The agreed twenty minutes ticked by, second by second.
Luke walked the streets, feeling the sun's lingering warmth, but he didn't find a single useful lead.
Honestly, the more time passed, the lower the odds of catching the thief who'd stolen the purse.
At this point, it wasn't "slim" anymore—it was truly, genuinely down to dumb luck.
Figuring it was about time, Luke headed toward their meeting spot.
When he arrived, Lux and Kahina were also walking in from opposite directions.
Under the blazing summer heat, it was obvious they'd searched seriously—sweat dotted their foreheads.
Luke asked, "Anything?"
Lux and Kahina both shook their heads. Their mood had clearly been affected too—heavy and subdued.
Even Lux couldn't force a smile now.
"I covered such a wide area, but I didn't even know where to start," Kahina sighed. Deep down, they all knew what they were doing was basically pointless.
Just burning their stamina for nothing.
"Ugh…" Lux let out a long sigh and sat down on a bench, still stuck on the whole thing.
"Don't think about it. I'll replace the money Mrs. Yuna lost later," Kahina said, gently patting Lux's shoulder. "After all, it's our duty as Illuminators."
"Do we just let the thief get away with it?" Lux's eyes were downcast. "If Mrs. Yuna hadn't met us today, who would've replaced her money?"
She couldn't accept it. Because the thief hadn't stolen just a purse.
They'd stolen a family's support.
But Lux also knew she had no solution right now.
And she knew she couldn't change this reality.
There were thieves everywhere.
Kahina felt the same bitterness. "In my opinion, these thieves operate in groups. We don't necessarily have to catch the exact one who stole the purse—maybe we can start with other thieves."
In truth, all three of them had considered that.
"But the problem is… do you think a thief is going to tell you they're a thief?" Lux looked around, helpless.
Everyone passed by normally—different expressions, different habits. Maybe one of them was the thief, but no one would be stupid enough to admit it.
"I've got an idea. We can try it," Luke said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
If he couldn't find the thief, then he'd make the thief come to him.
The two girls turned to look at him at the same time, pretty eyes unblinking—clearly asking what the idea was.
"Talking won't help. Let's just do it," Luke said, scanning left and right before quickly locking onto a direction.
This time, he didn't even need to call anyone over.
A white figure soon appeared, walking over with perfect timing.
"Your Highness, what do you need?" the white-clad guard asked with a bow.
At this point, the guard was numb inside.
And you still say you're just trying your luck?
Yeah. Sure.
"Take out all the money you're carrying," Luke said. Then he looked at the two girls. "And you two as well."
The white-clad guard moved the fastest—no questions asked. He pulled out his coin pouch and handed it straight to Luke.
Lux and Kahina didn't really understand, but since Luke said it, they also reached into their pockets.
Together, they managed to scrape up a decent sum.
A short while later…
A young man walked down the street as if nothing was happening—like some country kid entering the capital for the first time, looking around in wide-eyed curiosity.
Then, with one careless step, he bumped into someone head-on.
Clink-clink-clink—!
"Sorry!" he blurted out.
At the same time, a crisp, ringing sound burst out as one gold coin after another spilled onto the ground, rolling in every direction.
Under the sunlight, those coins gleamed—bright and eye-catching.
This was not a small amount.
The scene drew plenty of attention. People looked over and saw the young man panic as he crouched down to gather the scattered coins.
The person he'd bumped into—and a few kind passersby—helped him pick them up too.
"Thank you, thank you," the young man said, almost in tears as he thanked everyone one by one. He gathered the coins back up, then carefully tucked them into his inner pocket beneath his clothes.
This time, he didn't dare get distracted. He focused on walking forward.
That "young man" was, of course, Luke.
Today he'd realized something: that Sixth Sense Enhancement Potion he'd thought was useless was actually far stronger than he'd imagined.
It wasn't only a passive ability—sometimes he could actively use it.
When Luke was relaxed, it functioned like an alarm bell in the background. Like the scam group from earlier today—he'd immediately felt the number of people tailing him increase.
And when Luke was focused, his perception became even sharper. Like when he'd searched for the white-clad guard earlier—he'd clearly sensed that someone's gaze was coming from a particular direction.
At first, he'd assumed it was just a feeling—no guarantee there was actually someone there—so he'd treated it as a gamble.
But after a few more times, Luke realized there was barely any "luck" involved at all.
Now, he'd been walking for almost half an hour. Plenty of eyes had drifted toward him along the way, and Luke didn't know what emotions were behind those looks.
But one thing he could confirm was this—
For the past half hour, there had been a single gaze watching him the whole time.
"Why haven't you made a move yet?" Luke frowned, puzzled. But at this point, he didn't have any more patience.
He stopped, turned around, and slowly swept his eyes across each face in the crowd.
Then—suddenly—he made very brief eye contact with someone.
That person immediately looked away, showing no obvious reaction at all.
"Don't run!" Luke suddenly shouted.
He pushed off the ground and sprinted straight toward that direction.
Startled, pedestrians threw him odd looks.
At first, the thief hiding among the crowd believed there was no way he'd been exposed.
But very quickly, he felt it—Luke was charging directly at him.
Under that pressure, panic finally cracked through his expression. A bead of sweat slid down his forehead as Luke closed the distance fast.
Keep pretending?
Or drop the act?
The moment the choice appeared, the thief didn't hesitate—he bolted.
His arms pumped hard, full sprint, like his life depended on it.
Screw pretending!
He didn't know how he'd been exposed. Maybe he hadn't been exposed at all.
But even if it was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he wasn't gambling on it.
Because he couldn't fall here!
The villagers were still waiting for him to return!
He'd come to the capital carrying the will of his captured companions—faces flashing through his mind, those fellow thieves who'd been taken, turning into fuel beneath his feet as he ran like the wind!
"I… am the man destined to become the King of Thieves!" he roared, blood boiling.
The next second, the so-called King of Thieves was sent flying by a kick that came out of nowhere.
He tumbled several times and finally crashed into a pile of roadside hay before stopping.
"I was already irritated today," the white-clad guard said, exhaling deeply as he looked down at the thief sprawled on the ground. "And you still had to yell."
The guard felt his mood improve instantly—like a massive knot had finally loosened.
The thief struggled upright, furious, hammering his fist into the ground. "Impossible! Where did I mess up?!"
He couldn't understand it. Not at all.
"Heh." The white-clad guard glanced at the thief's face and let out a contemptuous snort, feeling even better.
Can't figure it out?
Good.
If you could figure it out, would I still be this miserable?
TN: There will be a little surprise on Sunday.