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Chapter 259: Leo's Suggestion

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Thanks to his Blessing, Frost Giant, Leo did not pass out yet. Hearing Lucien's words, he opened his eyes with great difficulty, looking at the strange young man in front of him both surprisedly and worriedly.

Facing Lucien's direct command, the bar owner was shocked as well. He wondered if this young man knew who Warren was and who his father was.

Warren first laughed a bit as if he saw something beyond ridiculous, then, suppressing his anger, he said to Lucien, "Why do you think I'd let you take Leo? Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like this?"

Clearly, Warren was on a bad mood. His great deal with a duke in Schachran Empire had been ruined by Leo. When he finally found Leo and was about to make him pay, some random guy just showed up right in front of him and commanded him to let go of Leo. No one except his own father and the nine city lords dare talk to him like this!

At this time, Jarolim took a step forward, with a pair of black daggers in his hands, ready to launch his knight-level attack toward Lucien.

If Lucien was intimidated, Jarolim would know that the young man was actually only doing his bravado, so then Jarolim could directly take him down.

Jarolim's gray eyes aggressively looked into Lucien's eyes, letting Lucien feel the power of a knight.

All of a sudden, he saw a quick flash of white light in Lucien's brown eyes and, in the last second, he felt something dreadful sneak into his brain.

Then, Jarolim started to feel extreme pain and a tingling sensation throughout his body. Before he realized what was happening to him, several people in the hall started screaming, as they saw that Jarolim's hands and face were festering with light yellow pus bleeding out.

Knowing that this was magic, Jarolim quickly covered his body with layers of black flame. However, the festering quickly put out the flame and kept spreading all over his body.

Warren and his guards also noticed what was happening on Jarolim's body. Within only a few seconds, Jarolim became beyond weak. Right now he was kneeling on the ground, using all of his strength to gasp for air. Although the festering had stopped, clearly it would take a long time for him to recover from it.

Looking at him, Lucien was just standing there, smiling. He did not continue his attack.

The third-circle necromancy spell, Curse of the Putrid Husk.

"Are you… a necromancer?" Warren tried to stay calm, although his voice was trembling. After all, necromancers never enjoyed good reputation, especially in the north.

Lucien was just smiling, but offered no answer.

The other tall and strong knight leaned forward beside Warren and whispered to him a bit.

Warren stood up, his facial expression looked meaningful, "So… Mr. middle-rank sorcerer, are you from the Congress, or some place here in the north?"

Hearing how Warren called this young man, the rest of the people present were all shocked. This guy was a middle-rank mage!

Although a middle-rank mage was just an ordinary person in Allyn, a middle-rank was of the level of a grand knight or a bishop. Apart from a few big cities such as Lance, Allyn, Rentato, and Aalto, a middle-rank mage, a grand knight, or a bishop could stay in charge of a whole city. In the East Haven, only the nine city lords were that powerful, and the rest of the suzerains here were only about Lucien's level.

In fact, because of the variety, a middle-rank mage's power was basically the same as that of a grand knight who was actually one level higher.

Lucien's Holm ring was right now being covered underneath his glove. He adjusted his monocle and answered the young man calmly, "It doesn't matter where I come from. What's important is that I want to take Leo with me. Are you okay with it?"

Lucien's tone reminded Warren of those genius sorcerers from the Congress of Magic, especially those ones from the Hand of Paleness. He quickly put on a smile and shrugged, "You know what… You've shown your power, sir, and it's time for me to leave."

Although Warren was still under his father's protection, he knew the rules here in the East Haven. He knew what was a wise decision in that situation.

"You're smart, Mr. Warren." Lucien smiled.

Honestly speaking, Lucien really hated traffickers like Warren. However, here in the East Haven, he could not directly attack a important local leader's son with no sufficient reason, and that was why Lucien kept pushing Warren to make him lose his head.

However, Warren's face only twitched slightly. Then, he left the place without another word.

The other guards also followed Warren and left the bar. When Jarolim was walking toward the gate, he had to lean on the other guards' arms.

"Mr. Warren, I'll send you the bar's loss quote! You gotta pay, or we'll see each other on the city lord meeting!" said the bar owner aloud.

Warren almost tripped over the doorsill.

…

In the room behind the bar, Leo slowly recovered with his strong life force as a knight. Lucien had released him from the black flames covering his body.

When Leo was lying in bed, he saw Lucien casting some strange spell, and the light spots in his hand quickly disappeared.

After a surge of magic waves, Lucien's mouth slightly opened but he did not make any sound.

"What are you doing here, sir?" asked Leo gratefully and curiously, "Anything I can help with?"

"Nothing, just being cautious." Lucien smiled and shook his head.

Leo did not chase after the answer, but switched the topic, "Sir, how do you want me to call you? What's the mission about?"

"For now you can call me Mr. X. I need your help to guide me across Schachran Empire and get to the northeast part of the the Dark Mountain Range," said Lucien directly.

As Leo suffered a lot of pain back in the days in Schachran Empire, he frowned a bit, "What's your specific destination, Mr. X? Traveling through the empire without being noticed isn't too difficult, but I need a more specific destination to figure out which route we should take and what kind of fake identity we should use. If you don't feel comfortable with telling me these, we can sign a magic compact first."

Leo just accepted the job without even asking what kind of dangers they were expected to face in this task. He knew that, without Mr. X, he would have already died.

Lucien nodded and took out the compact that he had prepared before.

After signing the compact and watching the roll of parchment being burnt down by light blue magic flame, although Leo had known Lucien's name, he still said to Lucien respectfully, "Mr. X, Schachran Empire's nobles are conservative and corrupted. Except the nobles themselves and those clergies, common people are always expected to have a very difficult time traveling through the whole empire. If you want to get to Aalto, playing the role of a noble from the empire's northwest province should be our best choice, as the real ones don't usually leave their own territory."

When a sorcerer reached the sixth circle, when he or she needed to sign a low-level magic compact, the sorcerer could hide or change his or her real name using strong spiritual power and magic skills, but Lucien right now still had a long way to go.

"I see." Lucien nodded with satisfaction. Leo was professional.

Leo pointed at the northwest territory of the empire on the map in front of them, "The Vladimir family is ruling this area. As one of the ten most powerful families in the empire, the Vladimir family has one duke, one marquis, three earls, lots of viscounts, barons and lords. Therefore, without their genealogy, no one could know that you're actually not their relative, even including the duke Vladimir himself. "

"But people wouldn't just buy into our words. We need something to prove our identity." Lucien was hesitant.

Leo answered seriously, "In the empire, winners laugh, and losers cry. If one decides to fight over the succession but fails in the end, his sufferings soon ensue. In the East Haven, there's a knight who used to fight against the duke Vladimir over right of inheritance of the title, and he knows how to make the identity documents of the Vladimir family and he still has all the family stamps. His name's Valentin."

Chapter 260: A New Identity

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The wind was warm. The sunshine was warm. Everything seemed to be warm and drowsy.

On a street of Segru, Lucien, who had changed his whole set of outfit, was heading for Valentine's secret residence following Leo.

Once Leo recovered, he showed his good disguise skills: he changed Lucien's Holm-styled black long coat to the typical tight surtout in the style of Schachran Empire, with white breeches and black long boots. Using hair oil, Lucien's hairstyle was now slicked-back, together with the make up and his moustache, Lucien now looked like a serious and calm gentleman around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

Since in the East Haven there were lots of people who managed to escape from Schachran Empire and finally came here, Lucien and Leo's way of dressing was more than common. Cautiously, Lucien and Leo walked through the crowd to prevent being followed by anyone. After all, the duke Vladimir sending assassins to kill Valentine was not a secret at all, and also, if anyone saw that they visited Valentine, their fake identity would be seen through easily.

Segru was not a small city. To be more specific, the city was about half the size of Aalto, but the buildings here were very disorganized, and the streets were thus very narrow and messy. However, Leo was very used to the environment and familiar with the surroundings. Like a fish in the water, Leo had confidently guided Lucien across many streets, alleys and crowds to get rid of any possible pursuers.

Half an hour later, Lucien and Leo walked out of a quiet alley and came back to the busiest street, then crossed it and entered a grocery. Directly ignoring the grocery owner, Leo walked to the stairs. From the shadow, two bulky, butcher-like men stopped him.

"The griffin over Nigreen River." Strange words came out of Leo's lips. The words were Schachranese.

Hearing that, the two men lowered their guard. After glancing at Leo and Lucien carefully, they gave way to both Leo and Lucien.

The stairs to the second floor were squeaking. Lucien sensed that the whole place was protected by dangerous magic circles, and they were purposefully revealed to people who could sense them directly to be a deterrence. Lucien was not sure whether there were more hidden magic circles around.

The cost of placing all the magic circles could be easily over ten thousand Thales. Only the man who once could compete against the duke could afford this. Lucien estimated that this place's security level was about the same as that of Bertren Castle. Obviously, when Mr. Valentine ran away from the empire, he must have carried a great fortune with him, so he could afford having middle-rank mages to set up this place for him.

The floor squeaked when Leo and Lucien walked on it with their leather shoes. Other than that, the whole place was beyond quiet.

When they came to one of the rooms on the second floor, Leo knocked at the door gently and said politely, "Mr. Valentine, I'm Leo. I'm here on business."

"Come in," responded Valentine in his dull and old voice. He already knew it was Leo from the magic circles downstairs.

