Chapter 211: A Masterpiece of a Sword

“Everyone in Maho Empire has heard about your achievements, your honorable master. I do not know what you exactly would like to know,” Urter said.

“Hmmm, important stuff, anything you think is important,” Anfey said.

“Important?” Urter gave it some serious thought. “Master, the priority for Violet City right now is to rebuild the city. The budget is very tight. I could not do anything without funding.”

“That is not right,” Apa said in surprise. “The empire has allocated money to the fallen cities. How could the budget be so tight?”

“Master Apa, Violet City is a special case. Some of the allocation was already spent. The rest of the funds could not be touched,” Urter said.

“What did you do with the money? Urter, you did not pocket the money, did you?” Apa asked in a joking tone.

“I do not have guts to do that, Master Apa.” Urter glanced at Anfey out of the corner of his eye. He hesitated for a second and said, “I spent the money on Earl’s Court. The Earl’s Court project just started; and we might need to put more into it later on. I wouldn’t dare divert the money to do anything else.”

Apa was silent after hearing what Urter told him. Earl’s Court was built for Anfey. Usually the royal families with estates had to build their houses with their own money, but Anfey’s case was a little special. Anfey had not been in the Violet City. Urter asked permission from Yolanthe to build Earl’s Court for Anfey, so he did not do anything wrong. It was also wrong to say he used his power to kiss his boss’s ass.

Anfey was shocked for a second but did not say anything. If he was asked about the structure of the human body, how much weight bones, joints, and tendons could take, the flexibility of blood vessels, nerve distribution and other things, he would have a very deep understanding of them and explain in every possible detail. However, when it came to managing a city, he had so many things to learn. It seemed a little inappropriate to build his own house with the budget for the city. It also seemed to be a problem for Anfey to figure out a reason or way to criticize Urter or finish the conversation smoothly. He felt he would be laughed at if he were not careful.

Urter felt it was not appropriate to talk about it and looked regretful that he had brought it up. He lowered his head and was quiet.

After a short silence, suddenly it sounded loud outside of the wagon. Everyone could clearly hear a person yelling crazily, “Where is Urter? Where is that a*#hole mayor?”

After hearing a female attendant begging him in panic, the person’s voice sounded closer to them. The door of the room was kicked open. A young man in his early twenties in fancy clothes, followed by his bodyguards, came into the room.

“Master Shamash, what are you doing?” Urter stood up with anger.

“What am I doing? You took my people yesterday. Why don’t you ask yourself what you did?” That young man pointed at Urter with a horsewhip. The horsewhip almost touched Urter’s nose. The young man got even madder. “You are f*#king nobody to me. When the Shansa Empire’s soldiers took over Violet City, what were you doing? You hid in a beggar’s house. How can you claim you are our mayor?”

The bodyguards behind the young man laughed out loud. The face of a person in mage uniform changed when he saw the little unicorn watching everyone.

“Master Shamash, we can talk in my office later if you want. Right now I have guests. Can you leave now?” Urter took a deep breath and said slowly.

“Guests? I know your master has come to support you. F*#k off. Let me see who your bastard master is?” The young man pushed on Urter’s chest and Urter stumbled back. The young man walked to the table like he was the owner of the hotel. He looked condescending and looked over Anfey and his crew.

Anfey and his crew wore different looks on their faces. Apa smiled without saying anything; Black Eleven looked cold; Anfey lazily sat to the side with his eyes only slightly open; Suzanna quietly watched Anfey. These four people all had stories. Even though they had different personal networks, none of them thought the young man was a match for them. Obviously, they did not even bother to respond to him.

The guy in the mage uniform stepped forward and pulled the young man aside. He whispered something to the young man. The young man suddenly turned around, yelling, “Is that a unicorn?”

That mage obviously did not expect the young man to act so inappropriately. The mage looked a little awkward. He nodded and whispered, “Yes, it is a unicorn.”

“Nice, very nice.” The young man looked at the little guy greedily. He walked back to the table and looked at Anfey, as he was the owner of the hotel. “I represent the Sacred Magic Academy and come to take this little unicorn. Of course, I will reimburse you with a reasonable price. Name a price.”

Rookies usually dared to do anything since they did not realize the risks ahead of them. Any person with some experience could immediately tell that the owner of the unicorn would not be a nobody, but that young man wanted to take possession of the unicorn.

“Never mind the price. You can take the unicorn if you want,” Anfey said casually.

