Little Thief

While originally he was going to ignore such a minor thing, he noticed a small thievish hand quickly shoot for his robe, in an attempt to snatch something valuable.

Of course, the thief thought such an action was discrete enough, but given Minos's incredible senses, he immediately noticed.

He gripped the wrist tightly, and squeezed with a bit of force. The strong pressure caused the little thief to let out a loud scream.

"Ow ow ow, let go of me! I'm innocent, you evil man!" The young thief said.

It was only at this moment that Minos noticed the thief was a little girl, maybe about 11-12, even younger than Minos.

The crowd couldn't help but stop and looked towards Minos as she heard a young girl scream. What they saw was a young boy with white hair gripping tightly onto the wrist of a young girl, as if he was about to do something wrong.

The young girl seemed to notice that the crowd was on her side, so she kept screaming out in an attempt to scare off Minos.

"Let go of me pervert, I don't want to go with you!" She said with a slightly arrogant look in her eyes, as if she couldn't wait for Minos to give in.

Unfortunately for her, this stunt may work on someone else, but for Minos it was useless. Instead he kept his charcoal black eyes on her, staring her straight in her eyes.

Looking at Minos's eyes that were as still as water, the little girl couldn't help but get uncomfortable. Everyone would give in at this point, so Minos's reaction caught her completely off guard.

Minos leaned his head in slightly, just enough so that he could talk directly into her ear. The little girl wanted to escape, but Minos's grip kept her in place.

"Do you really think this crowd of strangers will help you? They will look, and point fingers, but they won't help, do you know why?"

The young girl slightly froze as she heard Minos's question, but as she looked around, she noticed the crowd was mostly ignoring the two of them, continuing on with their business as if nothing was happening.

At this point, she couldn't help but consider Minos's question, but she couldn't answer it no matter how hard she tried, so she was forced to ask.

"Why?"

"Because you are nobody, just another beggar child. There will never be a lack of little criminals like you, so even if I was to do something, what would they care? In fact, they would be happy, because it would mean there was one less thief to worry about."

Despite being a criminal, the little girl was still young, and her eyes couldn't help but go red as Minos destroyed her self-worth.

"But just because you're a little beggar now, doesn't mean that's your destiny. Just like the caterpillar morphs into the butterfly, even the little beggar can turn into a king."

The little girl couldn't help but fantasize a little as Minos spoke. When she was abandoned at a young age, she was forced to become a thief, but she never wanted to live this way, she just never had other choices.

The world was cruel however, so despite how often she imagined herself as something bigger, someone more valuable, she was always just another orphan, raised by the streets, destined to die on the streets.

"So tell me, do you want to be a beggar, or a king?" Minos finally asked.

"King, I want to be a king!" The young girl couldn't help but ask.

At this point Minos released his grip as he smiled. He patted the young girl's shoulder before continuing talking.

"You're very nimble with your hands, had it been anyone other than me, you would have likely gotten away with it. Tell me, how long have you been doing this?" Minos questioned.

"Since I was five, so pretty much my entire life! I can't talk about other things, but when it comes to stealing, I'm the best!" The young girl couldn't help but say slightly smugly.

"It's good to take pride in your work, but some things you shouldn't be prideful of, such as being a thief." Minos said with a light laugh.

The little girl went slightly red in the face as she heard Minos's laugh. Deep down, she was embarrassed about what she had to do to survive, but she used pride to mask her shame.

"Have you ever heard of cultivator's." Minos continued asking.

"Of course! Those big guys who are as agile as rabbits and strong as bulls! Wow, don't tell me you're one of them." The little girl couldn't help but ask with a glimmer in her eyes.

Underwood City was quite prosperous, so Minos wasn't too surprised that the little girl was aware of cultivators, instead it made things easier for him.

"You're right, I am a cultivator, but more than that, I'm a talisman maker. Have you ever heard of talismans?"

"You mean those little papers with magic powers. I've heard of them! I've even seen someone use one to summon a huge fireball, it was amazing!" She said with wonder before continuing.

"You can make those magic things, that's amazing! If I could summon fireballs whenever I wanted, I'd become the king of all beggars!"

"Your vision is still a little small. Why would you ever have to be a beggar again if you had such a skill." Minos asked with a smile.

"Woah you're right, I'd never have to beg again. In fact I bet one of those things can easily buy 100 meat buns, I'd never go hungry again."

"Only 100? I think 1000 makes more sense." Minos replied.

"1000! No way, you must be lying. You're saying I could eat for an entire year from just one of those little magic papers?" She couldn't help but ask with slight suspicion.

"Food is only one part of it, you could get a big house, servants to do everything you command, all sorts of toys. As long as you learn, you'll soon become a wealthy little woman." Minos said.

He continued to paint a large picture in the little girl's head, much to her further amazement.

"So, do you want to learn?" Minos finally asked the crucial questions.

"Yes yes yes! I want to learn right away. I don't want to be a beggar anymore, I want to be rich, with all the toys in the world." The little girl said with bright gem-like eyes.

"Good, then I'll teach you, but you have to listen to everything I say, do you understand?" Minos said.

"Yes master, I'll listen to every word, never disobeying!" The little girl replied.

"Good, then let's start by introducing ourselves. My name is Minos, but you can just call me master if you'd like."

"Yes master, my name is Rubella. See, it's on my necklace." Rubella said as she showed off the little metal necklace she had.

"Name-tag?" Minos couldn't help but be slightly curious as he inspected the necklace Rubella had given him.

The necklace was made from an unknown material, but when Minos applied force, it didn't react at all. Even after he used his entire strength, the material was completely unaffected.

Minos was completely shocked at this point, realizing this material may be a four-moon material, something you could make Inner Heaven treasures with.

It went without saying how valuable it was, the only question left was why exactly a little beggar girl had something so precious.

"Rubella, do you mind telling me where you got this?" Minos asked.

"I never got it, I just had it for as long as I can remember." Rubella answered innocently.

Minos couldn't help but ponder as he heard Rubella's answer. Of course there was always a possibility she was lying, but if that's the case, then why bring it up in the first place?

The bigger possibility was that Rubella really did have this necklace for as long as she remembered, which meant she likely had it from birth.

Anyone that would waste such a valuable material just to inscribe a name was definitely not weak, and was probably an Inner Heaven Realm as well.

The only question becomes why would an Inner Heaven abandon someone so close to them, possibly even their own child?

For the time being Minos would receive no answers, so he just tossed the question to the back of his mind. If more information popped up in the future, it may be an interesting thought to revisit, but for now there aren't enough clues.

"Rubella, in the future, never show anyone that necklace, understood?" Minos said with a solemn voice.

Rubella was slightly shocked by the sudden change in mood, but nodded her head quickly like a pecking chicken.

"Good, since you understand, follow me." Minos said.

Minos naturally wasn't a charity worker, and wouldn't take care of children with no purpose. Rather, he noticed how nimble Rubella was with her fingers, which was a critical skill towards talisman making

She had also managed to survive being a beggar for so long, which meant she was smart enough to know who and who not to mess with.

Of course she fumbled when it came to Minos, but given Minos's deceptive appearance, he decided to ignore that.

With her hands that had already been trained to perfection, teaching her how to make talismans would be much easier, and as long as she wasn't stupid, mastering a few low-level talismans shouldn't take much time.

Minos decided to start taking the steps necessary to creating his own power, and Rubella would be his first recruit, and a future backbone of the organization.

It would still take a while before this investment would pay off, but Minos was used to playing the long game, so he didn't mind.

The two soon left Underwood City under Minos's lead, entering deep into the woods as Minos further refined his future plans in his mind.