NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: Conspiracy
Chapter 7: Conspiracy
The Cirean Kingdom, Hillford town is protected by a tall wall to defend it from any enemy and monster tide. Compared to the other towns, Hillford town has survived the longest. Although the Pondover Forest is dangerous, it also provides them with unique resources to sell.
"When we arrive in town, I will give you the map and some honey." A blonde-haired woman disguised as a man, Kevin, spoke.
"Thank you." After Levi translated what Kevin said to the horned bear. Ben's eyes sparkle when looking at Kevin. Levi can only sigh; he has a feeling that Ben will betray him one day because of Honey.
While they are talking, it’s their turn to enter the town gate.
"Hold on!"
"Is there any problem, sir?" Austin recognizes the chubby soldier; he is the captain guarding the gate. Sometimes they will go for a drink and brothel.
"How dare you bring slaves into the city?" The chubby captain shouted while exposing the slaves inside the caravan. "The guard captured them!"
Levi watches everything calmly, and orders Ben to stay still. He already knows what Austin is transporting. If in the novel or movie. He will save them, but why does he want to be the hero and die? He has experienced many bad things in his previous life. But this time, it’s have nothing to do with him.
"We are not related to them!" The other merchants stay far away from them. They are not stupid enough to get involved with something that is not related to them.
"Whoever touches us is dead." The guard leader holds his sword hilt, and the atmosphere changes and becomes suffocating. The town soldier doesn’t dare to move one more step.
"He is right." An elderly man comes out from one of the caravans. He raises his hand to create two magic circles and is ready to cast a spell.
"Two adepts, quick report to the general!" The cubby captain shouted. This is not something he can handle. The way to defeat an Adept-rank warrior or mage is by making them exhaust their strength by fighting a large number of people. Or fight with other Adept ranks.
"Wait, I have been doing business here for years. Why?" Austin the bald chubby man asked. He is confused by the chubby captain's attitude. Because the one behind these slaves is the town mayor.
"What are you talking about? I don’t know you. If you don’t surrender, the town army will arrive soon!"
"What should we do?" Austen looked at Ember anxiously.
"Let’s escape to other towns." Ember has a feeling something is not right.
"Retreat!" Austin shouted. The caravans belonging to Austin begin to turn around.
"Stop them!" While shouting, the chubby captain runs at the back in case he gets caught by the adept attack. However, the soldiers don’t dare to get closer; they are not stupid to die meaninglessly.
In the end, the caravans managed to flee when the army arrived at the town gate.
-
Hillford town administration building. Sitting on the chair is a burly man. At first glance, people will think he is a warrior. But he is the mayor of Hillford town.
"Mayor, we have driven away the Austin merchants group." A middle-aged man enters the room hurriedly.
"What about my wife and son?" Several days ago, his wife and kid were poisoned by unknown people. While they don’t know what kind of poison they used. The mayor gets a letter telling them to cooperate to get the antidote.
"The physician is already administering the antidote, madam, and the young master's condition is fine."
"Have you tracked down those people?"
"I am sorry, we lost them." The middle-aged man quickly bows his head for forgiveness. The mayor in the past is called a madman tyrant. Only after he gets married and has a son does he begin to settle down.
"It’s fine; have you found out their accomplice?"
"Yes, the maid working in the kitchen, but we don’t get anything from her. We just know that she has a lot of debt and if she follows the instruction, she will get a lot of money."
"Kill her." The mayor looks at the middle-aged man without emotion. But in his eyes, there is anger. How dare they touch his family.
"Yes." The middle-aged man's body trembles after seeing the mayor's gaze.
"Send a message to Gryphon Merchant about this situation." The mayor knows that Austin is affiliated with Gryphon Merchant. If anything happens to him, he will be held accountable.
-
In a secluded area in Hillford town.
"Have you found out where the Austin merchant is fleeing to?" A man wearing a cloak and white face mask that only showed the eyes asked.
"According to Scout, they are heading to Dalelry town." A man wearing the town soldier's uniform answered.
"Send a message to our man to prepare."
"But, the merchant is protected by two Adept ranks, and one of them is a mage."
"This is different from the previous report."
"Should we abandon the mission?"
"No, send a message to the leader and ask for backup."
"Yes." The soldier put his fist on his chest.
-
Inside the carriage, two people are discussing today's event.
"As soon we arrived in town, contact the Gryphon Merchant branch in the Cirean Kingdom for help." Ember order. This is the first time she joins the caravan, but she knows that the Hillford town mayor is involved in the slave trade.
"We might need a few days for the message to arrive. And it required them several days to arrive here from the nearest city." Austin is thinking about what to do next. This has never happened to him before, other than the bandit and monster attacks.
"How is your man?"
"My guards are fined, but the mercenaries that I hired look like they are going to run away."
"Why, they already accepted the contract."
"It’s a matter of survival." Mercenary's priorities are their lives and money. It is not unheard of for mercenaries to run away in critical situations since it involves authority. But there is also a mercenary who will sacrifice their life to finish their mission.
"Sir, the mercenaries have fled, should we chase them?" Nolan, the guards’ leader, goes beside the carriage while riding a horse.
"Leave them, they will receive a penalty for breach of contract from the mercenary guild," Austin answered.
"Levi, also have left."
"He is also the same as the mercenary." Ember's face looks disappointed. Because she thought, Levi is different.
"No, he wants to hunt the mercenaries to feed his bear." Nolan make a peculiar face and spoke.
-
Blade of Furry Mercenary. Their leader is a peak apprentice rank warrior. In this world as long you become apprentice rank, you are no longer a normal human. They have been doing many illegal activities for many years. Usually, they can handle any problem. But this time is different because it involved authority.
Although Austin has two adept ranks protecting him. The mercenary will die if facing many soldiers.
Leader, where are we going?"
"We need to leave the Cirean Kingdom; in case the town sends soldiers."
After running far away from the merchant caravan, the sun is about to set. They stop and begin to gather wood to start a fire. They also manage to steal some food supplies from the caravan. With this, they can survive until they arrive at the next town or village.
"Where are you going?" One of the mercenaries is going to the woods.
"To pee."
Half an hour later, the mercenaries that went to the woods still had not returned. Feeling something is not right, the leader of the mercenaries sends two people to find him. After a while, they return but can’t find their comrade.
"Take turns to keep watch tonight." The mercenary leader order. At first he wanted to search for the missing person. But he is afraid it was a trap.
When most of them have already fallen asleep, two pairs of eyes are watching them.
-
Levi and Ben have been following the escaped mercenary secretly. And have no choice but to kill one of them that comes near them. The corpse has already been converted to a death point.
"A little bit more, and I have enough death points to use the ability." Levi looked, and the horned bear was beside him. "Kill the man sleeping near the rock." He pointed his finger at the mercenary leader.
After reviving the order, Ben dashed toward the mercenaries. At the same time, Levi creates a magic circle and casts a fireball toward the watchman as a distraction.
"What is that?"
"Evade, enemy attack!" Both of them try to evade the fireball. But one of them is too late to evade and is engulfed by the flame.
While the other mercenaries are waking up. The watchman tried to help his friend, who was engulfed in fire. He finally noticed a large creature coming out of the woods and attacking him with a claw. Because of the impact, he was sent flying, and blood spurted from his wound.