Leo pushed the door open like a butler, and he signalled to Lucien to enter the room, "Mr. X, please."

Lucien nodded and walked in the room covered by thick, black curtains. The whole room was very dark.

In the shadow in front of the curtains, there was a desk and an armchair. In the chair sat a man wearing black suit with his back to Leo and Lucien.

As Leo slowly closed the door, the man in the chair slowly turned around and looked at them.

His blonde hair had started to get thin, but his face was still featured, although it already looked quite old. Lucien estimated that this man should be in his sixties. According to Leo's words, when Valentine first came to the East Haven, he was a level-four grand knight. However, after this twenty to thirty years, no one knew for sure whether this man's power had improved even further, or dropped.

Valentine did not have much interest in them. After taking a glance at Lucien, Valentine said to someone else in the room, "Tea for the two guests."

From the shadow walked out a decently-dressed elder man. He bowed to them politely, and then he walked into the tea room.

Leo, as Lucien's guide, said, "Mr. Valentine, my employer wants to enter Schachran Empire, thus he needs a fake identity."

"So you want to pretend that you're from the Vladimir family?" Valentine asked directly, and his way of looking at Lucien became sharper.

Seeing that Mr. Vladimir was looking at him, Lucien had to talk to him on his own, "Yes, Mr. Valentine. A relative in the Vladimir family. How much shall I pay?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, Valentine burst our in laughter, "If you can kill Ilyich for me, I won't charge you anything. Well, well… I guess you would not be here if you were that capable…"

Ilyich was the first name of the Duke, Vladimir.

Pausing a bit, Valentine took out a cigar from the drawer and lit it with a match.

In the gray smoke, Vladimir said to Lucien slowly, "The more you make this kind of fake identity, the easier it is for you to get caught. In the past twenty years, I've made six of them so far, so a fake identity is very expensive. Five hundred Thales or the equal value of Schachran gold. If you cannot afford it, you might want to consider doing me a favor."

Although the expense for the task would be covered by the Congress later, right now Lucien only had some gold and gems with him, worth about a hundred Thales, plus other magic potions and materials.

After considering for a while, Lucien smiled, "I prefer to pay. Unfortunately, I don't have enough with me right now. I wonder if you're willing to accept magic items as well, Mr. Vladimir?"

Lucien did not want to be involved in Valentine's stuff, even though the task might not be that difficult, the task might still be part of his contend against the duke.

"Pity," Valentine responded in a monotone. "Mr. X, I do accept magic items, and the value estimation here in East Haven is very fair."

For Valentine, getting a magic item was way better than getting money, since in many places other than Allyn, magic items were very valuable because very often they were not available on the market.

Lucien took out Rosan Aaron's Asthenia Dagger and said, "This is a level two magic dagger…"

Valentine coughed a bit, and then an hook-nosed, elder sorcerer wearing a robe in the style of the ancient magic empire entered the room. The elder sorcerer first took a weird glance at Lucien, and then grabbed the dagger.

From the magic waves surrounding the elder man, Lucien could tell that the old man was a sorcerer that followed the ancient magic system.

"Level two, middle-rank, enchanted dagger. It can corrupt other people's weapon, and wounds left by the dagger are hard to heal. It should be around three hundred and eighty Thales, but because of the scarcity of magic items on the market, one could sell it for four hundred and twenty Thales."

"Let's just do four hundred and twenty, then. So you can save some time selling it around," said Valentine directly.

Hearing the price, Lucien was very surprised. As a person who had always been kind of a moneygrubber, he almost wanted to trade magic items between Allyn and the East Haven to make a fortune, however, this was strictly prohibited by the congress.

Lucien nodded to agree on the price. Then he took out some materials that he would not use for a while and some gold to pay Valentine.

After playing with the dagger a bit, Valentine took out a piece of special paper from the Vladimir family and started writing. As he was writing, he said to Lucien, "Peter Joseph Vladimir. His father was Lord Joseph, the son of Ilyich's grandfather's youngest cousin, and he died many years ago. You'll play the role of Peter, who failed to inherit the lord title, and was secretly killed by someone during one of his smuggling trades in the East Haven. You remember, Joseph was mean, alcoholic, and rough, while Ilyich is mean and a pervert, but he likes pretending he's nice and loving."

Valentine was providing Lucien with detailed information within the family to help Lucien do a better job in his role-playing. It was easy to see that Valentine had still got support from the inside of the family. He even knew the several new knights from the family very well.

…

After Warren left the bar and turned around at the corner, the big, strong man beside him suddenly started to cast a strange spell, and the magic waves started to ripple around him.

The man was not a knight, but a real sorcerer!

"What are you doing, Mr. Reja?" asked Warren, a little surprised.

"Lord Warren, most sorcerers are vicious and cunning, and I was checking if he had left any marks on us to track us." Reja opened his eyes and answered, "But it seems he's not one of them."

Warren nodded unhappily, and then turned to the armed guard beside him, "Keep an eye on them."

Then Warren went back to his garden villa in Segru.

Around four in the afternoon, in his study, Warren said excitedly, "So Leo and the sorcerer visited Valentine?"

"That's right, young master," the middle-aged man responded in a flattering manner.

Although Valentine had been hiding himself well since he arrived at the East Haven, there was no way that he could completely disappear under the nose of Warren's father, the member of the city lord conference. The reason why all the important people in the East Haven had reached the agreement keeping Valentine in this place was that they saw the potential and the possible great future value in Valentine.

In order to keep a close eye on Valentine, Warren's father had put a servant around him.

When the servant left his study, Warren calmed down a bit. Looking outside of the window, there was a vicious smile on his face, "Hiring Leo… Visiting Valentine… You want to get a fake identity and pretend that you're part of the Vladimir family… You'll see what I can do once you enter the empire…"

Warren always took his revenge!

Chapter 261: Shut the Mouth

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Holding his together behind his back, Warren looked at the clouds outside of the window for a while, then walked to the one-eyed swordman standing beside the door of the study. "Lorban, keep an eye on Leo and the sorcerer, especially on what they buy and where they go."

As there was still a small chance that Leo and the sorcerer visited Valentine because of some other reason, Warren needed to make sure his guessing was correct. However, even if he could not make sure of their intention, he would still write to the big nobles and remind them to be more mindful.

"Yes, Lord Warren," responded Lorban with great respect.

Because of what happened in the bar, Lorban felt that, as one of Warren's best guards, he let the young master down. Now he was trying to leave Warren with some good impression with his extremely respectful manner.

The task was not risky, since Lorban would not need to lead a whole bunch of guards to follow a middle-rank sorcerer, which would be basically the equivalent to comitting suicide. What Lorban needed to do was only to tell those bar owners, gangsters, and smugglers what the young master, Warren, wanted. As long as Leo and the sorcerer were still in the East Haven, they would always know where they were and what they were doing.

Watching Lorban leaving with some other guards, Warren's mood became pretty good. Imagining the picture of the young sorcerer's dead body lying on the ground surrounded by the cardinals from the empire, he walked to the bar in his living room and poured a glass of fancy golden rum for himself, celebrating his upcoming victory,

Sipping the amber-colored liquor, the spicy taste heated up his throat all the way down to his stomach. Warren released his breath smelling of liquor and put on a mocking smile, "What a pity… The sorcerer's actually a pretty good-looking guy. Given one month, I could turn him into a great toy, like what I did to those good-looking young boys and girls."

Thinking of the naked girls and boys in the secret chamber of the villa, Warren felt aroused. So he put down the glass and was about to go there to vent his desire with his lash.

Warren felt a bit too warm from the liquor, so he decided to take off his long jacket first.

He was wondering which boy or girl he should torture first when he got there, and when he stared at himself in the mirror, a strange man wearing brownish-red jacket suddenly showed up behind him in there!

Warren's eyes suddenly opened wide and he was about to quickly turn around to defend himself.

However, he realized that he could not even remove his eyes from the young man's eyes, as if his eyes were two magic swirls!

At this time, a flash of blue light burst out of Warren's chest and that light refreshed his brain. Warren managed to escape from the young man's eyes.

As the son of a grand knight, the man in charge of a notorious human trafficking group, Warren was arrogant, but he was also very cautious. In case of his mind being controlled by someone else, Warren bought a Unicorn Necklace, which had cost him a lot of money. The necklace could protect him against low-rank spells targeting his mind and brain.

Although the necklace did not work immediately, it still managed to protect him!

However, one second after Warren got rid of the young man's control and felt lucky, the young man started casting a strange spell again. Some kind of weird power sneaked into Warren's body and he could not move anymore!

The third-spell magic, Hold Person!

Warren was so scared that he wanted to scream, however, he could not even move his lips.

"Don't overestimate the power of the magic item." Lucien stopped behind Warren, smiling gently. "And also don't underestimate a cautious sorcerer."

Being full of cunning tricks was one of the symbols of being a qualified sorcerer. A good sorcerer should always be prepared for many possibilities in a fight.

As Lucien was saying, using Mage Hand, Lucien took off the necklace from Warren's neck and removed Warren's spirit imprint in it with the skill from the Congress.

After leaving the bar, because Lucien never trusted such an immoral and viperous man like Warren, before Leo recovered, Lucien used the first-circle, Unseen Servant, to follow Warren and his men to see what they were going to do.