“You are such a nice person,” the young man laughed aloud. He did not notice that Anfey did not talk to him in formal and respectful language. He did not notice Suzanna had put her hand on the sword shaft either. He turned around and yelled at his bodyguards, “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get the unicorn.”

Two bodyguards approached the little unicorn with their arms open. They looked like they were trying to catch a little chicken. The little unicorn felt the hostility from them. The unicorn looked around and suddenly ran away. The little unicorn ran so fast that he looked like a white light. The little guy jumped on the table and ran into Anfey’s arms. Now the little unicorn became confident and growled with his head raised up.

The two bodyguards saw their opportunity and ran to Anfey. Suzanna stood up. A cloud of shiny sword radiant suddenly appeared. The bodyguard running in front coved his throat with his hands and stumbled. The blood from his throat dyed his clothes red in the blink of an eye, and he fell on the floor. The other bodyguard stopped himself when he saw what had happened to the first bodyguard. He stared at the body of the other bodyguard and stood frozen to the floor. Suzanna did not continue to attack him.

A masterpiece of a sword was always a masterpiece of sword, no matter whether it was hung in the palace for people to admire or laid in a corner forgotten for hundreds of years. Once it was out of the shaft, nothing could cover its shininess.

Suzanna was a master swordswoman. She had indulged herself in dating for the past few days and looked even more sweet and girly for that reason. People usually could tell she was in love, but once she pulled her swords out, she changed into a totally different person. Jaguar was not enough to describe her viciousness, lightening was not enough to describe her speed, with sword pointing at someone, she was ready for the fight. She looked determined to win the fight.

Besides Anfey, Black Eleven knew Suzanna the best. After hearing Anfey saying “You can,” Black Eleven already foresaw this happening. He shrugged and leaned back to sit against the back of the seat. He was ready to watch a show.

Apa was shocked and stared, his eyes wide. He had showed enough respect to Suzanna, but that was mainly because of Anfey. He had seen many bloody scenes, but never expected a slight girl could become a vicious swordswoman in the blink of an eye without giving any signs. The last time he saw Suzanna, she was still watching Anfey with a lot of love, but his impression of her totally changed the next second.

The mage nervously moved back a step and chanted as he held his wand. Anfey sat reclined on the chair, but he suddenly looked up and stared at the mage’s throat. If Suzanna looked brave and vicious, then Anfey looked cold as ice.

The mage felt something stuck in his throat and had goosebumps all over him. He could not suppress the scare feeling and stopped his chanting. He desperately put down his wand.

“Uh!” The young man jumped as an arrow hit him in the rear. He grabbed Urter and yelled, “They killed people. You f*#king mayor, didn’t you see it? They killed people! Why don’t you catch them?”

Urter looked at Suzanna with a bitter smile, and then he pushed the young man forcefully. He said coldly, “I did not see anything.”

“You f*#king…” The young man crazily threw himself at Urter, but he was pulled back by the mage.

“Before I get mad, get the f*#k out of here,” Anfey said

The young man struggled and tried to go after Anfey. The mage held tight onto the young man and tried very hard not to let him go as he whispered something to him. The young man finally calmed down and gave a dirty look to Anfey, yelling, “Let’s go.”

After the troublemaker left, the face of the female attendant outside changed when she saw the body on the floor. She hurried over to close the door.

“Is your name Urter? Take a seat,” Anfey pointed at a chair.

“Thank you, master.” Urter slowly took a seat. He apologized, “I am sorry. It was all because of me. I am sorry for that.”

“Do you know why I was not mad before?” Anfey asked.

“Well, you are a mayor and did not want to fight with a nut.” Urter tried to please Anfey with smiles.

“You are wrong.” Anfey smiled. “I was not mad only because there is someone who pissed me off even more.”

“Master, are you saying…” Urter was shocked.

A knife appeared in Anfey’s hand. The next second, Anfey had nailed Urter’s hand to the table with the knife. Urter could not help moaning in pain. Apa jumped as he saw what happened. “Anfey, what are you doing?”

Suzanna laid her eyes on Apa, but she did not say anything. Apa did not seem like he was able to take the pressure Suzanna gave him. He was not sure Suzanna would do anything to him. He slowly took a seat at the end. He looked at Black Eleven and hoped Black Eleven could help him and say something for him. However, Black Eleven looked as if he had not seen anything happen and kept quiet.

Chapter 212: Future

Urter’s body shook with pain, and his forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. His wounded hand could barely move, and the hand that was applying pressure was shaking. What was even more surprising was that Urter could still control himself. If it was a common man, he would be screaming in agony. “Why?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“Do you really want me to tell you why?” Anfey asked, frowning.

