The Thief

    Finally, Ellie decided to set aside her own 32 gold coins for the time being. Fortunately, she had received a high-level dimensional ring from the Setter family, which allowed her to store all her produce without it spoiling. Considering the conspicuous and obviously valuable nature of the dimensional ring she received, Ellie tossed it into a secret dimensional pendant that looked less valuable to avoid drawing too much attention; she preferred not to display it openly.

    Knowing that Ellie, a mysterious mage, preferred solitude, the Setter family volunteered to escort her out of the city with their magic of concealment and other means. The Setter family's carriage dropped her off outside the city, allowing her to return to where she had come from alone.

    Certainly, if the Setter family were not foolish, they would not send someone to follow Ellie strictly. They were afraid that their actions might upset the mysterious mage and subsequently cause their eldest son, who was born with special powers, to be abandoned.

    As Ellie snuck along the edge of the forest, she transformed back into her usual self. However, as she neared her home, Ellie heard something that tensed her nerves!

    "She's not home! Ellie is not home. She is the only one not home!" A man's voice exclaimed. Ellie peeked from behind the dense forest to confirm the situation.

    Many people were entering and exiting her house, all with stern faces clearly showing they were angry.

    "I knew it! This child is definitely not ordinary. Her parents are no ordinary either. How else could they have escaped their massive debts by themselves? That's why a child like Ellie has acquired such habits. Who knows, maybe her parents had taken her on many thefts before!" A middle-aged woman bitterly accused.

    And this woman was "Nara's" mother, Ellie’s friend, meaning she held the position of the village chief's wife.

    "Don't accuse the deceased!" a middle-aged man, who had previously been on good terms with Ellie’s family, intervened. He would not allow the other party to slander further.

    "Even now, no one knows where Ellie has gone. It’s not right to say she stole money from the chief."

    "That’s true. Ellie just lost her family and hasn’t even regained her composure yet. It's not fair to accuse her of such a thing. And it’s not like anyone can just walk into the chief’s house. How could a young girl like Ellie enter without the adults noticing?"

    Several people stepped forward to defend her, and these words helped Ellie understand what was happening in front of her. It seemed to be related to a situation at the village chief's house, right? And if she guessed correctly, it must be about the village chief’s money going missing!

    "Hah! Well then, tell me where your innocent little girl has disappeared to now," the middle-aged woman pressed on relentlessly, but the village chief remained silent. He too seemed unwilling to believe that Ellie could be the one who stole his money. Unfortunately, after checking with everyone, they all had alibis; only Ellie had suddenly vanished.

    "Then it's our duty to search, isn't it? If Ellie hasn't stolen but is in trouble, we need to be able to help her promptly," one villager responded. No matter what, he couldn't believe that the honest Ellie would steal.

    Many villagers agreed, so the consensus was to search for Ellie to determine whether she stole the money or if she needed help.

    Ellie, overhearing this, panicked greatly. She truly hadn't stolen the money, but she had no evidence to prove her innocence. Above all, Ellie couldn't tell everyone what she had been doing in the city; if her secrets were exposed, she believed it would ruin the storyline and be terribly dangerous.

    All she wanted was for the plot to proceed normally so that her supporting character, with only so much scene, could live a good and peaceful life.

    With a rush of thoughts, she finally had an idea. Ellie's petite figure ran to a remote place, looking at the stream in front of her with hope.

    As dusk nearly fell, the sound of footsteps approached; the villagers had been searching everywhere and this place was their last stop since they couldn't find the little girl anywhere.

    "Isn’t Ellie running off to another village already?! She must set herself up somewhere after stealing our money."

    "When will you stop accusing Ellie of being bad? She's suffered enough already. If you keep talking like this, I won't hold back my words anymore."

    "What? And what's wrong with what I said? In the entire village, only Ellie and our daughter had disappeared. Are you saying my daughter stole it?!"

    Faced with the village chief’s wife's words, many villagers were speechless. They too wanted to ask about Miss Nara, the village chief’s daughter, who was missing. Moreover, comparing the two girls, one was an outsider while the other was their own daughter, shouldn't it be more likely for Miss Nara to have stolen the money?

    But speaking out would definitely create problems. Without evidence, accusing anyone rashly wouldn't be right; they just needed to find Ellie as quickly as possible.

    However, while the crowd was uncomfortably stirring, one observant villager spotted a girl sitting by the stream, her small body curled up, soaking wet, with frequent traces of walking up and down the stream.

