Don't move, it's a robbery!

Santos has not been in a good mood these past two days.

As a businessman, it is common sense that harmony brings wealth, but unfortunately, not everyone has this common sense.

Santos was born into a commoner family. His father was a porter in the merchant guild. From a young age, Santos traveled all over the country with his father. After accumulating enough money and connections, the father and son began to try to trade spices on their own.

This industry is very lucrative, but conversely, it is also very dangerous. To earn money safely, one must consider all aspects.

Spend money bribing officials and guards, find a few nobles to back you up, observe the recent weather, learn about the dangers on the trade routes, bribe the gangs in the city, hire trustworthy mercenaries, pay attention to the tactics of your competitors, be careful of unexpected accidents, and beware of thieves who may appear at any time...

If even one thing is overlooked, this trade trip could result in a complete loss.

After more than 30 years of hard work and struggle, Santos finally had its own caravan.

Just then, the council of Linde reached an agreement with the nobles of the city-state of Balbo to reopen the trade routes. Santors seized the opportunity and was the first to lead a caravan to Linde, intending to take advantage of the first-mover advantage to seize Linde's spice market.

Santos said he felt no pressure about whether he could capture the Linde City market. He knew how to promote his products, such as by holding a food festival in the square, inviting bards and taverns to promote them, and then using his high-quality products and honest business philosophy to build his own brand.

At the same time, he also needs to build a dedicated guard to transport goods, and then use local mercenaries to negotiate with the city's gangs to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Finally, starting from Linde City, he will transport his spices to the entire kingdom of Fiesland.

Within two years at most, he will be able to establish himself firmly in the Kingdom of Fesland and become its leading merchant.

Of course, Santosen couldn't possibly keep such a huge profit all to himself. Only by sharing the benefits can things last. Therefore, Santosen's team also included many people sent by the Balbo City-State Merchant Guild and nobles.

This kind of thing is not uncommon, and Santos didn't think there was anything wrong with it. But after he arrived in Linde City, he realized that he seemed to have been tricked.

On his very first day in Linde City, one of the guards committed a murder, and the story spread like wildfire, known to almost half the city. Rumors are circulating that the Santosne caravan members were formerly bandits and assassins, and that their visit to Linde City was for some ulterior motive.

This is truly an injustice! Santos had no idea why this guy wanted to kill someone.

The caravan's reputation was ruined as soon as they arrived in Linde City. How could they possibly develop their business from there?

Frustrated as I am, the matter still needs to be resolved.

Santosin ordered his deputy to investigate the matter, while he personally bribed members of parliament to put pressure on the Linde City Guard in an effort to minimize the impact and suppress the negative effects of the incident.

After he finally finished everything, he saw his deputy running over excitedly, indicating that he had investigated the matter thoroughly.

"Boss, I've found out. The person who was killed was an employee of the Linde City Orphanage. Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal, but the Pure Wind Bell Mercenary Group just went crazy and insisted on finding out the truth. They even traced it back to us and arrested him without even telling us. These bastards are despicable. I've terminated my contract with them and kicked them out."

"What did you say?! I told you to investigate why that guy killed someone! Who told you to terminate your contract with the mercenary group?!"

Santos's blood pressure spiked, and he felt an urge to slap his deputy.

They've only just arrived in Linde City and they've already run into the local bullies. And most importantly, by terminating their contract with the Bell of the Wind, aren't they implying that they have something to hide?

But what's done is done, and no matter how angry Santos is, it's no use. The die is cast, and he can't just kick out his long-time deputy because of this.

Unfortunately, the bad things weren't over yet.

Because he was unfamiliar with Linde City, Santosen immediately sent his men to scout out the city upon arrival, investigating the different factions within and identifying those he should avoid. By evening, the scouts returned with terrible news.

Linde City has no gangs, no bandits, no cults, no large families, and even the governing council consists of only one faction.

"What? It's so clean? How is that possible?"

Santos was somewhat incredulous, feeling that his subordinate was fooling him, but his subordinate hadn't finished speaking.

Although there are no unclean things in the city, there are still people you shouldn't mess with. It is precisely because of his existence that Linde City is so 'clean' now.

Whether it's a tyrannical thug or a swaggering foreign army; whether it's a decadent nobleman secretly colluding with vampires or a greedy member of parliament embezzling and accepting bribes.

In just over two months, he resolved all the heavy burdens that had been weighing on the citizens of Linde City.

One man, one stick, and the whole city was swept away.

