Chapter 452 --452
Chapter 452: Chapter-452
Elara brought the skewer to her lips. She took a tiny, highly calculated bite from the very edge of the meat cube, ensuring the grease did not touch the corners of her mouth. She chewed slowly. The texture was rough, the meat was tough, and the spice was aggressively loud, lacking any of the subtle refinement of the royal kitchens.It was utterly inefficient.
"Well?" Julian asked.
"It provides adequate caloric energy," Elara stated. Then, remembering her parameters, she amended, "It is... okay food."
Julian beamed, entirely victorious. He pushed the plate closer to her. "Have another bite. We have a long night ahead of us."
### The Pickpocket
As they finished their meal and stepped back out into the crowded arteries of the market, the sun began to dip below the horizon. The sky bruised into shades of deep violet and burnt orange, and the streetlamps—powered by cheap oil and magic stones—began to flicker to life, casting long, shifting shadows across the cobblestones.
The evening crowd was denser. Laborers returning from the docks mixed with merchants packing their stalls and wealthy commoners seeking nighttime entertainment. The press of bodies forced their group to walk closer together.
Mahir walked directly behind Elara, his eyes tracking every movement, while Ken took the vanguard, parting the sea of commoners with his sheer, intimidating mass. Julian walked beside Elara, keeping a watchful eye on her to ensure she didn’t attempt to redesign the city’s sewage drainage system based on the smells they were encountering.
Suddenly, a small, dirty blur darted out from between two vegetable stalls.
It was a boy, no older than ten, wearing a ragged tunic that was three sizes too large. He collided directly with Julian’s side, stumbling and bouncing off him with a sharp gasp.
"Oh! Sorry, milord! Sorry!" the boy squeaked, bowing frantically before turning to sprint back into the crowd.
"Stop," Julian said, patting his linen pockets. "Hey!"
But before Julian could even take a step, Mahir moved. The beast-kin commander vanished from his spot behind Elara and reappeared ten feet away in a fraction of a second. His large hand clamped down on the back of the boy’s ragged tunic, lifting the child clean off the ground.
The boy shrieked, his legs kicking wildly in the air.
Mahir turned back, holding the dangling child out with one arm. In the boy’s grubby fist was Julian’s small leather coin pouch, which he had snatched during the staged collision.