100: Could it be... that simple?

“???”

Lister, inside the room, heard the burly man's voice, and his expression immediately became incredibly strange.

This guy is a damn talent!

He had heard every single word of the conversation between the burly man at the door and the other thief.

Compared to the other man's flattering laughter, the burly man called 'Boss' was clearly even more of an oddball.

At this moment, Red, who also felt quite speechless, looked at Lister and made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.

Lister, understanding his meaning, shook his head and signaled him to continue waiting.

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In the other rooms, Spartacus and the others, who had already gripped their longswords, kept Lister's instructions in mind and didn't make a sound.

The next second, the 'thud, thud, thud' of knocking sounded again.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~

Aside from the sound of the raging rain, there was no other noise.

The burly man, having waited without a response, said with a puzzled look, “Hey! There's actually no one... forget it, looks like no one's home. Brothers, go find shelter from the rain in the neighboring houses yourselves.”

With that, he exerted force with his hand, pushed the door open directly, and walked into the room without waiting.

The next moment, a pitch-black, sharp longsword was suddenly pressed against his neck.

The burly man's expression changed instantly, and his reaction was extremely quick. Only a second late, he immediately twisted his body, trying to escape.

But facing Red, who was a Silver Knight, this thief leader—who had only reached Bronze Rank 2 and had some modicum of strength—still had no power to resist at all.

Red's arm trembled slightly, and the blade turned flat, striking the burly man's shoulder blade.

Immediately, an indescribably terrifying force pressed down on his body from above.

Simultaneously, his legs buckled, and he knelt heavily on the cold, hard floor.

In his panic, he instinctively jerked his head up, locking eyes directly with Lister's gaze, which was filled with a sense of majesty.

Before he could speak, a series of 'clack, clack, clack' sounds from clashing weapons suddenly rang out from outside the door.

A moment later, Spartacus walked quickly into the room from outside, saying with a respectful expression, “Lord Lister, everyone has been captured alive. Our side suffered no casualties.”

Hearing his words, and combining them with the attire of Lister and the others, the burly man cried out in shock, “You are people from the Ironthorn Territory!”

Even though it was freezing cold and raining heavily, a large amount of crystal-like beads of sweat had already broken out on his forehead.

Lister said with an appreciative look, “Well done. Spartacus, go settle those people outside first.”

“Yes, Lord Lister.”

Once Spartacus's back disappeared, Lister's gaze turned toward the burly man in front of him.

While drinking hot milk, he said leisurely, “You must be that thief leader with the title 'Met a Thief Upon Stepping Out,' right?”

“I recall the one who attacked my convoy last time was also you, wasn't it?”

Two questions in a row made the burly man's back turn cold instantly.

Fortunately, he prided himself on having seen the world; suppressing his fear, he gave a forced smile and said:

“The Lord is joking. This lowly one is just a small thief leader, how would I dare attack your convoy? You must have remembered incorrectly.”

“Heh!” Lister sneered, then asked back, “Do you take me for a fool?”

Hearing this, the burly man knew the last straw in his heart was gone. He lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, “Since the Lord already knows, why ask more?”

“That's right, I am the leader of 'Met a Thief Upon Stepping Out,' Seguin Badfer. Attacking your convoy last time was my idea; it has nothing to do with my brothers. If you want to kill or skin someone, come at me.”

Lister felt surprised upon hearing this. He hadn't expected this guy to be quite loyal. Combined with what Seguin Badfer had said outside the door earlier...

He felt that this guy didn't seem that evil, but this was only a temporary thought; he still needed to investigate further.

“I didn't say I was going to kill you right now. There are some things I want to ask you, and I hope you can answer truthfully.”

At this point, Lister's eyes turned sharp. “Of course, if you are unwilling to answer, or if you tell lies, heh heh...”

“You wouldn't want your brothers to die one by one before your eyes, would you?”

“You...”

Seguin Badfer's face turned flushed with suppressed anger. Finally, he could only grit his teeth and spit out two words: “So ruthless!”

Then, looking dejected, he said, “Lord, please ask.”

“Very good. A wise man submits to circumstances.” Lister chuckled, then said seriously, “First question: why did you attack my convoy last time?”

Seguin said without thinking, “Because before attacking your convoy, we were struck by other lords and had to hide for a long time.”

“When we came out again, we were empty-handed and incredibly poor. We just happened to see your noble carriage, so we tried to attack it.”

“The reason for the attack is that simple?”

“Could it... not be that simple?”

Hearing his matter-of-fact counter-question, Lister was stunned. This development was completely different from what he had envisioned.

Shouldn't it be that you were hired by someone specifically to come and attack?

The time, the place, the people—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed premeditated. To say it was a coincidence was something he found truly hard to believe.

But now, under his powerful perception abilities, he really couldn't see any sign that Seguin Badfer was lying.

For a moment, he fell into deep thought... He had always kept in mind the matter of how he was supposed to inherit the rank of Viscount but became a Baron instead.

It wasn't for the sake of the title, but rather he was always bothered by the underlying problems it implied.

After all, before his cheap Viscount father died in battle, his predecessor had never done anything to violate the laws of the kingdom.

Furthermore, the inheritance system for titles was very strict; how could it be lowered so easily?

Moreover, when his cheap father was alive, he was a Viscount directly under an Earl, and that Earl's power was not weak.

By all rights, that Earl should not have allowed the only son of his subordinate to suffer such unfair treatment.

As for offending the direct Earl, in his memory, his cheap Viscount father really hadn't done so; on the contrary, their relationship was actually quite good.

But now, according to Seguin's words, his situation didn't seem that dangerous.

From the time his rank was lowered to when he took office in his territory, he really hadn't encountered any oppression or assassination attempts in his memory.

Perhaps the truth really was different from what he originally thought.

Thinking of this, his original idea of being harmed by a powerful hostile force began to waver, and he became somewhat bewildered.

But then again, even if the attack by Seguin and his men was a coincidence, other possibilities weren't out of the question.

Although it was a good thing if no one was plotting against him, that vague, elusive feeling was the most uncomfortable part.

This damn divination can't even give me a single hint!

While he was feeling a bit frantic inside, Seguin, with a bitter face, asked cautiously:

“Lord, could you please ask a bit faster? My legs are starting to feel uncomfortable from kneeling.”