The Nimble Thief's questions in Phantom Blade Zero are actually asked by his brother, the Gentle Thief, and the three correct answers are: he stole a patron's jade belt at thirteen, the hairpin's head was a butterfly, and the letter never says what became of the child. Get all three right in one conversation and you receive the Silent Wrap accessory, which ends the side quest Honor Among Thieves. Below you will find where the letter drops, where the Gentle Thief waits, what happens if you slip up, and why you should finish it before leaving the Crimson Forest.
We compared the answers across Beebom, Gfinity Esports, Power Up Gaming and KeenGamer guides published after launch, and checked the surrounding missables against PowerPyx, in November 2026. The guides word the answer options slightly differently, so we flag that where it matters.
Nimble Thief or Gentle Thief: Who Asks the Questions
The two names cause most of the confusion around this quest. Power Up Gaming explains the relationship clearly: the Nimble Thief is an enemy you fight in the Crimson Forest, and he is the one carrying the letter. The Gentle Thief is his brother, who lives at the Thieves' Camp. The letter is addressed to the Gentle Thief, but he cannot read, so when you deliver it he tests whether you actually read it by quizzing you on its contents.
That is why people search for the Nimble Thief's questions when the quiz comes from the Gentle Thief. Both searches lead to the same three questions. The quest that ties them together is Honor Among Thieves, a side tale in the Crimson Forest, and it starts automatically the moment you pick up the letter.
It is also a short quest, which is part of why it gets skipped. There is no boss tied to it beyond the thief himself, and the reward is a single accessory, so it is easy to leave for later and then lose when the story pushes on.
Where to Find the Nimble Thief and His Letter
Power Up Gaming gives the clearest route. Travel to the Outlaw Trap Bell, the bell just before the Jing Ye boss fight, and rest there. From the bell, head southwest and up the path that leads away from the main boss arena. Follow the trail through the red foliage to a small area with a few enemies. The Nimble Thief is at a campfire; defeat him and he drops the Blood Letter. Picking it up starts Honor Among Thieves.
Other guides describe the same spot as the bell preceding Jing Ye's arena, so if your bell is named differently, look for the last rest point before that fight. Gfinity's guide simply says an enemy in the Crimson Forest drops the letter, which matches.
The Outlaw Trap Bell is a good place to slow down for other reasons too. KeenGamer's relic guide notes that a cave near this bell holds the Crimson Forest Tunnel Crank, which you need for the Sect Leader's Snuff Bottle in the mining pit beneath the Outlaw Trap area. Grab it on the same trip so you are not walking this stretch twice. And when you do take on Jing Ye, the Outlaw, after the quest, KeenGamer lists his reward as the Outlaw Warblade, a lifesteal weapon that suits an aggressive early build.
Before you hand the letter over, open it. Power Up Gaming notes you can read it in the Archives from the menu. Reading it yourself is the honest way to answer the quiz, and it is also a useful check if the answer wording on your screen differs from what a guide lists.
All Three Questions and the Correct Answers
Light spoiler: the answers below reveal what the Nimble Thief wrote to his brother. Skip ahead if you want to read the letter first.
| Question | Correct answer |
|---|---|
| What did he do at thirteen that he never stopped bragging about? | Stole a patron's jade belt |
| What did the head of the hairpin that doomed him look like? | Butterfly |
| What became of the poor family's child? | The letter never says; his fate is unknown |
Watch the wording on the first answer. Beebom and Gfinity give it as stealing a patron's jade belt, while Power Up Gaming and Gfinity's own quick summary call the owner a landowner. Whatever noun your version uses, the correct option is the one about a jade belt, and every guide we opened agrees on that. If an option on your screen mentions a different treasure, it is a distractor.
The third question is the one people get wrong because it feels like a trick. The letter simply does not mention the child's fate, and the right option says so. Pick the answer that admits the letter is silent rather than any option that invents an outcome.
Where the Gentle Thief Waits
With the letter in hand, cross the bridge to the Thieves' Camp. Power Up Gaming places the Gentle Thief in the hut on the right side of the camp. Beebom names the location as the Ninja Village in the Crimson Forest, while Power Up Gaming and Gfinity both say the Thieves' Camp. Head to the Thieves' Camp first, since that is where the letter's route leads, and look for the hut on the right.
