"Hey, you! Stop right there, thief!" roared a burly man, his heavy footsteps pounding against the ground as he chased after me.
Yes… that thief is none other than me. Allow me to introduce myself—my name is Aurion Morthev. I know, it sounds noble, doesn't it? And in truth, I was born a noble. But I never lived as one. …Oops, looks like that uncle's getting closer. Guess I'll have to cut this introduction short.
I leapt over a wall and scrambled onto the rooftops. The man was strong, broad-shouldered, but there was no way he could keep up with me up here. All I needed was to get this food back to Sharya. She'll be delighted when she sees what I've brought.
Oh, right. You're probably wondering—why would someone born a noble be stealing bread? Well… because my noble status was stripped away by the kingdom. My parents… they took their own lives when I was four. Sad, isn't it? But if you dwell on sorrow forever, it'll eat you alive. Better to keep moving.
"Sharya, I'm back! Look, I brought food! You must be starving, right? It's the toasted bread you wanted so badly. Come, let's eat together."
Strange. She usually answers right away when I call her. …Was she out somewhere? Wait—the door's unlocked? That's not like her. Don't tell me—another thief? But what would they even steal from here—
My heart slammed against my chest. My vision blurred, as if struck by a mage's staff. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"Sharya…! Who did this? Who would dare do this to you?! SHARYA!"
She lay on the floor, drenched in blood, the coppery stench searing my lungs. Her eyes were wide open, frozen with fury, as if cursing her murderer even in death. Whoever did this—I will never forgive them.
"Why are you sitting alone? Don't you want to play with the others? What's your name?"
It was one month after my parents' deaths. I was drowning in grief, when a girl with long black hair and bright brown eyes approached me.
"My name is… Aurion Morthev. Why are you talking to me? If you stay near me, they'll mock you. They'll insult you. They'll torment you."
But the girl only smiled and grabbed my hand, unconcerned by my warning. She pulled me along with a force far greater than her small frame.
She led me to a rundown shack on the edge of the slums.
"Wait… I don't even know your name yet," I muttered quietly.
"My name? …It's Sharya. Just Sharya." She grinned brightly and tugged me inside.
That shack was her home. Like me, she was an orphan. Her parents died when she was just a year old, leaving her to be raised by her aunt. By the age of six, she was already stealing trinkets from the marketplace just to survive.
One day, she turned to me with that same innocent smile.
"Aurion, you're just like me. Why don't you stay here? Live with me, and we'll steal together."
And so I did.
Sharya taught me how to survive in the shadows, how to steal without being caught. Over time, I grew sharper, faster, more skilled. And I began to understand her. She didn't just want a partner in crime—she wanted someone to laugh with, to share her lonely world.
The day before her death, Sharya's eyes lingered on a loaf of toasted bread in a shop called Ton Youg's Bakery. I promised myself I'd get it for her. But in leaving her alone, I had doomed her. Once again, I had lost the only reason I had to keep going.
And yet… her death gave me something new. Not just despair, but purpose.
I clutched her lifeless body, my tears soaking her bloodstained clothes. Her words echoed in my mind:
"One day, I'll become the Emperor of Magic—ruler of Auriveth. And I'll make you my advisor. They say the first rank of a true mage is called… what was it again? Oh, right—Eternal!"
Her dream… one that could never be realized.
I wept until my voice broke, until no more tears would come. When my grief finally dulled into numbness, I carried her body to the public cemetery. But before I could bury her, a group of royal soldiers blocked my path.
"Well, well, if it isn't the fallen noble," one sneered. "How does it feel to be nothing? I hear your parents killed themselves, hahahaha! And if I remember right, your mana resonance is only 100. Even a pig ranks higher! You're a disgrace to the kingdom. And now, you've lost the girl you loved too? How fitting for trash like you. Oh, and by the way—you're not allowed to bury her here. Find some other place, vermin."
Without thinking, I snatched a sword from one of them and swung. But I was far too weak to fight. They knocked me down with ease, laughing as I dragged myself away.
In the end, I buried Sharya near the refuse pits, the only place left for us outcasts. It was shameful, unworthy of her. But I had no other choice.
Someday… I will make them pay. All of them.