Urter took a deep breath and stared at the wound on his hand.

“You showed up as soon as we did. Then that Shamash guy showed up almost as soon as you did. Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious?” Anfey asked. “Also, tell me. What did you mean by ‘dog owner’?” Even though he wasn’t sure how Urter did it, Anfey was certain that there was a grudge between Urter and Shamash. Urter was trying to show Shamash that he had support from Anfey; or else Shamash would not have said what he said when he came into the room.

Urter smiled and shook his head. The blood from his wound had already spread across the table, but he made no move to remove the dagger.

“Truthfully speaking, I hate being used. Take this as a warning. Next time it won’t be your hand,” Anfey said. He stood up slowly and ripped the dagger out of Urter’s hand. “Come, let’s go,” he said. He did not want to talk to the man anymore. He disliked being lied to and used.

Urter’s body tensed, and his breath became ragged. Anfey did not look at the man, and began walking out of the room. “Wait,” Urter called just as Anfey reached the door. “I have something I need to tell you.”

“Is there the need for that?”

“Yes.”

Anfey frowned and hesitated. He turned and walked back to the table, “what do you want to tell me?”

“Shamash is the sixth son of Marquis Djoser. After the Shansa soldiers occupied Violet City, the Marquis led skirmishes against the soldiers and paid dearly. Five of his sons were killed. Shamash is the only one left.”

“Why should I care?” Anfey asked, smiling.

“Why shouldn’t you?” Urter asked.

Anfey frowned. He had never met anyone who act so calmly after their plan had been foiled. Urter looked like he was telling the truth, and had important reasons to do so.

Anfey sat back down and looked at Urter. “Tell me then. Why should I care?”

“If you know anything about the history of Maho Empire, you should know that Marquis Djoser’s ancestor was one of the ten men that helped found the nation. The family has the badge to prove it, and it had hereditary powers. The family has been going downhill since then. However, it still had significant influence here and in the Sacred City.”

Anfey frowned. What Urter was saying sounded like useless babble, but no one would say useless things when his blood was dripping onto a table. Anfey listened carefully.

“The Marquis only had a few dozen soldiers, and there were over seven thousand Shansa soldiers camping here after the city fell. The Marquis, logically, could not do much, though he did sacrifice five sons. Do you think His Majesty should honor him?”

“Of course.”

“There are a dozen counts in this city, and only one marquis,” Urter said, staring at Anfey. “Marquis Djoser had sacrificed almost everything, and the only things he got were some coins and some land. Violet City went to you, my lord, a count. Which means that, unless the Marquis hides in his land and refuses to leave, he would have to answer you.”

“You’re saying he is jealous?”

“It’s not only the Marquis. The counts are jealous as well,” Urter said. He tried to smile, but his muscle twitched. “Jealousy is enough to twist a man’s mind, my lord. You are not in a very good situation right now.”

Anfey frowned. He knew that Urter was right. His future was unclear at best.

“Do you know how large Marquis Djoser’s land is, my lord?” Urter asked. “Only sixty acres. Not even a third of the city.”

“You are trying to start a fight between me and Shamash because of this?” Anfey asked, smiling.

“I only hope you can be more cautious, my lord,” Urter said slowly. “Don’t be fooled by half-hearted kindness, my lord. I’ve only been here for three years, but I already know this city very well.”

“Why are you helping me, then?”

“Because I am the sheriff, and I can never stand on neutral ground. Whenever something happens, I am the first to go down,” Urter said, shrugging. “I just want to pick the more capable side.”

“You think I’m more capable?”

“Like I’ve just said, my lord: I know these people. The only thing the Marquis has is his reputation. He is far from capable, just like his sons. His sons were killed not because they were fearless but because they were lustful cowards.”

Anfey lifted a brow. “Why is that?” he asked.

“They’ve long been eyeing a young girl from the outskirts of the city, but couldn’t do much during the peaceful years for fear of punishment. After the Shansa soldiers arrived, they took the poor girl among the chaos. The girl’s lover was enraged and joined the Shansa army. With someone who knew the city, none of the Marquis’s sons escaped. I don’t know how Marquis Djoser reported what had happened, but I know that he did not report honestly.” Urter paused. He glanced at his hand and continued, “I’ve heard about what you did, my lord. I know you are much more capable than the Marquis will ever be. I know now that you are someone who does not hesitate.”

