"Uh...... Wait......"

The knight who had taken off his helmet stopped the woman who was about to turn away, his eyes widened and he stared at the bounty hunter in front of him with excitement.

"You're a little familiar, I'm thinking...... I seem to have seen you somewhere......"

"Are you talking to me? It's a shame! ”

"No, it's not like that, I really look like I've seen you somewhere!"

He tried to recall the past, pondered for a long time, and finally, a name came out of his mouth.

"Well, you're ...... Actor Theresia? You performed the ...... from the play "The White Swan Knight"

“.......”

As the woman stopped walking towards the office, the knight hurriedly added a few more words.

"Ms. Theresia, I'm a big fan of yours, and I saw all of your shows when you toured Rochester a few years ago!"

"Tessa."

"Huh?"

"Now, call me Tessa."

Tessa turned and walked out of the Knights' building and into the city of the night where the cold wind flowed. At the end of the day's hard work, Tessa wanders the streets as usual.

However, in a small alley, Tessa saw a man who had just killed someone with an arrow, and Tessa immediately drew her sword to deal with the criminal, but the criminal had already discovered Tessa and told the deceased man's crime without looking back.

"Embezzlement, murder, abduction, smuggling, you don't want to stand out for such a criminal."

With that, the man disappeared at the end of the alley, and Tessa dropped her hand on the hilt of her sword, shrugged her shoulders, and turned away.

"Seems to be a solver of human criminals, doing the same thing as me."

Eventually, Tessa walks into a tavern where she might be able to relax.

She found a place where all the customers were quiet, but where she could see all the customers, and looked around carefully with a glass of frothy cold beer.

People are trapped in their own hells, and this tavern allows those who bear the burden to regain hope in life. Tessa was looking forward to the face she hated and missed among these people.

She pulled out a faded wanted warrant and spread it across the old table, staring intently.

Warrant.

Strange thief, H, He.

A magician aka "jeweler".

Life and death unknown.

It's been ten years, she has been looking for He's traces, seemingly nothing, in order to search for He's traces, Tessa gave up her career as an actress and became a bounty hunter, wandering around cities large and small, punishing criminals with her own bayonet.

A few weeks ago, Tessa hurried to Rochester after learning that there was a "mysterious jewel" circulating in the smuggling market, but a few weeks have passed and nothing has been achieved.

After a thorough investigation, Tessa finds the criminal leader who covets the jewelry, but the butcher is stupid and cheesy, and knows nothing about the strange thief.

The thief plays tricks on her in this way every time, as if he is secretly observing Tessa's every move, and if she wants to give up the pursuit, the thief will deliberately leave some clues, and if she gets closer, he will hide all her whereabouts again.

......

"Beautiful Theresia."

Hyuk called out her name in a deep and deep voice.

Even as time passed, the clear voice still echoed in my ears, and the deep eyes reflected in the silk hat that was pressed low.

For the sake of Heuk, she is willing to do anything.

"Wait and see, I will never let you get your wish, I will let you die at my hands!"

Looking at the man with a strange expression and the corners of his mouth that seemed to be about to curl, Tessa clenched the wine glass in her hand.

......

"Please, have a drink."

A voice pulls Tessa back to reality.

"Hello, I'm a mercenary of the Kuhan Kablan mercenary group, my name is Oscar, sister, you are so beautiful!" A young man clinked glasses with Tessa in both hands.

“......”

Suddenly, Tessa heard a deep voice that she seemed to have heard somewhere.

"Which man is it?"

Tessa ignored the mercenary who had come to talk to her, her eyes widened, and she hurriedly looked around, looking for the owner of the voice, and soon she found a man with deep wrinkles between her eyebrows.

He had just entered the tavern and was sitting at a table not far from Tessa, sorting out the bow and quiver he had brought with him, and Tessa knew the figure of this man who was the same solver she had met in the alley.

"Huh?"

I don't know if it's because the shimmer of alcohol and candles makes Tessa's eyes dizzy, or because of the surging memories that hit Tessa's mind, or maybe it's the pressure of months of nothing, Tessa feels that the side of this solver is very similar to the man in the wanted list.

Curiosity led her to pick up her glass without hesitation and approach the man.

"What an easy day, Solver."

“......”

In the face of a woman who suddenly appears and accostes him, the man appears indifferent.

"I didn't solve things as easily as I expected, so I was pushed to a dead end in vain, and besides, the worst memories always stung me constantly."

“......”

The man didn't seem interested in Tessa's topic, picked up a beer and took a sip. When Tessa looks closely, she realizes that the man's face is completely different from the strange thief she remembers.

His unkempt blonde hair and messy beard, and tight mouth seem to suggest that he is reluctant to communicate with people.

However, because of this, men can become good people to talk to, anyway, they are just people who have a relationship, and it shouldn't matter if they talk to him about the backlog of stories in their hearts, right?

Suddenly, this urge popped through Tessa's mind: "Can you listen to me if you can?" Because I always think about the past today, I want to release it a little. ”

The man still replied with an indifferent look.

"Whatever you want."

Tessa sat next to the man, and then slowly fell into the memories used, from Theresia's life to the despair at that time, followed by the encounter of fate, then the change of life and the harvest of love, and the betrayal of her lover behind the curtain call, and finally to today's Tessa, she confides in this strange man without reservation.

After telling this long story, Tessa looked sideways at the man next to her, he was still frowning, but he had no tiredness on his face, and he had been listening to Tessa silently.

"How? My story, is it interesting? ”

"It's interesting."

"That's a blessing, even though the story isn't a comedy, but it's fun to make the audience happy."

Looking at the man drinking beer, Tessa smiled with satisfaction.

Man: "A mysterious gem in Rochester?" You surmise it's the product of gem magic? ”

Tessa: "Yes, that's right, judging by various circumstances, it is very likely that although we haven't seen the actual thing yet, if we continue to investigate, we will soon find out." ”

Tessa looked at the empty wine glass and continued, "What do you think his intentions are?" ”

"Well, I don't know what's inside the criminal, but he's still watching you, that's for sure."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because, in the end, he didn't take back the gem he gave you."

"You seem to know a little bit about the psychology of the criminal."

"It's just a gut feeling."

Tessa chatted with the man for a while, about the thieves, about the gem magic, and more personal stories.

Although the man was very vigilant and said little, he didn't know what mood he was in, and he also told Tessa his story.

He lost his lover because of the human arrows in the hands of the demons, and in order to seek revenge, he investigates the truth around the world and hunts down the criminals.

Thinking about his speculations about the strange thief, Tessa looked at the side face of the man blankly, sure enough, he and the strange thief are completely different, but they are inexplicably similar, and most importantly, he has a pair of perceptive eyes and excellent intuition.

What if this person is another phantom of the Monster Thief? Will you disguise yourself as another person and lie to her again? Perhaps, you can ask this man to help him.

"Excellent intuition is a great help to me who is like chasing a mirage, no matter what, as long as you are with him, things will be easier in the future." Tessa thought so.

The woman took a wanted warrant and gave it to the man, and the man accepted it, but the man told her to find a base nearby, so that he could pass on information and intelligence to her, and as long as the strange thief was found, the man would tell Tessa.

After parting from the man, Tessa climbed to the top of the city and watched the entire city of Rochester, although it was now calm, but the signs of the strange thieves clearly pointed to the city.

Now there is a figure who can help her. As long as she doesn't give up and pursues her to the end, the monster thief will definitely appear in front of her again, just like that day a long time ago.

"The Kablac mercenary group?"

At this time, Tessa remembered what the young man she had accosted her had said.

"Kuhan's words, as a base, should be good."