Chapter 59: Phantom Thief Dauphin (3). Showmanship
“I have no intention of falling for such a petty threat.”
The man who had received Dauphin’s calling card—Henri Montborque—declared without hesitation.
“The trade contract was legitimate to begin with! If a bunch of ignorant peasants made mistakes because they couldn’t read, that’s their fault! How does that become my fault? Unbelievable.”
The fact that Montborque Trading Company employees had deliberately misread the contracts aloud to deceive the illiterate farmers meant nothing to Henri.
That, to him, was just the lower ranks acting “on their own.” And even if it hadn’t been on their own? What did it matter? There was no way to prove it.
The upper ranks of the city guard thought much the same.
What mattered to them was that the Montborque Trading Company was one of the top ten firms in all of the Birka Kingdom—and that it had direct business ties with House Sarnos. The injustice and suffering of a few peasants? Not their concern.
More than anything, they were furious about one thing:
This “calling card.”
“A damn thief, announcing his target out in the open and saying exactly when he’s coming? Does he think we’re idiots!?”
In the battle between guards and thieves, why do the guards usually have the disadvantage?
Because they must remain constantly alert, not knowing where or when the thief will strike. The thief, on the other hand, chooses the time and place.