The Wandering Witch VOL. 1 - The Prelude Arc (COMPLETED)

3.3| A Thieving Crow

    After Noct saved the girl from what might have been a very dangerous situation, the events that then came next went exactly as he wanted to. To his utter delight, he knew immediately after speaking with her that she was simply too naive and too easily fooled, an ideal victim that any thief could ask for. His grin grew wider and wider and his excitement increased as he thought about the reward he was about to get in a few moment's time.

    Ah, what an extremely easy steal!

    Right after introducing himself and offering his assistance to the strange silver-eyed maiden, Noct almost couldn't believe his fortune when he saw how easily she had accepted his help. After all, people would normally be more guarded and cautious in front of a stranger, especially one they had just met for the first time. Much more, even, in accepting any sudden offers they made. She, however, was obviously a different case. With only a slight look of hesitation that Noct had noticed from the corner of his eye, she had agreed almost foolishly to the point where he almost wondered where the fun was in stealing from such an easy prey. Though it was not that Noct complained, however. In fact, it just meant that his work would be easier. Right now his mind was entirely focused in tricking her with his false hospitality.

   Stupid girl, he mocked.

    As he led her through the wobbling crowd and towards the general direction of the inns where the girl had asked to be taken to, he couldn't help but feel a sudden and slight uncertainty that had been brought by her presence beside him. It was a feeling he had only noticed after spending time with her. As each moment passed with the girl, not only did Noct find her appearance unusual, there was a strange kind of atmosphere that surrounded her at the same time as well. An unsettling one, he noted, that seemed to come from the constant blank look on her face and the way that her eyes had seemed to look as though they were looking at something that was not entirely there. Or, perhaps, it might have been just his imagination. In the end he decided to just ignore this feeling instead. After all, she would not be bothering him after he was done with her. While Noct tried his best at a casual conversation in order to lower her nonexistent caution around him, the girl, he found out, seemed completely unfocused to her surroundings and was literally as quiet as a mute.

   Hm... Or maybe she is mute.

   Although acting exhausted him, Noct made sure to hide both his irritation and eagerness for a big steal underneath a clever mask. As he continued to smile and tried to seem friendly, however, there was a growing question nagging at the back of his mind for the entire time: Why did I just tell this girl my real name?

     Not that Noct had a real name given at birth, of course. He was, after all, a nameless orphaned child who grew up in the slums without a home. Like many others like him, he had most likely been left behind by his biological parents either out of spite, poverty, or both. For years, he had lived as an unnamed street brat who stole for food and slept in the most uncomfortable of places imagined for the sake of a temporary shelter. Before, in the mindset of a thief, Noct had thought of names as useless and pointless things, titles of no importance. Words that meant absolutely nothing but bother to the holder. After all, there was no need of a name when no one knew you in the first place.

    It was only when Pierre had asked him for a name in the middle of a conversation on a rooftop one night, looking at the dancing lights of the kingdom, that Noct finally decided to adopt one. He had said the first thing that came to his mind without much thought or decision, hence his current name. Noct.

    But why Noct? Pierre had asked.

   Noct, for nightfall, he had answered him. It sounds pretty decent, so why not?