One might think that in the grand capital city, a place as heavily protected as Crocus, there would be no place for robbery and vandalism. In the weeks and months following the demon invasions, however, one would be wrong. Crime did indeed persist within the city such that little could stand between all kinds of ne'er-do-wells and their prized coin and reputation. While Tomoe wasn't the kind to engage in these actions without care and certainly wouldn't want to place himself among the common vandals that plague the city, he simultaneously had to admit there was a certain quality to carnage that couldn't be found doing anything else. After all, it served those rodents among the ranks of the knights and the Council right that the consequences of their inaction and weakness would be the highest level of criminal activity that Crocus would ever see in a long time.

The Joyan cultist chuckled to himself thinking of the looks on the faces of the authorities struggling to deal with the influx of aspiring dark guilds and absolute thuggery that they wouldn't be able to get under control. It was truly a sight to behold, seeing flames rise from houses and people tripping and trampling over one another without end. It was humanity at its most pitiful and dark, and while Tomoe had to admit he didn't enjoy such random displays of violence and greed, he would do little to stop it. They were all fools on both sides for not seeing the true answer before them. Her wisdom would guide them, and Her power would reinforce them. If they were too blind to see such obvious answers, he would join the fray himself and pilfer from the blighters thinking themselves immune to the grasp of authority.

This time it wouldn't be the authority of any law enforcement, however; no, it would be the iron grasp of the Goddess.

---

[318/1000]

"Hey. Punks.", Tomoe would blurt out to a small crowd of scavengers huddling around a locked door, trying desperately to maneuver thin metal rods to mimic the shape of a key and open it.

They swore under their breath, thinking they had been found by a knight. Turning instead to see Tomoe, ragged clothing and unkempt hair, they sighed with relief. There were four of them in all, and the one with the makeshift key muttered something along the lines of, "Just a bum.", under his breath.

The group immediately relaxed, unafraid of Tomoe's demeanor which didn't seem particularly threatening. They instead turned their attention back to the door before them, the action of which caused Tomoe's eyes to narrow in response. He had wished to teach them a way to open these kinds of doors without bothering with all of the annoying fiddling and manual dexterity required.

"I suppose I'll just have to show them.", he muttered under his breath, calmly approached the door and in a single fluid motion, shoved the lock picker aside, drew his sword and slashed the feeble wooden construct to pieces.

His sword was not initially created with the intent to act as a wood chipper, or at least he didn't believe so; yet here he was, defying its purpose anyway. The creator of it certainly wouldn't be reprimanding him any time soon, and it served to gain the attention of the clueless cads before him, so Tomoe marked the choice as an absolute win in his mind.

A narrow smirk crossed Tomoe's features, allowing the lesser thieves the time to soak in just how easy it was for him to do something that they couldn't. Or at least, that's what he thought; up until the lock picker snapped at him.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?! Now we'll get fined for property damage if we're caught! This is so fucked, dude!', the man boomed, panicking and running a hand through his hair.

"...Huh?"

Tomoe was certainly perplexed at the situation. They were criminals who seemed afraid of getting in deeper than they thought they would. What attitude was that for any thief to have? It was unacceptable. The Joyan brigand sheathed his legendary-tier wood chipper and pondered for a moment how best to approach the incompetent and lacking pillagers before him. A mental light bulb flickered to life somewhere in his mind, and he knew what he had to do.

[885/1000]

The sound of a thunderbolt cracking could be heard as Tomoe withdrew his blade once more with malicious intent. He pointed it towards the incompetent cowards claiming to be thieves, and drew silence upon all of them. The Joyan smirked, and continued uninterrupted.

"All of you little bitches are gonna be my donkeys for today, okay? You're gonna sweat, piss and shit all over yourselves to get me what I need!", he spat authoritatively towards the sacks of meat before him.

Even the most worthless individuals within society could be brought into the light of usefulness if they would just accept the words of a strong leader above them. Tomoe would be that leader, guiding those thought unable to be guided through the only means that gutter trash like them could possibly understand: power. True and unrivalled power was the only way that they would understand to simply shut up and follow their master. Brandishing his blade the way a slave master would a whip, he forced the quartet of buffoons to ransack the house, pushing past the old lady that was sleeping peacefully until moments prior.

Unable to do anything, she looked up into the pleading eyes of the Joyan ringleader commanding the thieves with frightening efficiency, swinging his sword around in the air like the conductor of an orchestra. A cuss-filled orchestra where his instruments were sweaty, dirty and stumbling over each other. Not once, however, did the man send that menacing glare towards the old woman; she wasn't a concern to Tomoe, who was the type that disliked harming those who had done no wrong. He was above that, or so he liked to believe.

After raiding the woman's house for roughly half of her valuables, Tomoe bid ado.

"Sorry about the door, ma'am. Uh... that part's your problem.", he finished, walking out after the thieves feeling good about himself.

After turning down a dark alleyway, Tomoe ordered the thieves to drop the valuables.

"I'll be taking 90% of the cut. Rest of you fuckers can scramble over the rest like dogs, got it?"

With that, the lock picker jumped to the provocation and raised a fist towards Tomoe.

"How 'bout you go to hell? We're taking what we earned fairly, and-"

Slash.

Just like that, the mouthy lock picker was left as a crumpled heap on the alley floor. There was no screaming in pain, only death. Any who defied him would defy Her agent, and that would not be tolerated. The remaining trio of cowards took the hint and accepted Tomoe's generous offer. He smiled in response, and nodded at the group.

"Pleasure doin' business. I'll be seeing you all again real soon."

---

Exit

[1000/1000]