Chapter 456 - 424: Bek The Thief... Steal From Me?...

(A/N):

Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.

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Devara stopped before a small shop selling ornaments.

Several necklaces made from turquoise, lapis lazuli and gold were displayed beneath a linen canopy.

The shopkeeper was explaining the significance of certain symbols to a customer, pointing towards an ornament shaped like a scarab.

Devara recognised a few of the symbols from his knowledge of Egyptian mythology.

The scarab was associated with rebirth and the movement of the sun, while the ankh represented life.

Other ornaments depicted falcons, jackals and various sacred animals.

He found it particularly interesting that religious symbolism was so deeply integrated into everyday life.

A woman passed by carrying a basket of fruits, while a young boy followed her with a small clay vessel.

Nearby, a group of priests dressed in white linen walked towards an enormous temple, their heads shaved and their hands carrying ceremonial objects.

Devara’s attention shifted towards the temple.

Its entrance was decorated with towering pillars, each covered in hieroglyphic inscriptions and colourful paintings.

Massive statues stood on either side of the gateway, their faces depicting divine figures.

People approached the entrance carrying flowers, food and small offerings.

Unlike the temples in his own world, where rituals often involved elaborate chants and offerings before sacred images, the religious practices here appeared to have their own distinct traditions.

He continued walking, occasionally stopping to observe something that caught his attention.

However, one thing continued bothering him.

Despite the apparent prosperity of the city, the differences between its people were quite visible.

Wealthy merchants travelled in decorated chariots, accompanied by servants carrying their belongings, while ordinary labourers struggled to make their way through the crowded streets.

Some wore fine jewellery and expensive clothing, whereas others walked barefoot with little more than a piece of linen covering their bodies.

And the guards seemed to be everywhere.

Devara noticed that they paid particular attention to certain groups of people, especially those carrying heavy loads or wearing markings similar to the workers he had seen outside the city.

He didn’t immediately draw any conclusions.

He was still a stranger in this world, and there was much he needed to understand before deciding how things truly worked.

"First, we should find an inn,"

he said, looking at the serpent.

"Then perhaps we can gather some information about this place."

The serpent flicked its tongue.

Devara smiled.

"And before you ask, no, we’re not going to explore every shop you find interesting."

The serpent quietly settled around his shoulders.

As Devara continued through the marketplace, his eyes eventually settled on a large painted sign depicting a golden sun above a building.

An inn.

"Well, looks like our first stop has been decided."

He headed towards it, unaware that the name of a foreign traveller carrying a black serpent would soon become a subject of curiosity among certain residents of Heliopolis.

Devara was just about to enter the inn when someone suddenly collided with his shoulder.

"Sorry! I’m terribly sorry. I was in a hurry and didn’t see you!"

The young man quickly apologised, attempting to move past Devara without stopping.

His clothes were dusty, and his appearance suggested that he had been running through the crowded streets for quite some time.

However, before he could take more than two steps, Devara’s hand closed firmly around his wrist.

The young man froze.

"Wait a moment," Devara said calmly.

"I’m sorry, sir! I really didn’t see you. I have somewhere important to be. Please let me go."

Devara didn’t release him.

Instead, he raised his other hand in front of the young man, palm facing upwards, as though asking him to hand something over.

The young man’s eyes briefly shifted towards Devara’s raised palm.

"I don’t understand what you want, sir."

Devara simply looked at him.

The young man attempted to pull his hand free.

When that failed, he twisted his wrist and tried to slip away through the crowd, but Devara anticipated the movement.

With a quick pull and a turn of his body, he brought the young man off balance and slammed him onto the ground.

The impact drew the attention of several nearby people.

"HEY!"

The young man immediately raised both hands.

"STOP! I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!"

Devara maintained his grip for another moment before looking down at him.

"Now, that was unnecessary, wasn’t it?"

The young man stared up at him, breathing heavily.

Devara then reached towards the man’s other hand and retrieved a small pouch.

It was his pouch.

The very same pouch he had been carrying since visiting the marketplace, containing the few small items he had purchased from the shops.

Devara opened it briefly and checked its contents. Everything appeared to be there.

He looked down at the young man again.

"So, you bumped into me, apologised, and then tried to run away with my belongings?"

The young man swallowed.

"I... I can explain!"

"Please do. I’m listening."

The black serpent had raised its head from Devara’s shoulders, its eyes fixed on the thief.

