I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills - Chapter 20

[EP.20] Darling’s Plan
Th is w a s c op i e d f r om k i n gm t l . o r g

“Hello, hello! Darling, did you wait for me?”

“Since when was I your darling?”

Darling made a big fuss upon arrival, to which Kraush responded with a slightly nauseated expression.

Having just been through an encounter with Balrok, he was drained and lacked the energy to entertain Darling’s jokes.

“You seem a bit out of it. Something happen?”

Darling noticed Kraush’s state and inquired.

Kraush saw no point in hiding it and exhaled deeply.

“The Lord has just been here.”

“The Lord, the Lord? You don’t mean the Martial Emperor, Balrok Balheim?”

You shouldn’t just casually drop someone else’s father’s name.

“Yes, that’s my father.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! I really wanted to meet him. I should’ve come earlier!”

She jumped up and down on the spot, feigning disappointment.

Every jump made her hair and earrings sway, stealing his attention, but Kraush simply shook his head.

“It’s better not to meet.”

It would only cause heartache.

And honestly, even Darling would struggle to maintain such an attitude in front of Balrok.

The Empire may have two of the Four Great Celestials, but in Starlon, there was only one, and that was Balrok, who was the idol to all and unreachable by anyone.

Only Charlotte might one day be expected to match his status as a new star.

“So, kid, did you come here wondering if I might set you up to be the future Lord of the Balheim family?”

“As if. You know my sister Charlotte well, don’t you?”

Because she’s such a Charlotte fanatic.

“I know, but I don’t think you’re lacking either, kid.”

At the same time, Darling’s eyes curved playfully.

“I’m just too curious to see how a fierce kid like you will stand up to Charlotte.”

Darling’s bad habit was beginning to show.

As her eyes, brimming with curiosity, sparkled, Kraush poked her in the ribs with his finger.

“Eek!”

Darling twisted her body more than expected, so Kraush remarked,

“Cut the nonsense. I never intended to be the Lord in the first place.”

If the world ends, being the Lord or anything else won’t have any meaning.

With that, Darling, clutching her side in a hunched posture, spoke.

“I didn’t expect you to play so weak in that regard. But kid, you shouldn’t poke people in the ribs so carelessly. There are many who are sensitive.”

“As if I care.”

As Kraush snorted, Darling managed to catch her breath and straightened her posture.

“So about the thing I asked you for.”

As Kraush spoke, Darling grinned widely.

She opened the bag she had brought with her and took out a small bottle.

Inside was a medicinal pill, no bigger than a fingernail.

“Finished it. How about it? I’m kind of a genius, right?”

“You’ve always been a genius.”

Darling made a playful remark, and Kraush responded as if it were obvious.

Caught off guard by his unexpected reaction, Darling hesitated, and Kraush took the medicine from her hand.

Meanwhile, Darling opened and closed her hand and then looked a little embarrassed.

“…Hmm, I didn’t expect to be openly called a genius like that.”

“It’s right to call a genius a genius. It suits you the best.”

Geniuses are familiar by name because they achieve the greatest results in their respective fields and make their names widely known. One might carelessly think they are many, but in reality, they are few.

And Kraush had spent his time among the Skyborne Generation filled with geniuses.

Denying a genius would only diminish oneself.

So Kraush acknowledged geniuses.

Though now, he was in a position where he had to trample over those geniuses.

“It’s quite charming to see this side of you. The more I get to know you, kid, the more attractive you become.”

“Don’t flirt with a child.”

“A child wouldn’t understand this kind of thing.”

As Darling cackled, Kraush made to leave and find Aliod.

But her next words stopped Kraush in his tracks.

“I’ve heard some news that Anicks has changed recently.”

Kraush’s head turned back.

After his defeat by Charlotte, Anicks reduced the intensity of his training.

To be exact, he had lost the meaning behind his training.

Having judged himself to be forever out of reach from Charlotte, no matter how hard he tried.

However, Anicks’ perspective shifted somewhere within him after he saw Kraush, once overshadowed by Charlotte, spreading his wings at the Star Sanctuary.

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Nobody knew exactly what had changed.
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But the recent rumor was that Anicks had increased the intensity of his training again.

“What a pointless move.”

Kraush showed his displeasure at such pointless actions by Anicks.

It was a natural response.

After all, to Kraush, Anicks was nothing but a traitor.

It was contemptible.

‘I don’t know if he was influenced by me or not.’

Kraush was displeased with the idea.

“Got it. Now go.”

“That’s too much. I come all this way and you just send me off?”

“You don’t have much to do here anyway.”

“I beg to differ.”

Kraush frowned at the smiling Darling.

If she stayed, her playfulness would likely grow worse with each passing day.

