Chapter 1559: More Rumors?
They performed separate skits to similarly cement the contradicting rumors, too, timing it well so that it appeared to be the reactionary events after the initial rumors had spread.
For example, they spread that a certain City—who knew which one—had been erroneously spreading that the Golds were alive, just to confuse Bleulle.
As for why, nobody knew, but it certainly activated people’s imaginations.
Sean, dressed in gruff mercenary clothing, was one of the few who spread this out. In one of the lesser-known inns near a gate, he—now wearing loose clothing and an ugly beard—laughed like a drunkard.
"Those fools," he said, voice droll, whispering at his table, but he was loud enough for anyone with a decent level to hear him clearly.
"My own Town fell just like this, you know," he said. "They spread rumors that one of the other rival towns had gained the backing of a City and was planning on attacking us," he said. "We had no idea...it was our allied Town—one whose contract had just expired—who stabbed us in the back in the end."
He cried pitifully, lamenting about the people he lost, and the sheer emotion cast aside any doubt that he wasn’t telling the truth.
Rather, it expanded and was even padded. To some, it even appeared as if it was really happening to Bleulle, too.
These rumors spread so much that even those who had just arrived—including Eveco—had heard about them, courtesy of the servants and their people who greeted them.
Anyway, many of these rumors were currently being summarized to the Lord.
Bleumrick rubbed his forehead. He was angry, but he forced himself to calm down. Being angry was to confirm the rumors that he was affected by a fallen family.
He was not, and those bastards better understand that.
"There is no news that they are in cities, however," Evos said. "We’d have received news if it were any of the nearby cities."
Bleumrick gave him a look.
"Although your patriarchs are dead, they are still strong—do you think the Golds are in one piece? How many of them would’ve survived, yea? Even if your patriarchs had died, do you not think they had taken the Golds down with them? Do you look down on your patriarch so much?"
Still, this caused his passion to hunt for the Golds to wane a bit. Hunting them down at this point meant he was still threatened by them.
He stood up and waved his hand. "I don’t want to hear about them anymore," he said, before finally walking away.
The Golds temporarily lost a weight on their backs that day.
At the same time, it planted a small seed in Bleumrick and the other nobles’ minds.
An allied city that could’ve spread these rumors... wasn’t that Hassen City?
...
Anyway, while various and differing rumors continued to fester and spread under everyone’s noses, some things were just taken back to their place.
For example, now that the disappeared members of the Vesto and Sephon families had returned, Liaroa’s wedding was finally happening!
It still had to be delayed for a few more days after their arrival, however. On paper, it was all spent on the preparation of the party. Behind closed doors, it was due to the fact that Eveco was beaten up by Ewan after meeting up with the Lord, and he had to recover a bit first.
While they were waiting, Veronica received a letter from Ferrol, and she headed to the Post Office with her guards. This time, without disguises.
Veronica, Sean, and the others were past Level 20, which was the average level for a typical commoner in a city. Still, they made a point not to go around solo just in case. Even when they were doing their skits, other members were around, either to guard, subtly help out, or serve as useful ’extras’.
At this time, Veronica went with Sean who served as her personal guard. During this time, the two had gotten to know each other well.
Veronica, though, who had tasted what heartbreak was, calmed down a lot with her flirting. Not to mention, her feelings for Sean...seemed a bit more heated. She wasn’t sure if she could take that.
She also needed to stay low-key, especially when she was a small person in a city, and being how she was would definitely raise eyebrows.
Sean, on the other hand, was just there strictly for the mission, which was to accompany Veronica and learn as much as they could about the city and the people they wanted, as well as plant some convenient seeds like redirecting the attention from the Golds—and Alterra—elsewhere.
Anyway, Veronica took advantage of her being a guest in a noble home to have someone alert whenever she received a letter. This was normal because she was not from there, and her hometown also had posts. Even if she received from other places, it was well known that she was an aberration who traveled a lot compared to her peers.
The letter was from Ferrol this time. It was coded too, appearing to be a harmless letter from an old friend she met in Ferrol Town when she was visiting with Cassandra.
/Our friend’s sibling wanted to see him again, but the family is a bit strict. Can you do something about it?/
They had already established that Friend and Family would always refer to the Golds, because they were technically the only ones they could not mention explicitly in a letter to Bleulle.
They were asking whether they could bring the Golds’ relative—whoever it was—to Bleulle.
They did not specify whether the person was a boy or a girl either, but fortunately, as people who had been sent to Bleulle on this mission, they were privy to some of the secrets of the Golds.
She also knew that the Lords’ new wife was Zaol’s niece, and that his sister was still alive, so it must’ve been related to that.
"What could be a big enough excuse to get someone from another City?" she mumbled as soon as they reached the room and activated the voice blocker. Using a city’s teleportation array was not cheap and wasn’t used casually.
Sean looked at her, and then his eyes shifted to the invitation on the table. "Isn’t there a big wedding?"
...
____
A/N: New story "The Masterchef’s Bed-and-Breakfast in a Fantasy World" cozy cooking/business-building story is now up~! Check it outtttttttt heheheheh