World's Best Protagonist [BL]

[3rd Person’s POV]

Before the light of dawn crept across the sky, Claude and Jade were already on the move again. Their journey resumed in silence, boots crunching over hardened soil.

The two trudged past two villages by midmorning, both larger than the previous ones—rows of closely packed thatched cottages with smoke puffing from chimneys, the scent of baked barley and roasted herbs wafting in the air.

Still, neither offered what they needed.

By noon, the gates of the largest town came into view. Fortunately, they were able to enter despite a few curious glances from the sentries. They only asked a few questions and did not search for an identity pass.

The cobbled roads twisted into a wide, bustling plaza flanked by low stone buildings and open markets.

In the distance, high atop a slope beyond the town’s walls, rose the pointed spire they had followed for miles.

It belonged not to a temple, as Jade had first guessed, but to the lord’s castle—a grand structure sitting imposingly on a higher plane, with banners fluttering from its turrets.

Vendors cried out in melodic voices, calling attention to their spices, pottery, trinkets, and bolts of fine cloth. Bread carts, painted wagons, and beasts of burden filled the streets, and knights in polished armor patrolled the plaza, their sharp eyes scanning the crowd.

Claude’s gaze swept from one corner to another, sharp and observant.

"Too many guards," he muttered under his breath.

Jade, arms crossed and eyes gleaming with curiosity, strolled beside him, turning his head left and right like a child at a festival.

"Gods above, this place is interesting," he said, marveling at the buildings and people. He joked, "Are we in a storybook? Is that a real bard playing a lute? Oh, and—wait—is that a jug of mead the size of my head?"

Claude gave him a side glance. "Focus."

"I am. Just... appreciating the finer things in life. It just seemed like we stepped into the past, an era of nobles and peasants, knights and kings, and..." His voice trailed when he noticed a knight eyeing them suspiciously.

He quickly averted his eyes and whispered to Claude, "I think it will be hard to rob a shop or a street vendor here. Maybe stealing from someone discreetly was the best idea."

Claude remained silent. He was looking around, but Jade knew he was listening. He imitated Claude and searched for an easy target when Claude went past him and was about to approach a crowd watching a street performance near the fountain.

Grabbing the captain’s arm, Jade asked in a hurry, "What are you doing?"

"You were the one who said pickpocketing would be easier," Claude deadpanned.

"And I stand by it." Jade waved an arm. "I mean, look at this place. Do you really want to rob a merchant while knights are literally three feet away? Do you intend to steal in that crowd? That’s not a good idea."

"Why? They look loaded."

"Sure. But when there’s a crowd, there are also people like us, trying to take advantage of the situation and stealing from the audience. The knights are accustomed to that. So, I bet some knights are undercover. Let’s get away from here before we get accused of stealing if someone shouts their purse is missing."

Claude didn’t reply, but his expression darkened with silent agreement. They moved to a less crowded place. He began scanning the strolling citizen, eyeing belts, pouches, and heavy purses that swung a little too freely.

Luckily, the coats they wore didn’t draw attention. Long coats, tailcoats, and flowing cloaks were common here. They blended in easily.

But after several minutes of prowling the plaza’s edges like a predator ready to strike, Claude’s scowl deepened.

No one stood out.

Either everyone had tight pouches or carried none at all. And the few who looked wealthy were always flanked by guards or servants.

Then he noticed something—or rather, the absence of someone.

Jade was gone.

Claude’s jaw tensed. His gaze sharpened as he turned through the throng, eyes flitting past busy shoppers and gossiping townsfolk. Then, he spotted him.

Across the plaza, seated upon a wooden bench beneath a lilac tree, Jade lounged with one leg crossed over the other, speaking to a young woman dressed in embroidered silk and adorned with jewelry.

Her laugh rang lightly, like silver bells on the wind. Her hair was neatly arranged in a bun, and a few curly strands fell on the sides of her face. The way she held her little parasol and how she tilted her head was graceful. Claude knew instantly the woman was of nobility.

So, his eyes narrowed. He wondered if Jade was just clueless or bold, targeting a noblewoman without hesitation.

Jade turned subtly, and upon catching Claude’s stare, he winked.

The woman, perhaps in her early twenties, blushed beneath the parasol of her long lashes.

"My lord," she murmured with a flutter of her fan, "your words weave a sweeter spell than the bards who serenade from moon to moon."

Jade leaned in, lips curled in a teasing grin. "Then I fear I must beg thy pardon, fair lady, for my tongue knows no restraint when beauty dances so boldly before me."

Hearing this, Claude’s face distorted with disgust. He tore his eyes away from that shameless man imitating a noble lord, yet his feet remained in their spot. He waited patiently. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The lady giggled again. "Dost thou flatter all maidens so, or only those who dare wear scarlet on a sunlit morning?"

"Only those whose eyes outshine the sunrise," Jade answered, reaching to take her offered hand. At the same time, Claude looked up, ready to spit profanities at that cringy line.

However, his jaw ticked as he watched Jade lift the woman’s hand and kiss the back of it with exaggerated chivalry.

The two stood and began to walk side by side through the town, arm in arm, their laughter light and flirtation shameless. Claude reluctantly followed them a few meters away.

What the lady did not notice, however, was the slow decrease in weight from her coin pouch.

Jade, with a hand as light as breath, slipped a gold coin from her pouch, palmed it expertly, then flicked it behind him without turning. The years of practice to steal money from his father and his servants finally came to be of use once more.

Claude, silent as a shadow, caught the coin mid-air.

They continued that risky, yet for Jade, was a fun game.

Every few paces, he’d flick behind, and his accomplice would catch it. Jade made sure the path he was leading the noblewoman into wasn’t isolated. The woman never complained; perhaps she was thinking that she and Jade would have a tryst somewhere secluded.

She was too busy feeling the butterflies caused by this mysterious, handsome, and sweet-spoken man, who suddenly appeared before her like an Adonis fallen under her charms.

Thus, the game of take and replace continued. A second. A third. A seventh.

Claude kept the rhythm, stalking like a phantom a few steps behind, slipping each coin into the fold of his coat. Fifteen coins in, Jade grew bold, not even bothering to check if Claude was still there.

He flicked again.

But this time... no hand caught it.