Even though he had already admitted everything, Urter was still shaking, partially due to fear. He had encountered very few men that were as brutal as Anfey. If he was aiming for his heart, Urter was sure he would be dead by now. Perhaps that was why he was able to kill Philip’s grandson. He was less like a politician and more like a killer.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Would you have believed me, my lord?”

Anfey fell quiet. After he realized that Urter was trying to create a grudge between him and Shamash, he picked intimidation, which had always worked for him. Now, however, he realized how naive he had been. If he was older, he would not have chosen such a way to deal with the situation. In the end, intimidation would change nothing. His enemies would remain his enemies, but he could destroy potential friendships. By intimidating his enemies, he could warn them to be more careful. This was a terrible way to approach a situation like this.

“I have to be honest with you now, Anfey,” Apa suddenly said. “I’ve known Urter for years now. We trained together once, but because of a strange condition he could not use magic or combat power. They let him go in the end, and he became the sheriff of Violet City,” Apa said. He knew both sides in the fight, and because of that he was in a very awkward situation. He knew he had to lessen the tension. “Urter, why didn’t you just tell me? I can always talk to them for you.”

“Did it get your bones?” Black Eleven asked, pushing himself up. He found some healing potion and began working on Urter’s wound.

“Well, I know how to work with you now, Lord Anfey,” Urter said with a forced smile. “Everyone thinks they owe me a favor, which is a good thing for me in the long run.”

Anfey did not say anything. He stared at Urter, observing his expressions. Urter’s explanation had made sense. If he had ulterior motives, it was impressive that he was able to come up with this explanation in a short time. Anfey decided he would trust the man for now.

“Is your relationship with the Marquis always so strained?” Anfey asked.

“Very,” Urter said naturally. “Which is why I wanted to help you, my lord. If it wasn’t for the sudden invasion of Shansa Empire, they might have already found a way to throw me out of the city.”

Anfey nodded. He trusted Urter more than he did a few minutes ago, but still not completely. He had seen too many people to completely trust anyone. Even among his team, there were only two or three people he could completely rely on.

Chapter 213: A Sad City

After talking quietly for a while, Anfey and others slowly walked out of their room and went downstairs. The owner and few female staff of the Garden Hotel all waited downstairs. The owner was about fifty years old. He must have had a sight problem. He had his eyes open wide until he saw Anfey and his crew walking downstairs. He squinted his eyes to look at them.

Urter roughly wrapped his wounded hand. Seeing their mayor hurt, the owner and female staff looked at each other with confused faces. They immediately moved their gaze elsewhere. They knew someone had died upstairs. They did not feel like they needed to worry about it since the mayor was in the hotel. There was a saying in Buddhism, “Don’t’ look, don’t listen, don’t ask.” Maybe it was wise to pretend they did not know anything.

“Master, where are you going? Do you want to come to my office?” Urter walked outside and asked in a low voice.

“No, I would like to walk around first. I will see you tonight. You need get the things I asked for ready.” Anfey looked at Urter’s hand. “Is your hand ok?”

“I am fine, master. I will get it done,” Urter said, smiling.

Suddenly a middle-aged woman ran towards the Garden Hotel. She stared at Suzanna and yelled like a crazy woman, “My child, my child.”

Suzanna was shocked and subconsciously grabbed the sword handle. An old man chased behind the middle-aged woman. He ran really fast for his age and got hold of the woman’s thigh. The woman seemed to be stronger than the old man. She struggled to walk forward and dragged the old man along with her on the ground.

“My child…” The woman was only five yards away from Suzanna.

“We do not have your kids.” Urter said with a scolding tone. “Vicky, why did you let her get out again?”

A few fully armed soldiers ran out of the grocery store across from the hotel and held the woman on the ground. The old man put his hands on the ground and struggled to stand up. He cried aloud before he had the chance to answer Urter’s question or check his brush burned arms for blood. From where he stood, Anfey could see pea-sized tears on the old man’s face.

“Take all of them,” Urter yelled as he waved his arm.

A few soldiers took the woman’s arms and legs, carrying her away. The old man was still crying on the ground. Urter gave a low sigh and walked over to the old man. He squatted down and comforted him a little bit, the passed a few silver coins to the old man. The man took them as he sobbed. He wobbled to the other end of the street.

“What happened?” Anfey asked. Anfey would get alert every time something happened. He took a close look at what happened, but did not find anything unusual.

