Chapter 72 : : Extortion

Kale saw a guard hurriedly come out with an anxious expression on his face and chuckled.

The first step of his plan has succeeded.

The state of the inner guard surprised the two guards outside but they weren't in the position to brazenly ask questions whenever they want.

"You... Follow me, Lord called you," The guard said once he was just a meter away from Kale, he was afraid of him running away that's why he got more on alert this time and even circulated his Battle Qi inside, ready to attack any moment.

Kale nodded and followed him without any resistance, the guard took him outside of the Enan's office then hurriedly left.

"Come in," The voice of Enan came from inside.

Kale wasn't planning to wait anyway, so he walked in, Enan intently stared at him from the moment he took a step in the room and even exerted some pressure on him to tell his disposition but Kale completely ignored him as he took a chair and leisurely sat on it with his right leg folded on his left.

His actions made Enan look at him with wide eyes, the surprise then turned into anger, he was furious "What gal you have! Know your place como-"

He was saying but Kale interrupted him without a second thought "Come to the topic,"

Enan saw him cutting his sentence in the middle and couldn't believe it was happening, he clenched his teeth, faint veins popped upon his head. In the next second, he raised his hand and slammed it on the table.

With a booming sound, several spiderweb-like cracks appeared on it and the files got thrown to the side.

"Just because of knowing one or two things you think you punk can act like this? You don't have any evidence-" Enan's eyes were seething fire as he spoke but Kale yet again interrupted him as he waved his hand to signal him to stop and placed two pages on the table.

Enan wanted to rip those two pages to pieces, but when he peeked at the content he was frozen in place.

The two pages were from the account book of the bandit leader, they had the records of their transaction with every minute details, it was the proof of his transaction with Baron Enan. The bandit leader kept the proof so if someday, Baron Enan tries to kill him to silence him, he could use it to counter.

Enan wasn't surprised that the bandit leader had such a thing but by the fact that he dared to show it to others.

The letter from earlier only stated about his business with bandits and not about the fact that there were no more bandits alive from the group.

Enan planned to silence all bandits together with any proof they had once he finished sucking dry the mine so he acted like a negligent idiot but the current situation was very unexpected to him.

He quickly ripped the two papers to shreds.

Kale didn't stop him and just smiled "How foolish," He muttered in a sarcastic tone.

Enan's face was dark, he understood that Kale probably had more proof or else he wouldn't have given this to him.

"Those two papers are going to cost you 50 Gold each," Kale added.

When Enan heard it, he was almost breathing fire, he may have looted many civilians but it was never the other way around "Who do you think, you are threatening?"

"Baron Enan," Kale said the two words.

Enan was tongue-tied, the boy in front of him seem to have no fear of him at all.

Kale slowly removed his mask and put it on the table, his young appearance not only surprised Enan but only made his heart grew colder.

'As expected, the young lamb is not afraid of tiger's den, this brat is probably just a puppet who believed someone else's words and is sure that I won't do anything to him, it is a different person pulling the strings,' Enan thought, several plans formed in his head as he pondered about how to deal with the situation.

He narrowed his eyes at Kale then smirked, he knew what kind of weakness a boy like this can have.

"Boy do you know the punishment of blackmailing a noble, according to the law?" Enan said in a threatening tone, then added "You will be jailed, if not crippled,"

"Do you know the punishment of colluding with bandits as a noble, according to the law?" Kale said in a casual tone, then added "You will be executed with your title snatched, in the most positive case scenario,"

Enan was stunned.

But he didn't give up, he gritted his teeth and again persuaded "You are still young and don't fear death, but what about your family? Your parents? Little sister or brother? They might not have a good end if you mess with me,"

Kale chuckled "You are old and have forgotten to differentiate between a lion and a cat, you might get executed with your title stripped but don't worry about your wife and concubines, I heard you have only two children? I will increase their number,"

Enan was dumbstruck.

He was so angry that he wanted to forget about the consequences and punch Kale in the face. He shouted, "Don't push my hand, do you think you can get out of here alive if you want?"

Kale rebuked him in disdain "Do you think you will still be noble till night, once you do that? Or I am foolish enough to have prepared nothing? One hour, if I don't leave this place in one hour, then you are done for,"

Enan fiercely looked at him, he expected it and hearing this from his mouth only confirmed his conjecture.

He slowly sat down on his seat and looked at Kale with a thoughtful expression.

Kale noticed that the time was right and threw another bomb "If you are thinking that how I got the evidence and information of your collaboration with them, then here is a hint for you, the bandits are no more,"

When Kale finished speaking, Enan's eyes turned so wide that they almost popped out of their sockets.

"You are lying," He tried to refute but Kale just shrugged his shoulders, the facts were in front of him.

Enan was keeping a check on Adventurer's Guild since the mission regarding bandit extermination appeared, he didn't want them to get exterminated as it would be a loss to him. He was ready to inform them, the second anyone picked the mission and even help them exterminate those adventurers.

But how would he know that the bandits have gotten exterminated before someone even took the mission?

Enan soon calmed down, then looked at the boy sitting in front of him "What do you want?" He asked, Kale, didn't go to the guild to report him which meant things were still negotiable, he decided to swallow this humiliation for now and return it later thousandfold.

"100 Gold," Kale said in a faint tone.

Enan was taken aback. 100 Gold might be a big amount for many poor Barons but not for him, he had accumulated a big amount of wealth throughout the years that could even put some Viscounts to shame.

He didn't believe Kale would let go of him just for this much, after all, just now he demanded 100 Gold for both of the ripped papers.

"Are you making fun of me," Enan said in a loud tone.

