Chapter 290: Little Thief!
"Should we head back, Young Master? It’s already getting late."
Jack glanced at the darkening sky before making the suggestion. They had already wandered through a good portion of the old district, and Luis no longer seemed particularly interested in looking around.
"Mm."
Luis nodded. He had just turned around to leave when his Perception Skill suddenly caught an unusual fluctuation.
A ripple.
It was faint, but he recognized it immediately.
His expression gradually became serious.
’The power of space...?’
Luis instinctively looked toward the source of the fluctuation. Among the pedestrians walking along the street, a sneaky-looking boy was quietly moving through the crowd. A woman wrapped in a large cloak was several steps ahead of him, completely unaware of what had just happened.
To everyone else, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
However, under Luis’s Perception Skill, the entire process appeared clearly before his eyes.
The space around the boy’s hand distorted for a brief instant before returning to normal.
With his own understanding of spatial abilities, Luis immediately saw through the trick.
The item that had been hanging from the cloaked woman’s hand had silently appeared inside the boy’s sleeve.
’Interesting...’
The corners of Luis’s lips rose slightly.
’Not some ordinary sleight of hand. That’s a Displacement Skill with spatial abilities.’
Without wasting another moment, he calmly walked forward.
The boy was still immersed in the excitement of succeeding for the first time when someone lightly patted his shoulder.
"You should return it to that lady."
The boy stiffened before hurriedly turning around.
Standing behind him was a young man only a little older than himself, accompanied by a fierce-looking man whose sharp expression made him nervous.
From a single glance, he knew these two weren’t people he could afford to provoke.
"W-Who are you?" he stammered before hurriedly shaking his head. "I... I didn’t steal that woman’s ring."
Luis looked at him with a faint smile.
"Oh?"
"Did I say it was a ring?"
The boy’s face immediately turned red in shame.
Only then did he realize he had exposed himself by mistake.
Luis didn’t continue pressing him. Instead, he spoke calmly,
"Return it to her and apologize."
After hesitating for a few seconds, the boy finally lowered his head and nodded.
"...alright.."
Then he hurriedly chased after the cloaked woman.
Jack watched him leave before quietly saying,
"Young Master, that child seems to have awakened just recently."
"Yeah," Luis kept watching the boy’s back.
"And most likely, he’s a natural awakener." There was a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"Does he have Space Attribute or just a skill? Hmm..." He paused briefly. "Maybe we can recruit him."
Jack simply nodded without saying much.
Meanwhile, the boy had already caught up with the cloaked woman.
His sudden approach startled her, causing her to instinctively take half a step back.
The boy quickly bowed.
"I’m... I’m sorry."
He took out the ring and held it toward her with both hands.
Only then did the woman realize that it was her own ring.
She instinctively touched her hand before hurriedly accepting it back, a trace of panic flashing across her face as she imagined what might have happened if she had truly lost it.
The boy lowered his head even further.
"I’m sorry."
"I shouldn’t have done it."
The woman looked at him for a moment before asking softly,
"Since you stole it...why are you returning it?"
The boy silently pointed toward Luis, who was standing not far away.
"That person caught me. He told me to return it."
The cloaked woman turned her head toward Luis.
She quietly looked at him for several seconds, as though trying to remember his face, before giving him a grateful nod.
Luis simply smiled politely in return.
...
After the boy returned, Luis spoke first.
"Let’s go."
The boy hurriedly followed behind them.
There was obvious fear in his eyes, but also regret.
After walking for a short distance, he finally gathered enough courage to speak.
"U-Um... Sir..."
"Could you... please not hand me over to the authorities?"
"I promise. I’ll never steal again."
Luis glanced at him before answering calmly,
"That depends. If you can convince me that you won’t repeat the mistake, I won’t report you."
In truth, Luis had never intended to hand the child over.
However, since the boy already feared the consequences of his actions, Luis didn’t mind using that opportunity to make him reflect on what he had done.
The three eventually stopped beside an empty bus stop.
There were very few pedestrians passing by, making it a suitable place to talk.
Luis looked at him.
"What’s your name?"
"Minas."
Luis raised an eyebrow.
"Minas?"
"Do you happen to have a younger sister named Meena?"
The boy’s eyes widened.
"Sir... you know my sister?"
"We visited Judy’s shop earlier. I heard your name there."
"I see..."
Minas lowered his head.
Luis leaned casually against the bus stop.
"If Judy is willing to teach your sister his craftsmanship, why aren’t you learning with her?"
"Why choose to steal instead?"
Although his tone remained relaxed, there was a hint of probing in it.
Minas clenched his fists.
"If I don’t steal...my mother would not be able to support me and my sister."
"I didn’t want to become a burden."
Those simple words quietly struck Luis’s heart.
For a brief moment, memories he had long tried to bury resurfaced in his mind.
He quickly suppressed them.
Looking at Minas again, he asked, "So you chose to steal?"
Minas fell silent.
After a while, Luis let out a quiet sigh.
"Have you ever thought about it from the other person’s perspective?"
"You don’t want to burden your family."
"I can understand that."
"But by taking something that belongs to someone else, you might be placing that same burden onto them."
"What if they’re struggling too?"
"What if they’re carrying debts, living in poverty, or supporting a family just like yours?"
"Just because you lack something...doesn’t mean taking it from someone else is the right way."
Minas bit his lip. His voice trembled slightly.
"I don’t want to do this. But... I... I was hungry."
Luis remained silent for a moment before speaking gently.
"Tell me. I’m listening..."
