Thud!
The half-naked Bruno was thrown out by a Falcon warrior, slamming onto the stone ground outside the manor. His head was pinned to the earth, making it impossible for him to even look up.
Behind him, five disheveled women were also escorted out of the manor’s main hall, their faces filled with panic and unease.
“Who! Who is it?! I am Viscount Finn! How dare you treat an Imperial Viscount like this! You’re looking for death!”
The Falcon warrior kept him pinned, his head pressed firmly against the ground, but Bruno did not submit. Instead, he erupted in a furious tirade.
Leon covered Alicia’s eyes and said coldly:
“Slap him.”
“Yes, sir!”
Without a moment's hesitation, a Falcon warrior stepped in front of Bruno. His hand, encased in an iron gauntlet, was pulled back like a tensed bowstring.
“You dare!” Bruno’s eyes bulged. Though pinned down, he still barked with blustering arrogance: “I am the son of the City Lord of Stormveil City, Bruno Finn! If you dare touch a hair on my head today, I will make sure none of you leave Stormveil City alive—”
Before Bruno could finish, the armored palm closed in rapidly before his wide eyes.
Slap!
With a crisp crack, the iron palm smashed into his face like a heavy brick.
The moment of contact caused Bruno’s entire face to twist and deform under the massive force, looking like clothes being tossed in a washing machine.
Crack!
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as two teeth flew out with the force of the blow. His cheek swelled up instantly, looking like a slab of beaten pork.
That armored slap immediately knocked some sense into Bruno.
The searing pain radiating from his cheek caused his rebellious gaze to clear instantly, his expression shifting from arrogance to cowering fear.
“I’ve laid a hand on you. Now what?”
Leon stared coldly at Bruno, asking the question slowly.
When Bruno’s eyes met Leon’s calm, emotionless gaze, he began to tremble uncontrollably.
Fear washed over him like a tide, forcing him to instinctively lower his head and avoid Leon's stare.
A madman! This man was an absolute madman!
The way the man looked at him was as if he were looking at a piece of trash!
If he didn't submit, this man would definitely order his subordinates to strike again, or even... kill him!
While Bruno acted like a tyrant in the city, he relied entirely on his status as the City Lord’s son. If someone didn't care about that status...
Then Bruno lost all his confidence and had no recourse at all!
“Have them put their clothes on,” Leon said, withdrawing his gaze once Bruno bowed his head.
Then, he turned to one of Bruno’s guards outside the manor and commanded coldly:
“Go. Inform your Viscount Finn to come to the manor and collect his son.”
The guard was already terrified by the situation and didn't dare disobey. He scrambled toward the distant streets to fetch Viscount Finn.
By then, the disheveled women had been ordered to dress, and a carpet had been thrown over the kneeling Bruno to cover him.
Only then did Leon remove his hand from Alicia’s eyes.
Seeing the light again, Alicia turned her head blankly and stared at Leon, her emerald eyes filled with confusion.
Leon pulled a lollipop from his pocket, tore off the wrapper, and popped it into Alicia’s mouth.
“There are things children shouldn't see; it's not good for you.”
Alicia had wanted to ask what those things were, but with a sweet lollipop filling her mouth, she ultimately decided not to ask.
A minute later, a figure wearing priest robes swept quickly through the sky.
Bishop Miles assessed the situation below, slowed his pace, and descended to Leon’s side.
“Is this the ambush?” Bishop Miles asked, staring at the kneeling Bruno, whose face was swollen and mouth bleeding.
“It’s a long story, but I’ll keep it brief,” Leon explained the situation: “Since I wasn't clear on the situation inside the villa at first, I sent someone to notify you, Bishop Miles, just to be safe.”
“You handled it correctly,” Miles said after listening.
In an uncertain situation, sending word ahead was indeed the right move.
In such circumstances, the worst thing one could do was act out of bravado, thinking they could handle everything on their own.
Often, it was this thought of 'I can handle it' that killed countless geniuses before they could grow.
Even storytellers knew that failing to inform allies before acting was a death wish.
Now that the situation was clear, it was evident the City Lord’s son had grown greedy, mistakenly believing the purchaser of the manor was a mere merchant from out of town and attempting to seize it for himself.
However, Miles did not leave.
Since he was already here, he might as well see the matter through with Leon.
If that Viscount Finn truly intended to protect his son...
When Miles received the call for help from the Falcon warrior, he had brought the most powerful holy relic from the cathedral he oversaw.
For daring to disrespect Priest Leon, even if he was the lord of a city, Miles would not hesitate to smash that holy relic into the City Lord’s skull!
As night fell, dust rose from the distant street as a group of people hurried toward the manor.
At the head were a middle-aged man and woman. The man’s face was pale, his chest wrapped in bandages stained red with blood.
The woman looked frantic, but when she saw Bruno forced to his knees, a look of heartache flashed in her eyes.
She snapped her head toward Leon and the others, her face instantly igniting with towering rage: “Arrest these thugs who harmed my son at once!”
“—Shut up!”
Before she could finish, the warband warriors beside the middle-aged woman were about to move when they were sharply stopped by the middle-aged man.
The shout aggravated his injury, sending the man into a fit of uncontrollable coughing, the blood on his chest bandages rapidly spreading and deepening in color.
The group galloped to the manor gates. The middle-aged man dismounted, and the messenger guard from before stood beside him, saying:
“Lord Viscount, it’s him!”
Hearing this, Viscount Finn looked at his son with the swollen face, and then at the Falcon warriors behind Leon—armored in heavy plate, holding black spears, and radiating the aura of the Bronze rank.
All of them are Bronze-rank bloodline warriors?
Viscount Finn’s heart sank. He realized his wretched son had likely provoked a powerful figure from outside the city!
The middle-aged woman, the Viscountess, also felt the pressure emanating from the twenty Bronze-rank bloodline warriors.
The rage on her face vanished instantly, her gaze clearing. Her expression transformed from that of an uncontrollable shrew into a reasonable noblewoman in the blink of an eye.
Standing behind Leon, Alicia watched the Viscountess’s sudden change in expression and widened her eyes in pure admiration.
She had never seen someone change their entire persona in just a few seconds!
The shift in attitude from Viscount Finn and his wife also influenced the warriors of their warband.
Only Bruno, the Viscount’s son, still failed to grasp the situation.
Seeing the Viscountess arrive, his previously submissive expression was suddenly replaced by one of grievance and humiliation. He cried out with a sob in his voice:
“Mother, it’s them! They’re the ones who beat me like this! Hurry and arrest them!”
Hearing Bruno’s wailing, a surge of fury rose in Viscount Finn’s heart. He lunged forward and slapped Bruno across his other cheek.
“You wretch, shut up!”
“You caused this mess and you still have the nerve to cry?!”
“If you weren't of the Finn bloodline, I’d beat you to death myself!”
The outburst caused the wound on the Viscount’s chest to reopen, staining the entire bandage blood-red.
After disciplining Bruno, Viscount Finn turned to Leon, his voice heavy with sorrow and sincerity:
“My lord, my son is foolish and stubborn. For all the losses caused by his offense today, I, Seth Finn, am willing to offer full compensation. I only hope... you can find it in your heart to forgive my son this once.”
However, hearing the Viscount’s apology, Leon merely glanced at him indifferently and said:
“Forgiveness? On what grounds?”
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