Thieves With Ulterior Motives

"You two are quite brave to steal from me!"

After pulling Parr up, John threw the brown-haired young man onto his accomplice. The surrounding adventurers and drunkards instantly cleared a space. They looked at the two thief brothers with great interest, wanting to see how John would deal with them.

Such a situation frequently happened in the tavern. People recognized the brown-haired brothers and knew they only stole things from unfamiliar faces. The older one would go up and chat to attract attention, while the younger one would take the opportunity to make a move. However, they did not expect that they would be so audacious today. They dared to make a move against a Bronze-level Knight! They were courting death!

Bang!

"Speak! What do you want?"

John stepped on the back of the brown-haired young man. This step almost caused him to lose his breath.

"Sir, please spare us! We won't dare to do it again, cough..."

The brown-haired young man wanted to beg for mercy. However, John stomped so hard that his stomach was deflated. He kept coughing.

"Since you're here to steal, then you must know the punishment of being caught."

John's foot alternated between light and heavy stomps. The brown-haired young man was begging for death. When his nose and mouth were bleeding, John withdrew his foot and casually pulled a stool to sit down. He then crossed his legs and said leisurely, "According to the law, I'll have to give you two choices. One is to take out a weapon and fight with me. The other option is to have your arms and legs broken. Choose!

"I... cough... choose... cough... the second….option."

The brown-haired young man was not stupid. He would certainly be dead by going up against John. Thus, he would rather have his arms and legs broken. At least he would still be alive.

"If that's the case..."

John tilted his head and gestured towards Parr with his mouth, indicating for him to act on his behalf.

"Break their arms and legs?"

Parr rubbed his wrist and walked up. He had no compassion towards thieves. However, this was the first time he had done this, so he had to ask for clarification first.

"Each of them has to sacrifice one hand and one foot. Just breaking them is enough. This is an unwritten rule in the mainland. If a thief is caught in the city, he can not be killed."

John thought that Parr could not do it, so he explained a little. However, he did not expect Parr to step on the brown-haired young man's left wrist when he finished speaking.

"Hmph!"

The brown-haired young man gritted his teeth and endured intense pain. He did not scream but only let out a muffled groan.

Following that, Parr stomped three more times. The brown-haired young man fainted.

"Throw them out."

After taking back their stolen items, John brought Parr back to his seat and waved at the tavern staff, indicating to throw the two thieves out.

…

Bang!

The people of this world did not have any compassion towards thieves. The tavern staff carried the brown-haired brothers and threw them on the street. Then, they clapped their hands and turned around to walk back into the tavern.

The door of the tavern was wide open. While eating the food brought by the waiter, Parr looked at the two thieves lying on the street outside the door. When he was about to finish eating, the brown-haired young man had finally recovered.

"Humph!"

With a muffled groan, the brown-haired young man actually managed to get up on one leg. After a round of struggle, he dragged his unconscious brother into a dark alley next to the tavern and disappeared from Parr's sight.

"What? Do you pity them?"

John noticed Parr's gaze. He asked softly while chewing on a huge chicken leg.

"No."

Parr shook his head and drank a mouthful of the specially ordered sweet and sour fruit juice. Then, he said in a low voice with some hesitation, "Uncle John, I always feel that there's something wrong with the two of them. I saw them when I came in earlier. They had noticed the Battle Qi on your body. They don't look like fools to me! Yet, why would they come and steal our things?"

"That's right!"

John nodded slightly and said in a low voice,

"Little boy, it's very good that you can think of these things. They are indeed not fools. If I'm not wrong, they should be here to test us and inquire about our origins."

"Eh?"

Parr did not pay attention to the conversation between John and the brown-haired young man earlier. He had been observing the people in the tavern, wanting to see what characteristics the people of this world had. Therefore, when he heard John's words, he was a little puzzled.

"Don't ask. Now is not the time to talk about it."

Facing Parr's puzzled gaze, John shook his head and ended the conversation. Then, he turned his head in the direction of the tavern's door. The female staff member of the Bluestone City Adventurers Guild from earlier walked in.

"Sir Knight."

The female staff member was very familiar with this place. After she came in, she glanced around and saw John. Then, she walked over with a smile. At this time, John also finished his ale in one gulp. He got up and grabbed the female staff member's hand before pulling her upstairs with an impatient look.

"You're finally here. Come, I've already booked a room. I was just waiting for you."

When he reached the second floor, John stopped in his tracks. He turned around and shouted at Parr, who was standing there in a daze, not knowing what to do.

"Little boy, don't just stand there. Take our parcel and guard the door for me!"

Parr was speechless.