“Old Vicky is a poor guy,” Urter said bitterly. “He only has a daughter. He raised her by himself. His daughter married a guy who moved in with them. Later his daughter gave birth to a girl and a boy. They finally lived a good life together. His daughter and son in-law were capable people, so they ran a family business very well. No one would expect misfortune would fall on them. The soldiers from Shansa Empire took over Violet City. They also took their granddaughter away. His son in-law had conflicts with Shansa Empire’s soldiers and got killed. The Shansa Empire’s soldiers even burnt down their house. His only grandson was burnt to death. Such a nice family only had two people left now. His daughter went crazy. Alas.”

“Poor guy,” Suzanna said sadly.

Urter had smiles on his face, but hatred showed in his eyes. “There are many more people in worse situations than old Vicky in Violet City.”

“Before I came here, I heard Violet City is a very beautiful city. Now…” Anfey could not help sighing.

“The previous owner of Violet City, Aroben, is still in the city. Master, if you see him, you will learn from him what kind of bastards those people from Shansa Empire are,” Urter said with hatred. “People from Shansa Empire asked Aroben to convince Blackania City to surrender, but they got scolded by Aroben. They cut off Aroben’s tendons on his wrists and ankles. They even killed everyone in his house, including little kids. Aroben himself…” Urter could not continue. His voice started to tremble. “But Aroben did not surrender to them.”

Anfey was surprised to hear this sad story. Monarchy was the only political system in this world. Militaries were not humanitarian, but they rarely abused royal families. Royal families were in dominant positions whether in political or military areas. For self-protection, hostile countries would not treat royal families in extremely bad ways, since no one would know if they would fall into a bad situation themselves some time. Even when royal families became captives, they still could be treated well. As long as ransom was paid, royal families could retrieve their freedom. This had become a rule between countries.

Shansa Empire tried to take over Blackania City for a long time, but failed. The whole of Shansa Empire became crazy about it.

Anfey created a scene not long ago, which made some civilians walk out and stand on the streets to watch. If this happened in other cities, civilians would have talked about it, but not in Violet City. They were all quiet and none of them talked. They all had the same look on their faces. They did not show any emotion on their faces and kept quiet.

“Where is Aroben now?” Anfey asked slowly. “I think we should go visit him.”

“He’s at my house,” Urter said.

“Your house?” Anfey was shocked.

“His garrison residence was destroyed. He lost the ability to walk and move around. Where could he go?” Urter heaved a long sigh. “Aroben saved my life before. I have always treated him and will treat him as my own father.”

“Very nice of you!” Anfey nodded. “How is he now?”

Anfey was not sure how he saw Aroben. It was hard to criticize people like Aroben. Is he cold since he watched his family dying in front of him without trying to save them? Is he tough because he sacrificed his family for his country? If his case was seen from emperors’ and historians’ points of view, he should be praised. However, if they were Aroben’s family, Anfey did not think they would praise him the same way.

“Very bad, but Aroben said that he would try to live to the day he can take revenge on Shansa Empire.” Urter slowly continued, “Master, I am not flattering you. I respect you, and admire you from the bottom of my heart. I mean it. Shansa Empire is so proud of Griffin Aerial Unit. You wiped out the whole Griffin Aerial Unit and you did that for us.”

Anfey smiled, but did not say anything. After he was quiet for a while, Urter continued to say, “Master, do you know where you want to go now?”

“I only want to walk around,” Anfey said.

“I will have my people follow you. If something happens, I can find you immediately,” Urter said.

“Sure,” Anfey said.

Urter waved his hand. A young man just over twenty years old ran over. “His name is Iliverny; smart kid.” After talking to Anfey, Urter whispered something to Iliverny. Iliverny suddenly stared, his eyes wide. Iliverny could not control his facial expressions. Urter continued to whisper something to him, and then he stood aside, looking obedient.

“Ok, Urter, you can leave now. Can you handle the issue upstairs?” Anfey slowly said, “Suzanna, you can get on the wagon now.”

“Aren’t you coming too?” Suzanna was shocked.

“I am not riding in the wagon.” Anfey shook his head. “Take care of the little guy.” He wanted to take a closer look at Violet City. If he hid himself in the wagon, he would miss out on many things.

As Urter said goodbye to them, Suzanna ducked into the wagon with a bamboo basket on her arm. Anfey walked along the main street while the wagon driver drove the wagon behind him slowly.

Normal people probably thought Anfey’s crew was weird. Their wagon was big and wide. It was pulled by eight horses. The wagon looked fancy. Everyone could tell the owner of the wagon must be someone with power. It looked strange that Anfey walked instead of riding in the wagon. That no one paid attention to Anfey seemed even stranger. When people almost knocked into Anfey as they walked with their heads down, they just walked around without looking up at Anfey.

