Jun woke up to the sound of screaming and the familiar sound of swords slicing in the air. He opened his eyes trying to take a quick look at the scene behind him. The knights were dressed into different clothes, and were skillfully moving their swords around. Curiously, he fully opened his eyes and saw that they were fighting a man dressed in all black, a mask covering the lower half of his face. Ohno stumbled back when the man dressed in black advanced forward, but the tanned knight put his sword up to block the man’s short knife before it could slice his face. On the other hand, Sho was swiftly moving his feet around while flicking his sword skillfully towards the intruder.

“Who is that?!” Jun shrieked when the man dressed in black came towards him but the knights easily blocked him.

“He’s the...thief...” Ohno panted without turning around, his wrists flicking to the right and left.

“Jun-sama, please go with Masaki...” Sho called out to him and his head turned to the direction of the horses. There, standing besides two untied horses, was Aiba with a worried look on his face. Putting the painting back in his pockets, he rushed to Aiba’s side and soon they were off to the road. He kept looking behind him, hoping that Sho and Ohno were already catching up but there was no one there following them. When they arrived in the safest place Aiba could find, they hid well in the darkness of the bushes and waited for the other two to show up.

He was starting to become very impatient when he heard horses whinnying. He popped his head up in curiosity, and saw Sho and Ohno back on their horses, with the man dressed in all black resting behind Ohno. Jun went to their side, spotting a few cuts on their arms and faces, and asked them if they were ok.

They all nodded their head, but they said his health was more important than theirs. Putting that aside, Ohno jumped down from his horse, dragged the heavily clothed body to the ground, and soon all four of them were staring at it. They waited for something to happen, especially Jun since they finally caught the thief after years and years of attempts. He had been wanting that thief to be caught to, since he caused ruckus in all the kingdoms.

Ever since this same thief robbed their house, his parents put up the highest security they could afford and Jun wasn’t allowed out during nighttime anymore. Frowning, Jun kicked the still body on the ground until it stirred and groaned.

“Don’t you dare go anywhere,” Jun glared at the thief whose eyes are now open. The thief seemed to understand him, and stayed sitting in the middle of their circle. He had no way out since the three knights had their hands around the hilt of their swords.

“Shouldn’t we take his mask off so we could see who he really is...” Aiba whispered to him while the others were staring down at the thief.

“No,” Jun stopped his hand, “We’ll take it off on the day of his execution. Otherwise, I think we can use him.”

“For what, Jun-sama?”

“He could find him for me. And then if he does, he’ll die in front of the villagers...” Jun told them, his eyes never leaving the thief’s eyes. Just seeing those eyes made him think of all the hatred building inside his body, after hearing all those reports from the villagers about what this thief has done. He remembered how peaceful it was then, until this thief showed up and started ruining everyone’s lives.

“Tie him up and let’s go. We’ll pass through every village unseen. Aiba, you’re in charge or resources. Sakurai, you’re in charge of keeping our safety. And Ohno, keep an eye on him and make sure he’s always behind us.”

“Yes sire,” all three of them responded before moving around again.

While the three were busy with what they were told to do, he kept his eyes on the thief who was staring at him with unchanging eyes. Jun spat on him, causing the thief to raise his hand up, alerting the other three and soon they were blocking him. When the thief didn’t move and only wiped the spit from his eyes, Ohno went behind the thief and tied his hands tightly.

Jun smirked as he grabbed the long rope from Ohno’s hand, and threw himself over the horse. He kicked the horse to start and soon the four of them were on the road again. He looked behind him, as Ohno did he same, and the thief was staggering on his feet from being dragged around by force.

“You deserve it. This is how those villagers feel after what you have done to them. After you’ve done what I wanted you to, you’re gone from this world...”

“Jun-sama...”

He ignored Ohno trying to calm him down, and only glared at the heavily clothed thief.

“I’ll make sure you never leave. Here,” He grabbed a small pouch from the right side of the horse and tossed it to the thief. “This is gold and it’s enough for you to follow every order I ask you to do.” He watched the thief grasp onto the gold like it was his life and Jun just saw it as a greedy act. If the thief didn’t show up this morning, he knew it would take them a long time to look for his childhood friend.

The four of them stopped when one of them announced they were hungry. Like last night, Ohno led them to an even safer place but this time there was a running river. Jun followed after Sho who cupped his hands and splashed the water all over him. After doing so, he dragged the thief back to where the horses were stationed, and tied him around the tree as if he was also a horse. Tightly securing the rope, he headed back to where the knights were and sat down just besides Aiba.

“Wow, I can’t believe you and Satoshi caught the thief! You guys deserve some kind of award... Jun-sama?”

All eyes were on him and Jun felt his cheeks flush. He did feel like they needed an award so he kept that in mind and he would have to tell his father later. When the tense feeling in his body was starting to leave, he saw Ohno stand up from the corner of his eyes and handed the thief stale bread.

“Ohno, I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“I’m sorry,” he bowed down before going back to where he was seated besides Sho, “But he’s human too.”

Jun didn’t argue after hearing his reason. He could feel Aiba’s and Sho’s eyes on him, making him all the more guilty for being so harsh. Ohno was right, even if the thief destroyed many lives, he was human just like the rest of them. Without warning, Jun stood up and took a step towards the thief at arms reach. He handed him the last of the stale bread for tonight and was planning to walk away but his feet refused to move.

The thief didn’t eat the given food right away letting Jun know that he didn’t want to be exposed. After a few moments of hesitation, he reclaimed his seat back and went on like nothing happened. Soon, they were up on their horses again the next morning, with the thief being dragged behind them, and Jun in hopes of finding Nino soon.

TBC