"What do you think I stole?"
Karyk directly asked the people before him, despite not thinking that they would know. These people were more or less ignorant and thought they could get something valuable.
Although the men did not answer, their blank reaction was enough for Karyk to understand everything.
"In that case, I will ask you a different question," he stated. "What makes you think that you can take something from me?"
At first, he was willing to hand over all his money, because he did not want to change much of the past. He did not want to be tossed out of the past.
He thought that this was the part of the past where they were supposed to rob him successfully. There was no way for the book writer to defend himself because he was just a weak man.
He thought that the man was probably beaten as well. He did not accept to be beaten to stay close to the past. However, he was planning to give the money over.