Ace wanted to cry, but no tears flowed. He was regretting it now.
He should've escaped from here when the room door was opened and should've run far away from Eva. But alas, there was no medicine for regret in this world.
Now that he had already promised her, he will help her. His parents and grandparents always teach him never to break his promise or go back to his words.
'That Kelby family was already difficult to deal with, and now I have to rob the Grant family as well. The other would be on high alert if I robbed even one of them. It's not the outer region, after all. Eva will also be in trouble if I robbed the Kelby family first. Asher will surely notice something and maybe become suspicious of Eva.' Ace thought gravely, 'She is irritating, but she is a kind-hearted and straightforward girl. She even told me her biggest secret: I can't abandon someone who trusts me.'
Ace was in a predicament because if Eva hadn't told him about her past and secrets, he would've already chosen to do the system's mission. Besides, he didn't want to admit it, but it was the first time he had made a 'friend' in his little life.
"Why are you perspiring like rain? If you want to rob the Kelby family that much, we can rob both families simultaneously." Eva said softly after seeing Ace acting so silly. She found it quite amusing, though.
"How can we rob them both?!" Ace demands instantly.
If he can, he doesn't want to rob anyone of them.
"My mom once told me how she robbed three treasuries simultaneously!" Eva told Ace proudly about her mom's achievements as if they were her own.
"Tell me about it." Ace ignored Eva, who was acting haughtily like a peacock, and urged her to tell the whole narrative.
Ace wasn't an expert thief but a new bud in this domain. He can rob one of the prominent families here, but two at the same time was a near-impossible task for him with his current skills. Thus, if Eva's mother was really a great thief, then her experience was very precious and helpful to him.
"Listen carefully," Eva earnestly began to narrate.
After two hours,
Ace's eyes shone like stars after listening to Eva's story, and he was amazed by how thievery could be done. He was convinced that Eva's mother was a Great Thief, and he learned much from just this one tale.
'Which fool says being a thief is easy? Too much planning is needed just for single thievery. In my opinion, being a thief is even harder than ascending heaven.' Ace mused bitterly, but there was a peculiar thrill in his eyes.
"First, we have to select a target. You can do that, and I will infiltrate the Grant Family. If we do this, we have to tread extremely carefully. If we make a mistake even a little, we are finished. I can always escape, but you will die, so remember to be very cautious." Ace reminded her gravely.
Ace didn't consider Eva an outsider anymore because she was helping him more than he had thought, and unknowingly, he was beginning to treat her like a teammate.
"Don't worry about it. You will do the most important task, and that made you the core of this plan. You have to be careful more than me." Eva said with a light chuckle.
She has also noticed Ace's change in attitude and felt genuine concern in his voice. So, she was pleased about it. After all, she did all this to win Ace's trust and honestly wanted to form a team with him, for her mom once conveyed to her, "A great thief needs a great partner!"
Therefore, Ace was the perfect partner for her. He was smart, had excellent skills, was loyal, and trustworthy. She also has to admit he was 'somewhat handsome' as well.
That's why she told the truth from the beginning. She knew a person like Ace would never abandon or betray a true friend. Furthermore, she vaguely felt very close to him and put all her trust in him for some unknown reason, and that trust comes directly from her blood and soul!
Eva didn't dwell on this strange, inexplicable feeling and thought it was just because she had met a thief like her mom. All her attention was on the plan of robbing both families who had made her a slave for many years. Finally, it was time for her sweet revenge.
She was excited and afraid at the same time. She was excited because her dream was coming true, and she could finally become like her mother. Afraid because she didn't want her team with Ace to break with any mishaps.
"You should go first and report to Asher. He can be a huge hindrance to our plan, so we should get rid of him as soon as possible." Ace said with an evil smile on his face.
"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow." Eva faded like smoke after looking at Ace one last time.
"She does have some skills." Ace smiled lightly.
---
In the morning, at the Kelby shop on the top floor,
"You can't find him?!" Asher's angry voice resounded on the entire top floor.
"Yes! He swiftly escaped the city after getting rid of Caleb's party. After my investigation, I found that the inner gate guards see a person with the same features leaving the inner region." A cold yet sweet voice answered.
She was Eva or, right now, Black Fox. She was wearing her usual full-body black armor, and her eyes were as cold as ice. She looked nothing like the lively girl who met Ace last night.
