Chapter 25: Rob...Robbery

Wait a minute!

If Two Thousand is really the Great Botanical Genie, then that means that the Besius Empire really did not lie. They really did not capture the Great Botanical Genie because I brought it back to the cold storage warehouse.

Now that the two nations are going to war because of this misunderstanding, doesn't it mean that I'm the one who caused all this?

Zhou Kun had only entered the other world a few times, and yet, he had already caused two wars.

When he brought the dragon fruit over previously, the Orchis Empire got wiped out by the church because of it, and Lan City became St. Lan City. This time, the church began to prepare for war against the Besius Empire. 

At this moment, Zhou Kun had an illusion, and he wondered whether he had become the great villain of the other world. 

However, there was an even more pressing issue at hand. Should I bring Two Thousand back?

As soon as that thought arose, Zhou Kun dispelled it. After all, if he were to show up with Two Thousand, the church would probably kill him immediately. It was too dangerous. Even though Two Thousand was a little silly, loved getting into trouble, and was a little coquettish, he could still afford to raise a silly dog that lived off fruits. 

Zhou Kun was in a daze as he stood in front of the notice board. All of a sudden, a voice could be heard from behind. "Brother, what are you looking for? Do you need me to show you the way? You just need to give me two copper coins."

Zhou Kun was thrilled to hear himself being addressed as "Brother". He thought to himself, 'This kid is really obedient.' 

He turned around to see a teenager who was about 13 or 14 years old, holding onto a girl's hand and looking at him. 

Zhou Kun had been to the other world several times before, and he had also seen plenty of teenagers like him. Most of them were from poor families and would go to the streets to help lead others the way in order to earn a small amount of money. 

"Do you know where land transactions are performed?" Zhou Kun had been wanting to purchase a plot of land a long time ago. Although he still had some savings, he would end up spending them sooner or later. If he wanted to achieve sustainable development, it would be best for him to buy a plot of land there. He could grow some fruits on his own land, that could be sold at high prices. With the time difference of thirty times, it would be wonderful when he transported the fruit back to the cold storage warehouse when the time was right. 

"I know, Brother, just follow me." The teenage boy's eyes lit up, indicating that he could take Zhou Kun there.

Originally, Zhou Kun didn't think too much about it and simply followed the two teenagers. However, as they continued walking, he discovered that there was something amiss. Even though he was not very familiar with St. Lan City, he knew that they were not heading to the main district of St. Lan City.

The three of them strayed further and further away. All of a sudden, the two teenagers turned around and took out a dagger. They then said to Zhou Kun, "Rob…robbery!"

Their thin and feeble hands were trembling slightly while holding onto the dagger, giving away their genuine feelings. Facing such a scene, Zhou Kun didn't have the slightest fear in his heart. Instead, he sighed deep down. 

"Tell me, how much do you want?" asked Zhou Kun who could tell at a glance that the two of them were not experienced robbers. Accordingly, he tried to test them. 

"Five...no...ten gold coins!"

Upon hearing their words, Zhou Kun once again confirmed that it was definitely their first time doing something like this.

"I can give you money, but you have to tell me why you are robbing." 

"Mage Hughie is sick, we want..." 

"Naby, why are you telling him that!?!" the teenage boy exclaimed angrily to stop the girl named Naby. He completely did not realize that he had revealed the name of his companion. 

"Ah..." Naby covered her mouth in shock as if she had done a horrible thing. 

Zhou Kun sighed. After all, they were just teenagers. 

"I'll take it that you two never tried to rob me. You may tell me the difficulties that you're facing. I'll try to help you solve them." 

"Mister, do you mean it?" asked Naby while looking at Zhou Kun innocently. 

"Naby, don't trust him. These guys are all liars," the teenage boy said furiously. 

"However, Teacher mentioned that it's wrong to commit robbery. What if this Mister can really help us?" 

"If you tell him, you will be bringing trouble to Mage Hughie. You will regret it!" the teenage boy exclaimed before abandoning Naby and scurrying away. 

The girl named Naby originally thought that it was wrong to commit robbery, but after being scolded terribly by her companion, she couldn't help but burst into tears. 

"I didn't mean it... I don't want to be a bad child... but the Mage... he's sick..." the girl sobbed, speaking in short, staccato sentences. She did not form a complete sentence.

Zhou Kun looked at the crying girl in front of him and suddenly felt a headache. Those who didn't know might think that he had bullied her.

In the end, Zhou Kun searched his entire body, only to find that he only had a peach that he had used previously to dupe Two Thousand, in addition to the Dragon Crystal stored-value card. 

"Don't cry, I'll let you try it, it's very sweet."

"Is this magical fruit? I can sense that it contains botanical elements." 

Naby looked at the peach that Zhou Kun was handing to her, not daring to take it. After all, a magical fruit was very precious. 

"Uh... it's alright, I have plenty of those. You may take it." 

Magical fruit?

Zhou Kun was deep in thought. After all, everything was fine before he found out about Two Thousand's identity. After knowing that Two Thousand was the Great Botanical Genie, he recalled the fact that it had been running around the peaches previously and reckoned that it was probably because peaches were some kind of magical fruit.

Naby did not eat the fruit immediately, and instead, she wrapped it up carefully. 

"Since you've stopped crying, tell me what happened."

Nabi suddenly blushed when she heard Zhou Kun's words.

According to Naby's description, Zhou Kun learned the whole story.

Naby and the teenager who scurried away previously were both children from a nearby manor. They used to live difficult lives in the manor as the owner kept exploiting the farmers there. Later, a kind mage, Mage Hughie, whom Naby had mentioned previously, bought the manor.

Mage Hughie was rather nice. Not only did he reduce the rent in the village, he even taught the people in the manor to plant some simple magical plants that could be taken care of easily. In a nutshell, life in the manor was pretty decent.

However, Mage Hughie seemed to have fallen ill lately. Hence, the output value of their manor plummeted and became unsustainable. The two teenagers thus decided to take the risk and rob 10 gold coins, so that they could go to the church to purchase a potion in hopes of helping Hughie recover.

Although Little Naby's description was extremely simple, Zhou Kun still restored the general course of the matter through some estimation. Zhou Kun reckoned that Mage Hughie should be a Botanical Mage. Otherwise, the output value of the manor would not have declined sharply just because of him.

Fortunately, Naby and her peer met Zhou Kun first when they carried out the robbery. Had they met someone else, the two of them might have ended up getting killed instead. 

Zhou Kun thought that there was still some time before he had to go back, and hence, he could go take a look at the village where Naby lived and see if he could help them in any way.