The Tales of Draconic Warlock

It didn't take long for the city guards to procure the data that they had collected on the burglaries, which was not a lot.

It seemed that they were truly busy with other affairs. The only details provided were the statements from the victims and what the guards observed on the premises of the victim's residencies. They didn't follow much after that.

They had other priorities rather than thinking about some low-class thieves.

The district where these happened is a neighbourhood of the middle class. It means that the items stolen were not costly and moreover, the victims don't have that much influence to make the city guards turn their eyes to these crimes.

If the thefts had happened in the houses of someone influential, then the city guard would move their asses to find the culprits.

Everyone thinks that this is unfair. I would say to them that life by itself is unfair and nothing could be done about that.

The rich and influential are the highest taxpayers in any kingdom or empire. They pay a lot of money to the kingdom as taxes. The economy of a nation would depend on these rich and influential people. So, the hurdles to them are the nation's hurdles.

No nation would like something to hinder the person who can stimulate their economy and bring wealth to their nation. All their problems would be solved as quickly as possible.

If such a person was not satisfied with the kingdom, they could leave and settle down in various kingdoms that would welcome them with open hands. Of course, the greeting would purely depend on the benefits that the person can bring to their kingdom.

This is why it is not easy for commoners to move to other kingdoms easily. Sure they can bring huge labour but they are not what a kingdom or empire lacks. What they lack are the awakeners.

There are other reasons why no nation would allow commoners to enter their nations easily, at a large scale.

Too much influx of population means there would more chances for the spies to slip in through security and enter their nation. Sure there are no border walls but cities and towns would have walls. Even the villages would be surrounded by wooden walls, though they won't do shit if some awakener or a monster attacks the village it can stop normal animals from attacking the village people.

It was not easy to break through into cities and towns as there would be sentries and walls keeping the spies away. Of course, it's not foolproof and a few would enter the habitats. They would cultivate some spies from the locals promising them various benefits.

This was the normal procedure.

Entering the village would be much more difficult. I am not saying that their security would be high but villages commonly have a few hundred to thousand people. Everyone would know everyone there. So if an outsider appears, then it would be easily registered in their minds.

Moreover, infiltrating villages is not of much use. They are not much of a target, as there would be nothing of importance in a village.

The only thing the enemy nations could do was plant a spy in a village and have a child with the locals. They can turn the child that they bear into a spy but the chances of them happening are 50-50. Moreover, there is a chance that they will be caught, the longer they stay.

So operations like these are not viable for a world like this or at least that was what I was told.

Of course, since it involves spies, there would be a lot of lies involved too. They could be just doing that. So I can't say for sure but I am sure that villagers know everyone in the village and a new guy would definitely get reported by the village chief to the nearby town or city authorities.

Only once they verify would the newcomer would be welcomed into their village.

This is not an Isekai story where the MC would visit a village near his spawning spot and the villagers would eagerly welcome him into their houses unless it was a child.

No one would have their defences up against a child. I don't think Glessaria or the nearby kingdoms would use such a tactic. I think that because I believe Glessaria is not that corrupt or immoral to so do. I am also not naive to believe that no nation in this world wouldn't opt for such a strategy.

There are many sick bastards who would do such a thing in this world. Lucky for me I was born in a kingdom that was far away from such nations.

Truth to be said, though there are clashes every now and then which cause soldiers to lose their lives almost every day, Glessaria and its surrounding nations are far better than some nations like Spear Kingdom, which was known for its barbaric ways.

They would make children who are not even ten, have to kill other people, not monsters. These people would probably be war prisoners or criminals caught by the kingdom.

They say that it would build the children's character but they are assholes who are traumatizing the innocent minds.

Even in my family which was considered a bit barbaric by the other nobles, we go out adventuring at the age of fourteen, just before attending the academy.

Of course, it now is voluntary but without this adventuring, the resources that would be tilted towards you would be minimal and would not be enough for long. So most would choose to go on the adventure.

---

Anyway, after getting the information from the City guard, I went to check the first crime scene, at least according to the records.

Not every crime that happens would be reported. Either the victim was hiding something that he didn't want to be found about or the crime was so small that the victim didn't bother to complain as he should have felt that the guards would use their time catching a thief for such a small amount.

I don't know if such a person(s) exists but I believe so. It can only be found after I can create a pattern in which the thefts were happening.

Nothing happens randomly. There is always a pattern in that randomness.

Everything people do has a reason behind that. people only label something as random if they can't find the pattern or the reason behind that, not because there was no reason or pattern in which the vents are happening.

I just have to find that pattern, and catching the thief or thieves behind these burglaries would be a piece of cake.

Now, let's go see our first victim and see what he has to tell me about the theft.

As I said, the guards are not diligent about these little crimes that happen in the not-so-important district of the capital.

I should just assume that everything that was recorded in the file is false and have to do my own research and see what happened and what to do after that.

There are ten thefts, one happened just two days ago. I should record the statements from the victims as soon as possible and solve this or else there might be an eleventh theft and if that happens while I was here, that might not look good and the city guards may even pressure me to close the case as soon as possible.

I should be on my way to the victim's house instead of thinking useless things.

---

I approached the first victim's house and knocked on the door. There was no doorbell, so knocking on the door was the only way.

"Hello, Mr. Shawn?" I asked the young man who opened the door.

The young man nodded, "Yes, who are you?"

"I am Magnus, as student from the Royal Academy. I took on the mission that city guard posted about the burglaries", I told him.

I skipped my family name, as it is not good to announce your family name everywhere you go, especially when one is on an investigation. If the thieves learned that some nobles were involved, they might hide in their burrows and would never come out.

It would be problematic if that happens. I would defiantely fail to catch them if they disappeared from the capital or moved to another district. The districts in the capital occupy large areas, especially the rich areas. I can't track them easily if the area of their movement increases.

I need to keep it to a minimal size.

"Of course they did", Shawn blew up a little, "Sorry, I should be happy that they at least appointed someone to deal with these burglaries and it is not your fault", he apologized for the outburst.

"It's okay", I said.

I understand their frustration. The city guards were supposed to protect them but there is not much protection and now the issue of catching a thief was given to someone who has yet to graduate from the academy.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"I want to know..."