"That phony ran away after he did this to me, damnable! I can't sleep in peace until I torture him. Go and find where he came from. Just find anything!" Asher barked while grinding his teeth in anger. He was determined and would not stop until he found Ace.
Black Fox emotionlessly said, "I already did, and it appears he was from the Red Mountain City."
"What!? Red Mountain City." Asher's face turned ashen because he knew this city clearly; the Red Mountain City was a 1-Star City!
Simply put, it's a large size city where he can't mess around wantonly.
"Are you certain that brat was from Red Mountain City?" Asher asks uncertainly.
"Yes, I already checked twice, and he is apparently from Red Mountain City." Answer Eva coldly.
Asher didn't even think that Black Fox could lie to him. She was with him for five years and never lied to him or failed in her mission even once. She was like a machine that never got tired or disobeyed orders.
That's why he trusted her blindly. It never occurred to him that this was Ace and Eva's scheme to lead him in the wrong direction so he didn't get in their way.
Asher pulled a long face and became frustrated. He was having a hard time believing that someone had escaped his grasp and the person was someone who made him smell rat shit!
This was the greatest humiliation of his life, and he couldn't even get revenge. On the contrary, it made his anger reach a new level.
But he can't go to a 1-star city to get revenge, right?
Even if he goes there, where can he find him in that big city? He didn't even know what his mortal enemy looked like; only Caleb knew.
Eva spoke when Asher was about to swallow his disgrace and give up on vengeance, "I also find this note from where he was staying." She gave a white folded paper to Asher.
This small paper would be the last straw that broke the camel's back!
Asher's brows tightly furrowed as he received the paper,
"How was my GIFT? Hehehe!"
Those words were filled with ridicule and scorn.
"DAMNABLE BASTARD!!!" Asher exploded furiously; his handsome face turned black as charcoal, and veins popped out on his forehead as if they would explode anytime. He knew exactly who wrote this letter just by these scornful words.
"Black Fox! Go and request help from my grandfather. I want that bastard, no matter the cost. Even if I have to go to hell myself." Asher roared with a face full of hatred. He finally loses his reason and never even considers that Ace planned to send him out of the city.
"YES!" Eva vanished after receiving Asher's command.
'Idiot.' She mocked Asher in her heart.
---
Meanwhile, Ace was heading towards the Grant family territory while Asher was blowing his top.
Suddenly, a gust of wind passed him, and a little piece of paper appeared in his empty hand. He wasn't surprised by this because he knew this was Black Fox.
Ace read the little note and snickered sinisterly, "That idiot really believed it, just like Eva said he would."
In the letter was a report on Asher's current actions. After reading, he sent a little heavenly Qi in the letter, and it turned into fragments.
'It's my turn, I guess.' Ace activated stealth and vanished into the Grant Family territory.
Grant family was ranked second in the inner region because they have an expert at the Qi Gates realm's peak, just half a step away from reaching the Qi Foundation Building Realm.
He was Asher's grandfather, Rylan Grant, the current head of the Grant family.
The Qi Foundation Building Realm was next after the Qi Gates Realm. Only the City Lord was in this realm; because of it, his family, the Layton Family, was ranked first in the inner region.
Ace was currently standing in front of a rundown building.
It was the servant area of the Grant family. All the servants live in this old building. The Grant family didn't allow servants to go outside their territories because, in the Grant family's eyes, they were not people but mere slaves.
Ace hurriedly went inside the building. He knows security wasn't tight here. Who cares about the security of slaves?
So, if one can pass through all the family checkpoints and reach the servants' area, there is no security at all.
Ace entered the old building,
The inside was clean, but there was some strange smell inside. Ace saw rows of rooms, and all the doors had no locks. One can enter as he wishes. This is the treatment the Grant family gives to their servants. They treat them like animals.
Ace felt rage. He didn't think noble families of the inner region were worse than the outer region. At least in the outer region, they didn't treat humans like animals.
Actually, they did it; it's just that he didn't know about it yet.
He suppressed his seething anger and quickly went to the upper floor. There were fewer rooms than on the 1st floor, but these rooms were without doors, and young boys were inside. But their conditions were worse than death. They were wounded all over their bodies. Some didn't even have limbs.
These boys were 'sparing partners' for young masters of the Grant family. They have only one job, and that is to get beaten.
They were like living dummies that helped the Grant family's younger generation to test their skills. If they died during 'sparing,' no one would care. New ones will replace them. There were insignificant stones to sharpen the younger generation of Grant's family.
Ace was here to become a Sparring Partner!