Chapter 672: What a Damn Loss

Several seconds later, Thales quickly reacted and subconsciously moved to protect Hilley behind him. But she was faster than him. Lady Covendier yanked her left arm out of Thales' hand, then clamped her palm tightly beneath her right armpit, not allowing anyone to see.

As if hiding her ugliest secret.

Or burying her most precious treasure.

Her movements were so fast and so forceful, it was as if Thales' hand held a red-hot branding iron.

But it was not over.

"Do you think her right hand is the same? I heard doctors say these things grow in pairs!"

The discussions in the crowd grew louder and more unrestrained.

"What about her feet? Could she have six toes on her feet too?"

"Maybe she has a tail..."

"Ew!"

"Heh, she wouldn't have three tits, would she? Like that freak show circus we saw in Vine City back then..."

"The priest was right after all. Thieves have three hands, and trick performers have six fingers!"

"Her parents must have done something wrong and been punished by Sunset."

"It was the ancestors or the family who committed some great sin!"

"I know, I know! They say people who commit the great sin of incest give birth to deformed children like this!"

Listening to more and more discussion in the crowd, Hilley looked in terror at her left palm buried beneath her right armpit, then looked toward everyone's fearful and curious gazes. Listening to the rustling whispers around her, her entire body began trembling uncontrollably.

"No, no, no..."

In that instant, Hilley seemed to suddenly fall into breathing difficulty. She fearfully sucked in great mouthfuls of air, as if drowning.

And the glove, the gray glove Hilley never parted from, one of the pair, was lying on the ground at this moment.

Deflated and dirty.

Powerless and lonely.

With a fifth finger sheath slightly larger than the other four.

"Pah. So she is a deformity."

Lagno said disdainfully:

"Six fingers. No wonder she is so nimble."

"Shut up!" Thales angrily interrupted him. He tore off his coat with his other hand and wrapped it around Hilley's waist, covering her arm.

But he discovered helplessly and painfully that he only had one coat.

Only one.

"Is this what a sinner looks like?"

"I have seen this kind of person. They should be locked in prison and recite scripture day and night to atone!"

"In my hometown, the old people said only those kissed by demons in the womb have fingers like that. It is a bad omen..."

"How can this kind of person be born? As soon as they leave the womb, they should be smothered to avoid disaster!"

"I heard in the Ten Far Eastern Countries, such deformed dead fetuses can be eaten as medicine!"

"Fuck, are Far Easterners that wild?"

"No wonder her brother ended up this poor and shabby..."

"That girl is so pitiful. She must have had such a hard life..."

"We have to help her. We need a priest of Sunset to exorcise her!"

"Serves her right!"

"Hurry and stay away from her. She will bring bad luck!"

Amid the discussion, the auntie who had just cooperated with Hilley in the magic trick and had been unable to help speaking for her was startled. Her face paled, and in a fluster she pushed through the crowd, quickly leaving without looking back.

Lagno, who had pulled off Hilley's glove, also froze. He rubbed his hand in disgust, as if there were something filthy on it.

Thales sensed that he had to do something. He turned back.

"Hi... Wyana? Are you all right?"

Hilley slowly raised her head and glanced at him.

That gaze was calm and unmoving, blank and numb.

There was none of this girl's usual cleverness, overbearing manner, or vitality.

But that lifeless look was like a nail, forcefully pinning the many words Thales had wanted to say into his throat.

Pinning them into flesh and blood.

"Hurry, go, go. Stay away from them..."

"But I still want to take another look..."

"Look at what? Don't you think it is disgusting?"

"Just one look. This is rare. You don't see it often..."

"She won't let you see..."

"She is performing for money. At worst, give her more money..."

Amid the pointing and discussion filled with disgust, curiosity, and even rumor piled upon rumor, Hilley lowered her head deeply. She slowly crouched, her left hand tightly wrapped in Thales' coat, while her right hand, still firmly wearing its glove, slowly, painfully, little by little reached down.

She picked up the glove on the ground.

As if picking up the last of her dignity.

And Thales watched all of this blankly.

Say something, Thales.

Do not stand there.

Say something!

Say anything that can make her feel a little better!

Say it!

Fuck! Thales, why can you not say a single word?

Where is your eloquence? The eloquence that could talk a cunning vampire dizzy, talk fighting Eckstedtians into stopping, talk an angry king into becoming an ally.

Was all of that fucking fake?

Speak, speak!

Are you a fucking idiot?

At that moment, Thales trembled. He discovered that he was actually so clumsy with words.

Everyone's gazes were still nailed to Hilley, as if she were the rarest foreign exhibition in the world, something difficult to see even once.

Even Srimanny, sitting in the barber chair in the shop far away, was included.

Why?

Why were they all staring at her?

Why?

Was she really that interesting to look at?

Really?

These bastards.

Fuck!

In that instant, watching Hilley stand with difficulty, Thales finally understood: he could not speak to her.

But he could at least do one thing.

