Don't move, it's a robbery!

This primeval forest near Linde City doesn't have a specific name. Although it's really big, the people who live here just call it the forest.

The passing caravans gave it a rather nice name: Azkir Forest, meaning emerald under the sun.

I feel the name is quite nice, but it's not very fitting, because although the trees here are lush, they all turn yellow in autumn, and only in summer can they be worthy of the name "Emerald".

However, it is summer now, so this forest still lives up to its name for the time being.

The lush canopy of trees overlaps, like a green ocean, shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight. If you stand on a high mountain peak and look down, you will always feel a sense of pride and grandeur.

Of course, these soldiers traveling through the forest probably weren't in the mood to appreciate the scenery.

After listening to Tina's spiel, Knight Beni ignored his subordinates' objections and, in a moment of impulsiveness, ordered them to set off overnight, and they have been on their way ever since.

It was already noon, and the entire team was exhausted.

Oh, no horses. I slit their throats yesterday, so they don't feel tired anymore.

But I was really tired. Not only were they tired, I was exhausted too. Since the day before yesterday, I haven't had much rest at all, but I have to keep following them for the current plan.

Now, it's not just the ordinary soldiers who want to rest; I also really hope they can stop and rest.

Even after walking for so long, Knight Beni was still unable to recover from his excitement. Even though he saw that his subordinates had reached their limit, he still urged them to continue.

"Enough, Benny, what's wrong with you? Is it really necessary to be in such a hurry?"

"Damn it, Kerman, don't try to contradict me at a time like this. I'm doing all this to complete the mission."

"When did you become so proactive about the mission? Yesterday you suddenly went to interrogate a prisoner, and after you finished asking questions, you didn't say anything and just wanted us to keep going. What did you manage to get out of him?"

"What could I possibly find out? Of course, it's about the whereabouts of the ancient scrolls!"

"Then you should definitely stop the team, otherwise everyone will be exhausted by the time you find the scroll!"

Knight Beni was about to get angry, but he suddenly saw the disgruntled looks in everyone's eyes and finally reluctantly agreed to take a break.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, including me, who was following behind.

Finally, I can take a break.

I found a big tree, climbed up it in no time, found a wider branch, and then started to sleep on it.

At that moment, I was unaware that, besides myself, another small team was also quietly following Benny Knight's group from a distance.

Let's go back to yesterday evening, when Leos was galloping on horseback.

Riding a horse is supposed to be a joyful experience, but when Leos thought back to the battle of the day, he felt very frustrated.

Although he was just a commoner and had not practiced martial arts since childhood, he had accomplished many feats since becoming a mercenary.

Whether it's wild beasts like giant spiders, man-eating bears, wolf packs, and giant hyenas, or monsters like zombies, sand monsters, vampires, and ghouls, he has dealt with them all and saved countless ordinary people.

However, everyone has their own expertise, and Leos was not good at dealing with combat against humans. Even so, he managed to defeat several soldiers on his own.

Unfortunately, my teammates were terrible.

The guards he brought were no match for the regular army. Leos finally managed to deal with the enemy in front of him, but when he turned around, he found that all his teammates had been wiped out.

Then he was surrounded and beaten up.

Because of his previous bravery, the soldiers didn't hold back, using everything from gouging his eyes to kicking his groin. Fortunately, both sides maintained a minimum level of restraint and didn't use weapons, otherwise Leos might have died here today.

Leos was originally prepared to give up and wait for the council to come and negotiate to get him out, but he had only been locked up for a short time when someone actually came to rescue him.

Even more outrageous is that, despite being guarded by a large group of soldiers, the other side not only successfully infiltrated the area but also managed to get themselves out.

Oh, you're a chivalrous thief. Never mind then.

Leos was actually somewhat touched. The fact that the other person dared to come and save him under such circumstances showed that the other person considered him a friend.

The words were a bit harsh.

"What do you mean by 'little princess who gets caught every day'?! I, Leos, am the captain of the Pure Wind Bell! Don't I have any dignity?"

Although that's what he thought, Leos didn't dare to complain out loud because the guy who came to rescue him had a really bad temper.

Look at the skill with which they save people—killing horses and setting fires, as if they're afraid of not attracting enough hatred.

Not long after fleeing on horseback, Leos saw the people who were there to meet him. Apart from Galio, who was injured along with him, all the other team members had arrived, along with many other mercenary groups and even some city guards.

"Leos! Are you alright?!"

The little one was a bit excited. After looking around, he found that only Leos was there, and he excitedly asked about the whereabouts of the other person.

"Where is he? Why isn't he with you?"

Little One didn't explicitly say who it was, but Leos understood what she meant. The identity of the chivalrous thief was, after all, a sensitive matter and couldn't be brought up openly.

