiny discs both partially transparent, bar the exception of an inner circle of gold.

The Puppeteer was now no longer clutching his box, but instead his eyes. "Fucking hell! That hurt!" He shrieked, "Give them back!"

"As if," she sneered, "tell me what they are and I'll consider it."

"They're my contacts. I can't see without them. Now give them back."

"Nope."

"But you…"

"I said I'll consider it and after some consideration I'm not giving it back. Especially because you can't see without these."

"Dammit… Ben! Go through my box and see if you can find something called Vision Glasses. They'll help me see."

"Yes sir!" Ben quickly ran towards The Puppeteer's side and began searching through his box.

"I guess it's up to me to carry on this mission of ours." Thor sighed, "can you give up? You do know who you're against right? I'm Thor, the highest ranking adventurer in The Land of The Creator."

"Good then," She said with an evil smile upon her face, "I have a personal vendetta against you. Thor Stroganoff."

"Hm? Vendetta? This should be interesting. Go on."

"You murdered the remaining members of my family."

"Don't recall. Please tell me their names so I know exactly who you're talking about."

"Tell you? Perhaps showing you will do better." She tore off her cloak revealing a scarlet tank top underneath. She pulled away part of the collar and revealed something that left Thor speechless.

"Ben, have you found them yet? I can't see what's going on."

"Here you go Sensei,"

The Puppeteer cast the card and put on the glasses, "Perfect! I can see perfectly well. Now what is it that she's showing us… A tattoo right under her collarbone of a circle on top of a triangle pointed downwards… What does that mean?"

"Thor Stroganoff, you massacred my family, now receive despair from Scarlet, The Last Knight Cultist!"

Chapter 17: Catching a Thief END