The fact that Reja was actually a sorcerer was out of Lucien's expectation, but fortunately, the servant strictly followed Lucien's order and stayed a hundred meters away from them when Reja was detecting the surroundings. Then, the unseen servant sneaked into the villa following the guards and hid in Warren's villa. Then, it witnessed the whole scene where Valentine's servant sold him.

After that, when Lorban left the villa, the unseen servant also managed to leave the place and then it found Lucien on the street using the connection between the summoned and the summoner.

Hearing the unseen servant's words, Lucien decided to remove the trouble thoroughly.

Thanks to the many servants and guards going in and out of the villa, Lucien did not really have a difficult time getting in here. To be cautious, Lucien used his improved version of the spell, Charm Person.

Feeling his own spirit imprint in the necklace being destroyed by Lucien's great spiritual power, Warren's face turned pale. His eyes were begging for mercy.

Lucien's brown eyes looked into Warren's eyes again, and they started becoming mysterious and deep.

Although Warren was still trying to threaten Lucien with his eyes, he realized that begging did not work at all, as Lucien did not care. He had the Will of Elements behind him, and even the whole Congress of Magic.

Warren's eyes gradually lost focus, then an admiring smile appeared on his face, "Sir, I'm at your service."

Lucien smiled.

…

When Reja was working on his magic experiment with a useless dwarven girl abandoned by Warren, he heard someone knocking at the lab's door.

"What?" asked Reja aloud.

"Mr. Reja, the young master's looking for you," answered the familiar voice on the other side of the door, "About the sorcerer and Leo."

Reja frowned a bit and murmured in low voice, "Why look for trouble? He's a middle-rank sorcerer!"

As a low-rank sorcerer, Reja knew clearly how big was the power difference between each circle, not to mention the power difference between mages of different ranks.

However, since he relied on Warren a lot to get money and magic materials, Reja walked out of his lab and came to Warren's living room.

Warren's cheeks slightly flushed, as if he was drunk, and his voice was lower than usual, "Mr. Reja, come here and grab a drink first."

"I'm working on an experiment now. A cup of Sky Blue will do." Reja did not feel suspicious at all.

When Reja approached the bar, Warren quickly walked toward him and gave him a big hug. To the great surprise of all the servants present, Warren shouted, "Reja, I love you!"

"What?" Reja was confused. Then quickly, he had this strong sense of danger coming to him. Although he tried his best to get rid of Warren's hug, he could not. After all, Warren had awakened his Blessing with some magic potion. Being hugged by him, Reja's spiritual power could not concentrate.

At this time, a big fireball fiercely shot out of the room beside the living room, and directly hit them. A great explosion filled the whole place. Apart from the fireball, the explosion was also contributed by the explosives around Warren's waist, tearing Reja's magic robe into pieces.

When the blast waves faded, there were only pieces of flesh of Warren and Reja left.

Like in a nightmare, the servants were all trying to run out of that place. However, together with the voice casting a spell in the room, their movement was immediately slowed down.

After finishing the two major enemies, Lucien started to clear away Warren's men, including Jarolim and Lorban, who later came back.

…

The human and elf prisoners in the chamber all heard the great explosion. They waited there with great hope to see whether anyone would come for them. However, no one came, so they started trying to open the magic gate themselves.

Surprisingly, the gate was not hard to break. When they left the chamber, they found the whole villa quiet like a tomb.

A human among them said to the rest of them aloud, "We should stay united! Or we would be sold again by those bastards in the East Haven!"

They all agreed with the human, and they started to search for more slaves in the villa and freed them.

After that, they secretly left the sinful place.

…

In the evening, in the manor outside of Segru, Jacob got the news.

"What? Someone killed Warren and destroyed his place?!" The veins on Jacob's forehead were bulging.

Chapter 262: Clean Up

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In the fierce thump of hooves, seven or eight strong Dragon Scale horses rushed southeastwards through the city gate of Segru.

"Bastards! Don't you see people?!" shouted a gatekeeper, who was almost knocked over by one of the horses.

Apart from special situations, Segru's city gate was never closed.

Another gatekeeper shot him a warning glance and lowered his voice, "Didn't you see the man on the horse? It was Lord Jacob! How dare you!"

Hearing that, the first gatekeeper immediately closed his mouth tight and looked around alertly. He started to get worried that someone would remember what he just said and put him in trouble.

After a while, he asked the other gatekeeper confusedly, "What happened in Segru? Why was Lord Jacob in such a hurry?"

"Lord Jacob… I head that… Lord Jacob's son is dead! He was killed by someone in his own villa, and all his guards were killed, too!" answered the other gatekeeper in a frightened but also excited way.

"Wow… I mean… What?!" Hearing that, the first gatekeeper felt not only greatly shocked but also excited. Warren's name was notorious. Most people hated him very much. This was definitely a big deal, a big deal that had not happened in the East Haven for years! He wondered who had the guts to challenge the authority of a suzerain by killing his only son!

Hearing their conversation, several other gatekeepers gathered closer. The guy who got the fresh news was flattered, so he said to them excitedly, "All the slaves in Warren's villa were gone! Maybe the young master pissed off someone he shouldn't have, and the person directly killed every single one of them!"

The first gatekeeper looked back and released a sigh, "Warren's the only son of Lord Jacob. Lord Jacob must be beyond furious now. We was being really careful recently, in order to stay away from any trouble."

"That's true. Some people said that this happened in the afternoon, however, the noise was blocked by the villa's own magic circles, so no one found out about it until evening. I bet the guy who did this must now be hundreds of miles away from here. It's almost impossible for Lord Jacob to catch the guy. Lord Jacob's Blessing, Werewolf, will definitely drive him crazy. Many people in the East Haven will die for nothing just because of his anger." The informed gatekeeper sighed. Fortunately, they were the gatekeepers of Segru, not the East Haven. Jacob would not easily vent on them because of the nine city lords.

Jacob was a level-four knight with Werewolf Blessing. He was fast, strong, tough and was able to heal fast from injuries. At the same time, he had also got the powers known as Rampage, Unholy Blight, Dark Asthenia Halo, and Roaring, all derived from his Blessing. The only shortcoming of the Blessing was that Jacob could not launch long-range attacks, and he could not stay conscious in moonlight, instead, he would turn into a real huge wolf.

…

In the living room of Warren's garden villa.

Jacob stared at the blood and flesh pieces on the floor with his eyes wide open. He could not believe that the son he had raised for almost thirty years now had turned into the remaining pieces in front of him!

Wolf fur started to come out from his armor, covering his clenched fists.

Smelling the air, Jacob said in an extremely suppressed tone, "The smells of blood have mixed together. Bastard… He did this on purpose!"

Jacob's men started to search the place, thinking to themselves that they could only bury the relatively big pieces of Warren. At this time, no one wanted to stand in front of Jacob to take his violent rage.

"Mr. Spencer, please check out the place using magic to see if we can find any clues." Wolf fur started growing on Jacob's face, as his great anger and his intense urge to kill were going to explode at any time. He must and he would find the bastard who killed his son. He was going to make the guy's body kneel in front of Warren's tomb, for hundreds of years, thousands of years, even when the body had turned into pure bones!

A middle-rank mage was qualified to be a suzerain in this place, or at least a major consultant of the nine city lords. Therefore, Jacob, a level-four grand knight, could never afford a middle-rank sorcerer, not to mention that he was not even qualified for having a middle-rank sorcerer working for him. Due to the mysteriousness of magic, however, Jacob still needed one, so the Spencer guy he just talked to was a second-circle sorcerer, and together with his apprentices, Spencer worked for Jacob as his consultant.

Spencer took out a crystal ball from his pocket and put in on the top tip of his black magic staff. Then, he started to cast some Astrology spell.

The crystal ball turned black, as if a night sky was in there. Stars in the crystal ball all had their own track.

"Astrology cannot provide the direct answer, so the sorcerer who killed the master should be good at Astrology, and since he killed the young master with a Fireball spell, the sorcerer should be… around third-circle…" Spencer could not find answers from the crystal ball, but he had some assumptions based on his experience.

Jacob's eyes had turned red. Pointing at the flesh and blood on the floor and the completely destroyed bar counter, Jacob yelled, "This kind of explosion… from a third-circle sorcerer?!" Clearly he did not trust what Spencer just said.

Bottles of wine were shattered by his furious voice, and the liquor covered the floor. The whole place was filled with the mixed smell of blood and wine, which made Jacob's nose less sensitive than usual.

Spencer pointed at some of the glass pieces on the ground, "Lord Jacob, look at these. My guessing's that lots of alchemical materials exploded together. So maybe the sorcerer controlled the young master or Reja first, and then he or she tied lots of explosives to one of them. When the sorcerer cast the fireball spell, the explosion thus turned out to be this powerful."

"I don't want to hear how Warren died. I just want to know who the fu*king bastard is!" Jacob started roaring like crazy.

Spencer took a deep breath and then started casting again. This time, there were no stars in the crystal ball, but a creepy, old voice came out from it, "Carry the unknown destiny, flash back the ever-running time… The sorcerer who summons me… You can use five gems to get an answer, but only one."

This was a third-circle spell called Question. The caster could ask a question to an unknown evil existence at the cost of five precious gems, and the thing only provided the answers between yes or now. If the level of the question was not too much above the caster's own knowledge level, the accuracy was about seventy-five percent.

It looked like Spencer's magic staff was a level-three magic item.