The longer Anfey walked, the more he seemed to get a sense of this city. This was a quiet city, a dead city. It was a sad city in some sense. Everyone in Violet City seemed to hold something inside of themselves.

The feeling Violet City citizens had toward their city was terrible. Maybe as time went by, what these civilians held in could be slowly relieved. Maybe the whole city would have a riot just as a bomb would blow when something triggered the citizens.

Anfey was not sure how long he had walked, but he found himself back to the Garden. It seemed that he had walked around in a big circle. This time those maids in the hotel dared not to ignore the guests. They rushed out and stood on both sides of the door. They dared not to say anything, just looking timidly at Anfey. They had no idea what Anfey would do.

Anfey looked up at the sun to tell the time. He turned around and walked up to the wagon. He tapped the wagon wall twice. “Suzanna, are you hungry yet?”

“I am alright,” Suzanna said.

“What does that mean?” Anfey usually could understand others well but he did not quite understand what “alright” meant.

“Anfey, we are hungry,” Black Eleven immediately interrupted. “We have not had any food since this morning.”

“That is right. It is already afternoon now,” Apa said.

In fact they had felt hungry for quite some time. Anfey looked like he was in thought on the way, so Black Eleven and Apa dared not interrupt him. They finally got a chance to say their piece now. They could not let this opportunity to slide.

“Let’s just grab something quick,” Anfey said.

Iliverny rushed into the hotel first. He did not mean to take the food first, but to make arrangements for others. As he rushed into the hotel, a harsh and loud whistle suddenly rose on the street. Iliverny was shocked for a second and turned around immediately. He ran outside as he whistled loudly back.

“What happened?” Anfey turned around.

“Master, I am not sure,” Iliverny responded immediately to Anfey. As he whistled, he ran towards where the whistle had come from.

Anfey, Black Eleven, Suzanna and Apa looked at each other confused. They did not go into the hotel. They looked around on the street to see if there was anything suspicious.

After a while, they heard horses running from a distance. Two horses came into view. Urter was riding one horse and someone Anfey had never seen before was riding the other horse. Iliverny and a group of people ran after them, but were left far behind by Urter.

Urter had rushed to Anfey in the blink of an eye. He jumped off the horse before the horse could stop itself. He almost fell to the ground. Luckily, Anfey caught him in time.

“Master, I have something to tell you. Can we talk in private?” Urter said, breathing heavily. He looked perplexed. A little shocked, some joy, and mostly excitement.

“Come in the wagon.” Anfey looked at Urter and smiled. “Black Eleven, you guys come in too.”

“Master.” Urter had followed Anfey, but he stopped when he heard Anfey invite others to come in. He said, “I insist on talking in private with just you.”

“Urter, what do you mean?” Apa was a little unhappy about it. The first time he met Anfey, Apa had tried to ask Anfey to leave Suzanna out of their conversation. Now he had a chance to taste not being trusted. It indeed did not feel good. Urter was his friend. He even had tried to speak for him when Urter had some issues with Anfey that morning.

“Sorry, Apa, it is not that I do not trust you. This is too important.” Urter smiled bitterly. “Master?”

Anfey went quiet for a moment and walked into the hotel. Even though Anfey and Urter had not known each other long, they had experienced things together. Anfey had already developed some trust in Urter. It must be something very very very important to make Urter act so abnormally, almost unreasonably.

Urter followed closely behind Anfey into the hotel. He scanned around. “You guys need to leave now.”

The maids obediently walked out of the hotel without saying anything. The owner walked out as well.

Apa and Black Eleven stood outside, looking at each other. They tried to suppress their unhappy feelings. What could they do? They could not fight with Urter for that reason.

“What exactly happened?” Anfey asked.

“Master, if you were not here, I would have no idea what to do.” Urter heaved a long sigh. “I think you know we are building the garrison residence for you, right?”

“Yes, I know about it,” Anfey said.

“A few slaves dug out a stone tablet when they dug the foundation. It was the stone tablet of Brunswick.” Urter’s eyes brightened. The muscles on his face twitched. Obviously, he was super excited.

“Brunswick? This name…I think I heard it somewhere.” Anfey tried to search for the name in his head as he spoke.

“No way, master. You really do not know about him?” Urter asked.

“I definitely heard it somewhere”, Anfey said.