The next second, having made up his mind, Thales took a deep breath and forced himself to pile on a smile.

"Correct, everyone!"

Thales spun and stepped forward, blocking Hilley while opening his arms to draw everyone's attention.

"Wyana's glove has a mechanism!"

His lips maintained a broad curve, like a clown in a circus.

"That lets her perform wonderful tricks!"

From the sparse crowd, after many had scattered, came a wave of boos and hisses.

Hilley trembled. Fearful yet puzzled, she raised her head and watched Thales' performance.

"But it does not matter!"

Thales laughed loudly.

"I, the true inheritor of a family of magicians, Great Magician Wya, am much better than my sister!"

The young man wearing only a thin inner shirt turned in a circle and lifted both hands high for everyone to see.

"My two hands are not wearing gloves. But I can still perform beautiful magic tricks!"

Lagno, the barber worker, froze.

"Hey, you fucking still dare..."

But Thales threw out a finger and pointed at him.

"This Mr. Lagno!"

The young man was full of spirit, as if where he stood was not the street, but the most luxurious theater stage in the world.

"Your money pouch is red, correct? There is also an R written on it? Inside is a pile of copper coins, more than twenty silver coins, even two gold coins and a pile of large-value exchange notes. Wow, you really are rich! Are you helping the boss manage accounts?"

"How do you know... hey, hey, do not play any tricks." Lagno frowned and reached into his clothes. "Let me tell you..."

But his expression immediately changed greatly.

"Fuck! You stole my money pouch!"

Thales pulled his smile wide and looked at him cheerfully.

"Nothing of the sort!"

Lagno gritted his teeth, called his companions, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to step forward.

"It was you! During the pulling just now. Damn it, I knew you were thieves..."

But Thales raised a hand at the right time.

"No! I know the color of your money pouch because I saw it!"

"Saw your mother..."

Thales pointed above Lagno's head.

"There. It is right there!"

In that instant, everyone turned their heads, then froze.

"Less nonsense! Return my money pouch, and I will not beat you into the same shape as your sister..."

Lagno threatened him, but when he turned back, he also froze.

Across the street, a red, heavy money pouch was hanging brightly from a clothes-drying pole extending from the roof, swaying in the wind.

What?

Lagno rubbed his eyes hard, looked at the distance from here to the drying pole, and could not believe it.

And he was not the only one.

"Wow!"

"Mommy, he is amazing!"

The crowd erupted with surprise no less than during Hilley's performance earlier.

"Fuck, it's real? From that far?"

"When did he hang it up there?"

"Did he throw it? While we were not paying attention?"

"Can you throw that accurately?"

"I know. Supreme-class experts can!"

"So this Master Magician Wya is supreme class?"

Some people even began suspecting Lagno.

"Hey, brother, you are not a shill, are you? How much for one job?"

"Worthy of being the elder brother. He got the true inheritance. His magic is just a bit better than his sister's..."

"Aren't you the barber across the street? Working part time as a shill?"

Hilley had just put her glove back on. Seeing this scene, she could not help frowning.

"You, when did you... how did you do that?" Lagno was shocked and uncertain.

"I told you!" Thales shrugged. "I am not a thief. My sister and I are a family of magicians. Our tricks and skills have been passed down generation after generation!"

Lagno felt that he had been played.

"Fuck! Speak! What did you do? Ability? Threw it over? Or did you collude with a gang?"

"Eh, the secrets of magic." Thales raised a finger before his lips and smiled. "First, do not investigate too deeply. Second, do not expose them. Third, do not spread them outside..."

"Fourth," Thales blinked, "hmm, it is about to fall."

Ah?

Lagno froze. But in the next second, the money pouch suddenly split apart. The coins inside clattered down, while the exchange notes scattered in the wind.

Lagno reacted.

"Fuck!"

Amid coins rolling all over the ground, the crowd abruptly exploded. Many people could not help running in all directions to pick up money, especially the dozen or so rolling gold and silver coins.

"Do not pick them up! Do not! Do not! Who dares pocket Balta Barber Shop's money? Do you not want to live?"

Lagno roared in furious frustration, warning the others while directing his companions to pick up the money.

"Pick it up! That is... the boss's!"

Thales stood to the side, calmly and innocently watching all of this.

"You!"

Lagno turned back, gritted his teeth, pointed at Thales, and pressed his fists.

"Wya and Wyana, right? Good. You are finished today. When the boss comes back..."

"Fine. Only, when your boss comes back," Thales calmly answered and pointed at the sky, "will he settle this account with me first, or that account?"

That account.

Lagno froze. He hesitated, snorted angrily at Thales, and in the end pointed first at the exchange notes drifting away in the sky, then ran to join the money-searching team.

"Forget the coins! You few, go get the exchange notes back first! That is the big part!"

Seeing that the attention of the crowd and the barber workers had all been diverted, Thales finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned back.

All right.

The hardest part had come.

Facing Hilley, facing that hand... what should he say?

What could he say to make her...