The five beautiful rubies disappeared as soon as they touched the crystal ball, then Spencer asked, "I want to know whether the sorcerer who killed Warren had known Warren for just a few days?"

With smaller time range, the investigation would be easier.

The vicious voice answered immediately, "Yes."

Hearing that, Jacob hurriedly commanded, "You, you, and you, go and check it right now! We must be quick! Before the bastard gets out of here!"

Most of the knights hurriedly left the villa, and Spencer and another two knights checked the rest of the living room, but found nothing useful. So they decided to go to the chamber where those slaves were to see what they could find. Spencer also sent messages to his students to come and help.

Jacob rubbed his forehead and said, "Mr. Spencer, I gotta leave this in your hands right now. I'm too disturbed by my rage to think properly. We must find the fu*king bastard!"

Spencer nodded and hurriedly left the place with the two knights to see if there were any other clues they could find.

The living room suddenly became quiet, and this made Jacob feel even more bothered.

As he was walking back and forth in the living room, gray spider webs came out from nowhere on his feet and Jacob got entangled tightly in the webs!

A figure showed up in the corner where the wine smell was very strong. The man was wearing brownish red tight jacket, white breeches and black boots, as well as a monocle on the man's good-looking, smiling face.

Lucien never left the place! He hid himself in the safe corner under the cover of the mixed smell of wine and blood! No one ever expected this!

Lucien was very patient. He had been waiting here for four to five hours, waiting for the chance to kill Jacob together! If he did not, Jacob would finally find out what happened, and that would make his effort of killing Warren become in vain, so Lucien needed Jacob to die! Once Jacob was dead, all the suzerains would be busy with fighting over his land and wealth, and no one would care about how he was killed or who killed him!

That was how Lucien cleaned up things afterwards!

Chapter 263: Get Rid of Future Trouble

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

No one, including Jacob, Spencer, or the many knights, ever expected that the sorcerer who killed Warren and Reja was still waiting here. In almost every case, the murder would hurriedly escape from the site as fast and far as possible. Therefore, when Jacob and the knights first arrived at the living room, they were only looking for clues and evidence, but it never occurred to them that there was another person there!

Lucien took advantage of this, and he called it the psychological magic.

When Jacob saw the gray spider nets covering his whole body and noticed a person slowly showing up in the space, he immediately realized what was going on there. He was not frightened, instead, he was furious. He tightened all his muscles under the armor to break the fibres, but the threads were stronger than he thought. He could not move at all, not to mention reaching to the sword around his waist called Ice Break.

The second circle spell, Spider Web!

Experienced as Jacob was, he knew that being trapped here meant his demise. He had to keep intervening Lucien's casting to buy himself more time to get rid of the threads. Thus, he opened his mouth wide and the tusks in it grew longer. When he was about to use Roaring to stun the sorcerer, Lucien pointed at him with his coral staff, and a middle-sized lightning ball directly dashed into the open mouth!

The second circle spell of the Ambola staff, Lightning Ball.

If Jacob could move right now, there was no way that Lucien could do this. However, in Lucien's eyes, Jacob was just like a fixed target for practicing casting!

Jacob's whole brain was instantly numbed by the lightning ball, and he could not make any sound at all.

However, due to his powerful Werewolf Blessing, Jacob recovered from it quite fast. After all, this was just a second circle spell, and the fact that it was cast by a third circle sorcerer could not make it any more powerful.

Lucien knew this. After Lightning Ball, he started to cast another spell in a weird intonation. A beam of gray ray shot directly out of Lucien's right hand, which was covered by a white glove, and it instantly hit Jacob's body.

The third-circle Necromancy spell, Enfeeblement Ray, and it could quickly exhaust the person's stamina.

Jacob's black armor lit up to prevent the ray from affecting his body. However, although his armor was great against physical attack, it did not work that well with magic. The gray ray went directly into his body, and Jacob immediately felt cold. He felt tired, but again, because of his powerful Blessing, he was not entirely exhausted.

The ring on Jacob's right hand flashed, and lightning was summoned, going directly toward Lucien.

Jacob knew that he was not good at ranged attack, so he bought this expensive magic ring.

At the same time, Jacob's relatively good-looking face started to get distorted. His cheekbones started to protrude, his eyes became red, and wolf fur started to grow out of his face. Jacob's whole body bulged and his size increased by half, even including his ten knuckles!

Within two seconds, Jacob now looked just like a huge wolf!

Werewolf's Rampage. Once it was activated, the person's strength and speed would be greatly improved, and would also be immune to most mind-affecting spells. At the same time, however, the person was not able to use magic items in Rampage.

The spider webs suddenly became too fragile to stop Jacob. Gasping, Jacob marched forward toward Lucien with great effort.

Lucien quickly covered himself with a layer of golden and white flames and shielded himself from the lightning. After a few seconds, when Lucien was ready for another round of casting, the crystal ball rose above his head and burst out dazzling light.

Lucien clenched his fists and the light shone on Jacob. Instantly, Jacob felt that the living room's floor was like a mire, dragging him downwards, thus he had to make a lot of effort to pull his feet up to keep moving. The rest of the spider threads all over Jacob were not making it any easier for him.

The second-circle Astrology spell, Grasping Earth!

Jacob's bent wolf back suddenly straightened up, and a wolf shadow came out from him. The shadow was free from the spider webs and the sinking floor, and it jumped right toward Lucien.

Werewolf Blessing, Unholy Blight!

Holy light burst out from Lucien's chest, and a beam of flame-like light from the roof directly hit the shadow and made it disappear in a second.

Divine spell, Flame Strike!

Jacob became weaker when the shadow was destroyed, and he almost stopped moving forward.

Seizing the chance, Lucien cast Enfeeblement Ray on Jacob again.

Being hit by the gray ray again, Jacob did not even have the strength to roar. He knew that things could not keep going like this, so he, at the great cost of feedback damage afterwards, activated Rampage again! Only a grand knight could do this twice within this short period of time! Jacob started advancing toward Lucien again!

Lucien's left hand shone with cold light, and the frost blades perfectly struck Jacob's shanks! Although the blades could not really hurt Jacob because of the heavy armor he was wearing, the frost quickly turned into ice and froze Jacob's legs to the floor.

However, because of Werewolf's power, the ice instantly broke into pieces.

When Jacob was ready to bite Lucien's throat open, layers of new spider webs covered his body again. Jacob roared furiously.

Lucien was prepared for this fight. He had his plan and strategies in mind. This was the power of a sorcerer. In front of a prepared middle-rank sorcerer, if a level four knight did not have some secret power or great magic items, basically the knight would have no hope in winning the battle.

Again, with Lucien pointing the Amboula staff at Jacob's huge mouth, another lightning ball rushed in there. Jacob's roar was thus instantly cut off.

When Jacob was still trying his best to get rid of the new spider webs, he heard the sorcerer casting the same weird spell again! The gray ray hit him again!

Jacob's knees suddenly lost all the strength, and he almost kneeled down on the floor. However, the spider webs not even let him fall down!

Jacob was gasping. His throat was making a harsh noise. However, it could not turn into a roar. Jacob's eyes, staring at Lucien, were filled with great despair and anger.

Finally, Enfeeblement Ray worked!

There was still a smile on Lucien's face, but he directly ignored the way Jacob stared at him. Lucien was waiting for his cooldown time to cast the last spell.

After a few seconds, Lucien's raised his right hand and pointed at Jacob's left chest. A black hole appeared in front of Jacob's chest and the magic item he was wearing turned into colourful particles in solids, gases and liquids.

That was Lucien's special spell, Elemental Order, and Lucien also liked to call the spell Item Destroyer.

Jacob's eyes opened wide, and the veins in his eyeballs almost exploded. When Jacob was still striving to recover his power, Lucien cast Elemental Order again.

Jacob was shocked to find that the wolf fur in front of his chest and his muscles started to dissolve due to some mysterious and unstoppable power. His flesh was turned into colourful particles and his heart was thus directly revealed!

Jacob heard something about this horrible spell before. He could not believe the young sorcerer in front of him had this kind of power!

Before Jacob's muscles and skin could grow back, Lucien lifted his Amboula staff again and shot a strong acid ball directly toward Jacob's heart.

The strong acid immediately covered Jacob's heart, and the wolf-like man burst out a miserable, shrill cry out of the great pain.

At this time, Lucien cast a green acid arrow and the arrow fiercely penetrated Jacob's heart.

The level four knight just died like this. In front of a sorcerer, Jacob did not even manage to have the chance to make use of his strengths such as his power, speed and agility.

"Go meet your son in hell," said Lucien very calmly. Then, a big fireball was summoned and Jacob's body was blasted. Lucien did not want to leave any evidences here that could reveal his special power, Elemental Order.

Although the fireball was powerful, Jacob's black armor still looked pretty solid. The fire covered Jacob's whole body when the spider webs were lit on fire.

This was why Lucien did not choose to use fire to attack Jacob—the spider webs would be burned down.

Lucien closed his eyes and started to sense the surroundings using his spiritual power. He saw that Spencer, instead of rushing to save his master's life, hurriedly turned around and escaped away. He must have somehow confirmed Jacob's death.

Spencer was only hired by Jacob. There was no way that Spencer would risk his own life to seek revenge for Jacob and Warren.

