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“Hah! I got you!”
Nabiu indeed did, but Karoto for once didn't mind as much as he usually does.
They had decided to play cards together in the middle of the Hourclock Forest, as they’d apparently both already had knowledge of the magical game!
The carrot had always played it to get money, food, ingredients, and so much more, especially when nearly starving.
Not that big of a deal, but the pain was a sucker.
From what Karoto understood, Nabiu constantly played it with the other Interns and won, so of course he had to challenge her!
Naturally a Macaroni Necromancer was quite the good card, especially if you included all the trap cards he had gained - all food themed, just so his delight could be more satisfying!
But you know.
She had to pull out a LITERAL SKYSCRAPER.
So, yeah. The thief did lose in the end, but it was nothing he would get mad about… it was luck based after all, especially in drawing the cards.
Even with how much you pray to God you win.
For now, the current moment was the most important, as they were resting up after everything, Nabiu snickering as she snacked on one of the cookies.
“You did good too, though! I can't believe I beat a HERO!”
A sigh left the carrot’s throat as he leaned back against the tree, hearing the little girl blabber on for a bit about something he didn't understand.
That happened a lot today, he had to admit.
Floating text boxes, chimes when he joined her, corrupted grandmas, the level up screen with his very concerning deceit bonus-
It was all such a strange, strange world.
Something the thief knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Tiring, it was for sure, as the evening was finally settling in with all its purple colors, bringing night to their unimportant forms.
His stomach grumbled just a bit, but he was used to his aching stomach never being quite filled.
Not like Karoto ate from the items either, as Nabiu could notice the lack of food and forbid him from using the bag!
It'd hurt his stomach all the more, but it's fine anyways.
Nabiu lightly bumped against his jacket as she stretched herself, yawning all the while and adjusting that giant hat of hers.
Lightly flinching away, Karoto made sure there was no connection, not with a little blueberry girl of all things, as she just spoke.
“Well theeenn, we can take a little nap!”
The bestiary was put aside, yet still kept close, nestled right under that little uniform she wore, safe and sound as her eyes fluttered closed.
It seemed peaceful, and he might as well do the same.
There was no point lying in the exhaustion he was feeling innerly, so might as well try to sleep.
Leaning in, he kept his posture upright, letting the legs that were secretly aching from all the movement and plastic-paced battling rest on the grass.
Easy to move out, quick to grab anything.
Karoto needed to move if anything happened.
To make sure it all went alright.
His arms crossed, creating a protective layer with a pillow-like purpose in case his face were to fall forward, blinking sleepily as he nuzzled into the brim of his scarf.
Warm, comforting.
A piece that never broke, yet it held for almost two decades of his life.
Truly a beloved piece.
But as his eyes slowly allowed themselves to slip closed, even if this carrot may not sleep-
“Say, when did you become a bard?”
Shutupyoulittleshit-
Restraining the groan from all the sleep that was yet to exist, he opened a singular eye towards the wide-awake blueberry.
Her eyes were sparkling, pointing to the guitar and leaning over, hands on the grass and gripping it with determination and curiosity.
Blinking was the only response given at first, but a smirk automatically grew on his face, playing his part and pressing a proud hand to his chest.
“Oh, Nabiu! I became a bard only through the toughest challenges-! The amount of trials I had to go through for this special guitar… you won't believe!”
Karoto laughed sweetly, patting the chest in an absent-minded manner and sliding that hand over to the kid's shoulder, seeing the stars reflecting in pure awe at the carrot.
A hero is what she believed him to be, lies filling her brain.
This thief knew from years of experience how all these wrong words could fit together into a believable story.
“This guitar is made from only the finest materials and the sturdiest strings you could ever find. I had to go through so many bosses, enemies, and rivals just to get this prize.”
So much imagination and fascination could be read from the shaking M.A.G.E, excitement radiating off her, believing all the lies he fed her.
It was almost amusing to see such a naive little child, so he might as well make up more.
After all, this ‘Worldwide Hero’ needed to be truly amazing.
“I am known across the land for these things, Nabs! Only I could have gotten this perfect guitar and the most pristine dice.”
Quickly, his fingers slipped into his pocket and brought out the dice, gleaming in its white colors, the moon assisting with its light to make it glow like a true masterpiece.
Offering it forward, small hands took it with the gentle attention of a child, those gleaming eyes admiring the magical weapon that he held.
Beautiful.
Despite all his disdain for the general folk, a small feeling of warmth befell him at the fact that Nabiu actually liked it.
But perhaps that was all fake too.