Should he warn her in advance?

[Such an interesting child.]

At that moment, Kraush was startled by a voice that resonated directly in his mind.

This unfamiliar sensation occurred whenever Crimson Garden spoke in his head.

Looking around, Kraush noticed Crimson Garden had perched near the window at some point.

Earlier, when his father appeared, she had hastily fled, only to reappear now.

[She’s born with the talent of an Alchemical Star. I thought Starlon had nothing interesting other than the Balheim, but it turns out they have some useful talent after all.]

Kraush saw Crimson Garden’s crow eyes shimmering red, evidently seeing through Darling’s talent.

[Fortuitously, this works out well.]

A satisfied expression crossed Crimson Garden’s face.

[Ask that child to make an elixir.]
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An elixir is a special medicine that can enhance physical abilities and aura when consumed.

It was naturally a costly commodity, and only certain families had the secretive craftsmanship passed down through generations to create such a thing.

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To suddenly ask for something like that to be made.

Even for Darling, an elixir wasn’t something you could whip up easily like a breeze.

[I’ve fully grasped the formula, so don’t worry. You just need a skilled alchemist.]

In that case.

Kraush had no reason to object.

In his life, elixirs were far beyond his reach.

They were useless to a commoner like him; they weren’t efficient and hence, were devoured by the desperate, leaving nothing behind.
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[You’re a mess, aren’t you, child? Shouldn’t we be pouring elixirs into you?]

Kraush could not disagree.

On the first day he returned with Crimson Garden, Kraush had received his initial training from her.

And during that training, Crimson Garden had something very simple to say to him.

“You’re born with virtually nothing. Your swordsmanship’s path is limited, your talent for aura is weak, and your body is slow.”

She had been incredulous, deeming it a miracle to be this untalented.

“With such a condition, you desperately tried to fill in the void with stubborn experience and secret techniques. But when geniuses amass their own experiences in another five years, you wouldn’t be able to follow them. A ‘returner’ who doesn’t have anything couldn’t possibly be this empty.”

Kraush wasn’t a returner, but the rest rang true.

Even Anicks, who was easily subdued by Kraush at the Sanctuary of Stars, will surpass Kraush once he is over the age of 20.

“But that is…”

Ultimately.

“It’s just a story about the innate talent you possess.”

Crimson Garden wouldn’t have taken Kraush as a disciple if she only looked at his talent.

“If I am here, such talent means nothing. With your greedy skills, you can just steal away any talent you want.”

Crimson Garden slowly ascended to the sky.

The crow flapping its wings seemed as though it could soar endlessly into the heavens.

“Having spent your life crawling on the ground, it is I who will make you fly. Just flap your wings fiercely. And place everything that flies above under you. At the very end.”

Crimson Garden spread its wings as if to hide even the moon above.

“Swallow even my immortality.”

That was what Crimson Garden said on the first day.

Kraush realized it was something akin to a pledge from Crimson Garden.

A pledge to take him as a disciple.

It was such an elixir that Crimson Garden wanted to be made.

Naturally, it would be of great help.

Kraush had no reason to hesitate.

“Darling, then let’s ask for something else.”

“You ask for a lot, you know. I’m an expensive woman. I don’t just serve anyone.”

“I’d like you to make an elixir.”

Kraush said without batting an eye, even to Darling’s joke.

Hearing the word “elixir,” Darling tilted her head, then soon smiled faintly.

“Do you want to become stronger by taking an elixir? Did Anicks training motivate you somehow?”

“Anicks is irrelevant. I have too many other things to worry about to be concerned about him.”

Kraush’s sights were set on a much more distant future.

“It’s only what I need to at least get to the starting line.”

Darling looked at Kraush for a moment.

She didn’t know much about him.

He appeared suddenly, offering to help with her research, and asked for a cure for an incurable disease.

While she could understand such a request, as the news of her being a prodigy in alchemy had already spread far and wide, the title of prodigy was only applicable because she was still in her teens.

As time passed, there might come a moment when she would become distanced from the term “genius.”

And truthfully, most people thought that way.

They had expectations but no belief in her.

After all, they had seen too many so-called geniuses ultimately become ordinary in the course of their lives.

But Kraush had never once doubted her genius.

As if her genius were a given.

How could he be so certain?

Especially when he was soon to be 14 years old, a little kid.

‘It’s as if he has experienced the whole world, that’s for certain.’

And this piqued Darling’s peculiar interest.

Initially, her interest was merely in the Balheim family’s stubbornness that was the opposite of Charlotte’s.

But she began to be essentially curious about the person that was Kraush.

“Making an elixir can cost an exorbitant amount depending on the ingredients. Kid, are you sure you can afford it?”

