Nighttime Encounters - Chapter 17
Feeling like a stone had been placed on his chest, Kaiden finally left his lodgings.
“I need to get some air.”
Kaiden strolled along the nighttime streets, remembering the woman who irked him like a thorn at his fingertips. His gaze was drawn towards the darkness beyond the strangely bright streetlights. Was the capital, the heart of the empire, usually this dark? Perhaps increasing the number of streetlights for the city’s security would be a good idea.
Lost in thought, he found himself in the alley where he had encountered the woman earlier. It was the fastest route from his lodgings to the headquarters of the city guard. Even in the middle of the day, the alley had been shrouded in darkness by the buildings’ shadows. But at night, it was filled with an impenetrable darkness, making it impossible to make out anything.
“I’ll have to talk to the guard tomorrow and request an increase in patrols for this area. Those hooligans I encountered here surely need stricter surveillance.”
Muttering to himself, Kaiden suddenly stopped mid-sentence and stared straight ahead.
A dull thud and an unfamiliar voice jolted Kaiden’s ears.
“Ugh!”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Gotcha!”
“Let go of me, it’s me. Me!”
Those were the voices of the ruffians who were harassing that woman earlier in the day. Confusion reigned in their short bursts of conversation as to who was being attacked.
Kaiden strode towards the chaos.
“Ahh! Let go!”
“This a**hole is dead once we catch them.”
“Hey, stop pulling!”
“I didn’t do anything!”
The sound of their struggling became clear as he got closer to their cacophony of noise. They were flailing in the pitch-black darkness. The entangled figures were both attacking someone and seemed to be being attacked in return.
“Stop this.” The moment Kaiden coldly spat out these words, the dull thud and the struggling movements abruptly ceased.
Feeling numerous eyes converging on him even within the darkness, Kaiden gathered magic at his fingertips. Sparks flew, and the darkness that had filled the alleyway was pushed back.
He could see the shadowy figures clearly now. As Kaiden had anticipated, the source of the noise was indeed the ruffians he had encountered during the day.
“What the hell? It’s the same a**hole from earlier.”
“So that’s who’s been attacking us all this time?”
“Sneaking up on us in the dark, huh. You coward!”
Before a burly ruffian could step forward aggressively, the other one quickly held him back.
“Wait, hold on.”
He stared at the flickering light on Kaiden’s fingertips. “Hey, look at that. Is that guy spewing fire out of his hand?”
“What the f*ck, it’s got to be one of those magic stones.”
“No, there’s nothing in his hand.”
“Hmph, no way.”
Even as the ruffians had a profound realization about Kaiden’s identity, he paid them no attention. He squinted, studying the thugs-or, more accurately, the shadows they cast.
Out of the darkness, a human-shaped shadow stared directly at Kaiden, glassy black eyes glinting.The shadow behind the thugs was definitely a person—a person that Kaiden had encountered before.
“…How are you here?”
The dark figure, meeting Kaiden’s bewildered gaze, confidently took a step forward.
Thud.
The ruffian staggered, kicked in the shin.
“Ugh.”
As attention was fixed on Kaiden’s sudden appearance, the shadows began to scurry about, seizing the opportunity.
“Ah!”
“I’m gonna die, I’m dead!”
In the one-sided brawl unfolding within the darkness, Kaiden let out a soft groan.
“Trinity.”
Clad entirely in black, Trinity moved as if she had merged with the darkness itself. She darted through the flailing thugs, wielding her arms and legs with agility. Every time she did, their screams of agony followed.
Why was she here, of all places?
The thugs seemed to have heard Kaiden as well.
“Trinity? Trinity’s here too?” The ruffians were aghast at the unexpected name.
The rogue Trinity had been the notorious thief stalking the capital of Calenia for the past year. It remained a mystery why the ancient name of a heroine who was said to have saved humanity was affixed to a mere thief. However, at some point, she began to be called the rogue Trinity among the people. She was said to be more effective than Kalish jelly at stopping the cries of a weeping child. Trinity had gained such fame that even snotty little boys would seek her out.
“Where? Where?”
The ruffians scrambled to find the rumored Trinity. Even in the midst of their chaos, Trinity moved silently.
Kaiden frowned. “Enough.”
He quickly drew on his magic, increasing the size of the fire. He tore off a piece of it and sent it flying at Trinity.
“Ah! A mage, a mage!”
Though the attack was aimed at Trinity, it was the ruffians who were startled. They panicked at the incoming fire arrow, covering their heads with both hands and hunching down.
“The mage is attacking us!”
The red aura of the flames singed the tips of their hair.
Trinity, who had actually been his target, smiled faintly and extended one hand toward the flames. Black winds gathered around her gloved hand. The chill wind, yet to shed the last vestiges of winter, moved as if it were a living entity.
The wind swirled quickly around the flames, and the flames slowly died down. The fire was completely extinguished, as if absorbed by Trinity’s palm.
“No way.”
The thugs’ jaws dropped as their eyes followed the flames. There was a person where they had thought only black darkness existed. And this person was within arm’s reach—close enough to grab their head or kick their shins.
