Before Miles could speak, a servant girl traveling with him to Stormveil City asked curiously:
“Priest Leon, do you own a manor in Stormveil City as well?”
After spending the past few days together, the servant girl had long since realized that Leon was not the type of noble who strictly adhered to social hierarchies or obsessed over status.
Thus, she wasn't worried that her words would offend him and simply asked out of curiosity.
Leon replied, “A few days ago, when my family learned I was headed to Eldenborg for my post, they ordered someone to make a temporary purchase of a manor in Stormveil City, as it is the closest city to Eldenborg.”
“?” A question mark practically appeared over the servant girl's head.
Just... just because he was going to Eldenborg, they bought a manor in Stormveil City worth over a hundred thousand gold coins?
The servant girl’s mouth hung open. For the first time, she truly understood the lifestyle of the top-tier nobility.
This level of wealth was simply inhuman!
Seeing the servant girl’s expression, Miles shook his head and chuckled.
To be honest, when he first met Leon and learned he had a manor in Soleneum, Miles had been just as shocked.
However, after learning Leon’s true identity, Miles was no longer surprised by such things.
“Thank you for your kindness. However, I have already written to the church in Stormveil City. A priest there has already prepared a room for me, so I can move in as soon as we arrive,” Miles replied.
Leon nodded and bid farewell to Miles at the city gates of Stormveil City as the convoy headed in a different direction.
However.
Just as they entered the street leading to the manor, a group of people stepped out from the side, blocking the path of the convoy.
The newcomers were all dressed in the attire of private noble soldiers. The leader was about to shout a command to stop, but his eyes suddenly swept over the heavily armored Falcon warriors in the convoy.
The harsh reprimand at the tip of the leader's tongue immediately shifted. The arrogance on his face vanished, replaced by an obsequious smile:
“Everyone, there's a bit of a situation on the street ahead. It’s been temporarily closed. Please, would you mind taking a detour?”
A temporary road closure?
Leon glanced at the street behind the leader of the private soldiers. According to the latest regulations issued by the Heron Empire, any street closure required a cordon set up by the City Hall.
Clearly, there was no such thing behind this group of private soldiers.
This form of road blocking immediately reminded Leon of the events in Soleneum. His expression darkened:
“All warriors, hear my command. Drive away those blocking the road ahead.”
“If anyone dares to resist, kill them without mercy!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Falcon warriors received the order and unslung the black spears from their backs. A murderous aura combined with the pressure of the Bronze rank suddenly erupted.
Sensing this aura, the leader of the private soldiers turned pale.
The useless heaps of private soldiers behind him couldn't even keep their backs straight under this battlefield-hardened killing intent; their legs were visibly trembling.
“Charge through.”
With that command, the four lead Falcon warriors spurred their steeds, charging straight through the blockade to open a path.
The private soldiers were terrified by this momentum. None of them dared to intervene, and they could only watch as Leon’s convoy roared through the blockade.
“B-Boss, what do we do?!”
One private soldier looked at the convoy that had forced its way in and hurriedly asked his leader.
The leader’s face darkened. After thinking for two seconds, he said quickly:
“Take the shortcut and notify Young Master Bruno at the manor!”
“Yes, yes, sir!”
A fast-running soldier immediately set off to take the shortcut.
What they failed to notice, however, was that after a ripple of shadow, a figure had quietly merged into the soldier's shadow, following him silently.
Alicia held an iron dagger, Leon’s instructions firmly in her mind:
“If you sense anything wrong, retreat immediately.”
“If you find the den of these private soldiers, do not force your way in. Come back and inform us immediately.”
Alicia followed the private soldier, twisting and turning through narrow streets before finally arriving in front of a massive manor.
At the manor gates, two guards on duty saw the private soldier running up in a panic and asked with a frown:
“What’s the panic? What happened?”
The soldier hurriedly reported the news of Leon’s convoy. Hearing this, the two guards frowned even deeper and were about to ask for details.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of galloping hooves from the distant block. An aggressive-looking convoy appeared in their field of vision.
It was exactly the group the soldier had described.
“So fast?!”
Seeing this, the two guards outside the manor quickly drew their blades and stood before the convoy:
“Halt! This is the territory of Lord Viscount Finn. Is this a place where you can act so presumptuously?”
However, the Falcon warriors turned a deaf ear to the guards' warning.
The Falcon warriors charged forward on their steeds. With a sudden slash of their black spears, they snapped the guards' blades in two.
