Children always thought they could do things flawlessly, but in the eyes of adults, they were still full of flaws. Where was the difference? The only difference was experience.
Take Ezio and the other children for example. They thought that if they went into a certain kitchen and took food, they would cover it up and leave without anyone noticing. But early the next morning, the theft in the kitchen was reported to a certain mage.
The person who discovered it was, of course, the servant from Grand Duke Carvey's family, the chef in charge of the kitchen. After all, the kitchen was his own. If he couldn't find out if something was missing or something was missing, then he might as well go back to his hometown early and retire. It wasn't suitable for him to serve in the kitchen of such a big shot.
However, the chef didn't come to the mage personally to complain. Instead, he explained it to the deacon who was in charge of Marchioness Barland's affairs. The loyal housekeeper naturally had to report to the master of the house, the magician, what had happened.
"So, there was a thief in the house?" Lin confirmed in surprise.
"Yes, Your Excellency," the deacon replied simply. Although the stolen thing was food, which wasn't very expensive in terms of monetary value, it was still paid for by the marchioness's family. No matter where the thief came from, it was a mistake to steal from a noble.
If they were in the Grand Duke's castle, they would be discussing how to deal with the thief who hadn't been caught yet. It would be skinning, caging, or hanging. But now that they were in the mage's territory, he had to respect the opinion of the person in front of him.
To Lin, although the protection of this home was not impenetrable in his eyes, it was still not perfect. But it was still hard for him to believe that there had been a thief. So he asked, "What did we lose?"
"A lot of food was stolen from the kitchen."
"Food?"
"Yes, all kinds of food. There was most bread, some fruit, a can of milk, and some chocolate, "the deacon stated truthfully.
"Girl, what's going on?" Because it was breakfast time, most of the people were waiting for breakfast in the dining room. The two acolytes, as the main management staff, were also busy going in and out. They were asked by someone, of course, because they were also responsible for the inspection and monitoring of the house's system, although this part was mainly handled by Kaya.
And it was impossible for a thief to escape surveillance when it came to intrusions. Unless the opponent had reached the realm of perfection, where they could appear and disappear unpredictably. Perhaps the other party was lucky enough to escape the automatic alarm system, and the two girls who acted as the review mechanism were dozing off. Therefore, as a teacher, he naturally had to ask.
Kaya had just brought breakfast to the table, and the work at hand had come to an end. After wiping her hands on her apron, she walked towards her teacher and said, "Teacher, it's Ezio."
Hearing the name of the fat kid who had been missing for a few days, everyone's ears perked up. Although the Marquise's deacon didn't say anything, he was silently cursing the Marquise for being a brat without parents.
However, Lin knew that his apprentice often spoke too little and only spoke half of his words. Therefore, he still asked in detail, "What's up with that kid? Why did she sneak back to this house? Did anyone threaten him or control him? "
"It's not like that, teacher. Ezio sneaked back with a group of children. They asked for food from the other children. "
Lin frowned and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Hardy and I followed behind them and saw everything," Kaya said with certainty. She briefly described the events of the past few days and how she and the gray cat Hardy took turns following behind the children.
"In other words, that kid is with the other children now?"
"Yes, teacher."
After confirming the situation, Lin's brow relaxed and said, "Then let's ignore them."
The Marquise's deacon asked in puzzlement, "Sir, what do you mean?"
"It's our responsibility as adults to make sure the children can eat their fill. Besides, how much can a group of children eat? If they want to take it, then let them take it. If the Marquise Mansion feels that this is a loss, then calculate the amount and let me make up for it, "Lin said with a smile as if he was talking about something very natural.
Such an attitude seemed to suit Kaya's intentions. Although her face was expressionless, the tips of her feet were secretly balancing. If it was the old her, she would have swung her two braids without leaving a trace. But now that her hair was tied up, there was no childishness in her braids. Still, it didn't stop her teacher from knowing that the girl was in a good mood from her swinging hair.
The person who also noticed these signs wasn't the blonde girl who grew up with Kaya, but her friend — Marquise Barland. Since she couldn't show her face in front of outsiders and men, the Marquise ate at a place separate from the others.
But before she ate, she would still gather at the dining hall. Sometimes she would talk to the black-haired and brown-skinned girls, sometimes she would check if she ate the same food as the others. Of course, most of the time she would follow beside her nominal teacher and see if there was a time when she needed her help. Fen didn't let her apprentice grow at all. She was practically setting them free...
In short, Marquise Barland noticed Kaya's mood and said to her steward, "Mister Adil, will the food that was taken be worth a lot?" The Marquise avoided the word 'stolen'. After living in this family for a while, her view of money was no longer as ignorant as before.
Faced with the master's question, the steward said straightforwardly, "Mistress, the loss isn't much." Compared with the output of Barland's territory, the loss of food was nothing even if the children stole it for a whole year.
"Okay. Then we don't need to worry about them." Marquise Barland decided on the matter.
"Yes, mistress." The steward bowed and agreed to the matter. Deep down, he objected to the fact that the food was stolen but didn't say anything. But after all, Adil wasn't a decision-maker. He was just a manager in a noble family and didn't have the right to question the master's decision.
Unbeknownst to the group of children, there was a fixed source of food for them. But they were still kept in the dark. Every day, they followed Ezio happily, sneaking into the house of a mage they thought was stupid and lazy, and then sneaking back delicious bread and other food. As a result, Ezio's prestige among the children grew day by day.
Rowan, the leader of the children, didn't stay out of the matter. He followed every action of stealing bread except for the first day. Apart from confirming the situation with his own eyes, he also felt that he had to do something to take care of everyone. If something happened at the last minute, he would be able to resolve it at the first moment.
But everything went too smoothly, so smoothly that it seemed that everything was fake.
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