154 – Reasons for Suspicion
I blinked blankly.
What did I just hear?
I slowly chewed over the contents of his mouth.
Phantom Thief Raven belongs to Drakan. He’s a bunch of bullsh*t that I don’t even know where to start pointing out.
Evan’s expression was too serious to dismiss it as a joke.
I don’t know why, but I felt like I was seriously believing that nonsense.
At first, I was full of embarrassment, but as time went on, I was filled with regret.
To be honest, I’ve had quite a favorable feeling for the man in front of me.
Although the phantom thief and the enforcer are in an antagonistic relationship, apart from that, they genuinely recognized my skills and talents and even scouted me.
If I had accepted the scouting offer at that time, Evan would have supported me as much as possible.
The reason I started studying magic seriously was because he recognized me.
Of course, since I was the one who cheated and ran away, it must be hard to have good feelings for the thief.
But even so, it was disappointing to believe that I belonged to such an evil group.
Didn’t you just list them with your own mouth?
Abduction, confinement, murder, etc., As well as massacre and induction of war. They are the ones who do not hesitate to commit unacceptable crimes against humanity.
No matter how much I accept the criticism I receive as a phantom thief, I can’t just ignore being entangled in the same existence as those scumbags.
“Did the informant tell you that too?”
“Yes.”
“The basis? Did you even check the list of members?”
As soon as I started asking questions, Evan warned me with a cold look.
“Excessive curiosity is only poison. Stop there.”
But instead of stopping, I poured out a quick-fire refutation.
“That’s strange. Isn’t the Drakan an organization that was extremely reluctant to let the world know about their existence until the informant informed them? However, the thief, on the contrary, deliberately wanted to let everyone know about himself and get attention. If the phantom thief really belonged to Drakan, the identity of the organization could be revealed as soon as he was arrested, so would you take that risk?”
I could feel Grainger’s careless gaze from the side.
You must be wondering why the always quiet kid suddenly got so excited.
I know. How strange it would seem to be defending a phantom thief like this.
Even so, I had to somehow get Evan’s mind back here.
If the executioner confirms that the phantom thief belongs to Drakan and discloses it to the world, then my life as a phantom thief will be over.
Without people’s support, phantom thieves can’t exist.
From that moment on, I will become a thief with no special features.
I don’t expect to correct misunderstandings right away after hearing a few words from me.
If I can even plant a little bit of doubt, that’s enough for now.
“That’s not a solid reason. There might have been a reason why he had to act as a phantom even at the risk.”
“If you need something, you can steal it quietly. Was it really necessary to draw attention like Raven? What is the reason you have to act as a phantom thief?”
Evan’s and mine collided in the air.
“A while ago, an ancient artifact in the possession of Oxford University disappeared.”
“·······.”
“According to the informant’s testimony, Drakan originally coveted the artifact, and the culprit who stole it was said to be the thief Raven.”
It felt like my chest was cold.
The testimony was so detailed and accurate.
There was no lie in what Evan had just said. Actually, the angel’s trumpet was at Oxford University, and Drakan was aiming for it, and I stole the trumpet.
How did you know all that? When stealing the angel’s trumpet, it was done as secretly as possible without anyone knowing. Even the Drakan guys wouldn’t have noticed that I stole it. If I had known, there would be no way I would have passed quietly all this time.
But there is a person who noticed a secret that no one should know about. On the contrary, I had no guesses about the other person.
It’s the first time I’ve felt such overwhelming helplessness. Not to mention, even when fighting Siegfried or Evan, who were much stronger than me, I wasn’t as helpless as I am now. Even if I couldn’t win in a fight, I had the confidence to run away.
But now I couldn’t run away from the unknown ‘informant’.
How can you run away when you don’t know where you are?
Nevertheless, I forced myself to open my mouth. If I stayed silent here, it would be like admitting that the phantom thief was Drakan.
“…Couldn’t it be the opposite?”
“Hmm. What does that mean?”
“The informant only said that the thief stole the artifact, but he did not say that he handed it over to Drakan. Yes?”