Who was he to truly trust someone ever again?
No bitter laugh left him however, only staring back as she looked around, all sparkles and smiles, before giving it back to the carrot.
“That's… AMAZING! I WANT TO BE A HERO TOO!!!!”
“And you can be! But you won't be one if you don't get proper sleep!”
A laugh left him at the blueberry’s excitement, ruffling her hat and pushing it down as she gave that eager nod back, plopping down right at the tree.
And without a word to share besides a singular whispered ‘goodnight’-
Snoreeeeeeeeeee-
It was almost sweetly soft as the little kid slept instantly.
The dark night sky was approaching and even if Karoto didn't sleep for too long or that much, he may as well keep watch as long as he was there.
Dark mist surrounded the forest, the gentle light of various candles with their soft purrs coming around, cuddling against each other.
The ticking of the forest was constant, rumbling sounding when the trees moved their circles of the day, which luckily didn't include the one they leaned against.
Rustling trees and moonlight shining down truly brought the world to life while all the animals bonded together in the dark.
Luckily, that didn't include a lycan.
Lycans aren't that good, especially with how frequently they had started to appear most recently-
Whatever was happening, it wasn't good.
But right now, his care was slipping with the consciousness he held, eyes slipping closed as his scarf did the job of comforting the carrot.
He carefully slid down the tree, rubbing his coat against it as his scarf just laid there, slowly lulling him to the murky darkness that was his headspace.
There were even some small candles sitting close, maybe seeking warmth and protection from nearby predators.
Whatever.
….
As his consciousness slipped, Karoto thought faintly about Nabiu's question, memories of past years coming to his mind.
To tell that story to you.
_____ __ _ _ _
____ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ __
_
Karoto was young once.
What a shocker, but no, he wasn't always like this.
…Alright, maybe that was a lie as well.
He wasn't without a reason like this for most of his life.
He was given a name by so many people, one that nowadays, everyone around hundreds of kingdoms, towns, and cities knew but never had a face for.
No-one ever found out who brought down the market profit.
Nobody knew who stole, but never hurt, who somehow only stole treasure from the rich but never gave it to anyone else.
One might ask where such a scandal started.
Well.
It all started at the age of 11.
Tap, tap, tap, went the little carrot’s feet as he adjusted his fixed coat, rubbing off any excess dirt that had gotten on the orange sleeves.
A groan left him as he stretched, walking cautiously around the big crowds in the Broccoli Kingdom which easily was conquered.
The people here didn't know him that well and most wouldn't expect a child to steal anything, besides if they were a rascal.
It gave the little carrot lots of opportunities, which included lots of ideas of how to spend the day.
Bumping against people only at certain times, he else snuck through with relative ease, ignoring all the complaints and glares he got from the general public.
There was nothing dangerous about crowds, they were just a tad tight to squeeze through!
Like those strange rooms the guards threw him in once, but that was far from a danger, especially since he quickly figured out how to pick the cell lock.
Should be just as easy escaping the next time in another way.
Angry tomatoes nearly hissed at him out of anger, but avoidance was his friend as he slid and sneaked around the giant mass of people to get to his next goal.
After all, it was where his stomach led.
He was quite hungry, actually. There was always something that his starving stomach nagged about, being already as small as forced to be.
No money meant no food, and the “sweet little kid” trick only works a few times with the same corner, as much as his mask improved.
It was getting better. Bigger. More deceptive.
The pure thought of being a little menace and finally getting warm food made him restrain a chuckle.
But the silent harsh sting in his gut reminded the carrot once more, hissing in pain, all muffled through the gloves.
Growling was a constant state and it brought pains in parts of his body, which quickly brought the kid to the decision to look for food.
Because that's what Karoto always did. Even before he became anyone at all.
Getting food, even with a bit of mold! It'll fill his stomach with pure delight!
…Well.
That's what he would have done.
Had his eyes not caught onto a certain shop.
Normally, Karoto didn't even spare a glance to the shops that didn't have a treat for a little scoundrel like him.
Working is a job for adults! That was all they ever did and cared about, wasting time with their selfish desires and their stupid little bratty snots.
How they received the display of a caretaker was beyond him.
Where was his adult?
…Hmpf.
Whatever.
It's not like he needed one. The amount of time he spent dealing and caring for himself truly showed how much the help of others was a burden.
He was so young and could do amazing things already! Even if it made him forcefully keep quiet-
But he needed to go back to his point, no?
This shop seemed to have been an instrumental shop. Or a trinket one. Or a wood shop.
