Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The night was not very clear, and the stars were like shy children. They were so shy that all of them were hiding. Even the full moon was half-covered as if it was teasing everyone.
But even with such a night, it could not stop the noise, the excitement, and the hustle and bustle that the was destined to occur in Anrola City.
Before entering the city, the joyous sounds from inside Anrola City had spread far and wide. The colorful lights that hung high in the city shone down on the people who were cheering with joy. They looked a little like the precious seven-colored birds from the kingdom’s eastern area. People were walking and running around the streets of Anrola City. Whether it was the poor slums of the city or the noble and rich areas, the joy that everyone was expressing was from the bottom of their hearts.
What kind of feast was successful?
A feast that made everyone happy.
People in the poor areas were able to get free food and drink for three days, while people in wealthy areas were able to get access to the Tindus Castle. Businessmen and crop growers were also able to get their taxes cut by half this month… This was not just the happiness of people in this city, it was the happiness of everyone in the entire domain.
The old coachman operated the brown carriage as they entered the city smoothly and stopped at Old Henry’s Carriage Shop.
Sean and Cecilia got down from the carriage with surprise and curiosity in their eyes.
“Sir, are you satisfied with your trip?” A middle-aged man ordered his subordinates to take the old coachman away for a rest, while the middle-aged man himself went up to greet Sean in person. Someone at the coach shop in Arthur City must have informed this middle-aged man about Sean’s arrival in advance.
“It wasn’t bad.” Sean nodded with a warm smile on his face. The arrogance in his bones stayed hidden. The demeanor and aura of a child from an ancient aristocratic family, which contained one-tenths warmth, two-tenths calmness, and seven-tenths indifference, was performed quite well by Sean.
Cecilia gently grasped the corner of Sean’s clothes and suppressed a snicker. Her pride and coldness, like that of a little princess, were even more obvious than Sean. There was a bit of curiosity in her eyes, but instead of looking around, she stood next to Sean with restraint and caution. She looked around with only the corner of her eyes. Her delicate and timid appearance made her even more adorable.
Using the most popular phrase used on earth, it was like…
The old Oscar leading the young Oscar farther and farther away on the Oscar road.
The shopkeeper of the carriage store became more respectful when he saw what Sean and Cecilia looked like.
“Why is it so lively here?” Sean looked around. He could see that everyone’s celebrations were not fake and that they were genuinely happy. However, in his memory, this was not the case in the game.
“Sir, you have come at the right time.” The shopkeeper smiled and explained, “There is a three-day celebration happening right now.”
“What is going on?” Sean’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. This movement was so subtle that even the shopkeeper who stood in front of Sean had not noticed it.
“More than half a month ago, Viscount Drouin, who had been away for a long time, finally returned. It is said that he has brought back an elixir that can cure the old Marquis.” The shopkeeper smiled and said, “When the aristocrats of different domains heard this news, they all came to Tindus Castle. Even Count Mario came the moment he heard the news.”
“Originally, we didn’t know about any of this. After all, civilians like us…” The shopkeeper smiled with embarrassment. He had not finished his sentence, but the meaning implied was obvious. However, there was no reason to let ordinary citizens know about matters related to aristocrats. “But later, Count Mario issued an announcement, saying that Viscount Drouin has brought back an elixir that can cure the old Marquis, and that all the taxes in the domain will be halved for three days. All the expenses within these three days will be taken care of by the aristocrats… For this, we have been preparing the celebrations for a long time. In the afternoon today, the official documents should have been distributed to all parts of the domain.”
Sean and Cecilia looked at each other when they heard the shopkeeper’s explanation. They both saw a trace of surprise in each other’s eyes.
There was no doubt that this was a plot.
Count Mario had planned this out beautifully. Drouin had no choice but to follow what Count Mario planned.
After all, the news regarding the serious illness that the old Marquis Perot had was true. It was also true that Drouin had found the Ice Heart Grass. The old Marquis Perot was deeply loved by the citizens of the domain, so it was natural to hold a full celebration at this moment. However, whether it was Sean, Drouin, or Mario, they all knew the truth. It was impossible to cure Marquis Perot with Ice Heart Grass alone. But now, everyone was already celebrating the news on such a large scale. If Marquis Perot’s illness showed no signs of improvement, then the citizens of the domain would naturally start to have some twisted thoughts.
To think of it a little more viciously, if Count Mario was to let the old Marquis Perot die at a time like this, then all the unfavorable clues would point towards Drouin. When that time arrived, Mario could even justifiably use killing relatives as an excuse and have his private army march to Tindus Castle. With the lost time and support of his people, Drouin could only try to survive. But in the end, he would not be able to escape the defeat.
“That is a good move.” Sean sighed slightly.
Cecilia shook her head helplessly and whispered, “This is no longer something we can take part in.”
Sean was not interested in taking part in the battle between two aristocrats for the right to inherit the position as the lord of the domain. Although Count Mario was ambitious and vicious, he had managed the Tindus Domain quite well in the game. During the later stages of the game, another war broke had out between the Portoroa Kingdom and the Serian Kingdom. The army from Gleason-Tindus had shone brilliantly in that war.