His subordinate vividly recounted the information he had gathered: how he single-handedly overthrew the Kadir family, captured all the members of the council and held a public trial, fought against more than a dozen vampires under the moonlight, stormed into the military camp as if it were empty, and even rescued a prisoner from inside.

These stories were gathered by his men from the city. Although they sounded a bit far-fetched at first glance, they were full of details, as if someone had witnessed the battle firsthand. In addition, many people claimed to have seen it with their own eyes, so the stories seemed to be quite authentic.

"The people here call him the Glory of the Bandits, the Robin Hood of Falter, the Guardian of Linde City. Oh, and boss, those armors you bought from the Bell of the Wind were also obtained by him. It's said that he single-handedly took down more than 60 regular soldiers."

"Wait? The armor is his? But why is it being sold by the Pure Wind Bell Mercenary Group?"

"I heard that this chivalrous thief has a good relationship with the Jingfengzhiling mercenary group."

Great, now I've not only offended the mercenary group, but I've also inadvertently provoked the monster that's the most dangerous thing to mess with in this area.

Santos felt his blood pressure rising and even felt a little dizzy for a moment. Fortunately, he was in good health and recovered quickly.

Falter the Robin Hood—that's a fairly well-known name; after all, anyone who's ever been to Linde City has heard his story. While the Robin Hood has a good reputation among the common people, a bandit is still a bandit, and attacking caravans is perfectly normal for him. Worse still, his own side might not be able to withstand the attack.

No, I must reconcile with the Bell of Pure Wind tomorrow. If I inexplicably make enemies because of a small misunderstanding, how am I supposed to continue doing business?

So, early the next morning, Santosen led his men to inquire about the whereabouts of the Pure Wind Bell mercenary group. To their surprise, the Pure Wind Bell members were staying at the city lord's mansion, apparently with the council's approval.

Santos was terrified. That was the city lord's mansion! It was a building that represented the highest status in a city. Shouldn't the people qualified to live there be members of the council?

What's going on? Could it be that the council of Linde City is only in power on the surface, and the real power in the city is actually held by a group of mercenaries? No! That's not right, it must be because of that chivalrous thief! Yes! The council members must have given up the city lord's mansion because they were afraid of him!

Santos felt a sense of absurdity as he thought he had guessed the truth.

A bandit has actually become the city lord.

Now that he knew where the mercenary group was staying, Santos decided to pay them a visit in person. In addition to clearing up the misunderstanding from yesterday, he also planned to meet this legendary bandit and see if he could reach some agreement with him so that he could gain a foothold in Linde City more quickly.

Since it was a visit, he couldn't bring too many people. To avoid any accidents, Santosen only brought a few old friends and two guards with him.

However, even with such an ordinary matter, an unexpected event still did not spare him.

On the way to the city lord's mansion, Santos's path was blocked.

What blocked his way were dead people, many dead people.

These people were all dressed in regular army armor and were well-equipped. Two of them even had noble coats of arms on their armor, indicating that they were of noble birth. But now they were all dead here, and their deaths were gruesome. Many of them looked terrified, as if they had witnessed something unbelievable.

To be honest, Santos was a little panicked. Although he was a successful businessman, he was neither a nobleman nor a warrior. Although he had witnessed death before, he had never seen so many corpses before.

The people present were all a little scared and started to back out. Some of them were even trembling so badly that they couldn't walk. They all looked at Santos, hoping that he could go back to the city as soon as possible.

"Boss, let's hurry up and leave!"

The deputy spoke tremblingly, but Santos not only refused his request, he even slapped him.

"That slap should have happened yesterday! You brainless idiot! Haven't you figured it out yet? We've already offended them, and if we can't resolve this conflict, what do you think will happen to us?!"

"Yes, yes, boss!"

"Cheer up, everyone! Stop trembling. Remember, we're here to discuss business. Don't show your fear right from the start. We've dealt with bandits before. If the profit is enough, even the devil will cooperate with us."

"But, boss, what if they ask for an exorbitant price? Are we just supposed to do whatever they say?"

"We'll just have to play it by ear when the time comes."

Santos took a deep breath, walked around the corpses in front of him, and led the group forward. After only a few steps, he realized something was wrong and turned to look at the group.

"Where are the two guards?"

"what?"

"I'm asking you, where are the guards who came with us? Has any of you seen them?"

"No, no, boss, we only noticed the body."

Seeing that several of his men were shaking their heads, Santos was puzzled.

That's strange, where did they go?

Was it because they were too scared that they ran away? They're such cowards!

These people sent by the chamber of commerce are so unreliable. Yesterday a murderer came, and today two more people have abandoned their employers and run away!