Accusation

The room fell into stunned silence at Channis's roar. Even Lavelle stopped crying, and the atmosphere shifted into a tense stillness.

After a moment of deep thought, Channis finally turned back to Lavelle and asked, "What's the full name of this peasant?"

"Glen Nibankru," Lavelle muttered softly.

"Glen Nibankru... Glen Nibankru..." Channis closed his eyes, as though trying to recall something.

It took a while, but when he finally opened his eyes again, his expression had softened slightly, though there was still a lingering hint of concern. "I need to... I need to write a letter, yes, a letter."

With that, Channis quickly left the scene, heading straight to his study, leaving the rest of the room in confused silence.

Sophia was the first to recover from the shock. She glanced at her son and then turned to the knight, Barbel, standing nearby. "Barbel, go investigate this Bayek Town."

"Yes, madam," Barbel responded with a bow, and left the room.

Lavelle was still bewildered. He couldn't understand why his father had acted that way. "Mother, aren't you going to help me get revenge?" he asked, his voice full of confusion.

"Wait a moment. You'll be satisfied with what we do, my poor child," Sophia reassured, gently stroking Lavelle's swollen face to comfort him.

Time ticked by, and soon night had fully descended. Lavelle, on the brink of falling asleep, was roused by the arrival of his father, Channis, holding a letter in his hand. He handed it to a male servant.

"Take this letter to the East District of the capital and give it to the local postman."

"Right now?"

"Yes, right now, hurry!" Channis's voice raised slightly in urgency.

The servant hesitated no longer and hurried off into the night.

Sophia approached her husband, her steps quiet, and hesitantly asked, "What's all this about?"

Channis met her gaze briefly before glancing at Lavelle. He then lowered his voice. "Come inside. I'll explain."

Once inside the room, Channis shut the door and turned to face his wife. "Bayek Town is home to almost nothing but madmen and monsters. It's extremely dangerous."

Sophia's eyes widened in shock. "Madmen? Monsters?" She was visibly alarmed.

"Yes," Channis sighed deeply. "I shouldn't even know about this, but high-ranking nobles are aware. I happen to know someone who is well-versed in these matters. Once, in a casual conversation, he mentioned that there's a place in the Kingdom of Zeyn called Bayek, where most of the residents are terrifying monsters. Even a dragon that dares to stir trouble there would meet its death. I don't know if it's an exaggeration, but it's enough to demonstrate how dangerous the people there can be."

Sophia's hand flew to her mouth in disbelief. She hadn't known that such a perilous place was so close to their estate.

"What about this Glen, the peasant..."

"Don't worry about him for now," Channis replied, his tone steady. "My friend mentioned that there are certain monsters and people to watch out for in Bayek, but he didn't mention anyone named Glen. There are also some weaker residents, people who've sold their houses and moved in ordinary folk. Glen may be one of those fools."

Sophia felt a little more at ease upon hearing that. "So, what happens now?"

"I've written to my friend. Once I get his reply, we'll decide what to do next."

Meanwhile, Glen's friendly service to customers and the delicious meat of his black pigs had led to strong sales when he brought the pigs into the town for the second time. However, there were still very few families with the means to buy the meat, so this time the sales weren't as booming as the first. Glen had expected this, but in the end, he still managed to sell everything.

Not far off, Im, another butcher, glared at him with intense frustration but dared not start trouble. Seeing Glen's success had made his own business look terrible. Despite lowering his prices to match Glen's, very few customers came by.

The two black pigs had earned Glen a small fortune, making him a relatively wealthy man for his standards. Over the next few days, he paused his pig sales, using the money he earned to fix up his home—fresh coats of paint on the walls and new furniture.

In addition to these improvements, he also built a simple pigsty in the forest outside Bayek Town. After all, the land there was unclaimed.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, yet Glen couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Why hadn't the noble young master come to cause trouble yet? Had something happened? It had been almost a week since that encounter...

As he chopped the pig feed he had gathered in the forest, he wondered to himself, half-lost in thought.

He skillfully filled the feeding trough with the prepared food, and several black pigs eagerly crowded around it, grunting hungrily.

It was early in the morning, and Glen planned to take another pig to Dud Town to sell today. Once he had enough savings, he might consider traveling to the Mage Tower to study magic. He had heard that becoming a mage's apprentice was incredibly expensive, and only rich merchants or nobles could afford it. Earning enough money through pig sales seemed unrealistic.

He wondered if his wolf-like physique would help him learn magic faster. He had no idea.

After slaughtering a particularly robust black pig, he loaded it onto the cart.

"Watch the pigsty and don't wander off," he called back to the beast that had been keeping guard.

The beast let out a howl, signaling that it understood.

Meanwhile, in the distance, two figures were walking slowly down the road, engaged in conversation.

"Those two again?" Glen paused in his tracks, his eyes narrowing in curiosity.

The figures approaching were two puppets—one was a round-headed figure in a blue vest, resembling a stick figure, and the other was a highly realistic female puppet, wearing a pretty pale pink dress and carrying a parasol. If you didn't look closely, you might not even realize she was a puppet.

This wasn't the first time Glen had encountered them. Over the past few days, he had often seen them wandering around, though he had no idea what they were doing in the area.

Though they had crossed paths multiple times, neither side had ever exchanged greetings. It was a sort of unspoken rule among the residents of Bayek Town to keep their distance unless they were well-acquainted.

The two puppets stopped their conversation as soon as they spotted Glen. As they passed by, they exchanged a quick glance.

Once they had moved far enough away, Aina, her curiosity piqued, asked, "Parindes, where is he taking that thing?"

"It's obvious. He's a butcher. He's probably going to sell the meat," Parindes replied in a detached tone.

"Where is he selling it?"

"How would I know?" Parindes responded indifferently.

Aina looked back at Glen's retreating figure and suggested, "Let's follow him and see."

"That's impossible!" Parindes said, his tone serious. "We cannot afford to be seen by more people. It would put us in danger!"

Aina opened her mouth to protest, but seeing the intensity in her brother's eyes, she closed it again, choosing to listen to him.