“What do you take the Balheim for?”

“The Balheim may be impressive, but I’ve heard plenty about the kid’s situation.”

It was doubtful to Darling whether the Balheim would support Kraush, known as the “half-penny” of the Balheim, with such funds.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan for that.”

Getting hold of money wasn’t difficult.

Even if he had blocked out rumors from outside, he couldn’t ignore those that spread inside.

Kraush was well aware of a few major incidents that had occurred within the Balheim.

And he knew that those incidents would attract great sums of money.

“You’re so confident, I’ll trust you. So, what elixir do you want to make?”

“That is.”

Kraush glanced at the window, and Crimson Garden began to speak.

[Convey exactly as I tell you.]

And Kraush relayed to Darling everything Crimson Garden said.

Darling, who had been quietly listening, slowly started to look more serious.

Because the elixir formula Kraush mentioned was something she had never considered.

“Ah, so, this could work?”

She puzzled over the formula in her head with a dumbfounded expression.

Seeing her confused expression, Kraush, who was ignorant in alchemy, turned to Crimson Garden, wondering what he had relayed, but she merely shrugged her wings.

“Wow, how do you even know something like this, kid?”

“…It’s a combination passed down in the Balheim.”

Kraush vaguely made an excuse.

“The Balheim truly has all kinds of stars.”

She believed it.

Fortunately, Darling seemed convinced and Kraush looked at her, asking if it was possible.

Her eyes sparkled in response.

“Okay. I’m bubbling with the desire to take on challenges. I want to make it. However, there are a few ingredients here that even I can’t acquire. In particular, the White Snow Hot Yang Spore and Golden Dragon Grass are beyond my reach.”

“The White Snow Hot Yang Spore grows in the Hardenhartz region, right?”

“Yes, over there the mountains are treacherous, and world erosion is frequent, so distribution is poor, having few herb collectors.”

“I can source that.”

After hearing that, Darling belatedly remembered his fiancee.

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“Ah, that’s right. That should definitely be possible.”

But she soon hesitated, caught on another point.

“But you know about the Golden Dragon Grass.”

“It’s an imperial item.”

“Yeah, it’s directly managed by the Empire. There are none for sale within the country. You might find some through a black market dealer, but getting caught by the Empire would be troublesome.”

“It’s not like there are other options.”

Kraush, who had considered searching through the black market, was poked in the cheek by Darling, who raised her finger.

Turning to her with a ‘what are you doing’ look, she beamed back at him.

“I’ll teach the kid an easy way to get some Golden Dragon Grass.”

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“There’s a way?”

“The Empire will soon host two martial arts tournaments. One is for adults, and the other is for boys under fifteen. And the real objective of the Empire is the second tournament. The rewards there are better.”

Kraush understood what she meant immediately.

“…You’re saying to go and fight?”

“If you make it into the top three, you can get Golden Dragon Grass. How about it? Sounds doable, right?”

Doable my foot.

Kraush knew why the Empire was hosting the tournament.

The reason was simple.

The Empire wanted to use this tournament to increase the pool of candidates for admittance into the Raheln Academy.

‘The Raheln Academy, in name, is a place of harmony between the kingdoms and the Empire.’

But in reality, political power struggles always come first.

Building a larger influence in the Raheln Academy by inserting more of their own graduates only amplifies their power.

It’s clear they’re scheming to become patrons of the youth and secure influence in the Raheln Academy through the tournament.

‘The kingdoms must be preparing something similar.’

But the Empire isn’t called an empire for nothing.

They are promoting the tournament on such an enormous scale that even neighboring countries have heard the buzz.

“…Have you forgotten? I am a Balheim. Participating in the imperial tournament will cause a ruckus.”

“I remember that very well. But the Empire has made it clear that participation is open to anyone regardless of who they are.”

“Idiot. That’s just for formality.”

“Whine. You just called me a genius.”

Kraush sighed deeply, his head in his hands.

Thinking about it, originally Darling was just responding to Kraush’s need for the elixir by suggesting a method to gather the ingredients.

Knowing it was wrong to be angry with her, Kraush turned to look at Darling.

“You suggest this, which means you have a method, right?”

Her eyes sparkled immediately.

“Hehehe, as expected, kid, I like how quick you catch on.”

Kraush felt uneasy at Darling’s sinister laughter.

Yet, seeing no other way to obtain the Golden Dragon Grass, he turned to her, and Darling quickly pulled out a potion from her bosom.
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“It’s called becoming a lady…!”

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Crash!

Kraush immediately swung his fist and shattered the potion.

He had no intention of humoring her tastes.

“So, what’s the next step?”

As Kraush wore a chilling smile, Darling hurriedly wiped up the broken potion with a handkerchief.