Lucien knew this well. So he did not bother killing Spencer. Lucien took away Jacob's sword, armor, money and the rest of his magic items. He also left the unique marks of the Congress of Magic and the Will of Elements to show the East Haven people their power. So, they would draw the conclusion that Warren and Jacob were killed by a sorcerer because they pissed off the Congress and the Will of Elements. Therefore, Lucien could be totally free of future trouble.

Chapter 264: Set Off

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Ice Break, level four medium rank magic sword, bonus damage of ice and acid, balance improvement. Jacob had spent almost ten thousand Thales on it, however, in the last fight of his life, he did not even have a chance to draw the sword.

Lucien picked up the sword from the floor and slightly shook his head. The sword was glowing in a greenish-blue light. Together with the armor named Demon Soul, the ring named Punishment, which could cast Lightning three times a day, and some gold coins and gems worth around forty Thales, Lucien put the sword and other trophies into his magic storage pouch.

To collect the pieces of equipment, Jacob made countless filthy smuggling deals. Now they all belonged to Lucien. However, Lucien was not planning on using them, because some nobles in Schachran Empire could probably recognize them, which definitely meant unwanted trouble. Therefore, Lucien was going to have Leo sell them.

The unicorn necklace was an exception. Because a necklace could be very unnoticeable if it was properly hidden, Lucien was going to ask Leo to wear it to be immune to mental spells. This was good for both of them. And because Lucien was wearing Sun's Corona, he could not wear the two items together.

Collecting trophies made Lucien quite cheerful. He put back the crystal ball in his pocket—many astrology spells, due to the mysteriousness of destiny, still required casting materials when used. Maskelyne's Star was a typical example. And Astrology was not alone here. Other schools of magic also had this kind of special situation. Therefore, the completion of building a magic model in one's soul did not always mean that the caster would never use the corresponding casting materials.

With a flash of magic waves, Lucien's figure quickly disappeared and he secretly left the villa.

…

The basement of the common-looking house was one of Leo's secret hiding places.

"Mr. Peter, Jacob's death had made a great stir in the city. The suzerains have started fighting against each other for Jacob's land, wealth and resources, and the issue has been brought to the City Lord Meeting. Some nearby ancient sorcerers have also arrived here. They hope to join the East Haven's meeting to share the wealth." Leo, although there was no one else around, still carefully called Lucien's fake name.

Lucien was a bit surprised, "Is Jacob that wealthy? I did not find too many valuable items on him."

Leo answered, like a real butler, "Because most of the earnings of Jacob's manor had to go to the nine city lords. He also had to buy lots of precious materials for improving the power of his own Blessing such as Moonlight Stone and werewolf blood… plus his extravagant way of living, he could only use probably one tenth of his wealth to buy magic items. Also, high level magic items are very precious in the East Haven, and in most cases, the items would go to the city lords. Finding a level four or five magic item is already hard, not to mention finding a suitable one. So it took Jacob several years to gather his whole set of equipment."

Lucien slightly nodded. This was one of the major advantages of joining the Congress of Magic and the Will of Elements. As long as he had money, there were always great magic items there for him to choose. Every time Lucien went to the congress's Exchange Zone or the Demiplanes Warehouse of the will of Elements, he wanted everything there and he always had a difficult time making decisions.

"What about the nine city lords? Did they say anything?" this was what Lucien cared about the most.

Leo, wearing the makeup of an old man, shook his head, "Mr. Peter, no one has heard anything from the City Lord Meeting yet, but the owner of the bar told me that the city lords' people have only been there once for investigation, and no order for arrest has been released yet. The several suzerains claimed that Jacob and Warren were killed by the Congress of Magic, and this has nothing to do with the East Haven. According to the local law, it was totally fine for them to fight for Jacob's wealth."

"I see. Anyway, we shall still wait for a few more days to make sure we're safe before we set off for Schachran Empire." Lucien nodded, "Can you please find a way to secretly sell the magic items and use the money to buy a level four or five magic sword?"

"Mr. Peter, you'll at least suffer a twenty percent loss in a hurry trade, and a level four or five magic sword is quite hard to find. I cannot promise that I can find you a good one." Leo was straightforward.

"Not a problem." Lucien smiled and adjusted his monocle, "This is just for temporary use, as long as it doesn't have a high requirement on the user's strength, agility and willpower."

When they were in Schachran Empire, Lucien wanted to try his best to avoid using magic, therefore, a powerful magic sword became really important. Lucien did not really care about the features of the sword, since he was going to sell it when he got back to Allyn later anyway.

"As you said." Leo slightly bowed and left the the basement.

…

A few days later, in the early evening, Leo came back with a fancy sword inlaid with rubies.

"Mr. Peter, this is your magic sword. Level four high rank. Twenty three thousand Thales. After selling Ice Break, Demon Soul, the ring and the gold and gems, you have one hundred and sixty Thales left." Leo handed the sword to Lucien, and he also showed Lucien the evidence that he did not make up the prices and profit from the trades.

Lucien drew the sword and gently stroke it. The sword felt cold. Although the major body of the sword looked rather simple, the hilt was very sophisticatedly designed and it was covered with complicated patterns.

Following the method that he learned from Natasha, Lucien easily left his own power in the sword, and he got the message from the dwarf maker:

"Frost, level four high rank. Built by the special material called Jade Ice found from the deep Northland. The sword can slow down your enemy with freezing damage when it hits the target.

" Everyone likes fighting with an enemy who gets slower and slower! — Adaaran, the Copper Hammer"

The most outstanding feature of the sword was the fact that it could slow people down, but that was it. This was also the reason why Jacob chose Ice Break.

Lucien wielded the sword and felt the power in it, as much as that of a level four knight. And then he put the sword back into its scabbard, and hung it on one side of his waist — Alert was on the other side.

Lucien did not take a single look at the evidence but directly ruined it, "I trust you, Leo. And as a sorcerer, I also have a rough estimation of its value. Is there anything going on outside?"

Leo was a bit excited about Lucien's trust, "Mr. Peter, I have confirmed it with Mr. Valentine and the owner of Taran. The nine city lords have connived at the fact that the suzerains can take Jacob's wealth and land, and they have announced their final decision after contacting the Congress—what happened was due to Jacob and Warren's personal conflict with the Congress, so the city lords and the East Haven will not get involved in this. This is over."

Lucien had this feeling that the nine city lords had more or less of a connection to the Congress. It was not easy for the East Haven to remain neutral among this many powers.

Lucien stood up, "Leo, there's no moon tonight. We shall set off."

…

In the darkness, Flame Fortress was like a giant dragon safeguarding the best entrance of the mountain range. The rest of the places were full of terrible monsters, deep forests and snow cliffs.

Lucien, taking Leo with him, was right now flying in the night sky, as if they were part of the darkness.

According to the information they had, Lucien avoided the magic circles for the purpose of guarding in the sky and the patrolling routine of the airships, Lucien easily went through the fortress. They did not land until they arrived at a small town in Schachran Empire.

Without special magic or divine spells, there was no way that one could fully block the endless sky!

Chapter 265: The Superrich

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In the year 819 of Saint Calendar, the end of the Month of Beginning.

In the afternoon, the gray sky started to reveal a touch of cheerful blue. The great storm had finally stopped.

Snow accumulated in front of the unique-looking buildings with domes, and the snow was so thick that the doors of the buildings had been blocked. Some Schachran Empire residents got out through the windows. They started pushing aside the snow with big shovels, drinking spirits at the same time.

Most people here had blond, light blond or black-colored hair and were well-built. While young ladies looked beautiful and elegant, those middle-aged ones tended to have put on extra weight. Many of them were double the size of their husbands, and they could easily roll the big snow balls, which were even very heavy for many young lads, with one single hand.

On the second floor of a hotel along the main street, through the window, two youngsters were looking at the joyful scene when people down there were busy with cleaning the snow. Grabbing her hands together, the blond, blue-eyed girl grinned. "I've never seen this big snow in Ural before. It's already the end of the month, wow!"

The district of Ural was located in Kirov Province, southwest of Schachran Empire. Ural was two provinces away from the north fortress of the Duchy of Violet, and it was known for its ores and skills in making weapons. Therefore, Ural was also responsible for the logistics of Marinov's line of defense.

The young lady was beautiful, and the long coat made of fox fur she was wearing showed her nice figure. The short-haired young man standing beside her was a bit hesitant but still said to her, "Yielena, you've been spending quite a bit time with… Mr. Peter?"

"Yes, Igor?" Yielena turned around, feeling a bit confused, "Mr. Peter is profound and humorous. I like spending time with him."

As she was saying that, there was a little smile on her face.

That smile irritated Igor. He stamped his foot and said to her in an eager tone, "Yielena, he's a noble! And his wife must be a noble!"

Yielena's beautiful eyebrows frowned together, and she felt a bit offended, "So what? We're just friends. Come on Igor… There's nothing between us. If Mr. Peter was here, he would never upset me like this. He would talk to me about the fun games we can play in the heavy snow…"

"Mr. Peter, Mr. Peter… Yielena can't you just stop mentioning him for a second? Nobles are hypocritical!" Igor lost his temper a bit, "He looks elegant, uh? Who knows what he does for a living? Who knows what he has done before? Look at his showy swords. And he treats well every beautiful girl with us in the caravan! That means he doesn't care about you! He's a playboy! He hasn't even activated his Blessing yet!"

