I dismissed the window and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling again.

Outside, the sun had dipped fully below the horizon. The sounds of evening had settled into a quieter rhythm, occasional footsteps, distant conversations, the creak of shutters being closed for the night.

Before I could close my eyes, a sharp voice cut through the relative quiet.

"Help!"

It was distant, muffled by walls and distance, but clear enough to make me pause.

I sat up, narrowing my eyes toward the window.

What the hell is that?

I listened for a moment longer. Nothing. Just the normal sounds of the town.

I shrugged and lay back down.

Not my problem. Greyford has guards. They can handle whatever—

"Please! Someone!"

The voice came again, closer this time, more desperate.

And with it came something else, a fluctuation in the ambient mana. Sharp, erratic, like someone casting in a panic or trying to suppress their magical signature and failing.

I frowned, sitting up again.

That's... unusual.

Against my better judgment, I stood and moved to the window, pushing it open and leaning out to scan the street below.

Let's see what this is about.

The street was mostly empty, a few late stragglers hurrying home, a drunk weaving his way toward a tavern, lamplight casting long shadows across cobblestones.

Then I caught movement on the rooftops.

A figure was running, fast, leaping between buildings with the kind of agility that spoke of either desperation or training. Maybe both.

I activated Debug Vision, enhancing my sight and hearing, focusing on the distant figure.

The image sharpened, details becoming clearer despite the darkness and distance.

Hooded, wrapped in a dark cloak that billowed behind them as they moved. The size and curves visible even through the concealing fabric suggested a woman. Red hair peeked out from beneath the hood, catching what little light reached the rooftops.

And chasing her, were three guards in Greyford colors, their armor clanking as they pursued across the tiles, weapons drawn.

A thief?

The figure glanced back, saw the guards gaining, and made a split-second decision.

She jumped.

Not to another rooftop, straight down, two stories, landing in a controlled roll that absorbed the impact. She came up running, heading directly toward a man.

Just some random citizen walking alone, probably heading home from work or a tavern.

Is she's going to—

I didn't finish the thought and was already moving.

I climbed out the window, finding handholds in the weathered stone, and pulled myself up onto the inn's roof.

From this vantage point, I had a clear view of the street below.

The hooded figure had reached the man, and her entire demeanor shifted instantly.

She stumbled, her confident stride becoming unsteady, and threw herself behind the man like a frightened child seeking protection.

"Help me, please!" Her voice came out high and trembling, nothing like the controlled breathing I'd heard during her rooftop escape. "They're trying to hurt me! I didn't do anything!"

The guards landed in the street moments later, boots hitting cobblestones with heavy thuds. They spread out, surrounding the man and the woman hiding behind him.

"Step aside," the lead guard commanded, his hand on his sword hilt. "That woman is a suspected thief. We have orders to apprehend her."

The man looked confused, caught between the guards' authority and the terrified woman clutching at his coat.

"I... what? I don't—"

"Please!" The woman sobbed, her voice breaking. "They're lying! I'm just a servant! I was running because they scared me!"

I just watched from the rooftop.

The mana fluctuation I'd sensed earlier was still there, faint but present.

The guards hesitated, clearly not wanting to cause a scene or hurt an innocent bystander.

"Miss, you need to come with us," the lead guard tried again, his voice more measured now. "If you're innocent, we can sort this out at the station. But running makes you look guilty."

"I'm scared!" She pressed closer to the man, her red hair falling forward to partially obscure her face. "How do I know you're really guards? How do I know you won't hurt me?"

The man was starting to look increasingly uncomfortable, trying to step away from the woman without being too obvious about it.

And the woman shifted slightly, and I caught a glimpse of something glowing faintly beneath her neck, a mark, partially visible before she realized and quickly pulled her cloak higher to conceal it.

My eyes widened.

That mark... is she...?

If my memories served correct, that mark was a binding sigil.

The lead guard took a step forward. "Last warning. Come peacefully or we'll be forced to—"

Then, the woman moved.

