Westminster Bank

Chapter 258: Chapter 161: Screw Him (Part 3)

"Should I sound the alarm?" Tune said.

But just then, his Household Servant tugged his hand. It dawned on Tune that they had important guests tonight, and the Dragon Hunting Ceremony was tomorrow. Sounding the alarm would undoubtedly signal to the outside world that the Beowulf Family—rumored to have once dared to oppose the London Tower—was, in fact, as porous as a sieve, all show and no substance.

When the time came for the Patriarch selection, his older brother, Jose, would probably use this to denounce him before the clan elders, accusing him of "failing to see the bigger picture and damaging the family’s image."

As for the eldest daughter, Isabella, Tune wasn’t worried she would do such a thing.

She was too proud. Proud people disdain such vile tactics.

Isabella didn’t know what was going through her younger brother’s mind, and even if she did, she wouldn’t have cared.

The first order she gave was to have the Attendants search the site of the Dragon Hunting Ceremony for Alchemy Explosives. Simultaneously, she had Law Enforcers lead a sweep of the surrounding area for any abnormal Spiritual Power fluctuations, in order to determine if the disturbance was caused by a special alchemy item or an Array.

Next, she sent people to check the Beowulf Family’s collection room for Taboo Items. The rise of Westminster Bank had been accompanied by a wave of Taboo Item Thieves moving between the major Old Blood Clans.

Although things had quieted down in recent years, many Old Blood Clans had still fallen victim.

Even if a family suspected the real culprit, Westminster Bank was world-renowned as financial lunatics on both the surface and the Inner Side. And while the bank didn’t necessarily protect its own, it was utterly shameless. The prices and fees for its strong-arm buybacks and compulsory sales were far from cheap.

If you could afford the price, they would find some pretext to return the Taboo Item. Furthermore, in recent years, the Westminster Times had launched a column called "Monetary Punishment."

It was said that certain "temporary specialists" (i.e., the thieves), suspected by the Old Blood Clans, would be featured in the column. Through "donations" of varying amounts, these specialists would receive different punishments and disciplinary actions. Photos of the event would then be sent to the Old Blood Clan, and finally, the newspaper would announce the specialist’s dismissal.

In just the last few years, the newspaper had successively punished, announced, and fired employees with names like Hannibal, Caesar, Napoleon, Bismarck... and so on.

And Westminster Bank swore on its financial credit that these were not aliases.

If, say, seven Inner Side Old Blood Clans had their Taboo Items stolen, you would find ten temporary specialists named in this column—a clear testament to the bank’s formidable reach.

However, in recent years, this situation had become less common due to joint protests from the Old Blood Clans and crackdowns by various countries on Westminster Bank’s local expansion.

For example, the "Monetary Punishment" column, which started as a marketplace for "temporary specialists," had gradually evolved into a "forum" for Westminster Bank agents to air their grievances, mainly complaining about teammates whose principles had been corrupted by money.

After receiving confirmation that the collection room had indeed been robbed, Isabella had someone register the losses while simultaneously sending another to report to the clan elder in charge of the manor’s internal affairs.

She arranged everything in perfect order, taking charge without hesitation, which made Tune, standing off to the side, look like a mere spectator.

He wanted to do something, but couldn’t.

He wanted to say something, but couldn’t get a word in.

It was truly because Isabella was so domineering. The Household Servant behind him was desperately gesturing for him to make an impression on the clan elders. But the moment he stepped forward, Isabella’s gaze merely paused on him for a fraction of a second.

"Is there something else?"

It was just like in his childhood, when he had looked up from a book and seen her through the window, returning from her Demon Hunter Trial. There was Isabella, one hand hoisting a blade larger than her body, the other dragging the tail of a slain Dragon Descendant. Forget about speaking up—Tune suddenly lost even the courage to meet her gaze.

"I’m tired," he replied subconsciously, ignoring his Household Servant’s frantic signals.

As he left, Tune looked back at the valiant, heroic figure of his older sister, Isabella. He had originally thought the early start of the Dragon Hunting Ceremony might give him a chance to compete with her for the position of Patriarch, but now, he felt lost.

’Is Jose’s plan really going to work? Can a woman like Isabella truly be defeated?’

Tune was still uneasy, but in the end, the only way he dared to vent his frustration was by whipping his black Attendant a few times.

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[P.S. Another Chapter will be out later.]