Don't ask him, the sign only responded with gibberish.
Said sign was however not the thing that caught the little carrot’s attention.
Not the sign. Not the house. Not all the other items inside. No, not even the shiny gold that could come from the counter.
Not at all.
What got Karoto to widen his eyes, push through the crowd and finally press his face with colorful crystal pupils through the window-
Was a guitar.
Shouldn't have been that special, if he was gonna be completely honest.
It was a wooden guitar with no special engravings whatsoever, being a rather nice brown with normal strings, and a normal appearance.
So… if there was nothing special about it, why did it grab his attention so badly?
Well.
The key to the guitar not being normal was luckily shown without needing to read the annoying scribbles on the board.
One item was all it took for his minimal adventurer knowledge to set in.
A magical dice.
Magical objects were quite the common thing in these regions, particularly mages, wizards, simple buffs or even stronger effects-
These simple methods truly brought the world to life, even if some of them could be quite dastardly.
Karoto watched someone get electrocuted by an envelope once.
He always laughed about these dumbasses misfortunes.
But despite his greatest interest in making his life easier for a singular day, no object that caught the little carrot’s interest had been found…
Until now!
The magic dice was clearly connected to said guitar and Karo was not gonna lie-
He was interested in music.
Music was a form of art, one that expresses people through so many cultures, ways, and even genres that could simply be shown by one singular instrument.
Waves and octaves only increase the freedom, with more instruments meaning much more fun with making the song you want!
Perhaps a magical dice only increased that? Made it louder for everyone to hear!
Maybe not convenient for a thief, but let him have this.
Alright, he did know his numbers so-
He widened his eyes till his pupils were mere pinpricks.
The price was literally 2000 GOLD.
THE HELL???
Karoto's face resembled a vegetable pancake right now as he squished his face right against the glass, dirtying it with his breath and gloved fingers.
That's so much money! Why must everything be so expensive???
WHY MUST THE UNIVERSE DESPISE HIM.
Blinking several times again, the window brought cold air to his brain, an opportunity to think about his actions arising.
There could be a way to… get so much money.
Everyone has money, sure, but that would take such a long time stealing! Small businesses got alarms or monsters or potions or GUNS.
All kinds of very dangerous, which is not good if he wanted to quickly gain bucks.
That also meant that jobs were off the market, as the market doesn't really like him all that much, even if they didn't even know his face!
Those strawberries are still missed and cried about.
That's what Karoto liked to think, at least.
And besides, jobs were boring! Who wanted a job? All you do is bring sadness and despair to yourself for some coins while there are easier ways to gain them!
So, maybe he needed something easy and big.
Big, bigger than the sky, but easy enough to get coins o-
“OY! GET OFF THE WINDOW!”
“HEYURRGH-’
DONTGRABMEARGH-
Karoto was forced off the window with a harsh tug on his coat, grabbed off the ground by an old, stinking man that looked about 60.
Maybe 90 if he was feeling especially mean that day.
“You're dirtying up all my windows. Has no one ever told you to keep your distance?!”
Restraining an eye roll, the carrot shook his head innocently and blinked in a sweet manner, using that perfect facade as a cover up.
“No… I'm sorry.”
A blink came from the old man, falling for it like an apple on a tree as a sigh escaped him.
That luckily brought him back to the ground, coughing quietly and adjusting his coat as the man kneeled down to his level, his green-colored worker clothes covered in wooden pieces and dust.
“Alright, alright. Just don't do that again, it adds extra work for me. Got it?”
Yeah, sure, a lot of work that didn't truly matter.
But that was restrained as well, giving a sweet nod as the old person finally got back and let the little deceiver to his own devices.
“Finally-”
Karoto muttered, returning to his original call of thinking, keeping close to the walls while looking around and letting his mind lead him to the easiest place he could think of.
The one that you could see through the plaza.
The Broccoli Castle.
A perfectly easy target!
One might ask, ‘But Karoto! That's the most important place in the Kingdom. Surely you'll be killed?’
He would have laughed at that statement and pointed out that the castle never really had good defenses in the first place.
And it already had enough money! From all the rumors and small thieves that thought they were special, it was said that the riches were beyond normalcy.
It gave your local thief all the gold they needed to get everything they would ever want!
But as he already found an alleyway to let his plan come to fruition, he remembered all the words that those thieves shared and honestly?
They were pathetic.
“It's too dangerous! All those traps…”, “Too many guards. Way too many guards-”, “All the magic that surrounds this castle must be insane!”
That last statement wasn’t even true.