"I don't know. After that guy threw me onto the horse, he went and set a fire. He should be gone by now."

"Arson? You said their camp is on fire! Should we take this opportunity to storm in and wipe them out?"

Many people agreed with Little Dot's suggestion, but many more hesitated. Several mercenary groups even said that they were willing to go to war, but someone had to pay them extra rewards.

"Alright, let's not talk about this for now. Leos, you go back to the city and rest. Leave things here to me."

The speaker was Hamiti, the city's captain of the guard. He had been the captain of the guard in Linde City when the Kadir family ruled it. He was deeply trusted by the city lord, vigorously suppressed the council, and quelled rebellions many times. He was a staunch supporter of the Kadir family.

However, after the complete downfall of the Kadir family, no one knows what he did, but in a situation where everyone in the Kadir family was condemning him, the council completely forgot about his past actions and he was even able to continue serving as the captain of the guard.

However, none of this concerned Leos. He was indeed quite exhausted at the moment. After briefly expressing his gratitude, Leos rode away from there.

To ensure their safety on the road, and also to prevent the bandits from not being able to find them upon their return, the other members of the Bell of the Wind also returned to Linde City with Leos. Eve even brought some back to the city lord's mansion in case anyone needed help.

However, a whole night passed, and they still couldn't wait for the person they were waiting for to return.

When morning came, Eve felt a sense of unease and hurried to the hotel to see if anyone else had received the news.

"How's it going? Any news about him?"

"No, I asked around, and the guards said they didn't see anyone else when they confronted those soldiers last night."

"Could something have happened? Otherwise, a whole night has passed, and with his skills, he would have escaped by now."

"How could that be? He's a chivalrous thief! This level of infiltration is child's play for him. Nothing will happen!"

The little one struck a proud pose, as if she herself were a chivalrous thief, but Eve remained deeply worried.

"Normally, it might be fine, but he was in a very bad state yesterday. I noticed yesterday morning that he seemed to have not slept well. At the time, I thought he was still troubled by not being able to use magic, so I gave him a quirky idea."

"Huh? What idea?"

"It's nothing serious, just a possibility of magical energy imbalance. I didn't expect him to infiltrate the military camp. What if he suddenly experienced magical energy imbalance while he was hiding..."

The little one was also startled by her words and became somewhat flustered. March glanced at Leos, who was still lying in the hospital bed, and decisively made the decision for him.

"He infiltrated to save Leos, so regardless, we owe him something. If something really happens, we do have a responsibility to rescue him."

"However, we definitely can't just rush in headfirst. How about this, you guys stay here for now, I'll go to the military camp to gather some information."

Eve nodded and agreed to March's suggestion. Although Little One had some different opinions, he didn't bring them up again after seeing that Eve had agreed.

The two waited in the room for a long time until noon when Ma Qi returned. The first thing she said when she entered the room further intensified the tension.

"The military camp is empty. It seems they left overnight. I've checked their tracks; they headed towards the surrounding forest."

Eve hadn't reacted yet, but the little one jumped up first.

"Oh no, the Robin Hood might really have been caught!"

"He told me last time that he got a lot of gold from the Kadir family and buried it all in the forest. The soldiers must have caught the thief and tortured him to find out where the money was, which is why they went to the forest."

The little one had quite a wild imagination, but her idea was quickly rejected by Eve.

After all, it's just about digging for money; sending just a few people is enough. There's no need to send everyone.

"Maybe there are a lot of them? The kind that a few people couldn't dig up."

"In that case, even a chivalrous thief wouldn't be able to bury one of them."

"Oh, you're right. Why is that?"

"I don't know either."

The three exchanged glances and ultimately decided to follow after them to check on them, just so they could feel at ease.

Because Eve couldn't cast spells freely, March asked her to stay in Linde City to take care of her teammates. This left March and Little One as the only ones responsible for tracking them, but with just the two of them, their combat strength was somewhat insufficient.

Just as the group was in a dilemma, there was a knock on the door.

March opened the door and found a burly bounty hunter standing outside.

"Is there something you need?"

"If you're going to cause trouble for those Asari soldiers, please take me with you."

"What?"

"I heard your conversation. I've always had exceptional hearing; I can hear things clearly even through a wall. Actually, I was saved by a chivalrous thief, just like you. If he hadn't given me the life-saving medicine, I would be a corpse by now."

"Moreover, and more importantly, I still have a score to settle with those Asari people."

As soon as he finished speaking, the burly man ripped open his clothes, revealing half of his body covered in blood-stained bandages, and the expression on his face gradually became ferocious.

"That's a huge sum of money."