It could be said that under the ruling of Count Mario, Tindus Domain had become stronger than when old Marquis Perot had ruled.
“Huh?… Isn’t this Mr. Sean and Miss Cecilia?”
While Sean and Cecilia were having a conversation with each other, a cry of joy suddenly sounded from not far behind them.
Sean turned his head and saw that fat Halle was running towards them, followed by the veteran Old Pete, and three other people.
The one in the middle was a middle-aged man dressed as a magician. He had short brown hair. Instead of holding something like a magic wand in his hand, he was holding a magic book with a black cover. His face was thin and pale, and his fingers were a little messy. At first glance, some of the fingers looked like they had gray fingernails. His magic robe was not a tight fit but rather a bit big. However, Sean did not find it funny at all when the magician was wearing it. Instead, Sean felt a cold chill down his body.
For some reason, when Sean looked at the magician, he felt that the person looked familiar to him. It seemed as if Sean had seen the magician from somewhere before. But no matter how hard Sean tried to recall, he could not remember at all. This made Sean feel a little confused, because according to his principle, as long as it was someone that he had a bit of an impression of, he would be able to remember the identity of that person. Something like the current situation, where he could not remember who the magician was, would normally never happen.
But at this moment, Sean did not have time to think about it because Halle and the others had already walked up to Sean.
The young man on the left of the magician, who was dressed in heavy black armor with a scarlet cloak on his back, was unarmed. However, his murderous aura was strangely strong. Unless he went to war, weapons did not matter to him, because wherever he went, his ruthlessness was enough to frighten even his comrades.
He was an armed knight, which was an advanced profession in the Portoroa Kingdom.
A strange light flashed across Sean’s eyes. He remembered that this heavily armed knight was the right-hand man of Count Mario, who was later said to have upgraded to a rank five [Battle Knight]. Sean did not expect to see this heavily armed knight here. This meant that the magician next to him had a special status. Sean could not help but wonder if the magician was Count Mario’s assistant.
If this was the case, it would also explain why Sean had felt a sense of familiarity towards the magician but had not recalled who he was.
After all, an assistant was not as easy to remember as a leading character.
With the remarkable status of these two people, the third person who was with them seemed to be average.
Burwell.
He was the trade leader of Polar Silver Business Guild, responsible for the trade route between Tindus Domain and Zobird Domain. He had a close relationship with Count Mario. If Sean were to guess, Burwell was probably the biggest financial backer of Count Mario.
At the current moment, the three men were welcoming Sean and Cecilia. Halle was greeting Sean warmly, while Old Pete smiled and spoke a few words. Although Sean was communicating with the two men, the corner of his eyes did not miss the other three men. Sean and the three of them seemed to be examining and looking at each other knowingly. Afterward, their eyes no longer made contact.
At the magician’s suggestion, Burwell smiled and said, “Mr. Halle, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Hehe, this is Mr. Burwell, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Muders.” Halle smiled and introduced the three people to Sean. From the order that these three people were introduced in, it was not difficult to figure out the positions these three men had in Halle’s mind. “This is Mr. Sean and his sister Cecilia.”
It was a brief introduction. There were no mentions of how they knew each other or each person’s profession.
It was obvious that Halle could operate an entire business route, as he had certain skills. Also, he must have felt the pressure from Count Mario, so he did not mention that Sean was the key figure who had led them through the Starfall Forest. However, Cecilia still made an unnoticeable sigh. This kind of introduction had a sense of ‘a clumsy denial resulting in self-exposure’.
After all, Halle was just a business leader who did not appear in the spotlight. Cecilia was not even in the mood to roll her eyes at Halle.
For the conversations after the introduction, they all simply chatted politely with each other about uninteresting things.
“By the way, Mr. Sean, Tindus Castle is having a celebration right now. We are on our way there. Why don’t you come with us?” Halle suddenly cut in and said while they were chatting.
All of a sudden, everyone’s eyes were focused on Sean. When they had been chatting just now, Halle’s enthusiasm and Old Pete’s politeness towards Sean had already made the other three sensitive people feel a bit strange. Even though Halle had been restraining himself, the obvious signs of him trying to pull Sean to his side were very easy to see.
Sean was a little depressed because he had only just gotten the invitation from the Helson Research Institute off his hands, yet now he had already encountered such a problem as soon as he arrived!
If this had occurred during another ordinary day, or if Count Mario had not made such an announcement, Sean would have agreed to go. After all, Halle and Drouin still owed him the agreed reward of 10,000 coins.
But now, the situation inside this domain had become somewhat complicated. Count Mario had begun his oppression already. To be invited to the Tindus Castle by Halle at a time like this, the nature and meaning of it were completely different. Sean had told Cecilia just now that he would not interfere with Tindus Domain’s issue regarding who had the right to claim the inheritance. Therefore, he naturally would not agree to Halle’s invitation.
“I am very sorry, but I have some personal business that I still need to take care of.” Sean smiled apologetically and declined Halle’s invitation politely.
“Is it urgent?” Halle did not seem like he wanted to give up.
“Yes, it is urgent.” Sean sighed in his heart. Judging from Halle’s actions, it seemed like Drouin’s situation was not very good right now. However, at a time like this, Sean could only decline.