But a sweep of special scenery interrupted his thoughts. Brand noticed a corner of a watchtower exposed between the dense canopy of trees; he saw soldiers with glittering peaked helts standing guard, and looking farther, he found such watchtowers on every hill.
"Compared to the slack attitude of the cavalry outside, the defensive setup here can be said to be tight." Brand thought, while verifying the positions of these watchtowers with the map, realizing that those adventurers hadn't lied to him.
The map cost a full three thousand Thor, but it seed worth the price.
Brand silently looked into the distance, reconstructing the surrounding terrain in his mind. But just as he was fully concentrating, he suddenly felt soone bump into him from behind. He turned around, and saw a young boy passing by him.
The boy hadn't expected to bump into soone — or perhaps in his eyes, Brand was just a young man not much older than himself, but the feeling was like hitting a mountain, and the huge recoil almost knocked him to the side.
The boy steadied himself after several steps forward, clutching his chest and taking a deep breath, clearly startled; but he quickly raised his head, looking at Brand with surprise.
But the surprise swiftly turned into an apology. "I'm sorry." The boy suddenly realized his mistake and said with so embarrassnt.
Brand looked at this boy — he was wearing the typical leather clothing used by adventurers, which had no other advantages except being durable— though it still looked barely decent.
"Since you apologized, return my item." After a pause, Brand responded this way.
He had encountered many pickpockets in Amber Sword, and even without his abilities in the ga, he could catch this guy, let alone now, being a genuine Golden Knight.
Using this body with the strength of a Golden Knight was much more proficient than reaching this level in the ga with the help of the system.
As soon as Brand spoke, the apologetic look on the boy's face turned to astonishnt, but then he quickly laughed: "You noticed? That's impressive!" The boy showed his white teeth in a big smile and unhesitatingly took out a pouch from under his clothes.
It was Brand's coin pouch.
"It's okay." Brand took the pouch and said, "Next ti when you act, be more discreet, and," he added seriously: "choose your target carefully!"
The boy nodded vigorously but was a bit curious: "Are you an adventurer? You don't look like one! You're a foreigner, right? But you seem to know our rules well?"
He shook his head, "But you're right about picking a good mark; I agree with that. But this ti, we didn't expect soone so young to be so formidable. Your reaction is a lot quicker than Maher! That guy loves to brag— by the way, where are you from, brother?"
Brand neither knew nor was interested in knowing who this Maher was that the boy ntioned, but he wasn't used to this guy's familiarity, so he thought for a mont and said: "I've been to many places. In fact, the rules of the thieves' guilds are pretty much the sa everywhere. But since you returned the money, I don't want to make a big deal out of this. Nobody wants to needlessly offend a group of people..."
He was speaking from experience. This kind of insight could be said by a seasoned adventurer traveling in Vorn, but coming from a young man's mouth, it sounded a bit demon-like.
"Moreover, people like you are quite troubleso." Brand concluded.
The boy didn't mind, or rather seed pleased, as if Brand was complinting him. After listening to Brand, he showed curiosity again: "You say you've been to many places; impossible, you're so young?"
Brand shook his head and smiled without speaking.
This only made the boy more interested. He followed Brand, stepping back and speaking: "My na is Joka, and you?"
This question didn't get a response from Brand, but the boy didn't mind, raising his hands and placing them behind his head, asking in great interest: "You ntioned we seem like a thieves' guild? What's a thieves' guild like?"
Brand glanced at him and replied: "They do things similar to you."
The boy raised his eyebrows: "I heard there's going to be a war outside, is it true?"
Brand felt a bit annoyed, thinking this guy really sees as an all-knowing sage. He thought for a mont and replied: "You're a local? Why are you so curious about things outside?" He could tell from the boy's accent that he was a local.
This ti, the boy smiled mysteriously and answered: "Nothing, just wanted to ask. I won't bother you any longer, let's chat again soti—"
Saying this, he fell back a step, then turned and disappeared in the crowd.
But Brand's eyes were sharp enough to see the boy squeezing into the crowd, rging with another group of peers. He thought for a mont and focused on listening to their conversation:
"I failed, that guy is pretty formidable!" The first to speak was the boy.
"Hey, how formidable can such a young guy be? Even the adventurers in town, I can steal a few coins from their pockets. Maybe you were just too incompetent, Joka." Another voice sneered.
"You can try, Maher." The boy retorted.
...
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