Demonic Dragon: Harem System-Chapter 801: Child thieves

The footprints led out of the warehouse like a dirty, silent river.

Daniela and Cassandra walked side by side across the side yard, now observing the ground with a different kind of attention. What had previously seemed like just accumulated dust and random marks revealed itself to be an improvised map: small, overlapping tracks, some almost erased by time, others reinforced by recent passages.

"They always come the same way," Daniela murmured. "They don’t improvise. This has become routine."

Cassandra crouched for a moment, touching the ground with two fingers.

"Routine is survival," she said. "When it works, you repeat it. When it fails... you die."

Daniela didn’t answer. She kept walking.

The footprints crossed a narrow stretch between two old buildings, where the sun barely touched the ground. The smell of fresh bread had already faded, replaced by a damp, rancid odor of stagnant water and old garbage.

"I hate when the city starts to smell like this," Daniela commented. "It always means someone forgot to take care of something basic."

"Or pretended it wasn’t their problem," Cassandra replied.

The trail ended before a low opening in the stone wall: an old sewer tunnel, partially covered by loose planks and old rags. Water trickled slowly inside, making a constant, irritating sound.

Daniela stopped.

She looked.

She sighed.

"Of course it’s a tunnel." Cassandra crossed her arms, leaning forward slightly to assess the entrance.

"Children. Small. Agile." She looked at herself, then at Daniela. "We are... the opposite of that."

Daniela tried to imagine herself going in there, bent over, the water lapping at her knees, breathing that heavy air.

"No." She grimaced. "Definitely not." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"We don’t even fit properly," Cassandra added. "And even if we went in, they’d hear us before we saw anything."

Daniela ran a hand over her face. "So direct pursuit is out of the question."

"Chaos too," Cassandra said thoughtfully. "We could just blow up half the tunnel, but that would only scatter the children throughout the city. And it would cause another structural problem."

Daniela raised an eyebrow. "Look at you, thinking about consequences."

Cassandra gave a half-smile. "I learn quickly when killing doesn’t solve everything."

Daniela took a deep breath, observing the tunnel once more. "We need them to come to us."

Cassandra turned slowly to her. "Bait."

Daniela nodded.

"If we’re going to reassess the warehouse inventory, we need to solve the problem at its root. Without hurting anyone. Without creating unnecessary panic."

"That eliminates almost all my favorite ideas," Cassandra commented.

"I know." Daniela sighed. "I’m sorry."

Cassandra tilted her head to the side, thinking.

"So... something simple. Something they already know." She looked towards the warehouse. "Food coming in."

Daniela smiled slowly. "We fake a delivery."

Cassandra snapped her fingers. "Restoration. Big bags. Distracted guards. Everything they expect."

"One of us stays inside the warehouse," Daniela continued, "pretending to organize the stock. Very visible. No threat."

"And the other..." Cassandra finished, looking at the tunnel, "closes off the escape route."

Daniela nodded.

"Not to hurt them. Just to stop them from running."

"Cornering them without violence." Cassandra sighed. "That’s new to me."

"You’ll survive," Daniela replied dryly.

They remained silent for a few seconds, observing the tunnel entrance.

"I’ll stay in the warehouse," Daniela finally said. "You handle the tunnel."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?"

"I am. They’ll trust someone who seems... less threatening."

Cassandra let out a short laugh.

"Is that an insult or a compliment?"

"Both."

Cassandra shrugged. "Fair enough."

A few hours later, the scene had changed.

The sun was higher, and the warehouse yard finally seemed... alive.

Two cars loaded with sacks of grain and boxes of vegetables were parked near the entrance. Daniela paced back and forth, speaking loudly on purpose, giving imaginary orders, dragging boxes with enough effort to make it seem real.

"Put this over there!" she said, even though there was no one to obey. "Don’t mix the old grains with the new ones!"

She deliberately dropped a bag. The impact echoed through the empty warehouse interior.

"Damn..." On the other side, out of direct view, Cassandra worked quickly.

She didn’t close the tunnel completely—that would be suspicious. Instead, she used rubble, planks, and an old grate found near the back to create a bottleneck. Something that could be traversed... but not in a panic. Not en masse.

She tested the structure with a push.

Firm enough.

"Great," she murmured.

Then she stepped back, hiding in the shadows, controlling her own presence. She didn’t want to scare anyone too soon.

It didn’t take long.

The first pair of eyes appeared in the tunnel less than half an hour later.

Daniela felt it before she saw it.

That specific shiver on the back of her neck, as if the air had decided to look back. She didn’t turn her head. She continued working, dragging a heavy sack of grain across the floor, grumbling too loudly to be natural.

"Wonderful..." she murmured, letting the sack slip "accidentally" and scattering some grain. "Exemplary organization. I bet this place has been through ten very competent supervisors."

A small figure appeared near the side door.

Then another.

And another.

Children.

Too thin for their age. Covered in old dust. Some barefoot, their feet calloused as if stone were natural ground. Others wearing clothes that were too big, clearly stolen, inherited, or simply found somewhere less dignified.

They didn’t speak.

They observed.

They waited. Daniela opened another box with exaggerated force, letting the lid fall noisily.

"Great..." she said theatrically. "More stock to count. Just what I wanted today."