“Master, do you know where the palace of Sacred City was built?” Urter smiled bitterly.

“It was on Brunswick Mountain. Is it that Brunswick?” Anfey asked.

“Master, how many Brunswicks do you think there are?” Urter rubbed his nose. He thought Anfey would shout in surprise. He was disappointed that Anfey had no idea who Brunswick was.

“What is that stone tablet about?” Anfey did not think it was important information.

“I really do not know if you are really from this world.” Urter gave Anfey a bitter smile again. “After Brunswick died in the Sacred Battle, Queen Marisa was in deep sorrow. However, she still took on the responsibility Brunswick had left. She gave commands to Brunswick’s military to fight with magic beast tribes. After she beat the magic beast tribes and ended the battle, Marisa suddenly disappeared. There was a legend that Marisa had built an underground maze. She had no other desire left for life after the battle. She had already sent her husband’s body to the underground maze. The last thing Marisa did was to seal herself in the maze.”

“Keep going,” Anfey said.

“This legend has proved true with some evidence. Brunswick and Marisa loved each other so much. After Brunswick’s death, Marisa had always said she had no desire to continue to live. The only thing that kept her living was the responsibility.” Urter emphasized each word. “Later many tomb raiders searched for her maze and found three in the next few hundred years. Unfortunately, those were the fake ones Marisa made to fool people.”

“How do you know they are fake?” Anfey asked.

“Because there was something missing.” Urter thought for a moment and said, “There was another reason. After tomb raiders found the first underground maze, many people thought they found the real one, but there was nothing besides money and jewelry. Later many people lost interest in Marisa’s legend. A few tomb raiders found another underground maze about a hundred years later. The layout and treasure in the maze was exactly the same as the first one. Master, think about it, why did Marisa build fake mazes on purpose? What did she want to protect? Was it only because she did not want anyone to disturb her life?”

Anfey did not respond to Urter right away. He concentrated to think of all the possibilities for why Marisa built fake mazes and how reliable this legend could be.

“Master, there was one item missing with the disappearance of Marisa. No one has seen it since,” Urter said.

“What is it?” Anfey asked.

“The Taboo scepter.” Urter stressed every word.

“What is the Taboo scepter?” Anfey asked.

Urter almost fainted from Anfey’s ignorance. He held his hands into fists without even worrying about the pain on his hand. He grinded his teeth and said, “Master, Brunswick died on the Brunswick Mountain. After Brunswick’s death, the Taboo scepter broke through the block of the magic beast tribes. It flew back to Marisa. Do you know what it meant?”

“That is so amazing.” Anfey raised his eyebrow. He had become used to the magic and combat power in this world. Anfey was still amazed by an object that could have its own mind and spirit. It was impossible to explain how it could happen.

“Master, Taboo scepter is an amazing artifact. A legendary artifact. I heard that some books said the Taboo scepter had some unexposed secrets. I heard even a regular human being can perform forbidden spells with the Taboo scepter.” Urter finished his talk in one breath. He took a deep breath. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, but what does that stone tablet mean then?” Anfey asked.

“There should be an underground maze,” Urter said.

“Maybe it is a fake one again.” It was not that Anfey was trying to disappoint Urter on purpose. Anfey got used to assuming the worst scenario when he looked at problems.

Urter was speechless. It was not normal for people to stay as calm as Anfey when they heard the news about the Taboo scepter.

In fact it was Urter who had short vision and lack of life experience. It was easy to make Anfey lose himself. He could just say “Have you seen the porn of Mutou Ran?” Anfey would jump really high and grab Urter to ask him where he was from.

“No matter whether it is a real or fake maze, we need to figure it out anyway. Ask them to come in so we can discuss it,” Anfey said slowly.

“No, don’t do it, master.” Urter hurried to stop Anfey.

“Urter, you need to know they are my companions. I trust them with my life,” Anfey looked serious.

“Master, it was not that simple.” Urter smiled bitterly. “I need to write a report and send it to Sacred City every month. I would not report anything before we can figure the maze out. Even if I have to see the King in Sacred City, I would not tell him either. Master, only two of us can know about this secret.”

“You don’t have to make it so secretive.” Anfey looked indifferent.

“Master, if the secret gets out, Violet City might disappear from this world,” Urter said worriedly. “Master, do you know I have killed the slaves at the construction site. They are the captives from Shansa Empire. I did not mean to let them live anyway. I would not risk them leaking the information out now.”

“Huh?” Anfey said.