The camp is worth a full sweep while you are there. Quick Hand Zhang's Crimson Forest hideout is reached from the Thieves' Camp Bell, and two of his three Crimson Forest relics, the Bloodstained Seal and the Ancient Crossbow, are tied to the camp and its locked dungeon. Our Quick Hand Zhang hideout guide covers the climb to his cave and the cranks those relics need.
What Happens if You Answer Wrong
A wrong answer does not fail the quest. Gfinity reports that choosing the wrong option ends the conversation and you can start it again and retry, and Beebom describes it as sending you back to the start of the quiz without losing the quest. In practice that means you can work through the questions one at a time if you forget the letter, though it takes longer.
The one rule all guides agree on is that the reward needs all three answers correct in the same conversation. If you are unsure, make a manual save next to the hut first. PowerPyx notes there are 20 manual save slots, and one spare slot is plenty for a quiz like this.
A practical tip: answer from the letter, not from memory of a guide. The answer options can be phrased differently from what you read online, and the wording varies between guides as well. If you keep the Archives entry open just before the conversation, matching the jade belt, the butterfly and the silence about the child takes seconds.
The Silent Wrap and Whether It Is Worth Slotting
The Silent Wrap reduces the noise of your footsteps and assassinations. Guides disagree on the base number: Beebom says 50 percent, Gfinity says 40 percent, and Power Up Gaming gives a 40 to 50 percent range at base, rising to as much as 90 percent once refined with materials such as Dust and a Tainted Crystal Shard.
KeenGamer's accessory tier list places it in C tier, alongside other utility pieces, which is fair: in a boss-heavy game, a stealth accessory rarely earns one of your scarce slots. It shines when you clear groups by assassinating them one at a time, and it pairs well with the Endless Renewal ability, which restores HP and Sha-Chi on assassinations. Our best build guide explains when a utility slot makes sense and when to fill it with damage.
Do It Before You Leave the Crimson Forest
Power Up Gaming warns that the quest can be missed if you advance the main story too far, and recommends finishing it while you are still in the Crimson Forest. The good news is that once you have the letter you cannot accidentally skip Jing Ye, because you have to cross that bridge to reach the camp anyway.
The bigger deadline is the end of the region. KeenGamer's walkthrough says defeating Bai Chilian, the Crimson Forest's final boss, permanently closes some Crimson Forest and Weeping Creek Valley quests, and PowerPyx lists Purge the Sect, Festering Secrets and the Feather Bow among them. Treat the Bai Chilian fight as a checkpoint: before you walk into it, open your tale log, make sure Honor Among Thieves reads as complete, and check that the Silent Wrap is in your accessory list.
The forest is full of these windows. PowerPyx marks several Weeping Creek Valley tales, including Apprentice Healer and the Medicine Case, as failing after the Jing Ye fight, and others as failing after the Crimson Forest's main boss. If you rushed the first region, our Weeping Creek Valley map guide lists what is still recoverable. Apprentice Healer matters beyond its own reward, since PowerPyx lists it as required for The Healer's Legacy, one of the game's seven missable trophies. For the order the regions close in, see our chapter list.
Want Every Accessory Without the Side Quests?
Honor Among Thieves is one of many short tales that each pay out a single accessory. If you would rather have the whole collection unlocked and upgraded from the start, the store's mega modded save for PS5 and PC includes every accessory and medicine fully upgraded, the full weapon roster, 99,999,999 currency and resources at 9,999, in four fresh Cycle 1 save slots.
You need to own the game already, the save is not available for Xbox or Nintendo Switch 2, and the platinum trophy is sold separately. The full range for the game is on the Phantom Blade Zero store page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Gentle Thief's questions in Phantom Blade Zero?
What the Nimble Thief did at thirteen, what the head of the hairpin looked like, and what became of the poor family's child. The answers are the jade belt, Butterfly, and that the letter never says.
Where is the Nimble Thief?
At a campfire southwest of the Outlaw Trap Bell, up a path away from Jing Ye's arena in the Crimson Forest. He drops the Blood Letter.
Where is the Gentle Thief?
In the hut on the right side of the Thieves' Camp, across the bridge from the Jing Ye area.
What happens if you get the Gentle Thief's question wrong?
The conversation ends, but the quest does not fail. Talk to him again and retry until all three answers are correct in one go.
What does the Silent Wrap do?
It makes your footsteps and assassinations quieter, by roughly 40 to 50 percent at base according to the guides we checked.
Is Honor Among Thieves missable?
Power Up Gaming says it can be missed if you push the story too far, so finish it while you are still in the Crimson Forest.