Fast and decisive, she shoved the man directly into the guards' path and bolted, her cloak billowing as she ran, not toward another escape route, but directly toward a narrow alley beside a closed shop.

A dead end.

But it was then, when I saw it.

The mana fluctuation spiked, concentrated at the alley entrance.

She set a trap.

The guards, caught off balance by the stumbling civilian, recovered quickly and gave chase.

The lead guard reached the alley entrance and—

A barrier flared to life, translucent blue light forming a wall that the guard ran straight into. He bounced back with a curse, his momentum throwing him to the ground with an audible thud.

The other two guards skidded to a stop just in time, their boots scraping against cobblestones.

And the woman was already scaling the alley wall, using the barrier as a distraction to make her real escape. Her movements were practiced, efficient, she'd done this before.

The guards were shouting, trying to dispel the barrier with their own magic, but it would take time, time she'd clearly calculated they didn't have.

I stood on my rooftop, arms crossed, watching the chaos unfold below.

"Interesting," I murmured.

I pulled up my debug interface with a thought.

[Self Enhancement]

[Boost Speed (Temporarily)]

[Presence Suppression: Activated]

The changes registered immediately. My body felt lighter, more responsive.

The ambient noise around me seemed to dull slightly as my presence faded into the background, not invisibility, just a subtle effect that made people's eyes slide past me unless they were actively looking.

And it drained less mana than it was used to.

Nice.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a spare scarf I'd packed, plain black cloth, nothing special, and wrapped it around the lower half of my face, covering everything from my nose down.

Then I jumped.

The distance between rooftops was maybe ten feet and landed silently, rolled to absorb impact, and kept moving.

Below me, the woman had already cleared the opposite rooftop and was making her way deeper into Greyford's maze of buildings.

I followed, keeping my distance, using my enhanced senses to track her movements without getting close enough to be noticed.

She kept running for several minutes, taking a winding route through the rooftops and back alleys that would have lost anyone without training.

Finally, she stopped.

A narrow side street, barely more than a gap between buildings, with a single flickering lamp casting uneven light. She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling beneath her cloak.

She looked back the way she'd come, scanning for pursuit.

After a long moment, she sighed in relief.

"Oooofff, no one's following me."

Her voice was different now, less frightened, more confident. The performance from earlier completely dropped.

She grinned and reached into her cloak, pulling out a leather coin pouch I recognized from the man she'd used as a shield.

She must have pickpocketed him during the chaos.

She kissed the pouch, the gesture almost affectionate.

"Sorry, poor guy, but I'm in dire need of money."

She was about to pocket it when she suddenly froze.

Her entire body tensed, head snapping up, eyes scanning the shadows around her with sharp awareness.

She sensed something.

I'd been careful, staying downwind, keeping my presence suppressed, but she had good instincts.

She began looking around, her hand moving subtly toward something beneath her cloak. A weapon, probably.

"I know someone's there," she called out, her voice steady despite the wariness. "Might as well show yourself."

I waited a beat longer, watching her hand tighten on whatever she was gripping.

Then I stepped out from the shadows of the alley behind her, my footsteps deliberately audible this time.

"Relax."

She spun around, fast, her other hand coming up with a small blade that caught the lamplight.

I stood there, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed, face covered by the scarf, hood pulled low to shadow my eyes.

We stared at each other for a long moment.

She was taller than I'd expected, maybe five-foot-seven or eight, with sharp features visible even in the poor light. Her red hair was tied back hastily, strands falling loose around her face. Green eyes, bright and alert, scanning me for threats.

The glow from her neck was completely hidden now, but I knew it was there.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, not lowering the blade.

"Nobody important." My voice came out muffled by the scarf. "Just someone who happened to watch you embarrass three guards and rob an innocent man."

Her eyes narrowed. "And? You here to arrest me? Collect a bounty? Because I should warn you, I'm not going quietly."

"If I wanted you arrested, I would've just pointed the guards in your direction. But I'm just curious."

I tilted my head slightly.

"That mark on your neck was a... slave brand, right?"

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