"Hear the whole thing, it's 100 Gold per month," Kale said, as the words left his mouth, they made Enan bewildered.

Kale wasn't planning to do a single transaction and done with the blackmail once and for all, but keep blackmailing him every month.

He wanted him to become his free gold mine.

"Impossible!" Enan shouted in a hoarse tone. He looked at Kale with fiery eyes and spoke "You think you can blackmail me for a life like that? Humph, I would rather cripple myself and take the blame, my son can take my place and chase you to eternity,"

Although he said that, he didn't really have the intention to sacrifice his life like that, he was trying to minimize the extortion price, put pressure on Kale and gain more time.

Kale looked at him with a serious expression then broke into laughter "Your son? That scared cat, let me show you something interesting,"

He took out his phone, then opened a picture and placed it in front of the Enan.

Enan looked at the picture, it was of a white handkerchief, from the flower pattern on it, the handkerchief likely belonged to a woman, it was not clean at the moment, and was covered in dirt, the most attractive thing about it were the words written on it with dried blood.

The words were disoriented, Enan took his time to connect them and found out that they were accusing his son, Dale of murdering his companion to save his own life. At the bottom of the handkerchief was the name of a woman, Vivie.

Dale was none other than the adventurer Kale saw long ago on his first visit to The Poison Crypt, and Vivie was currently the Ghost Lady residing in his first «Ghost Bead».

The day, Dale ran out of The Poison Crypt dungeon, he told everyone that his companion died due to the monsters ambush and he wasn't able to save them even when he tried. Even with his noble status, he didn't dare say that he killed them, because the impact of such actions on him would be worse than that of a commoner.

After coming back to his home, he had assured his father, Enan several times, that it was really not his fault and even if it was, there was no proof remaining.

In fact, there was really no proof remaining, but it didn't mean Kale couldn't create one, Kale took Ghost Lady's help to make it though it was still fake, but just from the photo, Enan can't tell if it was fake. Moreover, because of the bandit leader account book proof, he was more inclined to believe that it was true.

If such a thing really existed, then it could prove that Dave was the murder, a mage at Tier 3 is capable of leaving their mana signature on their letter. Meaning, the handkerchief with bloody words on it was strong evidence, but such a thing never existed.

"It is fake," Enan quickly shouted, his face appeared somewhat pale.

"Who knows, I spend 1 year to track you down and collect all these proofs, now I only need a few minutes to ruin your whole life. A while ago, you said your son will take revenge if you managed to pass on the title without it getting snatched? Hehe, now are you sure about that? As far as I know, killing their own companion is a serious crime in the eyes of Adventurer's Guild, and a big blow to a future heir's reputation," Kale said.

As he said that, he took back his phone from Enan, this time Enan didn't dare break it, the previous two papers cost him 100 Gold and this was a phone that was properly working in a place like Carran Town, the price this time wasn't something he would like to pay.

Enan fell into silence, he didn't know what to do.

If he agreed, he would have to pay 100 Gold every month for who knows how long.

Furthermore, he still wasn't sure if it was really the Kale pulling of the strings, if the true person in the opposite party decided to sacrifice its pawns, later on, he would still be done for.

He was wondering if he should pack the luggage and run away to a different place, but this way he would lose his hard-earned status and foundation, furthermore it was still a question if he could successfully flee. The issue was if the Royal Family would put serious efforts into chasing him.

"Don't forget, I am not your only enemy," Kale said with a smirk.

Enan's body jolted, he suddenly came to the realization, nobles weren't that friendly to each other, many were jealous of his wealth and wanted to devour him, if they really get a chance then they won't let go of him.

He realized that if he tried to run, there would be many who would chase him in the name of righteousness to devour him properly.

"I agree..." Enan said in a low tone, his face was dejected, the look in his eyes made him seem overly tired and old.

After ten minutes, the door of the office opened and Kale walked out while playing with a marron pouch in his hand, before leaving he looked at Enan and spoke "You are free to investigate my background but do it secretly, if I found out, then the price will increase, same goes for any foolish actions you might take in the future,"

With this sentence, he left the Town Lord's mansion.

Once he left, a young man walked into the office, he had a muscular body and good facial features, if Kale saw him, he would be able to tell that it was Dale.

Dale walked into the office, he was about to greet but then he noticed the fierce look in his father's eyes.

"W.. What... Happened father?" He asked with visible fear in his eyes.

"Despite my warnings, you had spent quite some resources on that Mage Vivie, letting her breakthrough to Tier 3 Lightning Mage, hoping she would fall for you due to status and wealth just like any other women.

After the incident at The Poison Crypt, you said, she died without leaving a corpse while fighting monsters, are you sure about that?" Enan asked as he stood up from his seat and moved in front of him.

"Y...Yes, father, she died without leaving a corpse, I saw with my own eye- " Dale hesitantly spoke, but before he could finish his sentence, Enan raised his hand and struck his face.

Dale didn't dare resist, he got slapped on his cheek directly, the sheer force behind the slap made him almost faint, he rolled down to the floor and collided with the shelves.

"I ask again, did you see her dying with your own eyes," Enan's thunderous voice sent chills down the spine.

Dale was frightened to the core, he knew his father better than others, he knew his father was merciless when he was angry. He quickly thought back to the events that day, to save his own life, he injured Vivie with his sword and ran away without looking back, he didn't see her dying but was sure she couldn't survive.

"Father... She was fatally injured, although she wasn't dead, she definitely couldn't survive, the adventurers also found the tattered pieces of her clothes and bones later on..."

Enan clenched his fist until they bleed, Dale's words had extinguished the last bit of hope that Kale was tricking him.