"I think the professor is right this time, my lord......"

"Joe Victor, a filthy rat who walks in the dark, controls almost half of the thieves, thugs and coolies in the streets of the imperial capital, and his name is very unfamiliar among the upper nobles and middle class, but he is the king of the paupers and criminals......"

"Very well, I learned from the mouth of my dear Keith that under the glossy exterior of the Empire, there is such an abominable organization hidden, and it seems that some people in the City Guard need to be beaten!" Auston clapped his hands and stood up, a little anger on his face

Glancing at the Marquis who had become a messenger of justice, Leo asked Keith curiously, "Is this Joe Victor you are talking about, the leader or high-ranking of the legendary Thieves' Guild?" ”

"The Thieves' Guild? What's that, sir? I don't quite understand what you mean, he seems to me just a pile of rubbish who can only hide in the dark and squeeze a little money out of prostitutes and coolies! Maybe the professor is right, this kind of person is best suited to do these things! ”

Next to him, Aldalian, who was leaning against the wall with his shoulders on his shoulders, looked at Keith gloatingly, "I'm glad that Noldor has never had such a person, okay Keith, adults have their own ideas, and there is no problem with letting the right person do the right thing, but can this person be trusted, or can he control it?" ”

Stretching out his hand to stop the daily bickering between the two rivals, Leo walked slowly back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and saw that he began to think, and the others also fell silent......

After a long time, Leo asked Keith again, "Aldalian is right, whether he can control this person is the key, the loyalty of this kind of person in a short period of time must not be trusted, what hobbies or handles does he have, my dear leader?" ”

Tossing the leftover bread into the soup bowl, Keith nodded, struggling to swallow the last bite of food

"The greedy tavern owner took 2 gold coins from me, but he did tell me a lot about Joe, who grew up as an orphan in the worst slums of the imperial capital, but unlike most of his kind, Joe is very repulsive to brute force, and many times he prefers to use his own brain to solve problems"

"Of course, a person who can grow up in that kind of place should have a few strokes in his hands, and Joe is said to be not close to women, low-key but unassuming, and his simple life can make even the most devout church members ashamed, but ...... I don't know why he has a pathological fanaticism for money! ”

After thinking about it, Keith was also a little uncertain and said, "It is said that people who control so many underground forces should not be like this, but Joe is not even as good as the pauper who occasionally comes to party, and the tavern owner said that he has never tipped even half a copper plate in so many years......"

**********************

At 10 a.m., Joe Victor, dressed in a dark robe that he had never changed before, with a wide hat covering almost his entire face, his hands in his sleeves, slowly walked towards the tavern with his head down, and if he got closer, he could see the eyes under his hat, often seemingly unintentionally and quickly sweeping his surroundings, as if he were like a cat, and could not hear anything under his feet as he walked

Before reaching the tavern gate, Joe looked at the knights in fine armor who were leading horses and wearing fine armor next to him, and after a slight pause, he continued to walk towards the gate, not thinking in his heart that he would have anything to do with such a person......

But apparently, things were different from what he expected, and before Joe could reach out and push the door, one of the knights stopped sideways in the middle, looked down at him, who was slightly skinny, and opened his mouth expressionlessly

"Civilian, remember to bow your head first when you see the superior in the future, in addition, today is your lucky day, our master and his guests need to see you!"

"I'm sorry, my lord, I think you recognized the wrong person, I'm just an insignificant little person!" Without any hesitation, as he spoke, Joe immediately stopped, his body arched slightly, and his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings

It's a pity, unlike the previous situation of being sought revenge, before Joe could respond, the other knights around him also gathered around, watching his vigilant movements, and the person at the head pressed the hilt of the sword and said playfully

"That's right, Joe Victor, the tavernkeeper has told us all about your features, and I strongly urge you to take care of your hands and body, or we won't mind carrying you back to your ......"

Shaking his head with a wry smile, this kind of resistance was obviously ineffective, Joe stretched out his hands and threw away the dagger in his hand, and slowly turned around, "I never knew which respected nobleman I had offended, can I know the name of your master, Lord Knight?" ”

"Imperial Governor, merciful Marquis Auston de Meroving, I told you that today is your lucky day, go damn it, we waited an hour in the cold for you......"

