Chapter 520

Chapter 520

“The Phantom Thief?” Siegfried asked in response, as this was the first time he had heard about this.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Marquis Keitel replied.

“Who’s the Phantom Thief?”

“The Phantom Thief is... The greatest thief alive,” Marquis Keitel explained.

“The greatest thief...?”

“He is a thief who uses the entire world as his stage. He is infamous for sending a notice before his heist yet still manages to steal valuable treasures.”

Siegfried smirked and muttered under his breath, “Do they all take the same classes? Why the hell are all of them sending out notices before stealing?”

“Pardon me, Your Majesty?”

“N-No, it’s nothing.”

Siegfried had recalled that there were a few thieves portrayed in the media back in reality that would send out notices before their heists just like the Phantom Thief.

“Why don’t they just steal it quietly instead of sending a notice? Do they enjoy the thrill of stealing things that are under heavy security? Are they some kind of a pervert?”

“Haha... Or perhaps they are trying to show their confidence in their skills?” Marquis Keitel said with an awkward laugh.

“Well, I guess that’s possible. But isn’t it too inefficient? Why would they go through all the trouble?”

Siegfried was a very staunch proponent of working efficiently. He valued efficiency over fame, so he could not understand why the Phantom Thief would send out notices before committing a crime.

“So that pervert, the Phantom Thief, is the reason why Martial Law was declared here?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“But what is this pervert trying to steal? I’m just curious.”

“The Phantom Thief is after the Portrait of Evil Ghost, Your Majesty.”

“I guess it’s an expensive painting.”

“It is a painting with an evil ghost trapped inside it. The artistic value of the painting alone is enough to buy an entire small kingdom.”

“Wow?”

“Also, it is one of His Imperial Majesty’s personal favorites, so we had no other choice but to declare Martial Law and limit the movement of outsiders.”

“Ah, is that why you have personally come, Duke Randoll?” Siegfried looked at the duke and asked.

“Precisely. I have come under commands from His Imperial Majesty to protect the Portrait of Evil Ghost from the Phantom Thief.”

“I see...”

“But why have Your Majesty come to Artiur? I heard of Your Majesty’s recent exploits at the Southern Great Jungle, so I thought you would still be there...?”

“Huh? News of that reached all the way to the empire’s capital?” Siegfried asked while slightly shocked.

“The empire’s eyes and ears are everywhere on the continent, Your Majesty,” Duke Randoll replied with a smile. Then, he added, “Those kinds of news come to us even if we do not proactively seek them. And also...”

“Also?”

“Your Majesty is quite rowdy, so your news often comes to us. Hahaha...”

“I-I see...”

“But back to my question, why is Your Majesty here?”

“Ah, I had something I wanted to ask regarding paintings,” Siegfried replied. Then, he placed the painting he received from Deus and showed it, “I wanted to meet Marquis Keitel, and I guess this is what we would call perfect timing?”

Siegfried stared at the marquis and asked, “Do you know anything about this painting by any chance–”

“T-This painting!” Marquis Keitel exclaimed out of shock.

“Huh? Do you know anything about it?”

“This expression... is simply amazing...!”

“Oh?”

“Every stroke of the brush contains the painter’s emotions... Haa...”

Just like Gringore, Marquis Keitel could not hide his amazement the moment he saw the painting.

“So... Do you know anything about this painting?” Siegfried asked with a hint of expectation in his voice.

“About this painting, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, I am not asking about your impression of the painting. I need information about it, such as the person who painted this, for example.”

“Ah, about that...” Marquis Keitel replied. Then, he paused for a moment, looked at Siegfried, and said, “I have no idea.”

Unfortunately, even Marquis Keitel had no information regarding the painter of the painting given by Deus.

***

“Actually, there is nothing known regarding the Phantom Thief. All we know about the thief is that they always warn their target a day or two before stealing the treasure.”

“T-That’s it...?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Even the Thieves’ Guild has no information about the Phantom Thief. They are a phantom just like their name, so trying to catch them with information regarding their personality is useless.”

“...”

“Ah, but there is one other thing we know about this thief.”

“And what is that?”

“They had never killed anyone during their heist. Even in situations where they had no choice but to fight, they would always choose to knock their opponent unconscious rather than kill them. So, we believe the Phantom Thief is against taking lives.”

“Wow... That pervert is living life on hard mode...” Siegfried muttered in awe.

“That is all we know about the Phantom Thief–”

“It seems I have asked a stupid question and wasted everyone’s time. Haha...”

“Not at all, Your Majesty.”

“Please continue with your briefing.”

“Yes.”

Duke Randoll proceeded to lay out their plans to arrest the Phantom Thief.

As for Siegfried...

“Zzz... Phew...! ZzzZzz... Zzzz... Phew...! ZzZzz...”

He plopped on the table and snored as soon as the briefing started.

***

Siegfried was sitting on the roof of the Palace of Beauty under the bright moonlight.

“The moon is very bright today,” Siegfried said.

“Kyu? Is there a problem if the moon is too bright, owner punk?” Hamchi tilted his head in confusion while sitting on Siegfried’s shoulder.

“It’s not. It’s going to be very difficult to sneak in.”

“Kyu?”

“How can you sneak in without anyone noticing with the moon so bright? The entire building is illuminated and do you see how many torches are surrounding this place?”

“Kyuuu! You’re right!”

“But that pervert is coming to steal something on a day like this?”

Siegfried couldn't understand the Phantom Thief. The fact that the thief announced the heist on a day like this meant they had a few loose screws in the head or was just a moron.

“Or does this pervert have cloaking skills on par with the Hunterians?” Siegfried wondered if the thief possessed cloaking skills equal to the Hunterians of the Southern Great Jungle.

Swoosh!

However, the blue magic circle drawn around the Palace of Beauty completely neutralized all cloaking skills, and this was a high-ranking magic circle, so there was no way anyone could get past it without getting caught.

“Just what in the world—”

“Kyu! Will you even find out anything with that head of yours?!”

“What did you say, punk?”

“How will you know the trade secret of a thief called a phantom by people?! Just go with the flow! Kyu!”

“Hmm... I guess you’re right.”

Siegfried raged, thinking that Hamchi was looking down on him yet again, but he soon realized that was not the case.

“How will I know how he does what he does, right?”

“Kyu! That’s right! So forget about trying to figure it out and summon your Night Stalkers and let them patrol the surroundings!”

“Oh? Should I do that?”

Siegfried did exactly as Hamchi suggested and used the Summon Darkness skill.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Then, twenty Night Stalkers emerged and knelt in front of him.

“Hmm... It said these guys are good at hiding their presence at night and serve as excellent scouts, right?” Siegfried muttered to himself while recalling the description of the skill.

Then, he gave the command to the Night Stalkers, “Go and see if there’s anyone suspicious, and report to me at once if you do.”

The moment he gave the order...

Ding!

A message popped up in front of his eyes.