svetikya #122 - The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, here we go!
#122 - The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, here we go!
Chris walked forward, dejected.
Soon, they arrived at the residence of Viscount Schneider.
The three of them were silent the whole way. Just as Chris thought she had gone too far and wanted to ease the tension to prevent any mishaps during the upcoming operation—
“I still think we should call ourselves the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.”
“…Are you still hung up on that!?” Chris rolled her eyes and said, “The name doesn’t matter, can’t you focus on what’s in front of us?”
“That won’t do.”
Zun Zun said very seriously, “Just like Batman’s assistant Robin, and Sherlock Holmes’ assistant Watson, Iris and I are your assistants. We are a team, a whole. How can we function without a sense of belonging? We need to create our own corporate culture, right, Iris?”
“Yes, that’s what I think too!”
Iris’s eyes sparkled.
What corporate culture? What the heck?
Aren’t we just ordinary petty thieves?
Although our identities are a bit special—an otherworlder, a goddess incarnate, and a kingdom princess—it’s not like we’re at the point of establishing a religion, right?
Chris realized that Zun Zun seemed to have a special obsession with names… Well, he is a Crimson Demon, after all.
At this moment, Zun Zun spoke again:
“By the way, boss.”
“Don’t call me boss!… So, assistant underling, what’s up?”
“Did you leave a calling card?”
“Calling card?”
Not only Chris, but even Iris looked at him strangely, not understanding what a calling card was.
“You’re really not qualified… Is this really a thief? Thief disqualified, thief disqualified.”
Zun Zun criticized with a sigh.
“Listen up, you two. Being unprepared and acting on a whim makes you a third-rate thief. Being somewhat prepared makes you a second-rate thief. Being completely prepared makes you a first-rate thief.
However… if you want to become a top-tier thief, you need to send a calling card before stealing something, stating the time and place, and then steal the item in broad daylight! That is the ultimate thief!”
“…No, I completely don’t understand what you’re saying. I’m fine being a third-rate thief, so please just sneak in quietly.”
Chris expressed her disagreement with Zun Zun’s excited shouting.
“So, boss!”
“Don’t call me boss!”
“I’ve prepared two types of calling cards. One is a calling card, and the other is also a calling card. But will you be throwing this white calling card with elegance and mystery, or this red calling card with arrogance and charm?”
Zun Zun took out two letters from his chest. The white envelope had a cute and handsome cartoon drawing that resembled Zun Zun, while the red envelope only had a black magician’s top hat and white flames below it.
“Personally, I recommend the red one.”
“Hey, Zun Zun, you…”
“I understand, I understand, the red one, right? As expected of the boss, your thoughts are exactly the same as mine!”
With a flick of his wrist, Zun Zun, like a true magician, used a very flashy and handsome technique to open the red envelope with one hand and display the letter inside to the two of them.
【To the greedy and arrogant Lord Schneider, we are aware of your misdeeds. We will correct your twisted desires and make you confess your crimes. Be prepared!】
【The Phantom Thieves of Hearts are here!】
“The other one is the Kaito Kid version…”
“Enough! That’s enough!”
Chris held down Zun Zun’s hand as he tried to open the other letter. She knew that if she kept watching, she would probably break down.
She rolled her eyes and complained, “We’re just being thieves, why make such a big fuss? Are calling cards even useful? And how obsessed are you with the name Phantom Thieves of Hearts?”
“Well, that’s true…”
Zun Zun suddenly raised Iris’s smooth chin, his red eyes flashed with a mysterious light as he stared straight at her, his deep voice carrying a different kind of magnetism.
“Beautiful lady, tonight I will steal your heart, would you like that?”
“…Yes! I would be delighted!”
Iris’s eyes sparkled, looking at the show-off Zun Zun with unparalleled admiration.
This look is great!
Chris was already holding her forehead and sighing.
Zun Zun said he wanted to make some preparations during the day, but she never thought he would prepare something like this.
“In any case, there’s no chance for a calling card this time, and you’re not allowed to leave this letter behind after we steal the item! Got it!?”
“…Regrettable. I understand.”
Zun Zun put the letter back into his chest, saying with a regretful expression, “It seems like it can only be used next time.”
Next time?
There will definitely be no next time!
Chris secretly decided that even if she had to die, even if she had to jump down from here, she would never let Zun Zun help again!
“Enough nonsense, let’s sneak in quickly.”
“Understood!… Although I want to say that, this mansion is too big, isn’t it? Is this a castle? And what’s with this high wall?”
Zun Zun looked at the high city wall with some bewilderment.
The area occupied by this residence was many times larger than the mansion he lived in, and it was comparable to the castle outside Axel. Looking from the outside, the huge six-story house had already left the category of a residence and could be considered a mansion.
