The Phantom Thief Prepares to Infiltrate (1)

“Why are you only giving me a few days?! No, more importantly, where am I supposed to get that much money…!”

[We apologize. We ask for your understanding regarding the error in Lee Seri-nim’s Human Rights Fee settlement, and please make the payment within the remaining 89 hours after the notice was sent.]

“You guys made the mistake, so why am I the one suffering?! No, more importantly, I was a man!”

[We ask for your understanding that we cannot provide an explanation as it is not within our jurisdiction.]

I saw the ridiculous notice, immediately called and argued with the customer service representative, but they insisted it was absolutely not their fault.

To prevent unfavorable testimony from being recorded, they would often say it wasn’t their jurisdiction or that they couldn’t help. The guide’s voice, vaguely explaining while evading answers, only managed to reignite the irritation I had barely calmed.

“Don’t talk crazy… I lived for 2■ years as a man and suddenly became a woman!! Halo, that Demon of Lust called Seven Stars made me like this…”

[Halo-nim is fundamentally close to being androgynous because she is a Demon of Lust. Furthermore… Halo-nim did not visit Colony Star Klaus-009 yesterday, did she? She was continuously signing documents in her office located on the Home Planet. Moreover, Lee Seri-nim’s birth records show her as female…]

[The call has ended.]

“Fuck… fuck…!”

Since only repeated messages would come out anyway, there was no need to listen further, and time was precious. I sighed, suppressed my anger, threw my phone onto the blanket, and headed back to the bathroom.

The face I saw in the mirror had such striking beauty that it could attract thousands of viewers if I started a live stream right now. Not that I had any intention of doing so…

Even my tear-streaked face, whether from anger or sadness, could be this cute… Damn it…

“Is this really… me?”

It felt like my entire life, which I had lived for a lifetime, was being denied overnight. Unless Miweol was also trying to deceive me, it seemed she thought I had been a woman from the start…

If that’s the case, then as written in this damned notice, my perception changed, but nothing physical decreased or increased… is that what I’m supposed to think? Is that why this ridiculous thing flew in this morning?

I have no idea what to do first.

Equipment repair, finding Halo, raising the Human Rights Fee within 4 days. Even coffee orders… Aaaah!!! My head is killing me!!

Calm down… calm down… Let’s make a plan, just like planning to infiltrate a Monster’s house and steal money…

I have a total of 4 days… If the Demon of Lust I shared drinks with is truly Halo, and if she’s a being who can travel between stars… finding her is almost impossible.

If so, the first thing I need to do is earn the Human Rights Fee that exploded like a bomb… Even if I put a smile on the cafe’s sales or menu items, it’s not an amount I can earn in four days.

For a moment, I thought about selling the shop, but it wouldn’t be profitable and would hinder my future life… Even if I put the shop up for sale, it would only cover about 40% of the payment…

First… let’s finish all the coffee orders and make a plan today. I’ll close the shop immediately…

Deureureuk─

“…Did that bitch prepare all this too?”

After just washing my face, I came out and opened the wardrobe again, revealing the underwear… I chose a plain white one, but I absolutely did not want to wear a bra.

It’s meant to shape the breasts and prevent nipples from showing… but I’ll be working in a short-sleeved shirt and an apron anyway, so it probably doesn’t matter if I don’t wear one. Nothing will particularly stick out.

I don’t want to wear it in the first place. It’s definitely not underwear a man would wear.

I wondered if the lack of skirts was at least a small comfort… With that thought, I slipped my legs into a plain, pure white pair of panties with black embroidered patterns. The fact that they fit perfectly was… truly disheartening…

“If you could even change my clothes, why didn’t you pay the Human Rights Fee too… You fucking bitch.”

It wasn’t as if there were only clothes that fit perfectly or were too short, so I put on an overlock shirt and sweatpants, then tied on a staff apron.

I should hurry… Miweol must be waiting.

“You’re finally out? Your cute junior was about to die doing all this alone.”

“Sorry… I had a lot to think about…”

It’s natural.

As I came out from the back door, Miweol glanced at me, winked, and skillfully handled the coffee machine. She had already brewed thirty Americanos, finished packaging them, and was now sitting on a chair to take a short break.

