Chapter 99: Mission Accomplished

Chapter 99: Mission Accomplished

Gerald and Xilia entered the wine cellar under the mansion. It was a cold and humid place, made out of solid stone bricks. nove(l)bi(n.)com

Many massive, human-height barrels laid there on their side, full of aging wine and beer.

Gerald walked around the place and checked out the drinks inside. Some were mild and sweet, while others were strong and bitter, with high alcohol content.

"Although this City Lord is a fool, he sure knows how to make good wine!" Gerald praised as he tasted some special brew.

"I found it, it's here!" Xilia called him away from the wine barrels.

The secret passage they were searching for was behind a thin stone wall that could be moved by pressing on a few ordinary-looking stones simultaneously. Those that didn't know of the mechanism would never be able to find it just by chance.

"Oh, ho? Great, let's go!" Gerald grabbed an oil lamp and went fearlessly into the darkness and Xilia followed suit.

The corridor was quite narrow but also short and it soon split off and went in different directions.

Gerald wasted no time in breaking every door they came across with some quick Earth magic. A few rooms they found were empty, while one of them contained gold and jewelry, probably a secret treasury.

Gerald struggled at the sight, barely keeping himself from filling his pockets with money. But that was not what they were after.

Soon they found a few more rooms with stuff. Some had weapons, clothes, and finally, they found a room that was neatly organized with bookshelves and drawers.

"This should be it" Gerald casually opened a drawer and rummaged through its contents.

"Hmm, business records, sales of potions, family history, potential enemies? What is all this garbage?" he frowned as he read the papers. These things didn't interest him at all, "Deed of land ownership, farms under suspicion of treason Ugh, is this going to take the whole day?"

"I think I found it," Xilia called. She was at a fancy desk in the room and held a stack of letters in her hands.

"Oh?" Gerald took one of the papers and checked it out. The letter bore a broken seal that looked quite similar to the one Gerald had on his stolen sword.

The latter was happy but also worried at the same time. Worried about what he might find out.

Minutes passed as he calmly read letter after letter, some contained simple conversation, others contained orders for unspeakable things. The information about the tax delivery was also leaked from the City Lord's mansion.

The Guildaster sighed and looked at Gerald with gratitude, "Thank you, young man. You have helped us rid the city of a terrible disease. A person scheming against his own can't be called a person at all!"

"No worries! I'm glad I was of some help," Gerald replied.

Then the Guildmaster turned to the rest of the people, "Men! Arrest the City Lord, no, arrest this scum!"

"What's going on, Crobus?" commander Javiar questioned.

Guildmaster handed him the papers wordlessly and let him discover by himself.

Soon the commander understood the gravity of things, and it was way worse than he expected. The recorded amount of people the Blood Sun Viper harmed with the help of the City Lord was staggering.

Directly or indirectly, they ruined the lives of at least a thousand people in just the last six months. That was about 10% of the population of Geldern.

Just that was already enough to merit execution, but there were even plans to conspire against the king and the royal family. The tax robbery was just the first step in weakening the kingdom.

Luckily it didn't work as intended as many cities managed to protect the gold, Geldern included.

But since it was all a part of a bigger picture that included the king, the authority, criminals, and evidence were all to be handed to the royal court.

Interrogation and torture were sure to be a big part of uncovering this conspiracy and most of the involved would not survive.

"Mission accomplished!" Gerald smiled and looked at the trembling Adelard and his father.

They knew exactly what was to come and they wished they could commit suicide on the spot. Unfortunately for them, they were placed in chains and kept under strict surveillance. Their freedom and noble status were gone forever.