"Y-Yes!" Krita called out, still frazzled from her sister running off. She approached the counter and said, "I'm here to see Mr. Fardo about selling some materials from Quoi."

"More nia fruit, I would imagine?" the receptionist wondered.

"Well, not really. I know how popular they are to sell for traps, so I figured there would be a lot of nia fruit sold here already. Let's see here..."

Krita shuffled through her satchels, mostly turning up some native plants, wood, insects, and fur from various animals. Then the Eggbear claw dropped out from the last bag, and the man's eyes lit up.

"Oooh, that's really something! Not too many people actively go hunting for Eggbears, and even fewer are able to come back with anything from them! Mr. Fardo will definitely be impressed, young lady!"

"I don't know about that... It was my sister who managed to get it, not me."

"Where is she? Mr. Fardo would be interested in meeting her... Oh, forget Fardo! Mr. Meijin would be honored to meet someone who can slay an Eggbear!"

"She ran off a few minutes ago. By the way, is there some kind of commotion going on?" Krita wondered, noticing the shuffle of guards inside the building. She glanced back at the air cooling blastia and discovered its core missing. "W-What the!? The core was there just a second ago! How did it just up and vanish like that!?"

"Someone must have stolen it while no one was looking," the receptionist admitted. "Rest assured, we have everything under control."

"If you say so..." Krita trailed while thinking, [i]That must be why Sis ran off on me - she's probably chasing the thief down. I hope she'll be okay.[/i]

****

Krile dashed out of the trading house and looked around for the fake repairman. She found him walking at a fast pace towards an alley between the upper and middle quarters and took chase.

"Halt!" she called out, alarming the man. "Return that core immediately."

"Core...? What core? I don't know what you're talking about," the thief lied.

"Spare me your juvenile deceptions. I watched you take it from Meijin's while I was in line."

"D-Damn..." he cursed as Krile reached down for her sword. All of a sudden, he retrieved the crystal from his box and threw it at Krile! She caught it just as the man dashed out into the open and called out, "Guards! Guards! I found a blastia thief right here!"

Krile scowled a little at his devilry, and his shouts were attracting a small crowd of people.