'Guard your a*s! I'm still a ten-year-old child! Can't you f*cking tell?'

Parr was going crazy in his heart, but he immediately thought of everything that had happened today. He felt that John had his own reasons for asking him to do so. He picked up the parcel, which now had a big cut on it. Then, he picked up John's sword and walked up the stairs.

However, the facts proved that there was no reason for Parr to stand guard! John just wanted to enjoy himself in peace. Poor Parr sat at the door and listened for the whole night. If it was not for the fact that he knew he was no match for John, he would have already drawn his sword and rushed in.

'Why are you torturing me like this? I'm still a child!'

…

Meanwhile, the brown-haired young man used all his strength to drag his brother into the depths of the alley. After ensuring that his brother was fine, he leaned against the dirty wall, closed his eyes, and waited. After a while, he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps. A tall man came in front of him. The man was Vice-captain Massey of Bluestone City's patrol team.

"Sir, you're here!"

The brown-haired young man opened his eyes and wanted to stand up, but he couldn't do so.

"Don't get up. Just sit down and talk!"

Massey squatted down, stared into the brown-haired young man's eyes, and asked,

"Where did the two adventurers come from?"

"Sir, they..."

The brown-haired young man briefly told him the information he had gathered and then concluded, "They should have come from the west. That Bronze-level Knight is a veteran who retired from the Western Region Fortress. He wants to go to the central region to explore and see if he can become a noble."

"Is there any evidence for this?"

Massey was very cautious. Ever since he had tricked the Bolen, the dead Knight, he had sent people to check the origins of every adventurer who entered the city. He was afraid that adventurers would come from the east and knew about Bolen. These kinds of adventurers might run to the Church and make a report.

"What about..."

The brown-haired young man turned his gaze to his unconscious brother.

"Sir, that's all I know. My brother might know more, but he..."

"Give this to him."

Massey looked at the unconscious brown-haired young man and frowned. Then, he took out a small potion from his pocket and threw it to the brown-haired young man.

"Thank you, sir."

The brown-haired young man had been waiting for this. He hurriedly fed the potion to his younger brother. The brother finally woke up. He was stunned for a moment. After understanding the current situation, he opened his mouth and revealed an important piece of information. "Sir, I saw a sword in their package. It's a sword used by soldiers of the Western Region Fortress."

"Very good!"

After eliminating another possible hidden danger, Massey stood in satisfaction and casually threw two gold coins to the brown-haired brothers.

"Take the money and treat your injuries! Don't tell others that you're working for me, or else you know the consequences you'd suffer."

After saying that, Massey left without looking back. The brown-haired brothers picked up the gold coins and thanked him profusely:

"Thank you, sir. We understand."

…

The following day, after listening to lustful sounds for the whole night, Parr sat on the big parcel. He was hugging John's sword and felt sleepy. He was in a fully healthy condition at the moment, but the psychological trauma he had suffered was more than he could bear. He wanted to enjoy some quiet time and sleep for a while.

Creak.

However, John did not allow that to happen. After his woman had fallen asleep, John put on his clothes, pushed open the door, and walked out while rubbing his lower back.

"Little boy, let's go."

He retrieved his sword from Parr's arms and put it on his waist. He then turned around and went downstairs. Parr shook his head and hurriedly picked up the big parcel and followed John. When he went downstairs, he did not see John's figure. When he took a closer look, it turned out that John had already walked out of the tavern. He hurriedly chased after him.

In the morning, the streets of Bluestone City gradually became more popular. More stalls were selling food, but their business was not very good. There were few people buying breakfast.

"It's so quiet!" Parr sighed. John, who was walking in front, heard it.

John slowed down and turned to Parr to explain, "I heard that a major event has happened in Bluestone City recently. That's why it is so quiet now."

"What major event?" Parr asked curiously.

Ha ~

John yawned and explained as he walked,

"It seems that Viscount Bluestone lost a very important treasure a few days ago. Because of this, the patrol team was called. They searched every house for several days but could not find the treasure. It caused great panic. Most adventurers left Bluestone City because of this and wanted to wait for the storm to pass before returning. The residents in the city rarely went out unless it was necessary, which is why the street seems so deserted. Bluestone City used to be very lively in the past."

"I see."

Parr nodded, his doubts dispelled. Previously, he had thought that all cities in this world were like this! It turns out that it was all because something had happened!

From this, it could be seen how much influence a noble Lord had on the residents of a territory. Just because something was missing, they forcibly searched every house, causing everyone to feel anxious. However, no one dared to object. In a noble territory, the nobles were like Gods. This was the privilege of being a nobleman.

…