The journey was very smooth, Joe did not have any small movements and plans to resist, and his mood quickly regained his composure and calm, he understood that he was afraid that this high-ranking marquis really had something to find him, if it was to seek revenge, any knight could kill himself without causing any trouble

After all, in their eyes, he is really just a pitiful worm, an underground force under his control? For the real nobles, I'm afraid it's not even as good as a joke

**********************

"You're Joe Victor? I've learned a few things about you, besides being a civilian, you're the last intelligence monger? Smugglers of contraband? Or something else? So, which title do you prefer? ”

Leo put his hands behind his back, saying playful and ridiculous words, but his eyes stared at the other party's reaction without blinking, fortunately, this Joe did not disappoint him for the time being, bowed his head slightly, with an impeccable humble expression on his face, but there was no trace of panic and nervousness in his eyes

"Honorable lord, I'm sorry I don't know your name yet, I think that since you have learned so much about me, I will definitely not let me come here just to have some fun, if you have any request, Joe Victor, who is humble as an ant in front of you, is more than willing to serve you, of course...... Well, maybe to be fair you may have to pay a paltry amount of money......"

"Shut up, damn filthy inferior, who gave you the right to make demands? Raise your eyes blinded by greed, and the honorable lord in front of you is the most honored guest of the Marquis, a true Grand Duke from the Northern Realm! ”

Unexpectedly, Joe dared to put forward conditions in front of Leo, and the chief knight of the Marquis's Mansion who personally went to bring him back was furious when he heard this, and roared and took off his long sword with a sheath, and was about to smash it at this bastard who didn't know what to do in his opinion

Smiling and waving his hand, Leo said to the marquis's knight leader that he didn't care, holding his chin and looking at Joe in front of him with a smile, the other party dared to ask for a reward in such a situation, it seems that it is really the same as what Keith said, he has an incomparable desire for money

But Leo doesn't care about this, he has a habit of these things from the earth, and he has to get paid for doing things, which is a very fair thing!

Turning around, Leo walked to the sofa and sat down, tapped his fingers lightly on his knees, thought for a moment and asked, "If, I mean if, I need you to help me investigate some things in the church, about the high-level things, how much gold do I need to pay for this?" ”

Glancing at Leo in surprise, Joe quickly lowered his head again, squinted his eyes and secretly thought to himself, "This is very difficult, my lord, I have never received a similar commission, many informants and relationships need to be re-perfected and managed, this ......"

"Don't think about anything else useless, Mr. Victor, and don't play those little tricks, or I won't mind having another corpse in the ditch in the alley of the imperial capital tomorrow morning, as you often do, maybe this will be very familiar to you?"

Leo put away his smile, looked at Victor, who obviously had the idea of shirking and procrastinating in front of him, and directly pointed out his situation, since he heard this, if he couldn't satisfy Leo, he would definitely not let this person walk out of the mansion completely

Hearing this, Joe's face finally showed a look of struggle and hesitation, and Leo waited patiently without urging, and after a while, Joe finally gritted his teeth and looked up at Leo

"My lord, I have a reason why I can't lose my life, which makes me have to accept your commission, but it requires a huge amount of gold, and I can't complete it on my own, so ......"

"Maybe in the future I will be interested in your reasoning, Mr. Victor, but now I want to correct one point, this is not a commission, because this matter is too important, so pledge your allegiance to me, there will be no problem with the gold, the huge number seems to you, it is just a joke to me, after allegiance, you will get an incomparably sufficient budget and payment!"

Sensing Leo's resoluteness, Joe was silent for a long time before asking, "Can I know the number?" If I swear allegiance to you, my lord? ”

"100,000, 100,000 gold coins, this is just the first batch of investment, which is used to allow you to recruit subordinates and spread out the intelligence network, your own remuneration is not included, if your results satisfy me, I can even promote you to become a real nobleman in the future"

After Leo let the family knight of Auston leave, he stretched out a finger and looked at the man in front of him seriously, and made a promise!

The terrifying number made Joe a little distracted for a while, and after reconfirming it in disbelief, he even had a trace of extremely hidden ecstasy on his face, and bowed deeply to Leo and said

"If what you say is true, my lordship, I can even sell my soul to the devil for this......"

(To be continued.) Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info)