But he had overthought it, because the first person to speak was not him.

"Are you all right?" Hilley frowned. Although her eyes were slightly red, the earlier grayness had already been swept away.

Thales breathed a sigh of relief.

"Me? Of course I am all right!" He revealed his large front teeth and smiled foolishly.

Hilley stared at him steadily, as if meeting Thales for the first time.

After a long while, Hilley sighed and handed back the coat and hat, which they had borrowed from the theater backstage, to Thales.

"But your nose is bleeding."

Thales was startled and grabbed his mouth and nose.

Bad.

It really was bleeding.

He had only... only performed one tiny little trick, as Asda would say.

It should not be that serious!

No, no. The most important thing now was not to arouse suspicion.

"Oh, this." Thales wiped his nosebleed randomly, making his face even messier as he worked hard to find an excuse. "Oh, I took some medicine these days that makes my nose bleed easily..."

Hilley narrowed her eyes, her whole face saying she did not believe him.

"Fine." Thales sighed. "You know, I just saw a beautiful girl. I accidentally looked a few extra times. My heart moved and the heat rose."

Hilley was silent for a while.

"In the crowd just now, the youngest girl was a little girl three feet tall. The second youngest was the auntie holding her."

Thales' eyelid twitched.

"I... what I said is true!"

Thales felt that the more he wiped the blood on his face, the worse it became, just as the holes in his excuse grew larger and larger.

"You are a girl too, so you did not notice. But I really saw her! Right before my eyes. Wow, that girl was truly beautiful..."

But before he finished speaking, Hilley took out a handkerchief and slapped it hard onto his face.

"Ah!"

Thales hissed in pain and peeled the handkerchief from his face. Unsurprisingly, he saw a blood mark shaped like a human face.

"Next time you want to say sweet words, please find a less crude line. Otherwise, it sounds like harassment."

Hilley coldly turned around.

"Especially when I know I am not that beautiful."

Now it was Thales' turn to freeze.

Ah?

"I..."

What did she mean? She was not that beautiful?

"Also, it is fine to say this privately, but do not let my brother hear it. He will go mad."

In the next second, Thales instantly reacted and waved the handkerchief in alarm.

"No..."

I was not talking about you!

I was really only making an excuse, not saying sweet words!

But just as Thales racked his brains to explain, Hilley suddenly took a deep breath.

"Hey." The girl of House Covendier spoke, her tone carrying a trace of loneliness. "Just now, thank you."

Thales, who was working hard to wipe his nosebleed, froze.

The two were silent for quite a while.

"You are welcome."

Several seconds later, Thales exhaled and smiled.

"Wyana, good little sister. Everything for magic, right?"

Hilley glanced sideways at him, the corner of her mouth slightly raised.

Thales had wiped away most of the nosebleed. He hesitated over whether to return the dirty handkerchief to her, and in the end, facing Hilley's disgusted gaze, had no choice but to change the topic to avoid awkwardness.

"Good. Although the commotion was a bit large, at least we dispelled the target's suspicion toward us..."

Hmm?

In that instant, Thales sensed something wrong.

He abruptly turned his head.

Inside the barber shop, Srimanny was still sitting in the original spot.

Thales breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the target was still...

"No."

Hilley frowned.

"The presence is wrong. That is not him."

Thales paused.

The presence is wrong?

What did that mean?

But in the next second, he knew why. "Srimanny" inside the shop turned from the chair, lifted the scarf from himself, and shrugged at Thales.

That was not him.

It was another worker from the barber shop.

Thales' heart chilled.

Bad!

He twisted his head left and right, searching the entire street for the target.

Where was he?

Where was Srimanny?

Where had he gone?

"Ahhh! Damn it. He ran!"

With everything ruined, Thales could not help cursing.

"Yes. And he did not just run," Hilley said darkly. "As suspicious as he is, he probably ran the moment the slightest suspicion of us arose."

Damn it, Srimanny. How was this defense lawyer this alert?

And when exactly did he run?

"Wait." Thales understood something and suddenly became clear-headed. "Those barber workers. They did not come to pick a fight just now, nor to abduct someone, and not because of some 'street rules.'"

"That Lagno. His money pouch," Hilley looked at the shop opposite, her face likewise serious. "It should have contained his own coppers and the boss's exchange notes..."

"But it should not have had so many gold and silver coins. They are inconvenient for transactions and useless on the street." Thales thought through the truth in disbelief. "Srimanny gave them to him as the price for helping him escape."

Thinking of this, the prince turned his head.

Far down the street, Lagno, the Blood Bottle Gang barber worker who had just found one exchange note, turned back and smiled triumphantly at him from afar.

That expression seemed to say: Kid, you are still a little too green to fool me.

Fuck!

"They came for us. It was striking east and hitting west, misdirection," Hilley sighed and reached a conclusion. "To create an opportunity for Srimanny to secretly escape and shake off our tail."

"Ahhh! Damn it!"

After recognizing reality, Thales indignantly waved his fist.