Chapter 1558: Clues About the Golds
"They were never there at all, at least that was what we have figured out," Rolian said. "When we traced the source of the rumors, it was all ’I heard this from so-and-so’, and nothing concrete came about."
It was here that Ewan, the heir to the Sephon family, spoke up. "In my case, I’m unsure whether it was false news or not, as no one had actually seen them," he said, as if his news was superior to the other.
"However, there were many rumors of their sightings, some of which were quite detailed, so it could’ve been valid news."
He looked at his cousin, Eveco, who nodded. "Yes, Milord, there had been sightings of a group of golden-haired people passing by there, but they had already left."
Bleumrick frowned in thought. He didn’t really see them as a big threat anymore, but it was still annoying that things didn’t go according to plan.
These bastards were so useless!
"Don’t worry milord, we will do our best to handle the Gold’s threat," Eveco added, meaning to be helpful, though he earned the Lord’s bad look instead.
"You think I see the Golds as a threat? Me?" he said, voice entering a lower timber.
His high level caused the atmosphere around him to turn heavier, making everyone in the room shiver. "They are practically disabled with nothing!"
The people immediately bowed. "We didn’t mean it that way, Milord."
"The Golds are no threat to Bleulle, definitely not the Lord Bleumrick!"
Eveco, eager to calm the Lord. "Yes, definitely! Who cares what the people says—"
The air turned even colder then.
"What are the people saying?"
Ewan glared at his cousin, who squirmed back, shivering. "Ignore him, Milord. It’s nothi—"
"Tell me the truth," he said, looking at Eveco. "You tell me."
The man paled and almost forgot to breathe when he saw his cousin’s threatening look.
The meaning of the look was clear: Mess this up and you’re dead.
Eveco gulped, trying not to sound incoherent. That might get him killed, directly by the irate Lord, in fact.
"W-When we arrived, people asked if we found the Golds..." he said, voice a lot smaller than before.
"They asked if they would really go against us, considering how you sent two families after them."
"What?"
The Lord was simmering from this news, his pride unable to take this lying down. The pressure around him intensified, and his vassals rushed to calm him down.
"It’s meaningless chatter from the Masses, Milord, let’s not think too deeply about this."
What they did not know was that these rumors were one of the things Veronica and her team had actually spread out during her stay here.
She and the others wore wigs and disguises to chatter in bars and other dense areas, planting seeds like this. Anyway, these were what many people thought anyway, unconsciously or not.
They were simply giving the people courage to actually talk about these things.
They were quite dramatic too. Nothing would get people to talk and remember the topic better than drama.
In one area, they would stage arguments. One side seemed genuinely worried about the Gold’s potential revenge, while another was indignant he’d even think this.
"How dare you think the Golds can threaten our Lord? Threaten us?!" one yelled, grabbing the opponent’s collar. There were veins popping on his muscular arms too.
"Then why would he send so many after them? They must have something! Master Zaol and his children aren’t weak!" one squealed, as if genuinely terrified the Golds would come back.
Actor number one paused, unable to answer, and on cue, the passersby and spectators couldn’t help but whisper among themselves, wondering about it themselves.
Even if they weren’t thinking about the issue (everyone had their own problems, after all), they definitely were wondering about it now.
In another area, a wigged Veronica (with heavy makeup) sobbed into the arms of her "lover", Sean, who was wearing a different hair colored wig.
"What if the Golds attack? Will the Lord be able to handle it? Our wedding is so soon!"
Sean unexpectedly could act and was one of the people always sent out by the team to go undercover. Right now, he was the expressive love-sick fool.
He touched Veronica’s smooth face. "Don’t worry, la," he paused, eyes staring deep into hers. "Even if they ally with Hassen City or Holt City to go against us, we will be together no matter what."
Veronica blinked.
Ba-dump, ba-dump
"My love?" he asked, seeing her gaping at him. Veronica shook her head, but she realized she had forgotten her script!!
Sean leaned down and it made her heart palpitate so much.
She did not know it could beat like this.
"I was mentioning the cities," he whispered, his breath right next to her ears, making her spine tingle pleasingly.
Veronica gathered herself and lifted her head to look at him, before bursting into tears. "You mean they could be allying with those cities?! I’m scared, wuuu—"
At this, a ’spectator’ stepped forward, looking at the ’couple’ in disapproval, especially at the male.
"Don’t spread misinformation!" he yelled. "The Golds are a fallen family. They probably aren’t even alive anymore!"
He looked around, reddish face filled with passion. "Don’t be fooled by the rumors! Our territory and our Lord is strong! He would’ve gotten rid of those Golds before they could even go far!
"Stop the fear-mongering! There is no way our great Lord—no, our King—will feel intimidated by imaginary enemies!!"
Some nodded, some did not. Anyway, well after the play, many people were left in their own thoughts, figuring out their own judgments.
Anyway, the past few days, they’d do some skits like this, in different areas of the territory. In time, more and more people spoke about the Golds and how—if they were alive—they were probably in another City, and the Lord was currently threatened by them.
There were also parallel rumors ’dismantling’ the previous ones, questioning their authenticity.
The people in this world had limited forms of entertainment. Most of these media were also specific to the higher class. This meant that the common people LOVED to gossip and to spread them.
And because there was conflicting gossip and news...it exacerbated the spread even more.
After all, people loved to argue almost as much as they loved to gossip.
And that was just the beginning.