There was not a single ounce of magic in that castle, he checked himself with some rather quick observations.
Expert hands grabbed onto the garbage can, flinging himself up with enough momentum to get straight to the brick that he needed to grab next.
Rooftop heights were quite easy to achieve if you weren't stupid.
A genuine groan left his throat as his chest pressed against the harsh stones that the buildings were made out of, struggling his way to finally land on the top with an exhausted huff.
He picked up the lace though, jumping over rooftops with high acceleration and the determination to finally get his guitar, even with no true speciality to it.
But for now, the importance was that he was finally close to the castle.
Now, what he said previously wasn't entirely true.
There was a singular magical barrier that surrounded the entire castle, keeping all foes at bay that weren't prepared for a reality where they turned into pancakes against literal air.
Karoto was the master of preparation though, even if he didn't plan for it previously.
Sometimes, you just need a little creativity to boost your ideas.
Rummaging through his right pocket, he pulled out a stone, thanking whoever was above for the fact that there was water near the castle and the barrier that you couldn't see-
He did test it. At night.
Very carefully.
But now comes the time for the most important part.
From all he learned in the small village he came from, the small number of magic users always had faint flaws in their design.
May it be a weak spot, a failure or even a sweet oversight. But the most with the strongest mages?
The overusing of magic.
Magic doesn't last forever. It crackles like a flame, going out or fading when there isn't enough air to truly bring it to life.
Every flame fades eventually, which meant that if his observations from a few days were correct and this shield has been up for a long, long while-
SWIIISSHHHG-
Crick.
SPLISH.
That the barrier had gotten weak spots.
The only way he truly saw that any damage was done, was the recoil most barriers did, a wave just like water in its respective color going through most of the shield.
Unnoticeable if you didn't care.
Easily an advantage if you did.
Taking a step back, he prepared to absolutely reach the distance that was dangerously close to just letting him fall into a rock and end his life.
Hey, whatever ending came, he was really happy to not be on this planet anymore, so it didn't matter!
Tapping his feet excitedly against the ground, checking one more time if anyone was watching and finally running at the highest speed he could reach-
Tap.
SWWWWIIIIIII-
PleasedontfallpleasedontfallPLEASEDONTFALL-
OHGODOHGODHELLHEGRABBEDIT-
He. Okay. He. He grabbed it, because the texture of harsh rocks against his gloved hands was making him want to vomit.
Anyway-
He quickly pulled himself up and rolled into the room, remembering from his last visit out of curiosity and the smell of divine food that thisssss…
Oh! Yeah! This was the guest room.
Last time, this was the window he escaped from and he remembered glancing absently at a sign that he couldn't read but seemed special.
It was golden! Probably!!!!
Stepping and sneaking, keeping his mouth shut was important after all as he listened first, making sure no footsteps or clanking was there as he carefully cracked open the door.
…No guards. No royalty. No people. No talking.
Perfect.
So many advantages to being small, especially the speed the old ones didn't have, was used to his advantage as he ran through the halls, his feet not making a sound.
Not like he had any socks. Or shoes. Or pants. Or a shirt.
Way too expensive. And no garbage can ever hold clothing that wasn't just ripped into pieces or fit his tiny status beside baby clothing.
Baby clothing was humiliating though, so no wearing that.
Every corner was peeked at and carefully examined, listening to the steps as he proceeded forward and even slid down from statues, glancing at pictures of the queen.
So many more of those than the new King, since the old one had passed away from his knowledge.
Nothing he truly cared about. Those riches were the same anyway, just filling up with each day.
A shrug left him as his feet tapped over the soft rugs, patterns of green, purple and red going along the brick-red floors, just being another piece of wealth for them to spit at everyone.
It made Karoto sick.
Not like they needed all this money.
They could use it for more useful things! Give it to the people. Use it on better rugs. Eat the r-
Cling cling CLINGCLINGCLING-
OHSHIT-
GUARDS ARE NO GOOD-!
Karoto did a full body flinch at the mere sound of those prices, hearing those disgusting laughs and the clanking of their expensive armor that they pressed into everyone's faces.
Just another piece in the system of wrongs and the want for control.
Urgh, TOO MUCH THINKING. MORE ACTING.
Luckily, his mind was quick to notice the chandelier on the ceiling, also brought together by little fairy lights that were hung by strong ropes.
A quick plan in his head made his body made on instinct, quickly latching onto the many pieces of fabric and paintings lining the wall to crawl up like a literal spider.
