166 – The Phantom Thief Appears
For a moment, silence fell in the audience.
Even Alfred, who had come up to stop the rampaging rookie, stood still and stared blankly at the stage.
That’s how much the rookie said, it was a shocking remark to everyone in this place.
Of course, the vast majority did not believe the words straight away and instead only looked at them with suspicion.
“Are you asking me directly? You mean that’s possible?”
“None of us have had a personal conversation with the Phantom Thief, so how are you going to ask that?”
In the meantime, Yulia flinched again.
It wasn’t enough that the two of us had a conversation at Grace’s home last time, and even got saved by a phantom thief.
“It is possible. Yes, Raven is here with you right now.”
“What?”
Someone’s questioning was scattered into the air and disappeared.
In an instant, the lights that had been illuminating the basement turned off all at once, and darkness covered the space.
“This is…!!”
“Ser, no way!?”
The reaction that came back was not fear, but amazement and joy. It was because everyone gathered here knew all too well what the present phenomenon meant.
A man’s voice silenced those who followed in confusion.
“Nice to meet you all.”
In fact, they have never even properly heard the voice of the thief who is so enthusiastic. At most, it was all about gathering near the foretold crime scene and watching it from afar.
Nevertheless, I was able to recognize at once who the owner of the relaxed gentle voice was.
Phantom Thief Raven. He really appeared here in person.
There was no strong response. Rather, as if the world had been muted, not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
To capture this moment as clearly as possible. To feel only the phantom thief without being disturbed by other elements.
“First of all, I should say thank you. Honestly, I didn’t know you would like me this much.”
Yulia turned her head in all directions to find the figure of Raven, but she had no way to confirm because the darkness obscured her vision.
Then she realized that there was something strange about Blanca standing right next to her.
My body was shaking intermittently. Yulia moves closer to her with her worried expression, wondering if there is a problem with him.
She moved right in front of her face and checked Blanca’s expression before she realized the cause of the tremors.
I wasn’t scared or panicked. It was just that I couldn’t control my excitement because I felt overwhelming joy at the fact that I was facing a phantom thief.
“I heard everything that just came out. First of all, I’d like to say thank you to my friend who came on stage and talked to me earlier. And since you asked what I thought, you should answer that too.”
A few people tilted their heads at the thank you greeting that distinguished Raven himself from the rookie.
In fact, looking at the flow so far, it was a situation where it was natural to speculate that the rookie on stage was actually a thief.
But right now, the thief’s answer was more important than that, so people put their questions aside for a while and pricked their ears.
“It doesn’t matter if you consider me a hero, but I don’t really think of myself as a hero. I’m just Kaito Raven.”
Actually, the answer was so obvious that it was enough to let steam escape, but the fact that the thief Raven took the mound and gave a definite answer was very meaningful in itself.
As long as he himself denied that he was a hero, Drake’s attempt to become a phantom thief hero had come to an end.
‘No…!!’
If you continue like this, your position will be in jeopardy.
Drake immediately sensed his crisis and bit his teeth. If things end like this, you won’t be able to achieve your dream.
As if struggling for the last time, he jumped up and shouted toward the stage.
“Hero! Give us a look!! Talking in the dark is not enough!”
“Would anything change if I showed up?”
“Everyone gathered here is your followers and followers! Showing your face isn’t a difficult request, is it?”
Even Drake knows that the owner of this voice is the real thief Raven.
But even so, he had to make changes to somehow turn the tables. In this darkness, no matter what he tried, he couldn’t be the main character himself.
“If you want that, I will. It’s not a particularly difficult request.”
A single light came on with him, and he lit up the center of the stage. There, the phantom thief, the same as everyone imagined, was standing there like the main character of the performance.
This wasn’t what Drake was hoping for. I should have returned to the same basement as usual with all the lights turned on, but it seems that only the phantom thief is more focused on it.
People broke the long silence and started cheering as if they realized that it was real only then when they saw Raven up close.