The young man noticed it and immediately became even more uncomfortable.

"Is that... is that thing poisonous?"

Devara glanced at his companion.

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Whether you give him a reason to bite you."

The young man’s face went pale.

A small crowd had begun gathering around them.

Some watched with curiosity, while others exchanged knowing looks.

A merchant standing nearby shook his head.

"Another street thief," he muttered.

"They never learn."

Devara heard him.

He looked back at the young man, who was now sitting on the ground with both hands raised.

"Tell me something. Is this how you earn your living?"

The young man hesitated.

Devara’s expression remained calm, but his grip on the pouch tightened slightly.

"Because if it is, I suspect I’m not the first person you’ve robbed today."

The young man lowered his gaze.

And judging by the silence that followed, Devara suspected there was considerably more to this little encounter than a simple pickpocketing attempt.

The young man remained seated on the ground, his hands raised as he cautiously watched Devara.

The small black serpent had now moved from Devara’s shoulder to his forearm, its head raised as it observed the stranger.

Devara examined the young thief for a moment.

"What’s your name?"

The young man hesitated before answering.

"Bek."

"Bek," Devara repeated.

"Well, Bek, would you care to explain why you attempted to steal from me?"

The young man lowered his hands slightly.

"I wasn’t trying to cause any trouble. I just needed some money."

"By taking someone else’s belongings?"

Bek looked away.

"I don’t have much of a choice."

Devara raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

Bek remained silent for a moment before finally speaking.

He was an orphan who had grown up on the streets of Heliopolis.

He couldn’t remember much about his parents, having lost them when he was very young.

With nobody willing to take responsibility for him, he had learned to survive on his own.

At first, he had begged for food and searched through discarded goods near the marketplaces.

But that barely kept him alive. Eventually, he discovered that stealing was considerably more profitable than begging.

He had started with small things, mostly fruits, coins and unattended belongings.

Over the years, he had developed his skills, learning how to move through crowded streets without attracting attention, identify wealthy visitors, distract merchants and disappear before anyone realised they had been robbed.

He had become quite good at it.

In fact, Bek considered himself one of the more skilled thieves in Heliopolis.

He rarely got caught, and even when someone noticed him, he usually managed to escape.

Unfortunately, today he had chosen the wrong person.

"I’ve been doing this for years,"

Bek admitted reluctantly.

"I know which merchants are easy targets and which travellers carry enough money to make it worthwhile. I thought you were just another foreign merchant."

Devara looked at him.

"And what made you think that?"

"Your clothes. The way you were looking around the marketplace. You seemed unfamiliar with the city, so I thought you wouldn’t notice."

Devara glanced down at his clothing.

"That’s an interesting observation."

Bek looked towards the pouch in Devara’s hand.

"I didn’t take anything valuable. I swear!"

"That isn’t the point."

Devara crouched slightly, bringing himself closer to Bek’s eye level.

"Tell me, how old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"And you’ve been living like this since you were a child?"

Bek nodded his head.

"Nobody is going to feed me for free. If I don’t steal, I don’t eat."

There was no particular self-pity in his voice and he said it as though it were an ordinary fact of life, something he had accepted long ago.

Devara studied him quietly.

He had encountered plenty of people who had turned to theft out of greed, but he also knew that desperation could push someone towards choices they might never have made otherwise.

That did not make stealing acceptable, but it did make the circumstances worth understanding.

"Do you have a place to sleep?"

Bek looked at him suspiciously.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I asked you a question."

"Sometimes the streets. Sometimes an abandoned building near the eastern marketplace."

Devara’s expression grew thoughtful.

He glanced at the inn behind him and then back at Bek.

"Well, Bek, it seems I’ve found my first acquaintance in Heliopolis."

Bek blinked his eyes confused.

"Acquaintance?"

"Yes. Although I would have preferred a slightly more pleasant introduction."

The young man wasn’t sure how to respond.

Devara finally released his wrist and stood up, placing the pouch safely inside his clothing.

"Get up. I have a few questions about this city, and you seem to know your way around."

Bek cautiously rose to his feet.

"Are you going to hand me over to the guards?"

Devara looked towards the nearby crowd.

"That depends on what you do next."

Bek swallowed as for the first time in quite a while, the young thief found himself in a situation where running away might be considerably more dangerous than staying.

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(Author note:)

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