“You should’ve turned on the air conditioner… It must be hot.”

“We have to save money, don’t we? Sunbae always says they have no money~ no money. But your lovely junior still prefers a cool breeze, you know?”

It’s natural.

No… it’s different. It’s different.

She had praised herself as cute or a mascot before, but never once, until yesterday when we were still male and female, had she referred to herself as my ‘lovely junior’.

‘So, the boy wants to get close to that child, Miweol? Is that your wish?’

…I didn’t want to get close like this. That Monkey’s Paw-like bitch… Rot away working your whole life.

“Hey… Miweol. I’ll do the remaining twenty cups, so you can rest for today.”

“Understood~ I’ll turn on the air conditioner… Huh? Seri Sunbae, what did you just say…?”

“Something urgent came up, and I have to go somewhere… I think I’ll need to rest for a few days.”

Even if I sell the shop, even if I work hard to earn money from now on, I won’t be able to cover the Human Rights Fee. So there’s only one method left… I have to move quickly.

“…Seri Sunbae, with the prank this morning and everything… something’s wrong, isn’t it? Who was that letter from?”

“Ah… from the authorities. They said I need to have an interview with a few Clausins regarding the cafe… I think I’ll have to close for about four days. Sorry for saying we’d see each other with a smile today…”

“Really? It’s not something else besides an interview… right?”

“Of course. I have to leave soon too, so you can go home. I’ll make sure to add your working hours to your salary…”

“…Just a moment, Sunbae.”

Miweol, who had changed into her casual clothes, took my hand before leaving and pressed a small earring into it.

It looked like an earring that couldn’t be bought for a mere pittance, with a small moon-shaped gem set in a platinum chain.

“This is…”

“Ta-da~ They’re couple earrings. A charm to wish for each other’s affairs to go well. If you’re having a hard time… please think of me. I’ll rush to you wherever you are.”

She seemed full of worry… but I guess I was mistaken.

Miweol tucked her hair behind her ear, showed me an identical item to the one in my hand, and smiled brightly as usual.

Cute… Are couple earrings between girls a symbol of friendship or something? It’s hard to understand…

Couple… couple… with Miweol…

“…Sunbae? Your face is red. Do you have a fever or something?”

“Ah, no! It’s nothing like that… I’ll cherish it and use it well. Thank you…”

….

“The most urgent thing is still money… Haa…”

After making twenty Americanos and combining them with the thirty Miweol had already prepared, I hung the [CLOSE] sign on Cafe Lapin’s door.

Sitting alone in a space with about ten tables and not a single customer… the feeling was truly subtle.

It’s good being the manager. Not often, but I can drink a latte with three spoons of caramel syrup… My head feels a bit clearer now.

As I silently sipped my coffee, feeling lonely, I turned on the TV, but of all things, it showed the face of Guld, the sender of the notice (though only a ghostwriter), once again disparaging me with a wide grin.

[See! Lapin is nothing but a petty thief who only sneaks into clumsy noble houses!]

[Guld-nim, what do you think about Phantom Thief Lapin giving the stolen monetary items and Magical Power Cases, which are materials for paying Human Rights Fees, to the citizens of the Slums?]

[They can take as much as they want of that. Do all the bees in an apiary eat all the honey they make? It all~ comes back to the beekeepers. There’s no need to worry, so rest assured.]

“That purple bastard… May he not only go bald but also lose every last hair of his remaining beard…”

It hadn’t been long since I’d raided a noble’s warehouse, so security must be tight. Unless I’m an idiot, moving now is too risky.

It’s risky, but… what else can I do? If I don’t want to become a slave, I have to steal. In terms of payment time, there are less than 4 days left.

[Even a mere Phantom Thief can’t break through this Prison of Seven Stars Guld, even with that monkey-like brain of yours! Na-hahahahah!!]

“Right… so you’re also a Seven Star, huh?”

Theft for one’s own gain without justification is merely thievery.

If one makes others’ lives miserable for their own benefit, then there’s no difference between a Phantom Thief stealing from nobles and those Klaus bastards who invaded the stars.

I know what kind of lives most of the colonized people live. Stealing and being stolen from, leaving wounds among the weak, and then another day passes.