This was not the first time that they had this conversation, however, Yielena never listened to Igor. Igor could not bear this anymore.

Seeing that Yielena lowered her head, Igor softened his tone, "I care about you, Yielena… This is why I upset you. He's trying to get you to…" Igor stopped there. Although he talked dirty when he was with those mercenaries, he knew how to stop himself in front of Yielena.

Yielena now looked really upset. There were tears in her blue eyes. She said to him, in her trembling voice, "Igor, why do you always think Mr. Peter is a bad guy? He has refused two good-looking single ladies in our caravan. And I'm not an idiot as well!"

Then, she turned around and walked back to her room, slamming the door loudly. Igor started to apologize on the other side of the door.

On the other end of the corridor, two men were also looking outside of the window.

"Mr. Peter, I have to say that Vladimir family is really well-mannered. You're the most upright noble I've ever seen in front of women." The elder man with a brandy nose smiled. He was Berdychiv, Yielena's father, member of the caravan.

Lucien, or say, Peter Joseph Vladimir, put his hands in white gloves on the window rails and smiled. "In fact, there are many nobles who are loyal. Think about all those romantic stories."

In order to play the role better, Lucien dyed his hair blond using a special tree sap, and he also changed his eye color into blue. Now, he looked more lively.

"Both of us know that those stories are for those innocent young ladies, to get them to become the nobles' lovers." Berdychiv laughed, "Mr. Peter, you wanna have lunch together? I still have a good bottle of wine."

Lucien withdrew his right hand and shook his head, "Thank you, Mr. Berdychiv, but I cannot drink. I injured myself slightly when I was traveling around."

"Haha, Mr. Peter… This is the only thing in you that it's not that pleasant!" Berdychiv had been acquainted with Lucien for a month. He could now joke with Mr. Peter in a more relaxed way.

Schachran Empire was also known as the Empire of Knights, because they had way more knights than Violet and Holm, and this was also why the empire had been standing for hundreds of years against the South Church.

This made lots of adventures believe that harsh environment was good for fostering one's strong willpower, so that they could awaken Blessing sooner.

In the dinning hall, Lucien found a table in the corner. Leo, who was right now his butler, stood next to him.

After a while, when Lucien was having his Borsch, a middle-aged man wearing black jacket and marten waistcoat came in his direction, followed by his servant. His blond hair was shaped in slicked-back style, and a thick cigar was in his mouth. On his ten fingers, there were at least seven or eight dazzling rings.

"Hey, Mr. Peter. Can I sit here?" asked the bulky, middle-aged man passionately.

Lucien looked around and saw there was no spare seat left, so he nodded, "Sure, Mr. Sergey." The heavy snow trapped many tourists here, so the restaurant was busier than usual.

Sergey joined the caravan around five or six days ago, and he was heading for Ural city. He was straightforward, generous and talkative, so he had got familiar with most people in the caravan already.

After ordering some Bulin, which was a kind of naan bread, caviar, roasted veal and lamb, Sergey grinned, "Mr. Peter, I gotta say that you've really reminded me of Count Kutuzov also from Vladimir family. Both of you are very graceful and well-mannered. I mean… when I was doing my business in Volck, I met him a couple of times…"

Lucien cut his chicken into pieces, and he smiled, "Uncle Kutuzov? Is he still suffering from arthritis in rainy days?"

Kutuzov was important in the family, therefore, Valentin did mention some details about him, such as his diseases from his failure of breaking through the level of grand knight.

"Still the same, the same…" Sergey put on a smile and switched the topic. He started talking about other nobles he knew.

After sharing his stories with all the nobles, Sergey had built up the picture of himself—mysterious and superrich. Then, he released a slight sigh, "It's such a pity that I have to say goodbye to you soon, as we're already very close to Ural. I got to know Count Witte through Baroness Carleena's personal connection and I bought a recent discovered gem mine in Ural. Although the project will be tough, the value of the mine is beyond imagination. Lots of people are craving for it. So I'm afraid I'm gonna stay in Ural for a long time."

Count Witte's land was half the size of Ural District, and he was the actual ruler.

Lucien chewed his chicken well. After a while, he asked the question that Sergey was expecting, "Beyond imagination?"

"For sure! Experts have proved that the value of the mine's equal to a whole county! Thanks to the fact that Count Witte just doesn't want to bother and he'd rather make money from tax, or I'd definitely have zero chance to get it!" Sergey took all the documents out from his suitcase and showed off in front of Lucien.

Many spells needed gems as casting material and many magic items were made of natural gems.

"Congratulations." Lucien smiled politely.

"Thank you, Mr. Peter. But you know this isn't an easy trade. I almost went bankrupt just to please the count. Now I have no money for hiring people and buying all those equipments. I've been running around recently trying to collect money from my friends, and I'll pay them back double! But I'm still expecting a bit more…" Sergey looked worried. "I really hope the empire has banks that give out loans like those in Sturk and Holm… Now I'm even considering selling some of my share…"

After finishing his words, Sergey stopped and waited for Lucien's answer patiently.

However, Lucien did not say anything for quite a while.

"Well… Mr. Peter, you don't want to say anything?" Sergey raised his wine glass.

"Sure." Lucien wiped his mouth with napkin, "I've finished my lunch. Mr. Sergey, take your time and enjoy."

Then, Lucien elegantly stood up. After adjusting his two fancy swords a bit, he left the dining hall with Leo.

For a second, Sergey's smile froze on his face. Then he smiled, and took a sip of his wine.

…

In the afternoon, when the snow had just been cleaned a bit. An invitation arrived at the hotel. The invitee was Lucien, and the invitation was sent by Baroness Carleena.

Chapter 266: Winter Hunting

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

"Dear Mr. Peter,

"It is so nice to hear that we have a Vladimir family member here in Ural. Now, the storm has stopped and the weather has cleared up, therefore, in order to celebrate the upcoming spring and welcome our distinguished guest from afar, I would like to invite all the nobles in town to join together for a winter hunting in the forest belonging to my manor. May I have the honor?

"Baroness Carleena Lottnico."

That was a fancy invitation, made of fine cardboard and printed with sunflower patterns, with her elegant and beautiful handwriting in Schachran language. The invitation also had the unique feminine scent, left by the mature and beautiful noble lady who wrote the invitation.

"Baroness Carleena Lottnico…" Lucien just heard the name from Sergey, who he suspected to be a swindler, so he was now feeling a little hesitant.

The caravan members saw that Lucien did not say a word after reading the invitation, so they asked out of curiosity, "Mr. Peter, which is this noble inviting you?"

It was not Lucien's first time receiving invitations like that. Many suzerains had invited him before because of the family name, Vladimir. Out of a noble's courtesy, Lucien had accepted many invites and attended many parties.

Although after when the suzerains knew that Peter was only the son of a lord who failed to inherit the title, they became quite cold to Lucien, those invitations still brought the caravan good convenience in the empire.

"It's from Baroness Carleena," answered Lucien straightforwardly. Schachran Empire had a vast territory and countless important and small nobles. Lucien really did not know them well, except Count Witte, and he was expecting that the caravan members could provide him with more information.

After having some good wine with his lunch, Berdychiv's face looked flushed, and his red nose looked even brighter, "Baroness Carleena! Haha… A real beauty from Ural! A widow! She has all the wealth left by the baron, and Mr. Peter, you've got no idea how many young nobles are longing for winning her affection. The beauty, the manor, and the wealth… Think about it."

Berdychiv was still a bit drunk. He looked at Lucien trying to give him hints, as this had always been the traditional topic among men.

"Baroness Carleena is called Black Widow and the Vain Fox," added a blonde and green-eyed girl, a bit unhappily. "She was born in a noble family, and she's also the niece of the count's second wife. But years ago, she rejected all the young nobles who were pursuing her and married Baron Lotnikov, a widower with no offsprings, who was at that time forty-six years older than her for the sake of wealth and his title. Baron Lotnikov's health condition was quite good when they first got married, but five years later, the baron aged a lot and got really sick. Soon, he passed away."

"Irina, don't spread rumors," said a gentleman in the caravan. "Look around, we're in a fancy hotel in Ural, not in the middle of nowhere. What if some nobles heard it?"

Berdychiv waved his hands, "Relax. Trust me, those nobles want people to spread Baroness Carleena's bad name. So they can have less competitors. Those nobles don't care about the baroness's reputation. They want the title, the money and the beautiful body."

"She does have a bad reputation. She started inviting young nobles to her manor and having those extravagant parties only half year after the baron passed away."

"Anyway," Lucien smiled, "the baroness has invited me, and we're not in any hurry to leave. I should be polite and not let the hostess down."

Lucien had to play and maintain his noble reputation well. As he was not the only noble invited, the winter hunting should not be risky. And as long as he refused to be greedy, Lucien was confident that he would not be swindled.

After all, at that moment, Lucien himself was, in fact, a swindler as well.

Hearing that, the several caravan members had mixed feelings. Some started playing jokes, while some did not look too happy.

Lucien stood up and slightly nodded to them with a smile, "Then, see you tomorrow, everyone."

After he said that, he closed the book Работаактёранадсобой (An Actor Prepares) in his spirit library.

…

The land was covered with a thick layer of snow. Tall and big pines, from time to time, shook off the snow to get rid of the heavy burden. Several big, black Ural dogs shot out as fast as arrows, chasing after the rabbits.

