Chương 32: No one can find Robin Hood

"A man calling himself Robin Hood seduced your quartermaster and drugged your mercenaries..."

"Then he used some... some unknown method to open the door to Big Gold Tooth..."

"Then, he stole all the gem mines, leaving behind a mocking remark that slapped us all in the face!"

As Jason, the foreman, recounted his story, Jostein's forehead became increasingly covered in cold sweat.

He muttered to himself, "That can't be right. I arranged so many people, and besides, that's Big Gold Tooth! You must be joking, right?"

Jason said with a gloomy face, "I wish it were a joke, but unfortunately, it isn't."

Jostein fell silent.

He looked into Jason's eyes, then at his dejected men, and after a long pause, said, "Let me go see Lord Phoenix. I will explain myself..."

My family doesn't want to see you.

Jason rejected Jostein's request without hesitation, and then said:

"You've caused us enormous losses, not just financially, but also in terms of prestige! The other families, the Swordfish Mercenary Group, and even those lowly commoners who can't even afford a decent pair of pants—they can laugh at us now!"

"So listen, Jostein, you only have two choices now!"

"Either you capture Robin Hood within five days, before the next ocean liner arrives, and reclaim the gem mine; or you figure out how to make up for this loss yourself!"

"There are no other options, none left, do you understand?"

By the end, Jason's tone was so heavy it could almost crush a draft horse.

Without giving Jostan a chance to plead for leniency, he waved his hand and left the mansion with his guards, leaving the entire Green Mercenary Group in this awkward atmosphere.

Boom!

Jostein kicked the wall, turned and yelled at the mercenaries, "Can't anyone tell me this is all just a nightmare?!"

Ethan trembled and dared not speak.

Henry sighed and recounted all the details Jason hadn't mentioned, along with his own deductions, concluding with:

"Boss, I'm not trying to shirk responsibility, we did make a big mistake, but there's no point in dwelling on it now. We can only do our best to find them!"

"The city defense team are experts at catching thieves, and they've also been involved under orders from the Phoenix family. We can cooperate with them."

"As for the rest, I..."

As Henry was speaking, he noticed that Jostein slowly walked up to him and raised his hand.

He instinctively thought the other person wanted to punch him, so he took a half step back.

To everyone's surprise, Jostein simply patted him on the shoulder.

"... You're right, Henry."

To be honest, Jostein really wanted to knock all these scumbags to the ground right now!

But he knew even more clearly that he truly had no other choice.

If we don't find someone quickly, are we really going to lose money?

He has already spent most of his wealth, much of it on useless people. He can't afford to lose it all!

Fuck!

Now we can only let bygones be bygones and make use of what's been lost!

Imagining the terrible consequences of being forced to pay compensation that he couldn't afford, Jostan felt a chill run down his spine. He turned and shouted to the mercenaries still standing in the room:

"What are you all standing there for? Get moving! Now!"

Urged on by Jostein, the Grimm mercenary group began their operation...

however.

Some things are like constipation; you can't get results by rushing them.

After working for more than a day, they couldn't find a single useful clue.

The city defense team does have extensive experience in catching thieves, but that experience is only useful against petty thieves or those with connections. It's useless against someone like Robin Hood who uses a false name and a fake face and can easily open magic doors.

Worse still, Jostan could clearly sense that the city defense team disrespected him. Although they accepted the cooperation, they only treated his mercenary group as menial tasks and refused to share much information with him.

Even worse, it wasn't just the city defense team; as Chief Jason had said before, as news of the theft of Big Gold Tooth spread, even ordinary people on the streets began to look down on the Green Mercenary Group!

The passersby described Jostein and his mercenaries as trash who only knew how to drink and womanize.

Then they started praising Robin Hood even more as a god!

Given the Phoenix family's terrible reputation, some people even began to praise Robin Hood as the number one outlaw in Phoenix, and spread the sarcastic poem that he "only visits the homes of real thieves" everywhere!

All of this made Jostein's actions increasingly difficult and his mood increasingly agitated.

fortunately.

By the second night, he had finally obtained a decent clue...

In the black market of Phoenix.

"Yes, a man and a woman came to me and bought sleeping powder. The man claimed to be Robin Hood and covered his face..."

When Jostein came to his door, Sawyer told him everything he knew.

However, Jostein was not satisfied because what Sawyer said did not help in finding Robin Hood.

He tapped the table impatiently: "Isn't there anything else?"

"That's all," Sawyer said calmly.

"Listen, buddy, I'm not hiding anything. You know, you're not the first person to come to me after this happened. My mouth has been pried open three or four times already; I'm practically oozing soup now!"

Jostein was still unwilling to give up: "Damn it! You... didn't you realize something was wrong back then? Why did you still sell him the drug!"

Sawyer rolled his eyes:

"It's just business, it's in accordance with the rules. Besides, to put it bluntly, sleeping powder isn't that rare. With Mr. Robin Hood's abilities, even if I don't sell it to him, he can definitely get it from somewhere else."

"So, Mr. Green, do you have any other questions?"

"If you don't have it, please leave. I still need to keep running the shop."

Jostein gritted his teeth in anger, but seeing the Black Hand guards around the shop, he suppressed his rage and turned to retreat.

Sawyer breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Then he said to his young assistant hiding under the counter, "I didn't expect you to guess right on your casual remark; that guy really did take out the gold tooth!"

The boy was equally astonished: "If we had known he could cause such a big problem, we shouldn't have sold him the medicine in the first place."

"Yes, I regret it too, but then again..."

Sawyer exclaimed:

"That Robin Hood is a real bastard. So many people in the Mafia were after Big Gold Tooth, and he actually managed to take him down! Amazing!"

"I wonder how this good show will end..."

"Regardless, I have a feeling he might become a legend in Phoenix!"

the other side.

After leaving the black market, Jostein resumed his blind search.

However, neither he nor the city defense team achieved any significant results.

So here's the question.

Where did Robin Hood, whom everyone has been longing for, go?

the answer is……

They've already slipped out of the city!

As a native of Phoenix, Richard knew the city defense team all too well, knowing that their skills were mostly only useful for bullying their own people.

Therefore, as soon as he obtained the gem mine, he destroyed all traces and then disguised himself as a traveling merchant and left the city.

After walking several kilometers, they found a small farmhouse, bribed the owner with one hand and seduced him with the other, and then hid away in silence.

Given the city defense team's Renaissance-era level of investigation, it might take them several months to find him.

Of course.

Richard certainly hasn't just been hiding here all these days.

He did two other things.

First, Grace should use the second-tier magical animal messenger technique she learned from the druid.

This tactic was originally used to drive small animals to deliver messages, but if the animals being driven are intelligent enough, they can also be used to identify the target and return to report, achieving the effect of indirect surveillance.

Based on this principle, Richard had Grace find some sheepdogs and a flock of crows, which enabled them to remotely monitor Jostein.

Secondly, Richard began practical training.

He has recently acquired many new skills, but he has not yet become fully familiar with any of them.

On the other hand, he also lacked experience in dealing with melee fighters—the kobolds he had encountered before were not comparable to real warriors.

Therefore, rather than simply killing monsters, he believes that what he needs most right now is to familiarize himself with himself and hone his skills through actual combat.

As for the actual targets...

"Are you ready?"

Grace then went to the farmer's backyard, grinned at Richard who was standing opposite her, revealing her sharp, gleaming dragon teeth.

Richard took a deep breath and nodded.

He then drew his one-handed sword and charged toward Grace!