Chapter 169: Problems

Now that he had spoken with the masses, as expected this group of people showed up.

A dozen men came and expressed their wish to see him. Galfez explained that those people are prominent figures of the town. The store owner, landowner, and gold-ranked adventurers stood among them.

Uriel took a brief glance at them and whispered to him that they are the heart that pumps the blood to this town. If he wants any chance to succeed in his mission, it is vital to be able to work with them.

However, despite Uriel's sincere attempt, Tristan merely smiled. "Really interesting terms you used there, Uriel. I think I like you even more now."

The fat elf frowned at Tristan's reaction. It was clear that he didn't take his warning seriously.

"Welcome, welcome all." Tristan gave the best smile he could muster. It appears that he decided to start acting as a mayor, and now one of his responsibilities is hosting the town meeting.

Among the group, Tristan could see three elders, each wearing extravagant clothes lined with beautiful, glittering ornaments. Their attire made them stand out amongst the rowdy crowd and their voice was loud for their age.

It appears that the root of this town's problem has shown itself.

They are land owners of this city, and all of them spoke about one main problem.

"Orcs!" One elder spoke, while glancing at the female orc standing next to him.

"These orcs have been attacking us every so often and killing our citizens!" Another man added.

Tristan rubbed his forehead. All these people said the same things, their rants all a variation of how orcs messed up their lands and stole their resources. It seems that all these people believed the orcs to be the source of their problems, and with them gone, all the people who fled would return, and their city would flourish again.

Tristan took some time to cast a brief glance to Karra who stood not far from him. To his relief, she didn't show a single care at all.

"My lord, please, we hope to believe the words you just said before. Please help us get rid of all of these orcs. Over there you can see Connor, the town hero and he knows all of the orcs' camp." One villager said and pointed somewhere behind him. 

"Hero?" Tristan said in his mind and glanced at the direction the villager pointed at. He saw a blond haired brawny man he remembered as the golden badge adventurer from Carleon

"Yes, My Lord." Another villager added. "Connor managed to slay an orc chief a few months ago. He is a proud Carleon hero, and we all have nothing but gratitude for him.

Tristan quickly used his system to check the strength of this 'hero'.

[Human]

[Battle Power: 112]

[Spirit Force: 163]

Well, he had to give credit where credit is due. This flaunted 'hero' apparently has the strength to back it up. He has better stats than Galfez, the veteran head guard. Even better, his stats are similar to Serene and some other top disciples of the Vanyar. For a human to be able reach such strength, his confidence was not baseless.

As for Tristan, he had disliked the man since the first time their eyes met. Admittedly, his reason was petty. It was simply because the golden rank adventurer has a figure and charisma that reminds him of the bastard King of Arcadia.

All of these reports show how the citizens seemed to have so many reasons for hating the orcs, considering how they quickly demanded the new mayor to eradicate the orc camps in the vicinity.

To test the waters, Tristan decided to ask about the possibility of having an agreement with the orcs, but the group responded with outrage.

Other than the orcs, they also talked about the rampant thieving and brawling on the streets. These expressed the dire condition of city public order and security.

Finally, the crowd expressed their concern for the barbarians' base. Being the southernmost town, they have to live in constant fear of barbarian attacks. 

The last attack was, fortunately, able to be repelled only by the help of the soldiers from Erantell and the capital city now that they were already gone, the people once more in constant worry.

The few dozen people gave Tristan a piece of their mind before they left.

After making sure no one was left there, Tristan started asking questions to the head guard. 

Galfez explained how the continuous battle with the orcs and barbarians killed more town guards than they could train. There were also many who left their post and ran up north with their family. As a result, they did not have enough manpower to cover all the sites.

The situation forces them to hire adventurers for help. It was the adventurers who were allocated to protect the surrounding Carleon city so the remaining guards could focus on the public safety of the town.

Uriel also added that the public order was in critical condition due to the loss of so many guards. The fat elf suggested for Tristan to forget about his plan to bring his orc warrior to the town as it will further increase the citizen outrage.

As for the barbarians, after their latest invasion, they have taken one of the port towns just half a day away from Carleon town.

Previously They thought the barbarians would return home after their failed attempt, but it has been a month, and spies still mentioned activity within the ruined town. It seems they have set up a base in the place.

On top of all these problems, there was also the murderous case of the mayor. Not surprisingly, it was reported that the previous mayor died during his visit to one of the mines. They believed it was the orcs who killed him.

All these problems had become his, and Tristan once again cursed the Arcadian king.

Noticing this, Serene glanced at him and smirked.

"So, do you regret promising to the citizens, now?"