At least the somewhat clever young people learn industrial skills and work as day laborers in factories… but these things are difficult for the elderly to learn, so almost no one survived in a Korea with many seniors.

Lives worse than human, enduring each day by selling their bodies or Magical Power to Clausins and Monsters. A life of dying, where nothing ever changes.

With a desire to alleviate even a little of that pain, and admiring Luna who saved my life without anything in return… I became a Phantom Thief.

Even if not like Luna, I wanted to become a light of hope for others.

But this time, I decided to become a Phantom Thief for myself.

The Seven Stars are beings at the top of the food chain, above the nobles, and everything that happened to me was orchestrated by a higher-up bitch than any noble. There’s plenty of justification for a Phantom Thief to act.

It’s already sad enough that I suddenly became a woman, but now they’re even extorting me with money? You shouldn’t have done that…!

“It’s guilt by association, you damned aliens!!”

Warden Gould of Klaus Seven Stars Tax Evader Prison. And Seven Star Halo, who made me a woman. Since both of you are of the same rank, pay for the sins on my behalf. That’s the way you treated us, isn’t it?

Those bastards who collect fines exceeding the Human Rights Fee under the guise of ‘courtesy to nobles’… don’t move without being prepared to be robbed.

I’ll steal in two days, grasp the internal structure in one day, and repair as much equipment as possible in the remaining time.

I can’t use the camouflage cloak anymore, so maybe only the wire gun will be usable. Let’s move immediately. There’s no time to hesitate…

“Aah!”

Just as I was about to go to the sterilizer to clean up the empty latte cup, I tripped on the threshold and fell to the floor, shattering the mug. It was fortunate it was ceramic; if it had been glass, I would have been cut and it would have been a mess…

It’s partly because the threshold was raised by one step to make the staff look taller, but with my changed body, even lifting my foot as usual makes a difference, sigh…

Will I be able to adapt? I was so shocked when my hands became smaller and I couldn’t hold a mug with one hand… It hurts so much…

『Pain Resistance LV 1 is activated.』

『You can withstand impacts strong enough to cause fainting. Additionally, the pain is slightly alleviated.』

As I looked around at the sudden female voice echoing in my head, only sound flowed from the TV, which I hadn’t turned off, and there was no one else around but me.

I’m alone in the cafe… Did I mishear? It sounded like… Pain Resistance.

While clearing away the shattered mug, the stinging sensation I felt around my stomach and arms from hitting the floor seemed to have subsided a bit… It must be because time passed. Let’s not worry about it.

…

I hadn’t realized it while in the cafe, but it really was summer… If I had worn long pants, my whole body would have been drenched in sweat. Even now, my back was sticking to my clothes, and though I disliked shorts… there was no helping it.

1 PM. The Tax Evader Containment Facility, a massive cube-shaped structure located in the mountains, a little distance from the city. Being in the forest, it seemed even more humid.

Only transparent pipes, through which blue liquid mixed with black clumps flowed intermittently, were visible. Aside from the main gate, not a single window that could reveal the interior was visible from the ground.

I didn’t know how many floors it had, or if there was a basement; all that could be observed with the naked eye were pristine white walls. At least, judging by the sweet scent tickling my nose, there seemed to be a ventilation duct on the roof.

“…What’s that now…”

A bat-shaped Monster (?) with only one eye flying around the vicinity.

Because it was gliding around the Prison, standing guard, further investigation seemed difficult. Is there no way to get in…?

─Bwooong

Just as I was wondering if there was a good method, a silver-coated truck was approaching the main gate.

Probably the truck bringing in the tax evaders to be imprisoned today. The thought of me being inside there in a few days sent shivers down my spine.

At the same time, it was also the last good opportunity to observe the interior. Because I currently have human rights. I should be treated equally to Clausins, and unless I’m a Rogue Monster, they won’t lay a hand on me.

Right now, I’m a woman… a Magical Power battery with a grace period remaining. Even if I enter the Prison now, I won’t be imprisoned. If I go in ‘with’ the guards instead of secretly infiltrating…

Alright… let’s go.

“…Wait.”

A question arose: ‘Many people are imprisoned… but why is no one coming out?’ However, I pushed that thought aside for a moment and immediately dashed out of the bushes to not miss the chance to explore the interior.