Free Web NovelChapter 116: Chapter 112: Uninvited Guest
The square in Newly Town had never been so crowded.
A magnificent black carriage was parked in the center, its four pure-white horses pawing restlessly at the ground, snorting white clouds of hot breath.
Surrounding the carriage were eight Knights in silver chainmail. They silently rested their hands on their sword hilts, their sharp gazes scrutinizing the surroundings.
The townspeople instinctively took a step back. The sound of whispering vanished, leaving only a tense and oppressive atmosphere in the air.
The carriage door opened.
A black leather boot, polished so brightly it could reflect a person’s image, cautiously emerged, as if testing for something filthy.
Finally, with an air of resignation, it stepped onto the muddy ground of Newly Town.
Banaby Minas Hill, a middle-aged man as plump as a loaf of white bread, heaved himself down from the carriage.
The moment he was steady on his feet, he immediately pulled a pristine white silk handkerchief from his coat and dramatically covered his nose and mouth, his brow furrowed so deeply you could trap a fly in it.
Barrett, the captain of the guard, stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
"Who goes there? State your identity."
Banaby’s gaze fell on Barrett’s blind eye. He sneered, his expression seeming to say, ’And it’s a defective product, too.’
Only then did he speak, his voice rising and falling like a dramatic aria.
"A one-eyed guard from a backwater town presumes to question the Marquis’s envoy?" His voice was high and thin, dripping with superiority. "Get lost, and tell that shit-lucky lord of yours to crawl out here and see me!"
Veins bulged on the back of the hand Barrett had on his sword hilt, and a dangerous flame ignited in his one remaining right eye.
The guards behind him also subconsciously reached for their weapons.
The air was thick with tension, ready to explode at any moment.
Just then, Velin and Caroline arrived.
Banaby’s gaze slid over Velin as if he were a stone.
It was only when he saw Caroline that his arrogant expression softened slightly. His corpulent body even managed to squeeze out a passable bow.
"Miss Channing, the pearl of the Golden Sail Commerce Association. I never expected to see you in such a backwater hovel."
He clearly recognized Caroline, but this courtesy was fleeting.
His eyes swept across the crowd, and soon, they lit up as if he had spotted some interesting prey.
"Isn’t that... Baron Stonebeard?" Banaby deliberately raised his voice, shouting at Ola in the crowd. "The Marquis Minas Hill’s most ’loyal’ vassal, what are you doing here? As I recall, your fiefdom isn’t in this mud pit."
He put heavy emphasis on the word "loyal," his gaze flickering provocatively toward Velin.
Ola’s bronze-colored face instantly turned the shade of liver.
He looked at Banaby’s fake smile, then instinctively shot a quick glance at the expressionless Velin out of the corner of his eye.
The gazes of his sovereign’s envoy and his "creditor" felt like two invisible mountains, crushing him until he could barely breathe.
"I... was defeated." He practically squeezed the words out through his teeth, his voice as muffled as if he had a hot iron in his mouth.
"Hmph." Banaby let out a scornful snort. Finally, as if bestowing charity, he cast his noble gaze upon Velin.
"You, you’re Velin Klein?" He jutted his chin at Velin, his tone like a judge interrogating a thief.
"According to the latest bill enacted by the Lord Consul of the Empire, any newly appointed Pioneer Knight must, within one month, travel to the capital of their province and swear fealty to their direct sovereign—that is, the Marquis Minas Hill."
"Why are you late?"
He didn’t give Velin a chance to answer. His tone shifted abruptly as his greedy gaze raked over Newly Town’s budding walls and its people, as if appraising a fattened pig for slaughter.
"Furthermore, I hear you annihilated the nest of a Level 4 Magical Beast?"
"Why was such a great achievement not reported? According to the law, the ownership of all spoils of war must be decided personally by the Marquis!"
Caroline’s fingers, clutching the hem of her skirt, tightened unconsciously. A grave look flashed in her jade-green eyes.
’This damned fatty is here for the crocodiles!’
The bill he mentioned did indeed exist. It was a measure implemented this year by the new consul assigned by the Empire to the Haiti region, designed to weaken the Haiti Council and strengthen local control.
She looked nervously at Velin. ’This bookworm, he couldn’t possibly be unaware of this deadly new law, could he?’
Banaby interpreted Caroline’s subtle tension and Velin’s prolonged silence as signs of guilt and ignorance.
The smug look on his face intensified, as if he already had everything under control.
"Before you crawl to the capital to belatedly perform your fealty ceremony," he waved his silk handkerchief in the direction of Newly Town as if shooing away a swarm of flies, "all production here, especially the spoils from those Gray Swamp Giant Crocodiles, is to be seized and sealed on site!"
"Pending the Marquis’s disposition!"
"In addition, you yourself must pay a fine for your arrogance and negligence... in an amount that I find satisfactory!"
Velin felt perfectly calm inside, even a little amused.
He quietly activated the [Life Origin System].
A line of pale blue data appeared before his eyes.
[Banaby Minas Hill]
[Level: None]
[Bloodline: Red-blooded Jackal Wolf (Black Iron Tier) 31%, Holy Flame Judgment (Golden Tier) 11% (Forced Fusion, Extremely Low Activity), Mixed Bloodline 58%]
[Abilities: None]
[Overall Evaluation: A waste whose inferior bloodlines were forcibly fused by drugs and external forces. He couldn’t even beat the dung beetle at your doorstep.]
’So that’s how it is.’
Velin understood instantly.
The fierce-looking but inwardly cowardly fellow before him was just a straw-stuffed scarecrow, relying on his master’s name to extort people.
’After all, even though I’ve borrowed the name of the Golden Sail Commerce Association, there will always be some blind fool who tries to test me.’
He made a quick calculation in his head. ’The letter should be arriving soon, too.’
’It’s best to make an example of this fat man. One decisive blow now will save me from a hundred smaller ones later.’
A look of just the right amount of panic and helplessness appeared on Velin’s face. His once-calm gaze became evasive, as if he were a country boy who’d never seen the world and was scared out of his wits.
He gave Banaby a slight bow, his posture extremely low, even a little fawning.
"Lord Envoy, you... you have traveled far. It must have been an arduous journey." His voice trembled slightly. "We... we have prepared a humble banquet at the Lord’s Mansion to welcome you and wash away the dust of your travels."
"As for those... those monumental matters you mentioned just now, could... could we perhaps wait until after you’ve dined to... to discuss them in detail?"
Seeing Velin’s cowardly, "submissive" display, the last shred of doubt in Banaby’s mind vanished.
’A country bumpkin who got shit-lucky. Sure enough, he wilts as soon as you scare him.’
He sneered inwardly.
This muddy business was a lucrative job he had specifically fought to get.
Many in the Marquis’s household hadn’t paid much attention to the decree signed by the Lord Consul in March, but he had keenly spotted the "business opportunity" within it.
This Velin Klein fellow had only come from Flower Province to Sword Tooth Province in May.
Leaving from Flower Province, a normal person would arrive in half a month. Even if they crawled, they should have been here within a month. Therefore, the decree issued in March would absolutely have him dead to rights!
The moment he discovered this secret, he immediately requested the assignment from the Marquis, rushing out to be the first to extort Velin before anyone else caught on.
As long as he played his cards right, the spoils from these giant crocodiles would be enough for him to live out the rest of his life surrounded by Gold Coins and fine wine.
At this thought, he could barely suppress the smile on his face.
