"Are there many against a few?" Upon hearing Jia Lie’s words, Sherlock, dressed in a splendid pink noble outfit, jumped down from the carriage without fear—that was clear from the amused look on his face as he scrutinized the self-proclaimed robber Jia Lie and confirmed, "Do you think that you have more people than us?"
As Sherlock finished speaking, one after another, strong, brawny men wielding sharp weapons appeared from the caravan and kept coming, eventually forming several rows. They sharply contrasted with the gang of skinny, sharp-faced robbers armed with decrepit weapons—they were not in the same league.
Evidently, Sherlock had made sure to hire plenty of help to ensure the safety of the transport caravan, which was why he had stayed at the port for many days before leaving.
Seeing the numerous people behind Sherlock, Jia Lie stared blankly at first. His eyes scanned over them, yet he did not lose confidence. He seriously said, "You indeed have quite a few people, but only in the thirties, while I have forty-seven! Thus, my men still have the upper hand!"
"Are you sure you have the upper hand? Are you sure it’s forty-seven?" Sherlock asked with a smile.
"Of course, it’s forty-seven," Jia Lie asserted confidently. "I personally recruited each one of them, and I can clearly state all their names."
"Perhaps," Sherlock sighed, "but for you, forty-seven is already in the past. Now... there are maybe just over ten left."
"Look behind you," Sherlock couldn’t help but suggest.
Jia Lie quickly turned his head and glanced behind, freezing on the spot. He saw that more than half of the forty or so men who were originally lying in ambush had already run off, and the few remaining were shivering tremendously and looked panic-stricken, as if they were about to flee any moment.
Sherlock’s caravan guards unloaded two heavy, nearly one-meter-long Metal Magic Rune Crossbows from the coach and aimed them at the robbers. They didn’t even need to trigger them; the remaining dozen or so robbers dispersed in a flurry, clumsily but efficiently, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving Jia Lie behind.
Jia Lie’s expression went from stunned to blank, then to shocked, angry, bewildered, and numb...
Finally, with a vacant look in his eyes, Jia Lie turned back to Sherlock, opened his mouth, but failed to utter a word.
Sherlock, on the other hand, began speaking, looking at Jia Lie, "Your men aren’t really up to scratch, huh? I’m a bit curious where you found them."
"They’re from nearby cities," Jia Lie said dryly. "They’re all thieves and such. I had just managed to persuade them to join me for a big heist, but..."
Halting mid-sentence, Jia Lie seemed in pain as he scratched his head with a bit of iron disappointment, "But I really didn’t expect them to be so spineless, all of them! Yes, every one a coward! If I were a thief, I certainly wouldn’t be like that!"
Sherlock shrugged and asked further, "Then why did you choose them?"
"Because someone told me that for a robbery, it’s good to have more people, so..." Jia Lie said, somewhat vexed.
"So, you picked them?" Sherlock interrupted Jia Lie and shook his head, unable to restrain a smile. "In my view, simply having more people isn’t a solution. You really aren’t cut out for being a robber. Perhaps being a thief or something would really suit you better."
In the end, Sherlock shook his head, turned around, and went back to the carriage, clearly not planning to bother with this matter anymore.
Sherlock’s hired guards, with a questioning look, pointed at the solitary Jia Lie and asked, "Young Master Sherlock, what do we do with this guy?"
"Just teach him a lesson and dump him by the roadside, then we can continue on our journey," Sherlock replied nonchalantly.
"Yes," the guard nodded and then asked, "How much of a lesson should we teach? Should we cripple him?"
"There’s a saying, ’Don’t hit the face when you’re beating someone.’ Have you heard of that?" Sherlock said.
"You mean..." the guard realized.
"Exactly," Sherlock nodded seriously. "No need to cripple him, but don’t let him off too easily either. He dared to try robbing my things. Hum, hit him hard in the face, so hard his dear mother wouldn’t recognize him."
"Eh... understood." The guard nodded and the next moment, without hesitation, pounced on Jia Lie and began the beating.
The sound of fists against flesh rang out, interspersed with Jia Lie’s screams.
Before long, the caravan was on the road again.
Jia Lie lay by the roadside, his face swollen like a pig’s head, barely able to open his eyes, watching the distant caravan murmuring in confusion, "Why... why... why!"
Sherlock wouldn’t answer Jia Lie’s question because he was leading the caravan through a lengthy journey to a massive manor.
Upon reaching the manor’s gate, he ushered the caravan inside, unloading the treasures he had brought from the East Coast, and walked toward the manor’s interior with his young maid, Lucia.
It was eerily quiet inside the manor. Sherlock frowned slightly and headed straight to the largest room in the manor—the living room.
With a sound, Sherlock pushed open the door and was about to enter when his body suddenly stopped at the threshold. Looking inside, he saw numerous seats, all occupied by smiling people watching him.
Naturally, these were all members of his family. He had been wondering why he couldn’t see anyone in the manor, and now it seemed they had all gathered here waiting for him. This made him feel rather uneasy.
However, Sherlock managed to force a smile and, looking at the people in the living room, asked, "So many people waiting for me, huh? Is there something going on? Did something major happen to the family? Earlier when I was outside, the news I received through the Crystal Ball seemed quite bad."
"You don’t need to worry about the Crystal Ball," an elderly man seated at a higher position, his eyes shining, said to Sherlock, "that was just a method to make you come back sooner, otherwise who knows how long you might have stayed outside."
Sherlock’s unease grew, and he tentatively swallowed, asking, "Why did you want me back? What do you want me to do?"
The old man did not immediately answer this question but brought up another matter, "Do you know the Kana family? They have always had a good relationship with our family. That family has a daughter named Caroline, who is not yet married, very beautiful, and also very powerful. I heard she’s now a second-level Wizard."
Sherlock’s body tensed uncontrollably as he exclaimed, "You want me to marry her?"
"The other party is generally not bad, and you can even say excellent. When you were little, you even played together..." the old man continued.