Suddenly, an arrow shot from afar penetrated a gray hare very precisely.

Applause followed. A young noble tried to please the noble lady, "Impressive! Carleena, your archery has improved even further!"

Carleena lifted her bow in a triumphant way, then she turned around and said to Lucien, "Mr. Peter, now it's your turn. Vladimirs are all good archers."

Baroness was around twenty seven or twenty eight. Her soft blond hair was tied back, and there was always a smile matching her big blue eyes. Her slightly pouty red lips were like flower petals. The black hunting jacket outfit showed the beauty of her figure lines. Seeing that, many young nobles could not even remove their eyes from the baroness.

Lucien had seen women more beautiful than her, so he just took a polite glance at her and replied, "Thank you, Lady Carleena. The glory all goes to the family. But, honestly speaking, I'm more of a close combat person than an archer."

Lucien pointed at the two swords on his waist. Then, although he was being polite saying this, Lucien still quickly shot an arrow and it directly got a hare in the snow.

The key point of archery was stability and good vision, and they were no problem for Lucien.

"Umm… Clearly, you're really being humble, Mr. Peter. Your archery is close to knight level. You should teach me when you have time." Carleena stared at Lucien with her big blue eyes out of admiration.

This made other young nobles quite unhappy. A black-haired noble picked up his bow and said, "He's close to knight level. But let me show you what real knight-level archery is!"

After saying that, he shoot an arrow so fiercely that it was almost covered by fire. The arrow directly shot through a huge tree and went right into the eye socket of the animal behind it, leaving its fur totally undamaged.

He turned around and put on a complacent smile, "Peter, you see that? Of course, I wouldn't mind practicing sword with you either."

Before Lucien said anything, Carleena smiled sweetly, "Nice extraordinary bow, Barshac."

The implication of her words were clear. Then, Carleena turned to talk to other nobles. Her great social skills made this whole evening warm and cheerful.

…

In the forest some distance away from the nobles, two guys in black cloak were staring in Carleena's direction. When the young nobles started to scatter in the forest in order to find the best gift for Carleena, one man said to the other, "Mianka, you turn yourself into a winter bear later and attack Carleena. Make sure that the first round of attack miss the target. Then, you attack the blond noble guy beside her. After injuring him, you run away pretending that you were beaten by him."

"No problem, Niake." As the tall guy was saying, his body was covered by a layer of gray light. When the light disappeared, the guy had turned himself into a big, white bear.

Winter bear was a common magic creature in Schachran Empire. A fully grown one could have the power of a knight.

Niake grinned and said, "Mianka, control yourself a bit, so you won't directly beat him by accident. And be a good actor when you retreat. Don't make him suspicious."

"Relax. I got this," responded the white bear.

After a couple of minutes, a huge winter bear popped out and directly rushed toward Carleena. Screaming, Carleena barely dodged the bear's attack and then she hurriedly sought for Lucien's help.

Then, the huge winter bear raised its giant paw in front of Lucien. Seeing that, Niake put on a smile. Everything went exactly how they planned. Now, the next step would be Mianka hurting the noble man and then running away.

All of a sudden, after a flash of light, the winter bear fell over in front of Lucien's horse with a bang!

Lucien, on the horse, was holding a long, blue sword, with his back straightened. As he stared at the bear, it burst out gray light again and revealed its real look—the black-coated guy.

Seeing that, Niake almost dropped his jaw, "What's going on here?"

Chapter 267: The Hero and the Beauty

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

It seemed that everything stopped for a few seconds, even including the chilly wind.

Carleena and her guards were shocked and were just standing there, watching the huge winter bear jumping toward them. Then, with a flash of sword light, the winter bear fiercely fell onto the ground, stirring the snow everywhere.

They could not believe their eyes. How could a fully-grown bear just be killed like this?

Blood oozed out of the thin line throughout the bear's forehead, nose, mouth and its body. To be more specific, the blood did not manage to come out literally, but was frozen into some kind of shining, blue ice.

Then, mysterious gray light burst out from its body. When the light disappeared, the bear was gone, and instead, a man wearing a black cloak was on the ground. There was a deep wound on his face, right in the middle, and his cloak was also cut in half.

The man was still alive, writhing. Obviously, if they decided to do nothing and just left the man there, he would definitely die in a few minutes.

Facing such a sudden attack, Lucien was always direct and sharp. He always used his full power.

"A druid? Or a sorcerer who specializes in the ancient school of Transformation?" Lucien thought to himself. Clearly, seeing the man, Lucien was also a bit surprised. Because of the gray light he just saw, Lucien would say that the guy was a sorcerer.

However, before figuring out what was the man's intention and plan, Lucien would not save him in front of people just because he was a sorcerer.

After staring at the man for a few seconds, Carleena finally realized what just happened and she burst out a sharp scream, "Assassinator!"

Piles of snow on the pines were shaken off by her scream, and the young nobles around all hurried back to her.

At the same time, Carleena's face turned pale, and her body suddenly lost balance. She was going to fall from her horse, and she fell toward Lucien's direction.

The same calm look remained on Lucien's face, and his right hand was still grabbing the sword. At the same time, Lucien reached out his left hand and helped Carleena sit back on her horse again. Lucien asked politely, "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay. Thank you so much, Mr. Peter. Without you, I might have died already." Carleena's look was like a little white flower that needed to be taken care of tenderly. After sitting back on the horse, her hands gently entangled with Lucien's left hand, and her full body started to lean against Lucien's arm, as if she was seeking for a shelter and a reliable place. Lucien could smell the mixed scent of her make up and perfume.

Lucien's nose was a bit irritated. He was not used to this, and he almost subconsciously cast Air Filter Bubble to get rid of the overly sweet smell.

The thing happened all of a sudden, and Lucien already did not trust the baroness because of Sergey, so Lucien had absolutely no feeling toward the beauty holding his arm. So, he politely pushed Carleena away and said, "Good to hear you're not hurt. There still might be other assassinators around. We're still in danger. Do not distract me."

Carleena was just about to lay her bust against Lucien's arm. However, after hearing that, she got a bit pissed. Carleena thought to herself that what kind of man would say "Do not distract me" to her… What the hell…

Nevertheless, she still managed to maintain her manner. After a bit of a pause, she responded, "Okay then, Mr. Peter. You're surely brave and cautious."

At this time, Carleena's servants surrounded her to protect her from any possible following attacks.

Carleena was not totally inexperienced. Gradually, she calmed down a bit, and she said to her people, "Take the assassinator! Don't let him die! Bring him back to Pastor Nicolay!"

"As you command." Several servants stepped forward and took out magic-blocking robes and healing potions.

Barshac and the other young nobles just came back. They hurriedly asked, "Carleena, are you alright?"

Carleena's face looked a bit pale, which made the young nobles want to take good care of her even more.

Carleena forced a smile on her face and said, "I'm alright. Mr. Peter beat the assassinator. Surprisingly, he's a real knight, and he stopped the bear with one single movement."

As she was saying, Carleena took a quick glance at Lucien, and her face flushed.

Seeing that, Barshac was very jealous. He stared at Lucien and clenched his fists. But soon he realized what Carleena had just said, and he asked out of great surprise, "Peter's a knight?"

Although people here had a greater chance to awaken their Blessings, the status of a knight was still a dream for many young nobles. Barshac was now twenty-four, and his goal was to become a knight by thirty. If he could marry Carleena and get her wealth, even if he failed to do so, he could still buy those secret potions from the smugglers to obtain the power.

Within the Congress of Magic, the Blessing-awakening potion plus Blood Cleanser was about five hundred Thales, however, nobles in Schachran Empire, this inland country, were willing to pay even ten thousand Thales to get the potion. Only nobles themselves understood how badly they hankered for power and titles.

Therefore, the trade of the potions was an industry of excessive profits. Because the empire was not really an enemy for the Congress, the Congress chose to smuggle a limited amount of potions from time to time to the empire to make a great fortune. Also, some ancient sorcerers nearby in the East Haven were also making a small amount of the potions to make extra money.

Carleena nodded, "Yes, Mr. Peter's a real knight. He's strong and brave."

The young nobles all looked at Lucien with mixed feelings. Some felt confused, some upset, and some jealous.

Holding Alert, Lucien said, "I've been traveling around Flame Fortress for many years, and I've been put in quite a lot dangerous situations, thus I managed to awaken my Blessing… You know, just like how eyases are pushed out of the nest to learn how to fly."

Carleena sensed the awkward atmosphere. So, she coughed a bit and said to the nobles, "Distinguished guests, because of what just happened, we have to end our winter hunting earlier than we expected, but our welcome party for Mr. Peter is not affected. No worries, in the manor, we have lots of guards and pastors there!"

It was a bit too late for the young nobles to go back to Ural from Carleena's manor, and also, the last thing they wanted to do was to leave Peter the chance to spend time alone with Carleena. So they all agreed to attend the party.

…

Unlike Aalto or Tria, Schachran music was unique and had an outburst of enthusiasm.

The floor of the spacious hall was covered by thick red carpet, and the young nobles were socializing with wine glasses in their hands. The long dinning tables in the corner were loaded with the empire's signature liquor, Gold Lega, and also butter, white bread, pancake, creamy roasted fish, caviar, roasted lamb, fried chicken, steak, borsch, beef soup and all kinds of fancy dessert.

Carleena, as the host, was leading Lucien to meet the guests.