In fact, I have no idea what the informant said. Maybe I just brazenly lied about being with Drakan.
However, after hearing the terrifyingly accurate information I just heard, I realized it intuitively.
That the informant did not mix a single lie. It is highly probable that only objective facts were provided.
There was an artifact Drakan wanted in Oxford.
The artifact was stolen by the thief Raven.
The Enforcer who obtained this information would of course have no choice but to conclude that the two were in a cooperative relationship.
In fact, it was a gamble based on intuition rather than logical grounds, but at present, there was no way to reverse the tilted board without this number.
“So Raven does not belong to Drakan, but rather…”
“Are you saying it could be an adversarial relationship?”
“Isn’t there a possibility?”
Fortunately, Evan didn’t ignore me at all. He gave me the appearance of deep thought, at least for a moment, with his arms crossed.
“Of course, there is no possibility of that happening. But, generally speaking, isn’t it plausible that criminals join forces?”
“If the phantom thief belonged to Drakan, why didn’t he commit a crime beyond theft? I heard that Drakan are guys who do not choose any means or methods to achieve their goals.”
Perhaps it was because she had taken the side of the thief so openly, I could see Catherine’s eyes slightly frowning as she was standing next to her and not interfering in the conversation.
She added the last word, thinking that she should stop here.
“I saw it in the newspaper. Raven let go of the princess on purpose.”
“···Yes. At that time, I saw him in person on the spot.”
I clenched my fists as the subject flowed naturally as I wanted.
“If you’ve seen it yourself, the Executioner would know best among us. What kind of person is the thief?”
“He was a strange guy. Because he seemed so immersed in his own world that he wondered if he was sane.”
Um… Was I that kind of image?
Of course, as a phantom thief, romance is important. Still, I prided myself on being a common-sense intellectual.
If you compare it to the Granger next to you right now, it’s obvious.
“He had a talent for magic. And···. He didn’t look as vicious as I thought. So he suggested that I do not intend to rehabilitate and become an enforcer.”
At that, not only Granger but also Katherine seemed quite surprised.
She thinks she never talked to her.
“He tricked me, stole the target, and ran away, but surprisingly, he wasn’t as angry as I thought. In fact, it might be because he had a vague idea that he had no interest in being an enforcer. I don’t know why, but he seemed serious about his phantom thief job.”
He didn’t expect to hear this much detail.
There seemed to be a glimmer of hope. At least Evan didn’t feel like I was completely evil. Rather, he seemed quite confused after hearing my story.
It won’t immediately disappear from the line of suspicion, but that’s okay.
Because there’s a huge difference between being certain that I belong to Drakan and being wary of the possibility.
Evan knocked on the desk and sighed softly.
“I understand what you mean. Certainly you have a point.”
However, the gaze toward me was not much different from the first time. Still blunt yet cold eyes.
“But nothing changes. Phantom Thief Raven is still considered a member of Drakan and continues the investigation.”
“Why? You just said it yourself. It didn’t look more vicious than I thought!”
“Because the enforcer has to act based only on the established facts, not on the individual’s point of view.”
I couldn’t even say anything because it was an extremely valid logic.
“Seeing you cover it up like this, you are probably a follower of the thief. Although they seem to have slowed down a bit lately, they are still all over the place.”
“Is that wrong?”
“Okay. We also decided to hold off until the decision of the higher up is made. If you touch it rashly, you will only get more backlash.”
Phantom thief followers have recently been regarded as a scourge of society.
However, since this is the first case and there are so many of them, the current situation is that even the government cannot carelessly touch it.
Now, thanks to him, even if I defended him so blatantly, I’m glad I didn’t get suspicious.
“I know what you think, but do other people think the same?”
“If you look at the evidence without being swayed by prejudice…!”
“Then let me tell you one more thing.”
Evan interrupted me and said calmly.
“If you’re a follower of the thief, you’ll know best. Recently, the thief is not active and is sleeping. Am I right?”
“Yes.”
“And the timing of the thief’s dormancy is similar to the timing of Drakan’s dormancy as reported by the informant. Do you think it’s a coincidence?”
“That’s…”
My head went blank.