Other noble residences are usually surrounded by fences, but what the three of them faced was something similar to a city wall, probably not much different from the royal palace.
It made one wonder if he was really just a viscount?
Iris explained, “That’s because although Viscount Schneider was once deprived of his noble title, his residence and territory were not taken back by the royal family, and this residence was his home when he was still a great noble.”
“I see, so that’s how it is.”
Zun Zun nodded.
Thank you for your explanation, but at the same time, your identity has been exposed, careless princess.
“Even I find such a high wall tricky.” Chris said this, but the corners of her mouth slightly raised, “Fortunately, I came prepared, watch this!”
She took out a rope from her backpack, and the front of the rope was tied with an iron eagle claw-like hook.
“A first-rate thief must be fully prepared, right?”
After speaking, Chris swung the grappling hook.
Zun Zun understood that she wanted to use the grappling hook to latch onto a protrusion on the city wall, and then climb up the wall along the rope—a rather old-fashioned but useful method.
But her aim was too bad!
When Chris threw the grappling hook, either she didn’t use enough strength or she didn’t hook it. Speaking of which, isn’t she the goddess of luck? Why is she so bad?
“Um, Chris?”
“Don’t call me, I’m concentrating on my work!”
The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ say ⊥ is ⊥ at ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥ ⊥ book ⊥ ⊥ bar ⊥ ⊥ first ⊥ hair!
“But I…”
“I told you not to call me!”
Ignoring the advice, Chris threw the grappling hook up again, but this time she used too much force, and after hooking on, it came loose again, falling down with a thud on her forehead.
That must have hurt a bit.
“Hiss——”
Chris covered her forehead, hopping in pain. Tears welled up in her eyes, and as if in a fit of pique, she kept trying to throw the grappling hook up.
Zun Zun looked at it, shook his head helplessly, and then picked up Iris in a princess carry, walking up the city wall as if it were flat ground.
Elegant, so elegant!
Iris watched him with starry eyes the whole time.
Heh heh heh, this is the ultimate goal of his practice in controlling magic!
After that, Zun Zun and Iris, afraid of accidentally hurting her, sat on the city wall a little further away from her, watching Chris try again and again, until at one point she finally successfully hooked the grappling hook onto the city wall.
“Oh oh oh——!” X2
Zun Zun and Iris applauded and cheered for her.
Chris touched her nose, pretending that it was all a piece of cake. Suddenly, she noticed something was wrong. Why were the applause and cheers coming from above her head?
She looked up.
She saw the two people sitting above.
“Ah, ah? Zun Zun and Iris, how did you two get up there?”
“How did we get up here?”
Zun Zun and Iris looked at each other, and then, in front of Chris, stepped down the city wall as if it were flat ground.
“We just went up like this.”
“…I have something to say to you when we get back!”
Chris’s chest was about to swell up by a plus sign. She couldn’t understand why she was suddenly so angry. It was clearly her who stubbornly insisted on using the grappling hook, not listening to anything she said.
Then Chris opened her arms to him.
“What?”
“Take me up.”
“But this painstakingly and laboriously attached grappling hook… Okay, I understand.”
Before the goddess could cry, Zun Zun raised his hands again in surrender, indicating that he was wrong. He carried Chris on his shoulders and once again walked up the wall easily and freely.
After arriving on the city wall.
“…Assistant underling, were you also carrying Iris like this just now?”
“No, I used a princess carry.”
“Ugh!”
Chris puffed out her cheeks and glared at Zun Zun with teary eyes. Her self-esteem, her self-esteem as a goddess, was already shattered!
—Iris is a princess, how could you use such a crude method?
I’m still a goddess!
…Seeing the meaning expressed in Zun Zun’s eyes, Chris forcibly resisted the urge to reveal her identity.
“Okay, next is the main topic.”
Chris looked at the mansion shrouded in darkness, rubbing her hands together. Iris also stared with shining eyes, the two of them as if they were looking at a secret realm where treasures were buried.
The three stood on the city wall.
In a pose similar to a certain three brothers under the moon.
Zun Zun snorted lightly and chanted, “If the heavens are unable to punish evil, we will give annihilation in the darkness…”
“What are you suddenly saying?”
“—We are all, professional hitmen!”
“…Wait a minute, we’re just here to steal something, not to kill people, Zun Zun, you should understand, right!?”
She couldn’t understand why Chris was suddenly shouting. Crimson Demons must show off when there’s a chance, and Zun Zun was just following the habits of the Crimson Demon clan. Didn’t she see that Iris’s eyes were full of admiration for him?
“Chris, a true thief wouldn’t make a lot of noise, please be quiet.”
“Whose fault do you think that is——!”
She started again.