It was a peaceful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping. In a monastery outside of Hazen, the sisters were handling the laundry, helped by the orphan girls that they took care of. Meanwhile, most of the orphan boys were busy talking and playing with the group of paladins who were currently staying in the monastery.

  Eda, a former member of the street urchin and a new member of the monastery was helping the sisters and the girls dealing with the massive amount of laundry the monastery had. She finished folding a bunch of them and bent down to carry the fully filled laundry basket.

  “Hup,” she carried the heavy laundry basket with ease, impressing the sisters and girls who saw her. Even the Paladins who were watching from afar were impressed that such a small girl was able to carry the obviously overloaded basket of laundry.

  Eda was walking casually towards the monastery when she noticed a girl next to her. The girl, Priscilla, was carrying a laundry basket with a stack of clothes that was higher than the one Eda was carrying — it was so high that the stack was wobbling left and right that the people who watched her were worried it would fall. It did not help that Priscilla’s entire body was clearly trembling from the weight of the basket. But she did not care that she was overexerting herself. All she cared was one thing — that she one upped Eda. That she was the more mature and reliable girl. As she walked past Eda, she gave her a smug look before she walked slowly and carefully towards the monastery.

  Eda did not understand why Priscilla was so competitive with her… but she did not mind it. If anything, the admiration from the other kids was a bit suffocating for her. Priscilla’s competitiveness on stupid stuff was a breath of fresh air. If anything, Priscilla reminded her a bit of Grigori.

  Eda continued walking towards the monastery, making sure that she did not overtake the struggling Priscilla. Walking slowly behind her, pretending she was struggling with the weight of the basket, especially whenever Priscilla looked back to ensure she was still doing better than Eda. How proud she looked whenever she walked in front of Eda while carrying heavier weight than her.

  From a distance, Sister Marie observed the one-sided rivalry and Eda’s matureness. She could not help but praise God with how peaceful the day was. As the kids put down their laundry basket, Sister Marie approached Eda discreetly so that Priscilla would not notice them.

  “Eda, can I ask you for a favor?” Eda looked around, ensuring that Priscilla did not see them. She knew Priscilla would feel some type of way if she saw Sister Marie relying on her for something. Once Eda confirmed that Priscilla was busy trying to fill another basket with a mountain of laundry, she answered Sister Marie. “Sure, Sister. How can I help?”

  “You see Eda. It’s going to be Priscilla’s birthday soon. We wanted to bake her favorite apple pies to celebrate it, and to do so, we needed to get some apples. I’m planning to send Sister Jane to do it… but… she’s a bit…” Sister Marie struggled to find a word to describe Sister Jane’s tendency without sounding rude. “Clumsy?” Eda helped her out.

  “Yes! Clumsy. You see, Sister Jane had a history of… being a victim. Five times she went out on an errand. She got pickpocketed three times and mugged once. And the one time her purse did not get taken from her… she got scammed… so… can you help her?” Eda had no words to say. Deep down, her street urchin’s instinct told her that Sister Jane would be an easy target… just not that easy. “Fi- five!? Why are you still letting her out of the monastery?”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Sister Marie understood Eda’s concern, “honestly, we don’t want her out in the streets either… but we can’t exactly shelter Sister Jane forever. Sooner or later, she needs to actually learn how to be wary of her surroundings. Since we got you and the Paladins right now, we thought this will be a good chance for her to go out.”

  “We’ll have a paladin with us?” Eda asked for confirmation. “Yes, we’re planning to ask one of the paladins to accompany you girls. You can leave the protection to them. All I ask is for you to watch Sister Jane’s bad habits and help us fix it — or at least take notes of them so we can scold her and hopefully fix it.” Sister Marie clasped her hands together, begging that Eda would accept her request and help Sister Jane get rid of whatever curse that made her an easy target for criminals.

  Eda chuckled, she found the entire situation to be a bit ridiculous. “Sure Sister Marie. I don’t know if I can help much, but I’m willing to try.” Sister Marie’s face brightened, she looked like she had achieved salvation from God itself. “Thank you very much Eda. Any help is appreciated. Why don’t you go and prepare for the trip. I’ll call Sister Jane and find a paladin first. You can wait in front of the front gate if you’re done.” Eda nodded to Sister Marie’s direction.

  She immediately went to her room while Sister Marie yelled for Sister Jane. On the way to her room, Eda wondered what she should bring. She still had her flintlock pistol and dagger hidden underneath her bed. She pondered whether she should bring them with her. On one hand, she wanted to leave those weapons, the reminder of her harsh past behind. But at the same time, she did not feel safe going into the city without them — even with the protection of a paladin.

  Eda let out a heavy sigh. She could not believe such a simple decision would ruin her mood on such a good day.

  *******

  It’s a beautiful sunny day in Hazen. The street was bustling with lives and commercial activities. The fear of the gang war and mysterious incidents had started to wane. People had continued their daily lives like nothing ever happened. Napier hated that. He hated the ignorance of the people… but today, he would tolerate it.

  Their ignorance was perfect. It would make them less wary, and make them a better victim for him. He was recruited to be a pickpocket, and this was his chance to prove his worth to the street urchins.

  Napier scanned the crowd, the street, the stalls, looking for the perfect victim. He had experience in stealing before, but he also messed up greatly once, and it cost him his left hand. He could not afford to get caught again, that was why he had to ensure his target was the easiest of easy, at least for his first victim.

  Napier’s eyes caught a perfect victim. A sister, walking around the stalls. Judging by the way she walked, Napier could tell she had no thought in her mind. A natural airhead. A perfect victim. The problem was the people that accompanied her. One of them was an armed guy. He was skinny looking and delicate, with a beautiful face that both men and women would love. The problem was his look was deceiving. His gait showed that he was an experienced fighter. His gaze was wary, always looking at his surroundings. Complete opposite of the sister he was accompanying.

  The other problem was the girl that was also a part of their entourage. Judging by her dress, she might also be a sister. But her demeanor was more similar to the armed young man compared to the airheaded sister. Napier was considering his option. He could look for other targets… but the airhead was such a perfect victim he could not help but be a bit greedy.

  The airhead stopped at a fruit stall and purchased a bunch of apples. That was when Napier decided that she would be his victim. First, the armed young man was now occupied with carrying the baskets of fruits they just purchased. Two, the young girl was busy haggling with the vendor. And lastly, the airheaded sister was just carrying her fat purse in the open, nothing on her mind. This was the best time to strike…

  … and striked he did. Napier ran towards the airheaded sister. The young man realized he was coming, but his arms were carrying the basket, and he became paralyzed because he did not know if he should drop the basket to stop Napier or not. The girl realized a bit too late. The sound of her own voice and the sound of the vendor drowned Napier’s approaching footsteps. The airhead did not even realize she was a target until Napier grabbed the purse out of her hand.

  Surprised, the airheaded sister screamed and tried to grab Napier, but she somehow stumbled over her own legs and knocked down the armed young man in the process. Seeing that, Napier was shocked. He was pretty sure he did not even touch the airhead at all, yet she somehow managed to fall on her own.

  Napier praised his luck, he had chosen the perfect target. He did not account for one thing however. The little girl that accompanied them, was now chasing him at unbelievable ferocity.