Just before jumping on said chandelier right as the guards changed their paths his way, not noticing a thing…
Beside the little noise.
But he kept his mouth tightly shut.
“Hm?”
The moving stopped.
Noises, movements that he could only imagine were them looking up, checking the lights and staring at it intensely, seeing him, CATCHING-
“Dear Nantes- Are you checking the damn lights for candlebugs again?”
“What-? No-! Nonoo, I'm not! Just…looking. Heard something.”
Sounds that resembled clanging and a groan, probably facepalming which was quite funny to the imagination as the clanging finally continued onwards for one.
“Yeah, yeah. Come on, I don't have time for your paranoia.”
“IT'S NOT PARANOIA-!!!”
Relief washed over him.
Thank Nantes for stupid guards and their anxiety.
Yet he waited for a bit, hearing the sounds fade from the room, the hallways finally silent as the smirk got back on his face, jumping down the chandelier and onto the rug.
Proceeding through the halls, he finally found the hatch that he was looking for, all wooden and old from the lack of care anyone gave for it.
Karoto pried it open and hopped in, sneaking around the red stones and torches full of flames, burning the stone and making it burning hot.
No guards.
So careless, so stupid, so absolutely atrociously foolish.
A truly moronic bastard.
The flames that lightly licked against his head were almost comforting, spilling forgotten sparks that nobody cared about.
It would just go out anyway.
Tap, tap, tap, his feet went, finally reaching the destination he wanted to be at.
The giant locked door of riches.
Karoto snickered mischievously, rubbing his hands together, finally approaching that sweet, sweet reward he craved, just needing one more step.
Breaking that thing clean open.
Kneeling down, he looked at the old rusty lock they kept. Broken down, not cared for and full of mold that had probably come from someone's abandoned sandwich.
Disgusting, but a true delight for his break in.
The carrot wouldn't even need a key.
Grabbing a rock that had peacefully laid on the ground, he grabbed the lock, raising his hand-
CRACK.
Yep, not even holding together after one swift hit, the lock broke, left on the ground with no regard or care.
Just like
Hm.
Maybe not now.
More snickers left his lips as he finally cracked open the golden doors, peeking in-
And for once, widening his eyes in pure shock.
Gold.
Gold everywhere.
Every single thing in this room was golden. The chairs, the pictures, the money, the statues, the clothing, the toys-
There was a bit of a disappointment that there was no food though, but that could be for later, especially once he takes all this money.
Okay, he needs 2000 pieces of gold or something worth that much, so-
…
Karoto stared.
Very hardly.
To the literal bag of gold that said ‘2000 G’ on it.
You know what actually, he will take that without complaint and questioning if he's truly that lucky.
Quickly running over and picking the surprisingly light bag up in his hands, he ran out of the room and into the red basement once more, going back the way he came from.
Of course, looking around first, it was genuinely ridiculous how much the last king didn't care about the safety of his own castle by just depending on magic.
No guards! No big magic users or even the smallest amount of guard beings.
That meant that shrugging was the only possible thing to do as he jumped back onto the window and slid down the stone wall, making sure to not fall or break anything.
Now, it was time for the big moment!
Karoto avoided all the guards, the carrot just snickering as he bumped into people and ignored those vicious complaints, running to the store and opening the door.
Ding ding.
“Ah, hello! How can I-...wait. You-”
“Yes, me!”
The carrot triumphantly walked into the store, the wooden floor not hurting his black circles for feet as he glanced around the room.
A lot of wooden appliances and magical objects, nothing that grabbed his attention beside what he worked for.
“I WANT THAT GUITAR.”
And without letting the poor old man even respond, one large money bag was placed onto the table, which actually wasn't that large surprisingly.
Widening his eyes, the old man looked at the bag with surprise, grabbing and inspecting it before putting it on a weight measurer.
“...Huh. I didn't know you had that much money. Well, it's all yours then. Just-”
“Yeah, yeah, don't plaster your face on the window, GOT IT.”
Thumbs up was all that Karoto gave to the shopkeeper as he stepped backwards, before immediately rushing the guitar and dice, grabbing it and rushing out of the store.
Pushing through the crowd was easier than finding an abandoned alleyway, but soon enough, a rather quiet place was found.
The thief sat himself down and held the guitar, brushing his gloved hands over the smooth wood and smiling, plugging strings and hearing the notes.
Honestly, he didn't know how to play.
But hey.
At least he now had a guitar.
That's all there is to it.
So even if there was now dragon that he defeated, no true goal, no big city that was saved-
It was his.
And that's all that was truly important in his heart.