They all call me an Outer God.

Chapter 82 The Black Market Merchant's Magic Show

His words were incredibly sincere, but no one dared to believe a single punctuation mark he uttered.

This greatly troubled Lia, as everything he had just done had not involved any supernatural means; he had figured it out entirely on his own.

He watched a thief's entire process from theft to success, and then Ria began to imitate the thief's methods, taking advantage of others' inattention to steal things while passing by, and no one noticed his little tricks.

Ria learns new things quickly, and besides, he's now a disorderly person, so this little thing is no challenge for him.

If you want to move a wallet so many times without anyone noticing, isn't that a magic trick?

The crowd in Rio took off their hats, reached inside, and pulled out a wallet. The children, however, discovered that the wallet that was with them had disappeared, and they were unsure when the young man had "stolen" it back.

“If you’re going to steal money, why don’t you steal from someone who’s richer? There aren’t many rich people in Grani, but there are plenty of poor people. You just happened to pick one of the poorest ones.”

Ria opened her wallet, which contained only a few Schwarzs, some of which were even moldy.

One child protested: "How can someone who can afford to ride a steam monster be a poor wretch?"

"Don't think so."

Ria turned to look at the roof of the platform: "As you can see, this place provides shelter from the wind and rain, and with so many people, it's a great place to beg. Apart from being a bit noisy, it's practically a perfect place for homeless people to live."

The person you stole from might not be someone who was planning to take the bus; maybe the wallet was stolen from somewhere else.

It's pointless to argue about who the original owner of a wallet that's been stolen from time to time.

The children also began to feel disappointed. After what had happened today, they were sure they would go back to that dead John empty-handed and dejected, and that dead John would definitely beat them up.

Lia, however, patiently reassured the children not to worry, because magicians are children's best friends.

Everyone enjoys a magician's performance.

“Look carefully, this is just an ordinary piece of cloth.” Ria took out a large black cloth from behind her back, held it up, and turned it over a few times to show everyone that there was nothing special about the black cloth.

"Guess what I'll conjure up next?"

None of the children spoke. They exchanged glances for a few moments, and the boldest, chubby child cautiously approached: "A rabbit?"

"Oh? You're quite experienced." Lia smiled, but denied the answer. The children then offered their own guesses, which were all rejected one by one.

The children became a little anxious and urged Lia to stop keeping them in suspense.

As they wished, Lia moved a black cloth as tall as a person to her side and shook it twice in mid-air before instantly retracting it. What was behind the black cloth made all the children scream.

"what!!!!!"

He was an elderly man with a stubble beard and scars on his face. His reddish-brown complexion and eyes revealed an indescribable fear. His mouth was stuffed with cloth, and he was sitting in a chair with his body bound by ropes.

"John!!!"

Someone called out the name, and the group of children panicked. Lia took out a yellowed piece of paper from her pocket and read its contents with great interest.

"John Brad, who was once arrested and imprisoned for child trafficking, continues to do as he pleases after his release. The Church of the Sun hereby issues an arrest warrant with a reward of eighty guilders, regardless of whether he is killed or injured."

"Tsk tsk tsk, you really landed me a big order."

Ria smiled and patted John's bald head: "Aren't you afraid of this guy, silly kids? Bring him to church, and you can get a lot of money, enough for you to spend lavishly in Grani for a long time."

Now everyone finally realized what was happening, and Bart's face lit up with surprise: "So you're here to help us!?"

This person wants to exchange John's death for money to set them free? Bart withdrew his previous prejudices and now began to think of Ria as a good person.

People laugh at selfless good people, but everyone hopes to be helped by their good deeds.

Ria remained enigmatic, covering the bound and immobile John with a black cloth once more. When she removed the cloth, she had a stack of brand-new papers in her hand.

The children's eyes were even more eager; they stared at the money in Ria's hand with shining eyes, then watched as he put the money into his pocket and put his hat back on.

The distant roar of a steam train echoed, the ground began to tremble, and a plume of white smoke appeared in people's view.

"I have to go now. It was a pleasure performing magic for you, little ones."

"Wait, this money isn't for us?" Bart's eyes widened. "And what did you do to John? What are we going to do without him?"

Lia stopped and thought about it carefully: "That makes sense."

A glimmer of hope rekindled in Bart's heart amidst the darkness.

"I haven't asked you for my performance fee yet."

Ria asked one of them for ten Swarths and then told them that when they were short of money, they should silently chant "Praise Trade" in their hearts. It might not do any good, but it would be a psychological comfort.

“Listen, people always have to rely on themselves. Don’t expect charity from others. People with all four limbs are suitable for doing anything, but stealing can easily get you caught and killed.”

"By the way, the principle I just mentioned also costs money. Give me two Swarths, or I'll sell you all to the church like I sold your boss."

"Woo——————"

The steam train in the distance stopped not far away, its head billowing with thick smoke. The children, crying, paid Lia and watched as the young man slowly walked away with his cane, boarded the train, and returned the expired cookies he had bought earlier, saying they could serve as dinner.

Someone couldn't help but point at his retreating figure and grit their teeth: "How can there be such a heartless person!"

“Praise be to trade.” Bart, holding a biscuit wrapped in newspaper, bowed in that direction.

The others were quite surprised: "What are you doing?"

"I'm thanking that person; didn't you all realize he's a good person?"

We are all homeless!

"Who said that?"

Bart grinned mischievously: "Dead John's house is still there; there should be quite a bit of savings in it."

These words gave the children hope.

They all ran back to John's house, but when the children got back to their lodgings, they suddenly discovered that the front door was unlocked. The furniture inside was unchanged, but most of the money in the wooden box had disappeared, leaving only a few pieces of paper.

A note was also found near the box.

Bart picked it up; it had only a few words written on it. He had learned some of those words from Dead John, and the note roughly meant—

"Thank you for nature's gifts, I am very happy today."

"Praise the sun."

(End of this chapter)