“The reward is 30 million gold. That’s exactly how much your debt is.”
It didn’t take a blink of an eye for Cello, the eldest sister of the orphanage who was once trusted, to become a pickpocket in the back alley after she found out that her younger brother had stolen the money she had saved and ran away, leaving a debt under her name.
Cello’s debt, which occurred in an instant, inflated rapidly, and it didn’t take long for it to reach a level that the orphan girl couldn’t handle.
After that, Cello got involved with all sorts of back-alley people and was kicked out of the orphanage after various misunderstandings.
“Can you steal the royal treasure?”
At the words of the informant, Cello swallowed her saliva.
It was a golden opportunity. A life threatened by debtors while filling her mouth with dirty requests and stolen wallets.
With just 30 million gold, she could escape from this bottom life.
There was no need to flip a cheap wig to hide her bright red hair, no need to apply black makeup on her white skin, and hide her body. A life where she could live upright just as she is now. That was enough for Ceilo.
“What does the item look like?”
“The treasure where the spirit dwells changes its appearance every time. So no one knows exactly what it looks like.”
“No, how can I steal it without knowing that?”
Cello asked as if she felt it was absurd. But the informant was calm.
“Do you think 30 million gold will come for free? Just bring the most expensive-looking thing in there. That’s your specialty, isn’t it?”
“This is crazy…”
Cello spat out a curse.
“However, she couldn’t deny it. Whose wallet had money in it, and what was a counterfeit? Cello had a natural talent for sniffing out that money smell. That’s why the informant chose Cello.
“Anyway, it’s true, right? Don’t change your mind later.”
“Don’t worry. See you at the rendezvous then.”
Cello put her hand deep into the pocket of her old coat and left the informant’s room.
A man with scissor marks on one eye approached Cello as if he had been waiting for her.
“Cello! Are you going to do it? With me?”
“Yeah.”
Cello nodded vaguely and passed him. But he casually put his arm around Cello’s shoulder.
“Wow, you’re finally doing it with me? Good choice. It’s going to be so satisfying. What I usually put in and shake… ”
Cello cut him off with a stern look.
“Get lost, X. I’m not here to play games with you.”
“It’s going to be tough if you act so cold. My money, if you don’t pay it back by the end of this month… ”
He whispered as he wrapped her long, red hair around his finger.
“You’ll end up rolling in bed with strangers. It’s better to just be with me, isn’t it?”
Cello gritted her teeth and glared at X.
“Once this mission is over, I’ll cut off only your fingers. So, think about it.”
After finishing his words, Cello pushed him away and left the building.
“Hey, we’re partners anyway, partners!”
X shouted loudly from behind Cello, but Cello didn’t look back and went down the stairs and out.
Informant disguised into a fruit shop, there were boxes filled with apples.
When Cello kicked the box with her foot, an informant, who was dressed like a fruit shop owner wearing an apron, scolded Cello.
“Cello, calm down!”
“Yes, yes.”
Cello straightened the box of apples and moved her hands swiftly.
Cello, who had walked to the park dragging her worn-out leather shoes, sat down on a bench and looked around.
Confirming that there was no one who knew her, Cello slumped her shoulders and sighed deeply.
She pretended to be fine, but she couldn’t be.
If this request is successful, she could escape from the bottom life, but if she made a slight mistake, she would fall into the basement below the floor.
“Ah…”
Cello put her hand in and out of her coat. An apple popped out of her pocket. It was an apple she ‘borrowed’ from the informant just now.
“Well, it will be deducted from the request fee anyway.”
Cello mumbled to herself and bit into the bright red apple, the same color as her hair.
Then, Cello heard the sound of children playing. When she turned her gaze, a man dressed in expensive clothes was floundering among the children.
“Wow. You can’t catch it!”
“Ah, kids. My glasses…”
“I don’t want to!”
The children were throwing and catching thick glasses. But the man just laughed awkwardly and was flustered.
“Ah, the disgrace of the nobility is all by himself…”
“That’s why he’s still not married…”
At his pathetic appearance, passers-by covered their mouths with fans and laughed, or shook their heads.
“It smells like money…”
Cello muttered quietly, threw the apple into the trash can, and approached them.
“What are you guys doing there?”
“Huh, let’s run away!”
The children ran away in a flurry when they saw Cello. Cello glanced at the man fumbling in the bushes.
“Can I help you? Glasses?”
Cello looked around the ground, picked up the glasses that the children had thrown away, and handed them over. Cello smiled a business smile.
“Here you go.”
The man who received the glasses had his hand in an elegant silk glove. Cello, surprised by the elegant gesture of his long fingers, raised her gaze and met his eyes.
‘What, handsome…’
The man quickly put on his glasses and bowed his head.
“Thank you, miss.”
‘No, cancel that.’
Thick glasses and long bangs grotesquely covered half of the man’s face. The dress shirt that tightly choked his neck looked expensive but was incredibly tacky. The sight of him bowing his head with his hair fixed with an ambiguous pin was even ridiculous.
“My name is a secret. No need for a reward.”
Cello spoke kindly, dusted off her clothes, and turned around.
The man didn’t notice, but Cello’s pocket was already bulging the size of his wallet.
After that, Cello returned to the inn, humming a tune.
“Let’s see. Do you have some money…”
Cello lay on the creaky, shabby bed and pulled out the wallet, today’s loot.
“Oh, the leather is nice. I could sell just this for quite a bit.”
On the trembling leather wallet, an eagle tearing a snake was drawn. Cello frowned.
“Huh? It’s a crest I’ve never seen before…”
Cello had lived her whole life in the back alleys, picking the pockets of nobles. It was okay to sell the wallets of low-ranking nobles who were only names, but if she mishandled the belongings of precious people, she didn’t know what would happen if she was dragged away by the security guard.