With a trample of hooves, the two guards were sent flying like ragdolls, slamming hard against the manor’s perimeter wall.
At that moment, Alicia emerged from the shadows and seized the messenger soldier who was trying to flee after seeing things go south.
Leon stepped down from the carriage, looked at the manor, and asked, “Is this the place?”
Old Hunter, standing beside him, nodded:
“Number 17, Kalti Street. This is it.”
Leon’s eyes flickered. This manor at Number 17, Kalti Street, was the property his family had purchased for him in Stormveil City.
But now, it was being blockaded by others.
The people blockading it... if Leon hadn't misheard just now, it was a certain viscount in the city.
“Is he trying to ambush me?”
The suspicion jumped into Leon’s mind. He raised his hand and ordered the two guards to be brought over.
The arrogance on the guards' faces had long since vanished. They had been knocked to the ground in a single encounter with the Falcon warriors, and now only terror and cowering remained.
One of them endured the pain and spoke, his voice shaking so much it barely sounded human: “L-Lord... mercy! We were ordered by Viscount Finn to guard this place and prevent anyone from entering the manor to disturb the Viscount!”
The other also chimed in with a trembling voice: “Yes, yes... it’s the Viscount’s order... we were only following orders...”
Finn?
Having read the intelligence reports, Leon knew that was the surname of the City Lord of Stormveil City.
But would a city lord blockade the street of his manor and then move into the manor he had purchased?
“You stay here and watch these two. Also, wait for Bishop Miles to arrive. The rest of you, follow me inside.”
Leon spoke to one of the Falcon warriors, then gripped the Red Fairy Tale and entered the manor.
When he realized someone was blocking the road, he had already sent someone to notify Bishop Miles.
Assuming this Viscount Finn had truly betrayed the empire and was plotting an assassination, Leon was not without recourse.
With a holy relic like the Red Fairy Tale in hand, plus his advancement to the Silver rank, he didn't have to worry about his mental power draining too quickly. He could certainly contend with the Viscount.
Once Bishop Miles received his request for help, he would arrive quickly, and they could take down Viscount Finn together.
However, it might not be that worst-case scenario.
Leon had sent for Miles just to play it safe.
After making all necessary combat preparations outside, he left Old Hunter there and entered the manor with the Falcon warriors.
The situation inside the manor was different from what he had imagined.
Beside the main hall doors stood an exquisitely carved sandalwood coat rack, and the polished floors were covered with soft, thick carpets.
The entire space was decorated with golden splendor. There wasn't a trace of a trap; instead, an atmosphere of luxury and laxity permeated the air.
Leon did not lower his guard and ordered his men to carefully push open the doors to the main hall.
Just as they stepped past the threshold of the main hall, a series of moans, soft pants, and drunken shouting drifted from within.
A man’s lewd laughter echoed from behind a screen in the main hall:
“Haha! How do you like this manor? If you girls like it, I can decide to give this place to you. As long as... your eloquence is good enough!”
Following that, a flirtatious female voice rang out:
“My eloquence... haven't you experienced it yet, Young Master?”
“Only... Young Master Bruno, I heard from those outside that this manor was bought by a merchant from out of town?”
The man’s voice rose, filled with contempt:
“It was bought.”
“But, so what?”
“I, Bruno, have requisitioned it. Would a mere merchant from out of town dare to ask for it back?”
“Now, I, Bruno, call the shots in all of Stormveil City!”
“If he dares not to give it, I’ll have someone break his legs, put a collar on him, and parade him through the city.”
“Let everyone in the city know what happens to those who dare to defy me, Bruno Finn!”
Standing at the doorway, Leon and his group stopped their cautious, testing footsteps.
Bruno Finn. Leon had seen that name before in the files on Stormveil City.
He was the eldest son of Seth Finn, the City Lord of Stormveil City, and the primary heir to the title of viscount.
“No wonder the guards outside didn't call him Viscount Seth, but Viscount Finn...”
Leon remembered how the two guards had addressed him.
At the time, he had found it strange that they didn't use a given name but used the surname directly.
It turned out to be this 'Viscount Finn' named Bruno.
His father, Seth Finn, wasn't even dead yet, and this son had already inherited the title and dared to call himself a viscount?
Leon’s expression turned cold. He covered Alicia’s eyes and turned to the Falcon warriors:
“Drag everyone inside out to me!”
Rate on N.U.
