Isla watched Arthur slowly move down the stairs as she got ready for any sudden movements. She was expecting a random person to attack Arthur or at least follow him and she was going to work as his guard and his eyes.
She scanned every single individual around him, their reactions, sitting position, expression, and all the subtle things she could notice. Isla was a master at reading other people so she was the perfect one to do this task.
‘No one is moving so far. The situation is calm. Hurry, Arthur.’ Isla thought to herself as she clenched her fists. Find your next adventure on empire
At the same time, Arthur reached the two chairs and nonchalantly moved past them. His hands were in his pockets and a wide smile on his face.
“Someone is close to the seats…”
“Get ready…”
Near the gates of the Colosseum stands, two people started walking down as they noticed a young man approaching the seats. They were clad in guards’ clothes, clearly working inside the Colosseum. However, their attitude was different from that of normal guards.
‘We need to catch him if he grabs the bags.’ They thought to themselves as they watched Arthur walk past the seats without stopping for a second. That made the two stop as they frowned visibly.
He didn’t lift the bags from their place as his hands were in his pockets. The two were a little confused.
‘Were we wrong? Is he not the culprit?’ They mused.
However, even then, the two still walked down the stairs till they reached the seats just to make sure they weren’t wrong. However, much to their shock, the bags… were not there.
“What?!”
“When did it…”
A second ago, the bags were there, then they were not. Looking up, the two guards quickly searched around them. Eventually, their eyes fell on the young man walking away casually.
“Don’t tell me!”
“Stop him!!”
Arthur heard the loud yells behind him as he looked over his shoulder. The two guards were chasing after him.
‘Tsk, they’ve already figured it out?’ He clenched his teeth as he started running too. Moving past the crowds, he ran to the stairs.
“Stop right there!”
“Get out of the way!!”
People who were arriving at the time of the show closed the paths on the guards as they struggled to chase the boy. Meanwhile, Arthur himself squeezed with ease through the gaps, moving elegantly and swiftly toward the gate.
At the same time, Isla quickly took after him, realizing that the situation had shifted rather quickly.
Isla: “Don’t look back and leave the Colosseum. I’m after you. Let’s meet back at the headquarters.”
Receiving that message from his friend, Arthur nodded his head as he increased his pace, passing through the corridors.
“Wait!! Bastard!!”
The guards tried to chase after him, but they ended up getting hindered by crowds walking into the stands area. Their large bodies made it impossible to pass through without making them stop.
Slowly, they lost the boy in the crowds. His small stature made him almost impossible to see amongst the taller people around him.
Arthur knew that and used that to his advantage. Coupled with his speed, he was almost as slippery as a fish. Reaching the outside gates, Arthur ran out as fast as possible, cutting through the courtyard.
“They’re so slow, hahaha.” Arthur laughed as he rushed toward the gate, feeling the two guards growing farther and farther away.
However, before he could even reach half the way through the courtyard. Arthur felt several individuals approaching him from all angles. Looking around, he saw several men with the same attire rushing toward him.
‘How many guards did that bastard pay? Is everyone here against me?’ Arthur clenched his teeth as he changed his direction.
“Get him!”
The group of guards realized that they were noticed by their target so they started running quickly.
“Excuse me, excuse me… I need to pass.” Arthur muttered as he dodged left and right. His eyes scanned his surroundings. ‘Even more are ahead!’
At this point, Arthur lost count of the number of guards chasing him. The entire courtyard was filled with them.
They closed on Arthur from all angles, trying to trap him in the middle. However, Arthur realized their plan rather quickly. In an instant, he shifted his direction, dashing in a completely unexpected direction.
He headed back to the Colosseum where he came from.
“Is he trying to get inside again?”
“There are more men inside! He won’t escape!!”
The guards laughed at the boy’s stupidity as he was clearly going to a closed end. He had no way of escaping them at that moment.
“They closed the gates on him! He’s completely stuck!”
The guards eventually reached the open gates, expecting to see Arthur standing at a dead end. However, all their expectations were blown away like mist as they reached a screeching halt.
“Huh?”
“… He… Isn’t here…”
The boy they expected to see was nowhere to be seen. On the other side, their peers appeared out of the gate.
“Did you get him?!”
“Huh? Didn’t YOU get him?”
“What do you mean? We closed the gates so he doesn’t run inside. You were supposed to find him!”
“Well, we didn’t! Where is he now?!”
The group started arguing angrily. They didn’t understand how Arthur escaped from their grasp when he was clearly falling into their trap.
“We need to find him or we’re dead!”
“Spread around and search the area! He couldn’t have run that far away! Quickly!”
With that, the guards separated to cover the entire area. At that moment, a certain person walked through the gate where they came from. He wore a hat, pants, and a casual shirt. He was looking down as he hummed a song.
“Well, that was a little easy.” Lifting the hat slightly, Arthur grinned. ‘I’m glad I had spare clothes in the inventory I could use. These idiots could’ve never expected that.’
Using the crowds around him, Arthur was able to quickly change his entire attire and wear a hat to hide his appearance. That made the guards completely lose track of him as they mixed perfectly well with the crowd around him.
“Well, time to go.” He muttered as he put the hat down on his face and started walking toward the exit.
But, unbeknownst to Arthur, on one of the higher floors of the Colosseum, a man was watching the entire scene from the window. His eyes slowly trailed after Arthur coldly as he sipped on a cup of expensive wine.
“What is he… doing?” Vincent muttered as he squinted his eyes. He had been alerted a while ago that Arthur and Isla had returned to the Colosseum for one reason or another. He expected that they wished to meet him, but they didn’t seek him at all.
Instead, they did some questionable things which led to them being chased by his guards. He intended to stop them with a strict order, but the scene was far too amusing for him to stop it.
“… I underestimated him, after all. The way he easily blended with the crowds and changed his attire… And that aura…” He muttered. “Who are you… Arthur?”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3