Held back desperately by the subordinate he had once saved, Joel Crais suppressed his rage and sheathed his Knight’s Longsword.
The messenger had been thoroughly shaken.
He never expected this invited young man to react so violently.
However, he was not some commoner without backing.
Once he recovered his composure, he immediately let out a cold snort.
“Joel Crais should think carefully about the consequences! This is Siofra! Not the Holy Capital!”
Upon hearing those words, an anonymous fire of rage flared up within the blonde knight.
These past two days had been incredibly frustrating!
On his first day in office, before he could even do anything, his throat had been inexplicably pierced while he was inspecting the city gates. He had nearly died.
On the second day, after receiving a tip from the patrol team, he thought he could reclaim his pride by capturing that Swordsman to humiliate and torture him.
Instead, the man had escaped! He had even wasted one Advanced Healing Scroll for nothing!
And now, a so-called ‘Messenger of the City Lord of Siofra’ actually dared to stand before him and bark orders!
What utter contempt!
In his extreme anger, Joel Crais actually began to calm down.
‘Why should I be angry at such a small fry?’
‘Is a guy like this worthy of my attention — a prospective high-ranking member of the Church of Holy Light?’
‘That would be beneath me!’
‘If I want to cause trouble, I should go directly to the person behind him!’
‘And who is behind him? The City Lord of Siofra City — nothing but a fake Saint Rank!’
‘The Black Dragon of Sifral… he’s just a lucky, low-born Adventurer!’
After a round of mental cursing, the Knight Squad Leader finally settled down.
‘A fake Saint Rank… is still a Saint Rank!’
At the very least, on this small patch of land known as Siofra, the City Lord really was the strongest person on the surface.
While he was serving his term, there was no harm in maintaining a good relationship with this City Lord…
Weighing his options, Joel Crais took a deep breath and spoke to the messenger.
“I didn’t catch the man. Since the City Lord has sent an invitation, I will naturally attend the meeting on time.”
“I will explain the situation to your City Lord then.”
‘What a piece of work!’
The messenger cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he maintained basic respect.
He bowed and left the Church of Holy Light’s station without looking back.
……
Gunther Hoffmann, who was currently discussing official business with the Regional Cardinal of the Nature Church, saw his returning subordinate and politely paused the debate.
He stepped into a small room adjacent to the drawing room.
The messenger recounted the recent events to the City Lord in detail, without adding any of his own personal emotions, demonstrating his professional expertise.
After hearing the report, Gunther Hoffmann’s expression turned to one of confusion.
‘How does this new Knight Squad Leader sound like a bigger hothead than even the Saintess?’
The Saintess might refuse invitations, but her etiquette in hosting messengers and her written replies always maintained the maximum amount of respect on the surface.
Yet, this Squad Leader actually thought about drawing his weapon to attack the messenger…
Setting the attack aside — since Gunther couldn’t directly control the man anyway — why had he then accepted the banquet invitation?
Gunther Hoffmann couldn’t quite understand the thought process of this newly arrived young man.
‘Didn’t he claim he failed to catch the person? Then why accept the invitation? Especially after showing hostility toward the messenger…’
The middle-aged City Lord shook his head, his brow furrowed.
Failing to find a logical answer, the City Lord of Siofra gave up on understanding the “why” and focused on what to do next.
After all, the Bishop of the Nature Church had come in person; he had to provide an explanation today.
Since the Squad Leader in charge of West City’s security and defense was coming, he would simply ask him to help find the person.
That would serve as an explanation to the Nature Church.
Having reached a conclusion, Gunther Hoffmann waved his hand to dismiss the messenger.
He turned and returned to the drawing room to relay the situation to the two Elves.
Hearing the news, Valerie frowned and looked at the young girl sitting quietly beside her.
Astrid’s eyes were filled with bewilderment.
‘He didn’t catch him?’
‘How is that possible!’
‘The Adventurers’ Guild already located Lance’s Adventurer’s Proof at the Church of Holy Light’s station!’
‘If Lance really escaped, why wouldn’t he come find me?’
‘Could that blonde guy want some kind of bribe?’
Astrid immediately shared this thought with her aunt. Valerie considered it and felt it made some sense.
In a way, Astrid’s little lover had technically killed that knight once. It was a blood feud.
It was highly possible the knight was unwilling to release him or was even hiding the truth.
‘It seems I’ll have to pay a heavy price this time…’
However, for Astrid’s sake, this could only be considered a small investment.
After all, opportunities to have a direct rebel of the Kingdom of Elga owe a favor were rare. The more Valerie paid, the more little Astrid would owe her.
With that thought, Valerie’s furrowed brow smoothed out instantly.
She made up her mind. As long as the conditions proposed by that young Knight Captain weren’t completely absurd, she would accept them — even if they were a bit excessive!
“Then I’ll have to trouble you, City Lord!”
“Haha, it is a minor matter. No trouble at all.”
“By my reckoning, that young Knight Captain should arrive shortly. We might as well move to the banquet hall.”
“We can have some pre-banquet tea while we wait. What do you think?”
“That would be wonderful.”
Amidst their light conversation, the two adults stood and walked toward the door. Astrid quickly rose and jogged to keep up.
……
The blonde knight followed the lead of an attendant, eyeing the decorations of the City Lord’s manor.
His heart was filled with disdain.
‘He really is a commoner. The items on display are just ordinary luxury goods with no culture to speak of. It’s no different from the estate of a common wealthy merchant in the Holy Capital.’
Still, the man was from the same era as his mentor. Although Gunther couldn’t compare to his mentor, Joel still needed to show the necessary respect.
With that in mind, Joel Crais adjusted his smile and his attitude.
As the saying goes, even if he only became a Saint Rank because of Siofra’s unique circumstances, he was still a Saint Rank! On the surface, he was at the same level as Joel’s mentor!
Joel Crais was currently only a High Rank, so his attitude needed to be somewhat respectful.
Before long, the blonde youth in his pure white formal attire was led to the doors of the banquet hall.
His handsome adjutant was stopped by an attendant.
“Sir, I will lead you to the side hall.”
It seemed the City Lord only allowed Crais to enter alone.
Joel’s brow twitched slightly, but since it was his first visit, he couldn’t say much.
Smoothing out his clothes, the blonde youth put on what he thought was a warm smile and stepped forward slowly.
The attendants guarding the doors pushed them open in sync with the youth’s approach.
Because it was a private banquet, the hall felt somewhat empty, which Joel Crais had expected.
He looked ahead and saw a slightly stout middle-aged man sitting at the head of the long table. That was likely the Black Dragon of Sifral, City Lord Gunther Hoffmann.
Hmm?
As his gaze shifted slightly, his eyes met those of Astrid, who was looking back at him.
The smile on Joel Crais’s face instantly froze!
‘What is she doing here?’