    "That's Ellie there!"

    "Really, it's really her!" Everyone was thrilled to finally find the girl. But before they could reach Ellie, the girl who had been huddled up began to cry, slowly stepping back into the stream again.

    "Mom, Dad, let Ellie come find you," her voice was soft, but as it rose amidst the silence, it reached everyone's ears.

    "Ellie!! Stop, what are you doing!" Shouted one of the villagers, as if trying to snap her back to reality.

    The petite figure turned to look at the villagers with a startled and frightened expression. Her small feet tangled in a scramble before she fell backward with a "splash!" The clear water of the stream splashed. Thankfully, the water wasn't too deep, and Ellie managed to stand up with the water reaching only her waist.

    "Sob, sob! Mom and Dad don't love Ellie at all. Ellie doesn't want to be alone. Why couldn't I go with Mom and Dad?" The girl cried out as though the world was ending.

    Eventually, many adults reached her. From the tracks, it seemed she tried to enter the water and then walked back out repeatedly. Perhaps this Ellie was contemplating something dreadful.

    "Ellie! Get a hold of yourself, you're grown up now. What exactly are you thinking?" A young man, 3 years older than her, shouted angrily, his eyes bloodshot at the sight.

    He had been her playmate as a child, but in the village, after boys turned 15, they were expected to start working at home, be it hunting or farming. Thus, they no longer played with girls. Now Ellie was 16, meaning that he had turned 19, it had been 4 years since he played with her, and now when they met again, she was such a sorrowful person.

    "Sob, I want to die. I don't want to live anymore. But Mom and Dad didn't want me. Dad once said I shouldn't play by the stream alone because I could drown, but I don't see where I would die! I don't see any truth in what Dad said! Waah."

    She went off and cried miserably, a scene that made many adults exchange glances. This child’s life was truly pitiable.

    Her attempts at suicide suggested she had lost all hope in life.

    "I don't think a girl who wants to kill herself would have the motivation to steal the village chief's money."

    "I think so too. If Ellie wanted money, after getting it, she would be happy, not trying to drown herself."

    "From the footprints, it seems like she's been here a long time, maybe since she woke up."

    "Also, Ellie shouldn't be the thief. Who saw anyone at the village chief's house today? It would be better to start the investigation from there."

    A group of villagers helped the girl regain her composure and dissuaded her from despair, while another group discussed the situation directly with the village chief.

    Nara's father, the middle-aged man, nodded in agreement. He too thought that a girl who had lost all hope in life wouldn't resort to stealing money from someone else, as it seemed utterly pointless.

    Ellie was currently unconscious in the arms of a villager, her body quite exhausted. Therefore, the villagers discussed and decided to quickly return to the village, unconcerned about the troubled expression of the village chief’s wife.

    Today, the village chief's money had disappeared, yet no one had been to his house. It must have been someone within the village chief's own family! His wife knew she hadn’t taken it, and her husband had no reason to steal his own money. Therefore...

    While everyone was about to head back to the village, the voice of a village woman who hadn't joined the search for the culprit suddenly called out to them from the edge of the forest.

    "Village chief, come quickly, please!"

    "What is it? You look alarmed," the village chief stepped forward in surprise. Before the first issue was even resolved, it seemed another matter had cropped up!

    "It's serious, sir. It’s about your daughter, your child."

    "What about my daughter?" The village chief felt a great dread. His daughter had been missing all day, and suddenly a villager was rushing to tell him a significant piece of news about her! His heart sank.

    "Miss Nara is in trouble, sir."

    "Out with it, I really need to know," the village chief’s wife, more hot-tempered, interjected immediately. The village woman looked at them both sympathetically before revealing,

    "Miss Nara’s magic powers have erupted, sir!"

    If it were wealthy folks, hearing this would certainly be a cause for celebration. A child's awakening of powers at 15-16 years old would mean that the offspring were set to become great, adding another prodigy to their family. However, the villagers felt differently.

    A child whose intense powers awakened wasn't dangerous as long as there’s money and herbalists to help. However, they heard that the cost per child was nearly 1,000 gold coins!

    Where would they find such an amount of money? Especially the villagers, who used only copper coins, meaning they would need to gather 10,000,000 copper coins to save the child's life.

    It's no wonder that children who awakened their powers often died young. It's rare for villagers’ offspring with awakened powers to survive, which was why they were highly sought after by institutions.