One of the smaller ones moved first.

Quickly. Precisely. He grabbed a handful of grains and retreated like a shadow.

Nothing happened.

Daniela didn’t react.

That was their mistake.

Two more approached.

Then more.

Within minutes, there were at least ten children scattered throughout the warehouse, moving with uncomfortably efficient efficiency. They didn’t stumble. They didn’t argue. They didn’t take too much.

They worked.

Each one knew exactly what to take, how much to take, and where to take it.

Daniela swallowed hard.

"Of course..." she thought. "Trained. Not desperate. That explains a lot."

When the eleventh entered, she closed the main warehouse door with a single, sharp movement.

BAM. The sound echoed like a gunshot.

The children froze.

Some dropped what they were holding. Others took two steps back, already calculating escape routes.

"Hey, hey," said Daniela, slowly raising her hands. "No screaming. This isn’t a public execution."

The calm tone was worse than a scream.

Outside, at that exact moment, Cassandra pulled the makeshift tunnel gate.

The metallic creak was slow. Deliberate.

CLANG.

Immediate panic.

Two children ran for the side exit.

Three others dashed into the tunnel.

They stopped abruptly when they realized there was now less space... and zero chance of getting through as a group.

"Damn it..." someone whispered, their thin voice trembling.

Daniela took a few steps forward, but didn’t get too close. She didn’t need to.

"You’re not trapped," she said, too calmly. "Just... temporarily out of bad options."

"YOU LIED!" shouted one of the older ones, maybe twelve years old, now with anger instead of fear. "You were going to leave!"

Daniela tilted her head thoughtfully.

"I was." She shrugged. "But then I realized they were stealing enough food to starve half the city."

She pointed to the bags.

"This stops being ’survival’ when it becomes logistics."

"We just take food!" another retorted. "We don’t hurt anyone!"

"Not directly," Daniela corrected. "But children go hungry for less than that. Including you, if you continue."

The group hesitated.

She seized the opportunity.

"I know you’re hungry," she continued, now more firmly. "I know no one came to ask why. I know you learned too soon that the city doesn’t care."

She paused briefly, cruelly enough.

"But emptying the entire warehouse isn’t invisible. It’s stupid."

Absolute silence.

"So," she concluded, crossing her arms, "now let’s talk. Either you continue being fast rats... or you start being useful people."

Outside, leaning against the wall, Cassandra watched everything with a smile too satisfied for someone who wasn’t killing anyone.

"Look," she murmured. "It worked."

She crossed her arms, relaxed.

"I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t scream. I didn’t blow anything up." A pause. "Maybe I’m maturing."

She looked at the blocked tunnel entrance. "Or maybe I’m just enjoying watching the fear unfold slowly."

Daniela took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Okay," she said, clapping once. The dry sound made several children shudder. "Everyone inside. Now."

"What...?" someone began.

"Inside the warehouse," she repeated, pointing to the center of the shed. "No tunnels, no side doors, no running. Walking. In a line. Like civilized people."

No one moved for half a second.

Then Cassandra cleared her throat outside.

It wasn’t loud.

It wasn’t threatening.

It was significant.

The children began to move immediately.

One by one, they approached, reluctantly, looking at the ground, holding bags and pieces of cloth as if that could protect them. Daniela watched everything in silence, mentally counting who was limping, who was hiding something in their clothes, who was staring too long at the exits.

When everyone was inside, she pushed an empty shelf with her foot, creating a clear boundary.

"Kneel," she said simply.

"Kneel?!" protested the oldest, the same one who had shouted before.

Daniela tilted her head and smiled.

It wasn’t a gentle smile.

It was the smile of someone who had already decided they were going to win.

"Would you rather stand when someone asks how you’re going to pay for a robbery?"

He swallowed hard.

One by one, they knelt on the cold stone floor. Knees clattering. Restless hands. Eyes darting up and down, searching for Cassandra—and finding only her shadow projected on the outside wall.

Daniela dragged two empty crates to the center of the warehouse. She made sure to push them noisily.

"This will do," she commented.

She sat down on one of the tables, crossing her legs with studied calm. Cassandra entered soon after and sat on the other, imitating the posture, but with a visibly more satisfied expression.

"Looks like an important meeting," Cassandra commented. "All that’s missing is someone to take the minutes."

"Don’t give me ideas," Daniela replied dryly.

She then looked at the kneeling group.

"Let’s start with the basics."

She raised a finger.

"Counting."

She pointed slowly, one by one, like a child learning numbers.

"One... two... three..."

The children fidgeted with each number, as if the simple act of being recognized was uncomfortable.

"...thirty-four..." Daniela paused, tilting her head. "Thirty-five."

She smiled.

"Thirty-five children stealing food from a public warehouse."

Cassandra whistled softly. "Quite a lot of small trash," she commented, her voice weightless.

"Hey!" someone complained.

Cassandra looked directly at him.

The protest died in her throat.

"Right," said Daniela, resting her elbow on her knee. "Now comes the interesting part."

She pointed to the bags and boxes scattered on the floor.

"You stole. A lot. Repeatedly. Too organized to pretend it was an accident."

She leaned forward slightly.

"So tell me... how do you intend to pay for this?"