When the plot-skips players into the game world-Chapter 1274 - 6: A Curiosity That Feels Dangerous to Oneself

"Mr. Hermes..."

Arsene appeared hesitant, a faint look of embarrassment on his face.

The Irisflower man, always maintaining his elegance and poise, now seemed as speechless as a boy who had just shattered his father’s vase.

The great detective from Avalon, Sherlock Hermes... Arsene certainly knew his whereabouts.

Because the other party had been abducted from his territory.

Now, he had broken his rule to contact Hawkeye, ultimately for this very matter. He had to rescue his friend.

"...before answering this question," Arsene cautiously asked, "I would like to know, where did you get this information from?"

"Don’t be wordy, Lord Arsene."

The Son of the Moon’s words were icy and full of murderous intent, yet he provided a detailed answer: "LeiBrun Cafe — that guy told me, if you want to contact him, go there. I just asked the owner not long ago, possibly knowing where that guy went... He told me, at twelve noon today at this bar, I can find the person I’m looking for."

Upon hearing this, Arsene breathed a sigh of relief —

Not many knew about LeiBrun Cafe, and even fewer knew Mr. Lebrun could locate him.

In fact, Maurice Lebrun was Arsene’s "supporter" in his work as a phantom thief.

For example, assisting him in modifying various alchemical tools — like a shovel to quickly dig tunnels, a glider to descend from heights, smoke bombs to deprive people of sight and smell, sprays to reveal fingerprints or watermarks, and other magical tools.

The weapons and armor Arsene now used were also created by him. He was usually responsible for forging handwriting, documents, and IDs for Arsene, or driving him to designated locations, or hiding him during pursuits...

— And most importantly, he took charge of fencing the stolen goods.

Arsene was known as the righteous knight thief because he truly "robs the rich to give to the poor."

After the Irisflower eliminated the nobles, people did not live better lives. Or rather, only some merchants or "new nobles" took their place, becoming new big figures. And they were even worse than the nobles — at least for the nobles, their subjects were personal property, but for these merchants, people were merely consumables.

Thus, the "righteous phantom thief" Arsene appeared.

He specifically targeted those with rotten character who were rich but unkind, using various means to acquire their wealth — whether by theft, fraud, or making them voluntarily relinquish and offer it. Then he would leave a notification letter explaining why he came and what crime the other party committed... Sometimes left after completing the action, sometimes sent even before the action.

Even the process of his "theft" itself was a punishment, an art.

For example, for a gang leader involved in human trafficking, he abducted the man’s wife and daughter, who both fell in love with the charming Arsene in the process; for a businessman guilty of serious tax evasion, he impersonated a tax officer and took away his taxes, and when the businessman realized he had been tricked and reported it, Arsene’s anonymous tip even brought real tax officers, who then collected the same amount again...

The story of the "phantom thief" was well-known in the Irisflower region. The rich hated him, but the poor regarded him as a hero. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

The key here is that the money Arsene stole, aside from making tools, he would not spend a penny on himself. He distributed it all to the poor after fencing the stolen goods.

For example, a widow with only children, she might hear a sudden knock at night, open the door to find a letter — reminding her not to open the door to strangers at night, accompanied by several hundred bucks; or a poverty-stricken family with sick parents, he would quietly deliver medicine to their home, preventing the children from being overcharged by unscrupulous pharmacists when buying medicine.

In this regard, the Irisflower People had a unique complexity — they were victims of society, but almost everyone was also a perpetrator. Orphans with no parents became professional pickpockets, impoverished pharmacists offered differential pricing, and even took advantage of people’s urgent needs by raising prices, while workers, drifters, sailors, and other physically robust professions often engaged in violent black market jobs, or illicitly selling banned items.

In the Irisflower region, an adult who lived to thirty would hardly have not committed a crime. Precisely because of this, people worshiped Arsene as a hero.

— But clearly, there were not a few important figures who held a grudge against Arsene.

If Arsene himself fenced the stolen goods, he would easily be caught. His public identity was Arsen de Vandom, the son-in-law of Duke of Vandome, husband of Angélique de Vandom, the Duke’s second daughter. Although his wife was eight years older, she was still considered a stunning beauty — and she knew Arsene’s true identity.

Or rather, she herself had once been one of the "big figures" stolen by the "phantom thief." Because she lacked sympathy and mocked a peasant woman for her shabby, dirty clothes, her dress was stained just by passing by, Arsene stole one of her rings to buy that girl a set of dignified, clean clothes, allowing her to "not feel inferior because of her appearance"; he also bought Angélique a set of clean rural clothes, telling her "this attire looks good too."

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