Great Thief Jero

Ever since participating in the "Elk War," Zhou Ming had become a seasoned veteran in the several major battles that occurred around the territory over the following two years.

Ultimately, these wars were between noble knights and had nothing to do with farmers like him.

Moreover, these lords and knights who spent all day training in their castles were already bored stiff. They might as well fight a few battles with neighboring lords to stretch their muscles.

As for the farmers who went onto the battlefield, one purpose was to add to the lively atmosphere, and the other was to provide them with kills. A few dozen dead farmers were completely insignificant.

What was truly dangerous for the farmers, as Uncle O'Neil had said, were the bandits who were active in the mountains and forests for a long time, skilled in various traps and poisons.

Zhou Ming had followed along on one bandit extermination operation. A group of only eight or nine bandits was pursued by Baron Connor with over a thousand men for more than ten days. Only after suffering over twenty casualties did they drive the bandits out of the territory, killing only three of them.

During that encirclement, Zhou Ming also nearly stepped into a trap filled with sharpened wooden stakes.

However, Zhou Ming didn't come away from that encirclement empty-handed.

Among the cunning bandits, there was one unlucky fellow who was hit by an arrow shot into his thigh by Edward. Because he couldn't run fast enough, this unlucky guy was abandoned by his companions.

Following the faint blood trail in an inconspicuous mountain gully, Zhou Ming discovered the unlucky guy hiding in the bushes.

"Come out, stop hiding."

Zhou Ming pointed the spear in his hand towards the bushes.

"Chirp~!"

A blue-glowing dagger flew straight towards Zhou Ming's face!

Zhou Ming, who was already alert, tilted his head, and the dagger flew past his face, embedding itself in the dirt slope behind him.

"I'll count to three. If you don't come out, I'll stab! One, two..."

Before he could count to three, a self-mocking voice came from the bushes: "I never thought I, Great Thief Jero, would die today at the hands of an unknown kid. Lucky kid, hand me over to Earl William of Earl Mason Territory, and you can get a bounty of 500 gold coins from him."

Zhou Ming sneered, "By the time I get that 500 gold coin bounty, I'll probably be on the verge of death, and the gold coins will be snatched away, right?"

This cunning bandit was still playing tricks even when death was imminent.

Great Thief Jero was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Very clever kid, it seems you want to kill me directly?"

Zhou Ming put away his spear and said, "If I wanted to kill you, would I waste so much breath? I would have already stabbed the spear in just now."

Great Thief Jero was even more surprised: "You don't plan to kill me? My head can be exchanged for quite a few rewards from your lord."

"I don't care for those small rewards. Keeping you is more useful to me!"

Zhou Ming threw the spear aside, squatted down, and carried this bandit, who was about thirty years old, with yellow hair, brown eyes, a lean build, and looked very much like a barbarian from the west, to a safe place. He treated his wound and fed him some dried meat and cheese.

"Hey, little guy, why did you save me?"

More than ten days later, Great Thief Jero, whose wound had almost healed, finally couldn't help but ask with a heart full of confusion.

He had traveled north and south and met all sorts of people, but he had never seen a sixteen-year-old boy who hid so much in his heart and did so many things that were difficult for him to understand.

"I saved your life because I want to leave myself a way out for the future."

While changing his dressing, Zhou Ming looked up and said frankly.

"A way out, what way out? Do you want to be a bandit like me? Little guy, I admit you're a good prospect, but being a bandit is not a fun thing. When the bounty on your head is worth more than five hundred gold coins, you have to be careful of the companions around you who might attack you at any time... This job is not easy."

Great Thief Jero shook his head. Being a thief might seem carefree, but behind that facade, who could truly understand the risks involved?

Zhou Ming explained, "You've misunderstood my meaning. The fallback I'm referring to isn't necessarily joining you as a thief. It's hoping that when I encounter problems in the future, I can find someone who can help. I saved your life, you owe me a favor, so I want you to help me."

"Kid, it's true you saved my life, but I didn't agree to help you with anything, especially if that help might cost me my life. Don't be so wishful!"

Great Thief Jero shook his head. Among the people he knew, there were those who would draw their swords on teammates for a hundred gold coins, and those who would stab their brothers twice for a decent-looking prostitute. He really hadn't encountered many who, after being saved, would risk their own lives in return.

"Don't worry, I have a sense of proportion. I won't put your life at risk. Besides, you have a brain yourself. If something is dangerous, even if someone forces you to do it, you won't do it..."

Zhou Ming threw out another bait, saying, "Furthermore, you thieves, before you kill, set fires, and rob homes, don't you think a little? You come to a territory you know nothing about, see valuable things and rush to steal them, see beautiful women and pounce on them, without even sending someone to scout ahead, to see whose house has the most money, whose women are the most beautiful, whose defenses are lax and easy to rob... Are all so-called great thieves like you?"

"Cough cough! Kid, shut up! We always scout before we act. Among the dozen or so territories nearby, Glan Territory is the richest, otherwise why would we come here?"

Great Thief Jero coughed violently twice, his old face flushing. What this kid said seemed logical, but could he possibly know more than someone who had been roaming the world for over a decade?

In reality, this was somewhat related to Zhou Ming. In the past ten years, due to the habit of centralized manure disposal and frequent application of manure fertilizer, the crop yields in Glan Territory had increased, and the outbreaks of plague had decreased. Even though some population was lost due to war, compared to many surrounding territories, Glan Territory indeed had the largest population and the most abundant resources.

"The king's treasury also has money, why don't you go and rob that... If you ask me, you still don't pay enough attention to intelligence work. Otherwise, you wouldn't have failed to get money and instead suffered heavy casualties."

Being spoken to like this by a kid who was almost a generation younger, even though Great Thief Jero understood that the kid had a point, he was still very unconvinced and said, "You kid can only talk. I've been roaming the world for over a decade, what kind of treasures and women haven't I robbed? This time was just a small accident, you're not a thief, what do you know?"

"I really don't have the right to criticize you... How about this, after your injuries heal, you call your remaining companions over. I'll scout the way for you, and we'll rob Rose Town again. If we succeed, all the treasures are yours. If we fail, you can do whatever you want with me, and you can also consider the favor you owe me settled. How about that?"

Zhou Ming felt that without showing some actual results, this Great Thief Jero probably wouldn't easily obey him.

"Kid, did you say that?"

Great Thief Jero was tempted. Although the kid's tone was a bit arrogant, the plan he proposed was indeed very attractive. Moreover, as the kid said, they really paid too little attention to intelligence. They only knew there was money here, and then they came to rob, not knowing that the knight squad here was so powerful...

If they relied on this kid to scout out the route and target, and then strike and leave, the risk would definitely be much lower than last time.

Let's try it according to what this kid said!