286: Chapter 89: News Of An Acquaintance, The Earl’s Trouble 286: Chapter 89: News Of An Acquaintance, The Earl’s Trouble Hill received the first report three days later.
When List brought the puppet, he acted a bit oddly.
“What’s wrong?” Hill picked up the paper and smiled, “This isn’t anything important to me, I just don’t want to be kept in the dark.”
Then, he understood why.
“Obastian, now it’s really a demon’s playground!” Hill pressed his forehead, looking at the first picture.
This member of the Undead Tribe was very thorough, painstakingly illustrating everyone involved using the Transcription Technique.
The first picture indicated this lady was at the center of the great trouble in Obastian.
Hill saw the familiar face: My stepmother is truly remarkable!
Although she had become much more beautiful, for a Magister like Hill, it was impossible to misrecognize someone he had seen before.
Hill dumped the documents onto the sofa, “Oh my God!
List, any news on Edgar recently?”
“He’s still in the Capital’s Knight School, doing quite well,” List said, “I didn’t recognize the wrong person, did I?”
“Ah, no mistake,” Hill said helplessly, “Let’s see, the beautiful Countess from Noah, ha—carrying her deceased husband’s substantial inheritance, seeking refuge in Obastian with her sister’s protection?
The Earl certainly was not loved by the people, he met his death so young!
Her sister?
Where did she come from?
Oh, she married the number one crony of that troublemaker, Duke Saral?
A Court Earl?
Ah!
Right, the King allowed Noah’s refugees to enter Saral.
It’s normal for her to seek shelter with her own sister.
Normal my ass!
Where do all these demons and freaks in Saral come from?
Are all associates of the Saral Royal Family members spies?
The King doesn’t manage affairs, what is he waiting for?
The Saral Family to be annihilated?
The Spencer Family to rise to power?
Hill angrily flipped through the stack of papers, scanning back and forth several times before finally confirming what he had seen.
“All this for a single street?” he said incredulously, “And in the outskirts at that?
Obastian, what valuable commercial districts are there now?
Don’t those Saral nobles want the King’s favor?
Do people who desire royal succession rights do such foolish things?”
Hill looked more carefully.
The Countess from Noah, beautiful and wealthy, intended to settle in Obastian, buy some real estate, and open a factory and shops.
She brought a unique silk product, extremely exquisite, even more beautiful than the elegant clothes of the Undead.
But the Countess, fearing her business would be too successful and receive oppression, asked for help from her brother-in-law, who served as a lackey, to speak with Duke Saral, willing to give him a share of the profits.
Duke Saral, very smugly, returned home with the beauty and her substantial wealth.
Unfortunately, as desirable as the beauty and wealth were, they couldn’t compare to the lure of the Saral throne.
The wife the Duke truly desired was Olivia.
To not affect the Duke’s grand ambitions, the Countess departed with a heavy heart, only wishing to buy a commercial street in the outskirts, building her factory and shops together.
In Obastian, after being swept clean once, no one dared to engage in gangster antics anymore, so even the outskirts were safe.
The Countess then offered a sum far exceeding the worth of a commercial street, asking for the Duke’s help.
The Duke pocketed half, and with the remaining money turned to another lackey, a Grand Knight.
The people Olivia had brought over were training under this Grand Knight.
Hill scrutinized this part; indeed, Olivia had merely asked the Duke’s men for help in training these few knights, knowing they had consumed a lot of Hill’s gifts, and maybe someone could even be promoted to Grand Knight.
In that case, Olivia’s status with the Duke would be even higher.
Then, this Grand Knight sent out his subordinates, the knights, to acquire the properties one by one.
Those sent from Hill’s side turned out to be the most honest, probably only pocketing some loose change for themselves, not even offering any tribute to the Grand Knight.
However, as outsiders, knowing they were under the Priest’s command, the Grand Knight hadn’t expected them to take money, using them merely as a front, as they were legitimately purchasing properties.
The others, flaunting their status as Professionals and subordinates of Duke Saral, extorted what they could.
But not to the extent that it made life impossible for anyone.
That was until a refugee girl from Noah appeared.
After she acquired Saral citizenship, she used all her wealth to buy a small house, devoutly attended worship at the Space-Time Church every day, grateful that the Saral King sent the Undead to save her life, thankful for the King giving her a place to live and settle.
A young girl, all alone and too scared to resist violence, fell victim to the wicked desires of a certain knight.
It didn’t specify what exactly he did, but one morning, the disheveled young girl ran through half the outskirts, directly into the Church’s gates, crying out her grievances.
When Olivia came out attempting to calm her down, the girl pointed at her, accusing loudly that the Priest and the Duke were conspiring together, oppressing the poor, and her life was completely hopeless.
Then they crashed headlong into the church doors to their death.
Olivia was quickly locked up by the other priests who rushed to the scene after hearing the news.