There were people who expressed their emotions by talking to themselves, while others even shouted or applauded. Followers who express their feelings toward the phantom thief in various ways.
Drake, who was staring at him, exclaimed in a loud voice.
“Look! You are already the greatest hero to us! A true hero who saved us from this contradictory world! Please take your humility away!!”
There were also those who nodded their heads at the earnest plea.
It was because the foundation that Drake had painstakingly laid so far was so deeply engraved that it would be difficult for the phantom thief to disappear in an instant, no matter how hard he tried to pitch himself.
In the first place, it wasn’t so wrong for the phantom thief followers. Indeed, Raven was nothing short of a hero to them.
At that moment, a man’s voice was heard from the opposite side of Drake.
“It’s not you, so why are you forcing your own thoughts? Drake?”
“What?”
Drake, who did not expect such an outright rebuttal, soon realized intuitively that the owner of that voice was the head of an opposing faction.
But I couldn’t figure out who it was. It wasn’t easy to distinguish people at once with only their voices in a situation where their faces couldn’t be identified.
“Who are you? Come forward!”
“It was strange from the beginning. Ruining the palace is proof that Raven wants to end the monarchy? It happened that he himself appeared on the mound, so you can ask him openly!”
“Don’t hide behind and talk about it, show yourself proudly!”
Of course, no one came out on their own. To make matters worse, Raven, who couldn’t just ignore this situation, quickly answered the question with a grin.
“I am not involved in such political matters. It’s for the higher ups in the council to deal with, not me.”
At this point, the agitation among the crowd became noticeable.
That was natural. Hearing Drake’s speeches all along, the thief was, of course, recognized as a radical revolutionary who was dissatisfied with and resisting the current system.
The hero Drake spoke of was, in effect, a revolutionary agitator.
“Tell me honestly. Up until now, worshiping the phantom thief as a hero was just a means to spread your personal ideas!”
There was someone inside who had already seen through Drake’s intentions. Slightly admiring that fact, Raven watched the unfolding situation from the stage with interest.
“What, what nonsense…!! I made this here! He poured money into the underground for like-minded friends! How dare you slander me for no reason!”
I cried out, defending myself as best I could, but for some reason there was no answer.
No one came forward to support him.
Clap! At that moment, without any warning, all lights were restored simultaneously.
Drake, who frowned at the sudden bright light and covered his eyes with his palm, slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
“·······.”
Innumerable eyes pouring down on him.
Most of the emotions contained in it were hard to call friendly, even in empty words.
‘Why?’
How much effort did he put into it? A huge amount of time and money was invested in building this basement.
Even if there were people I didn’t like, I forcibly put up with them and called them friends.
In other words, they have been accumulating with gritted teeth for a grand wish.
But why do you want to collapse like an ugly sandcastle all at once?
“Reason? Everyone but you already knows.”
The head of the opposition slowly walks in front of Drake.
Looking at the face he finally checked, he frowned.
Contrary to expectations, he was not a great person. Far from being a key executive, he was an insignificant man who barely got acquainted with his face as he had little interaction with himself.
The man who couldn’t even remember his name looked at Drake and replied coldly.
“Look at it now. You only focus on what’s good for you. I never thought about the feelings of ordinary people gathered here in the basement.”
“What is that…”
“Then I will ask. What did you think when you first heard Raven’s voice?”
Drake couldn’t come up with an answer. What was he thinking That’s it…
“You must have thought it was an emergency. If you deny that the phantom thief is a hero like this, your position will be at stake. That’s why he must have been yelling at me to show up.”
Soon after, the man said with a crooked smile.
“By the way. Because of that, everyone realized your true intentions. According to what you said, when you’re seeing our great hero for the first time, you’re getting in the way because you’re screaming and shouting like that.”
Only then did Drake notice the emotion in the eyes of his close friends looking at him.
The interrupter who dared to interrupt the first meeting with the phantom thief.
The phantom thief followers he created with his own hands were fanatical beyond imagination.