"H-how did you do that Mr zom- I mean Ken," Dex asked excitedly. "You get used to being swift and precise with your hands after a lot of practice," Ken replied smugly. "Did that practice include you getting your ass beat when you failed?" Rex laughed.
Ken scowled at him, deciding on whether or not he should just eat Rex for dinner instead. The brown mouse shuddered, deciding he wouldn't push that topic any further.
"How did you know he had that Ken? I didn't see that with his jewelry." Whitey spoke. "Well, considering what he was wearing and showing off, my guess is that he was a merchant. A good amount of merchants love to dress like that, and again most of those merchants carry pocket watches. Why they carry them? I'm not sure. Something about business and time or whatever." Ken explained.
Rex spoke after Ken finished, "If he was a merchant, then he must have had coins, right? Copper, silver, gold, or even platinum. Did he have none?"
"He did. Did you notice when he patted himself after I bumped into him? That was him checking to see if I stole his pouch. It's way too obvious to take the pouch. All the jewelry is also viable, but it's not ideal in that situation. You just have to get a feel for who your target is and the situation." Ken explained while both mice listened intently.
Stuffing the pocket watch back into his pants, Ken said, "Alright. That piece I took was a pretty nice one. I'm sure it won't take long for him to notice it's gone so we should get out of here. We'll go to some more transition districts and see what we can get."
Some time and a few more similar situations later, Ken and the mice once again found themselves in an alleyway. Laying all the items on the ground, Ken studied his newly acquired belongings.
A few copper coins, one silver coin, a bracelet, a necklace, and three pocket watches. This had been one of the better days for Ken, especially so since he hadn't been caught. Though, that was getting rarer as his experience continued to grow.
"We'll have to sell the watches and other jewelry at a store I go to, but we have enough coin for now to get some food," Ken began stuffing the valuables back into his pants.
"Ugh finally!" Rex yelled. "I think I'm dying of hunger over here!" Ken frowned at the brown mouse who was currently patting his chubby belly. "You don't look like it to me," Ken scoffed. Rex glared at Ken, "Did you just call me fat? I'm not fat, I'm just big boned! That's what my ma always told me."
"Sure you are buddy," Ken replied as he shook his head, "and I'm not broke." Ken and Rex began to bicker back and forth while the trio traveled through the crowd. The scene of a dirtied young man arguing with a fat brown mouse in his pocket attracted more than a few odd looks.
Ken was so focused on his 'conversation' with Rex, that he accidentally bumped face first into someone. Feeling dazed for a second, Ken turned his attention to the stranger he had walked into.
Standing in front of him was a woman wearing a cloak. If Ken had to guess, he would assume she was either eighteen like him, or slightly older. She was about six foot, so she was a couple inches taller than the young man. Her fiery red hair fell around her shoulders and down to the small of her back. Baby blue eyes pierced into Ken's own gold and gray ones.
Barely visible abs and slender yet muscular legs could be seen due to the black crop top and shorts she was wearing. She was one of the most beautiful women Ken had ever seen.
But what had his attention wasn't her body or her face. It was the pair of fox ears that could barely be seen. They were short and shared the same color as her long hair. They looked so soft that Ken wanted to touch them.
A sudden realization hit Ken, 'A beast folk? What the hell is one doing here in our nation? I thought they hated us.'
The woman stood completely still, watching the young man with strange eyes in front of her. A serious expression painted her face as she waited for the boy to act. She was preparing to fight and flee if need be. Humans and the beast kin races weren't exactly fond of each other.
Instead of any hostility like she expected however something else caught her off guard. A fat brown mouse in the boy's shirt pocket began to squeak.
"Well, are you gonna apologize to the pretty lady or what asshole," Rex said loudly. The mouse was right, Ken had bumped into the girl and just stared at her for longer than he had thought.
"I-I'm sorry!" Ken stammered and bowed, fully meaning it this time. "Good, now can we finally go get food? I'm getting hangry over here." Rex gruffed.
"Alright alright, come on. We'll go eat now," Ken said. Giving one more apology and stepping around the woman, Ken once again began to make his way through the crowd.
Behind him, the woman stood, not moving a muscle. Was she going crazy, or did the boy just speak to her in her language? As far as she knew, only human scholars would spend the time learning their language.
That was mostly due to the need for peace talks between the Beast Nation and the human one, which weren't going so well at the moment. The war had been over for a few years, but tensions were still high between the two countries.
The young woman, Lina, spun on her heals to try to find the strange boy. However, he had already disappeared among the sea of people traveling the streets.
Lina had a mission she needed to accomplish first, but afterwards, she would have some time to be able to return home. Some of that time was now decided on if she could find that boy again. There was something strange about him, and those eyes of his held something that she couldn't quite wrap her mind around.
She found herself wanting to find out more about him. She wasn't sure why, but she had felt a strange pull towards him.
Trying and failing to get him out of her mind, Lina soon began to wade through the streets, heading directly towards the center of the city.