During this period, Duke Saral, realizing he had caused a great disaster, pushed the blame onto Olivia’s subordinates under the persuasion of his alluring lover, and had them killed directly.
Unfortunately, the priests of the church would not tolerate such slander and took the matter straight to the Temple.
It was said that William had heard of it and flew into a rage, demanding that everyone involved undergo faction verification.
“What are they trying to do?” Hill found it very strange.
Was this matter of any consequence to William?
And it didn’t seem to affect the Space-Time Church much either, did it?
At most, it would worsen the relationship between the Church and the nobility.
Moreover, who saved the Countess and how did she get to Noah?
Was this the doing of the Noble Church again?
Encouraging the nobles to continue their clandestine worship of the God of Nobility?
The God of Time and Space didn’t need this kind of worship anyway.
What use was there in sowing discord among these nobles?
After all, there were only a few nobles who still believed in this Main God.
Hill thought for a moment, “Go ask Snow Cloud Peak if there has been any movement on Edgar’s side lately.”
When Hill had made arrangements for Edgar, he hadn’t concealed anything.
It wouldn’t be difficult for the Countess to find out if she wanted to know.
However, Hill didn’t want to save face for the Earl back then, so he made it clear that the child was neglected and that it was out of kindness that he had lent a hand.
Although he had given Edgar some things, it seemed that he had also inadvertently set up the Earl.
“While you’re at it, go see how the Earl has been doing lately?” Hill rubbed his hands together, feeling somewhat uneasy for a change.
The Countess was a tough one; the Earl hadn’t been in bad luck yet, had he?
“And that brother of Edward’s wife, is he still alive?
I remember there were rumors that he pushed his lover down a cliff while fleeing for his life, weren’t there?”
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have ruled the lady as deceased.
Hill glanced at the neatly organized documents in his hands, feeling there were no news left to supplement.
“Who took on this task?”
“Rain Falling on Mortal Dust from Black Rose.
It just so happens he was arranging for Mages on duty and ran off with some people when he saw the task,” List responded slowly, “Other families have sent people to Kexlote as well.
If you have no objections, sir, I will distribute the rewards and post his reply?”
“Agreed,” Hill suddenly smiled, “Say, if I suddenly ask Snow Cloud Peak to investigate Edgar’s matter, do you think the Undead Tribe could link all these incidents together?
I can’t possibly send the word out directly.”
“If they really want to compete with the people of Black Rose,” List honestly said, “they have been quite idle recently, with nothing much to do.
“We have to wait for His Majesty the King’s final decision regarding the issue in Obastian.
The nobles settled there don’t dare go to Kexlote; they all have some problems to different degrees.
It’s up to His Majesty the King to decide if he still wants to leave this last option open to the Saral Nobles.”
“Have their instances been completed?” Hill was quite curious.
“Not yet, it’s said to take seven more days,” List answered calmly.
“Remember to find out the specific contents for me,” Hill said earnestly, “I’m sure I’m included again.
If it were some boss, I wouldn’t be worried, but this time it’s something the King was compelled to do.
If he starts to indulge his morbid sense of humor, I don’t know what he might do.”
List nodded solemnly.
“You can inform the people in the territory of the knights’ deaths,” Hill remembered, “Although they may not care how those who left fare, they would at least want to know the outcome.”
List nodded lightly in agreement and turned to leave.
Hill had no intention of dealing with Olivia any longer, since she was merely a fool who had been kept in the dark.
Olivia had been discovered to have Mage Aptitude since she was young, and her so-called suffering was nothing compared to the hardships of common little noble daughters.
Back in the day, the Countess had played the Kral Family’s men sent to Manton for fools.
Dealing with a young girl must have been a piece of cake for her.
Her defeat back then was not for lack of ability, but for lack of power.
And luck had never been on her side.
Hill bore no malice towards her.
After all, for the Countess, her attention was all on Manton.
The humiliations Hill suffered were all thanks to the Earl.
There was no need for a stepmother to care for a useless fellow who was doomed to be driven out sooner or later.
But indeed, her luck was poor, and alas, her adversary Olivia had come from Hill’s territory.
The knights who had been made scapegoats and killed were all formerly Hill’s subordinates.
Hill, who always insisted on getting to the bottom of things, was determined to find the reasons behind these people’s deaths.
She dared to stay in Obastian without fearing recognition by those who knew her, because her appearance had changed greatly, almost as if she had been beautified several times over.
Even her own parents might not dare to confirm her identity.
Even the Legendary Tower Spirit like Li Si had some doubts.
However, for a Nature Warlock like Hill who had been blessed by Silvermoon, no fog could obscure his vision.
Hill recognized her immediately.
But Hill had no plans to reveal this lady’s affairs to others; it was up to the Undead to uncover as many clues as possible!