So if she thought she couldn’t handle it, she had to secretly sell it on the black market after a while. Thus she had most of the family crests in her head.
She felt cheap at the unfamiliar crest, but she couldn’t return it, saying sorry.
“Then I’ll sell this slowly. But there’s no name on the money.”
Cello started to count the bills in the wallet.
“20, 21, 22…Wow. 220,000 gold.”
Cello opened her mouth wide. It was a spectacle where no one helped a perfectly healthy nobleman who was even insulted by children. So she thought the nobleman was just a nerd with decent clothes. It was a more generous harvest than she thought. A smile bloomed on Cello’s face.
“After all, people should live by helping others.”
Cello chuckled and threw the empty wallet onto the bed.
****
Time passed and the day of the decisive battle finally came.
Inside the informant’s hideout, about six back alley thugs, including Cello, were standing loosely.
“I’ve already spread the money, so there’s hardly any security. Valeria and Santiago will put the remaining guards to sleep with drugs. When the rest of the people attract attention, Cello and X go into the treasury. You understand?”
At the informant’s words, the thugs nodded their heads.
“Then everyone scatter!”
At that command, the people, including Cello, moved quickly towards the palace like rats.
“The palace is worth robbing, right?”
Cello and X infiltrated the palace through the underground sewer. As the informant said, there was hardly any security, and if there was, they were drowsy from the drugs.
“Look, Cello. If we join hands, there’s nothing we can’t steal, right?”
“Don’t hold hands sneakily. I don’t want to be robbed.”
At the end of the fierce conversation, the two safely arrived in front of the treasury. The treasury door was tightly locked with various locks.
“This is my specialty.”
X pulled out a thin wrench, pick, and lubricant from his pocket. He sprayed the lubricant into the lock hole and inserted various tools into the keyhole.
Then, as he half-closed his eyes and gently shook and turned the tool, the lock opened with a clank.
“Wow, that’s amazing…”
Cello unknowingly exclaimed.
“I told you, inserting and shaking is my specialty. Ceilo.”
“Yeah. Just your size.”
Cello readily gave him a punch, but it was true that he was a great technician.
X opened all the locks in no time. Finally, when he untied the tightly wound chain, the treasury door finally opened.
“…That’s it.”
They both muttered at the same time. In the middle of the treasury, a flashy sword embedded in a round stone was visible. Cello spoke in a low voice.
“I’ll hold this, so try to pull it out.”
Cello gripped a stone the size of a fist, and X pulled the sword. After a few attempts, the sword came out with a thud. The blade emitted a brilliant glow.
“We did it!”
Cello exclaimed quietly. Now, if they could just get out safely with that sword, the plan would be a success.
“Good. Let’s go, Cello!”
Cello absentmindedly looked at the stone in her hand. It was a black stone, but there was something strangely attractive about it.
Strangely enough, it was more so than the flashy sword that was undoubtedly a treasure.
‘Considering it was in the palace treasury, it should sell for something.’
Cello thought to herself and put the stone in her pocket. Then, a claimoring sound was heard from outside the treasury.
“Ah! Save me!”
“Catch that guy!”
Cello clenched her teeth.
“I knew it was too easy…”
“There, the ventilation duct!”
X pointed to the ventilation duct in the ceiling. The two quickly stacked boxes.
X first tore off the cover of the ventilation duct and went inside. As Cello was hanging at the entrance of the ventilation duct, X opened his mouth.
“Hold on, Cello. Think about it.”
“What?”
“There are boxes in front of the ventilation duct and no one is there? Then they’ll chase us right away.”
Cello, who was hanging from the ventilation duct with her legs dangling, glared at him and asked.
“Ah, very heavy. So what are you going to do?”
“…Sorry. Cello. I have to survive too.”
“What?”
X stepped on the back of Cello’s hand. Cello fell from the ventilation duct.
“Ah! You crazy bastard…!”
Cello glared at X disappearing into the ventilation duct.
There was no time. She had to hide immediately.
But as she fell, she felt a sharp pain, her leg broke from the fall.
Cello crawled and hid in the silk, and shortly after, the treasury door opened.
“…What, they’ve already run away?”
“They escaped through the ventilation duct. Block the exit!”
Fortunately, the guards did not see Cello and left the treasury again.
Cello sighed in relief inside the pile of silk. But how could she get out with this body? Gradually, Cello’s vision became blurry.
****
How much time had passed? Then a voice was heard from above.
“Cello, Cello!”
“What…”
Cello, who had come to her senses, looked up at the ceiling. X, bleeding from the eye without a scar, was hanging in front of the ventilation duct.
“Cello, are you there? Please help me, please!”
He seemed to not see properly and staggered towards Cello.
Since his hands were empty, it seemed that the treasure had already been stolen. Cello came out of the silk pile and grabbed his collar.
“You son of a…You have no shame?”
“The guards have all gone out. We can hide here and go out together. If you look out for me, I’ll carry you out!”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Do you think I’ll be fooled by you twice?”
While the two were struggling, the door opened with a bang.
‘Damn.’
Cello suppressed her rage, which seemed to burst out at any moment, with a sob.
“…Where is Serpiente?”
The one who entered the treasury was not a guard but a man whose identity could not be known.
The man’s eyes were hidden by a black hood, but there was an undeniable anger rising at the corners of his mouth.
‘Wait, that man, I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere.’
Cello took a deep breath. But Cello’s worry didn’t last long.
“I’ve been waiting for today…”
Bang!
With the sound of a gunshot, Cello closed her eyes.
‘This is the end.’
Then, the black stone in Cello’s possession flashed.