She was now wearing a black evening dress, and her nice figure was thus perfectly outlined. Carleena chose to only wear a pearl necklace tonight, showing her beautiful neck and bust.

"This is Mr. Ivanovszki, our famous businessman in the empire. From Storm Strait to the provinces in the northwest, evening including the land where Marinov line of defense is, you can see his businesses," introduced Carleena. Wearing a pair of gilt-edged glasses, Mr. Ivanovszki looked quite elegant, but his figure was quite well-built, like a winter bear.

Ivanovszki kissed Carleena's right hand and said, "My lady, your beauty is more precious than any jewels. I'm just an ordinary merchant working for nobles."

Then Ivanovszki shook hands with Lucien, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Peter. I've heard your name in the northwest province. Congratulations for awakening your Blessing so fast. I'm sure that when you go back to your family, you'll get the title very fast. What a pity that your father cannot share the joy…"

"Well… He got excited easily and he was always drunk, so…" Lucien responded casually. According to Valentine, Peter and his father did not get along with each other well at all.

After chatting casually a bit, Ivanovszki smiled, "If I can have the honor, I hope we can cooperate to make some good money in the future. Now I must leave you and Carleena alone for your opening dance."

Carleena nodded, and she said to the guests in a louder voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Mr. Peter Joseph Vladimir from the northwest!"

The applause was not too warm, but Carleena did not care. She looked at Lucien like she was fascinated by him, "Mr. Peter, as the host, I invite you to have the opening dance with me."

Lucien bowed to her slightly and reached out his right hand, "Lady Lottnico, my great honor."

With a sweet smile, Carleena put her soft hand in Lucien's, and they started to dance in the music. They were doing Ilia Circle Dance.

Carleena leaned her body against Lucien's chest, and her eyes became alluring, "Peter, you know what? When the bear was coming for me, I was totally helpless and desperate. But you stood in front of me and saved my life! When I was looking at you from behind, I felt the great sense of security that I have never experienced before. I feel that you're the one who can shelter me from any wind or rain, and you're the one who can make me happy and forget all my fears and worries."

"Thank you, Carleena, but I was also protecting myself," Lucien answered.

"No matter why…" Carleena's lips approached Lucien's face, and her breath became faster and warmer, "When you save me from the bear's paw, you're my hero—my brave and reliable hero! My heart beats fast for you, and I've never felt this before, even when I married my husband… He was more like a father to me, and I was touched…"

Lucien thought for a few seconds and then said to the woman seriously, "Carleena, you're a great person…"

Chapter 268: Leo's Finding

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

"What?" Carleena was confused.

"I mean… we should be friends," said Lucien seriously.

"… I heard you…" Carleena put on quite a few facial expressions within a few seconds. Finally, she put on a delicate and charming look, and her big eyes stared at Lucien's face with some tears in it, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Peter. I've troubled you this much."

Although most guys would probably be touched by the way she looked right now, Lucien was an exception. He was still wearing the polite smile, "I really appreciate your affection. But you're just not the type I like. I'm sorry."

The song gradually ended. Carleena looked down, and her tears dropped onto the carpet.

Her nose was a bit stuffy, "I know I'm only a widow, and I don't deserve you, Mr. Peter. Anyway, I've told you my feelings toward you. Thank you for dancing with me. Feel free to come back to Ural in the future."

When the music stopped, Carleen quickly turned around and left the dancing floor.

Seeing that, Barshac and some other nobles all left their dancing partners and followed Carleena, trying to check her out and comfort her. However, Carleena quickly hid in the lady's dressing room in the corner and locked the door from inside.

Barshac stared at Lucien with mixed feelings. He was not sure if he should feel lucky or angry, but he knew that he was definitely jealous.

However, facing Lucien's power, no one dared to challenge him directly.

In the dressing room, Carleena raised her head, and her beautiful face looked very angry. She murmured to herself in a bitter way, "A great person? How dare you say this? Who do you think you are? Damn it! I'll make you regret it!"

…

In the dungeon behind the manor, Mianka slowly came out of his coma, and Niake was right beside him.

"Finally, you woke up…" Niake started to put some magic potions back into the small box.

"Where… where's this place?" Mianka was confused, "What happened?"

"Come on, Mianka… I told you to pretend that you were beaten. I never told you to commit suicide! Your winter bear form at least had the power of a real knight. You should be the one telling me what happened…" said Niake quite pissed.

Mianka scratched his head with effort, "The guy was fast. When I saw his sword coming, I was not able to dodge at all. Then, I fainted… I thought my winter bear form could handle at least the power of a level two knight…"

"His sword should be at least of level two high-rank… We've underestimated this guy. I need to report this to the master," said Niake. Due to their lack of information, their plan of playing the hero and the beauty almost turned into a disaster.

…

After putting on some make up, Carleena went back to the dancing floor with the same sweet and cheerful smile on her face as usual. The only difference was that now her attitude toward Lucien was rather cold, as if what happened was all an illusion.

That relieved Lucien. He was only passing by that place. He wanted nothing from this party, and he only wanted to stay away from trouble.

When the party ended, Carleena started to send guests to their guest rooms. When Lucien put on his coat, he noticed that his butler, Leo, was gone!

Looking around, Lucien did not see Leo. When he was about to use spiritual power, Leo popped out from behind a pillar in the corner, "My lord, the party has ended?"

His wrinkled face looked a bit pale, as if he was trying his best putting up with something. And on the face, Lucien also saw fear.

"Are you alright?" Seeing that all the butlers and servants had followed their masters to the rooms upstairs, Lucien asked Leo in low voice.

"You look tired, my lord. Maybe you want to take a rest now." Leo gave Lucien the eye.

"Alright." Lucien got it right away.

When they went back to the guest room, and after they carefully checked the place, Leo said to Lucien in fervent hatred, "My lord, I saw the smuggler… in the party."

"The smuggler who killed all your family?" Lucien slightly adjusted his monocle.

Leo nodded seriously, "Yes, it was him. I remember his face all day and all night. When I was waiting for you beside the hall, I saw him with his new assistant. I was afraid that he might recognize me, so I hid behind the pillar. I saw him walking into the main hall."

"…What's his name?" asked Lucien thoughtfully.

Leo lowered his voice even more, as if he was using this way to restrain his emotion, "He's changed his name. I heard other nobles and butlers calling him… Mr. Ivanovszki"

"I thought so…" Lucien slightly nodded. Carleena's acquaintances were either swindlers or smugglers, which meant that she probably had many secrets as well. She was just playing the role of a widow whose heart was filled with vanity. And very possibly, Sergey worked for Ivanovszki.

However, Lucien was now even more confused. If Carleena knew the big smuggler, why would she kept throwing herself in his arms? For what?

Although Lucien's sword, Frost, was quite pricy, for Carleena, twenty thousand Thales was nothing. She had several manors and three major mines from the baron, not to mention the gold. Also, as the niece of the second wife of Count Witte, it was just absurd that Carleena would approach Lucien because of the sword, unless she was crazy about wealth, which was very unlikely to happen.

"No worries, my lord. I'll not break my promise, since I've signed the compact, and you've saved my life. One day, I can break his neck."

"I trust you, Leo. But you can tell me more about him." Lucien nodded. Although he felt sorry for Leo, in Schachran Empire, he could not take the risk to take revenge for Leo, since big smugglers like Ivanovszki were always under lots of protection. And if Lucien was going to take revenge for Leo, it was very likely that the north church would notice that a sorcerer had arrived in the empire.

Leo had great grief in his eyes, "When I first met Ivanovszki, he was already the most famous smuggler in the East Haven. It was said that he had a big noble and two city lords behind him. He was also connected to some ancient sorcerers, so he could sell magic items and potions. Ivanovszki's so influential that he can ignore all the nobles other than the count."

Lucien nodded. He was listening to Leo carefully.

"He has several good magic items. He always has middle-rank sorcerers or grand knights protecting him. His smuggling business accounts for at least twenty percent of the industry in the empire. When I worked for him, mostly just trading some materials in Brianna like Black Nightingale, I protected him once, and I helped him connect to the southwest black market of the empire, so I was awarded with the magic potion and awakened my Blessing." Leo continued, "After that, once he planned on robbing a village and selling all the villagers to an ancient sorcerer as his experiment material. I could not bear this… so I told his plan to the church, and he suffered a great loss from it. After that, I changed my name and everything. Although I thought I did this secretly, he still managed to know it was me who did it… Before I could send my family to a safe place, he…"

Lucien rubbed his chin, "He could escape from the north church… It sounds like Ivanovszki does have the support of a big noble…"

Knowing that Ivanovszki was protected by some middle-rank sorcerers, Lucien had decided that he should leave Ural as soon as possible.

After getting more information from Leo, Lucien did not go to sleep immediately. After Leo went back to his own room, Lucien blew off the candles and sat down in the couch. He started to build the magic model of the fourth-circle spell, Professor's Infrasound Resonance, while looking at the moonlight outside of the window.

Lucien sensed the smell of danger. He wanted to wait for the daylight.

"Remember me whenever you see the moon…" Thinking of the past, Lucien suddenly smiled.

At this time, Lucien heard someone knocking on the door.

"Who's it?" asked Lucien calmly but alertly.

"It's me, Ivanovszki. Can we talk, Mr. Peter?" the man's voice sounded friendly and relatively familiar.