“Master, if all the top powers gathered in Violet City from all over the world, who could control them? Even if our king could send all the troops here, they could not control those most powerful people,” Urter said.

Anfey’s heart sank. He knew how powerful those most powerful people were. Professor Saul once told him that many top powers chose to be away from the early world. They hoped to break the bottleneck to challenge god. There were so many countries on Pan Continent. Almost every country on Pan Continent had few major powers. If these major powers all came to Violet City and gathered here, Violet City would be destroyed.

“This is not about trust, master.” After arguing with Anfey, Urter’s voice started to become hoarse.

Chapter 214: Bribe

Anfey paced around in the room, trying to decide what he should do. He knew that there were things he should not get involved in, but he was left with very few choices. “Urter, can you promise that no one else knows about this?”

“Yes,” Urter said. “I can promise that.”

“Did you take care of all the slaves?”

“Yes,” Urter said. He could tell Anfey was still worried, and added, “At least the only thing they found was a stone tablet. My men noticed before they could remove it, and relayed the news to me.”

“Are your men trustworthy?”

“I cannot promise that, but they do not know what was going on. I was the only one who knows there is an entrance under the stone tablet. I was the only one that went inside.” Urter reached into his pocket and wished out a gold coin and handed it to Anfey. “I found this down there.”

“Don’t you have a dimensional ring?” Anfey asked. He did not know what the rings were at first, but after he learned what one was, everyone around him had one. Seeing Urter searching through his pocket was something unfamiliar.

“Are you mocking me, my lord?” Urter asked. “I am only a sheriff.”

“This is a big city,” Anfey said, taking the gold coin into his hand. “Your salary shouldn’t be too bad.” He looked down at the gold coin. On one side was the image of a man with a large beard, and the other side was covered in runes he could not read.

“My salary was less than a single gold coin,” Urter said. “And living in such a city comes with a high cost.”

“Really,” Anfey said and glanced at Urter. Doris was from a poorer family, but she still had a dimensional ring. Urter was a sheriff, but still could not afford one. Which meant that he was a honest man who did not try to steal. In comparison, the wages of the dwarves were several times more than Urter’s. No wonder the dwarves worked so hard. Anfey was amused, as well. Urter earned one gold coin a month. How expensive could his cost of living be?

“Do you recognize it, my lord?” Urter asked. He had a sense that Anfey was lacking in common sense, and he wanted to be clear.

“No,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “What is this?”

“This is made by King Brunswick, the last king of the Brunswick Dynasty. He had no children with his wife, Marisa, who did not have any interest in power. After she defeated the magic beasts, she disappeared, leaving the court to their own devices. The nobilities warred against each other for power.” Urter sighed and shook his head. “There were a lot of powerful men in that civil war. They were loyal to Brunswick Dynasty and were willing follow Marisa’s lead, but that does not mean they were willing to follow other people’s lead. That was the end of Brunswick Dynasty.”

“Were there coins like this in the other fake mazes?”

“Yes,” Urter said gloomily. “We do not know whether those mazes were fake or not. This proved that the maze has something to do with Marisa.”

“At least halt the construction on the mansion,” Anfey said quietly.

“You cannot do that, my lord!” Urter said hurriedly.

“Why is that?”

“There are already people who are curious about what had happened. If we stop the construction, it will be a confirmation,” Urter said. “We cannot stop the construction. What we can do, however, is change the place where we found the tablet into a garden. That should solve our dilemma.”

“You’re right,” Anfey said with a nod.

Urter grinned and said, “Well, allow me to congratulate you now, my lord.”

“For what?” Anfey asked, tossing the coin up and down. “I don’t see any joyous occasions.”

“According to the empire’s laws, everything that is found within the land of a nobleman belongs to him. Which means now you are the legal owner of the underground maze.”

“Even if the empire has laws like this, do you think they will let me keep it if it really is the tomb of Queen Marisa?”

“That I do not know,” Urter said. “I am a sheriff. My only job is to assist you, my lord.”

“You said earlier that you went into the maze alone,” Anfey said. “Were you not scared?”

“I’ve been hearing adventurous stories for years now. My teacher once said that there is no profit without danger. I am not afraid of it.”

“Your teacher?”

“Have you forgotten, my lord? I once trained with Apa.”

“Why didn’t you join a mercenary band, then?”

“I do not have combat power, nor can I use magic. No one would take someone like me,” Urter said, shaking his head.

“There are people with those things who are still idiots,” Anfey said. “Intelligence is much more important than power in my mind. Come on, let’s go. They may think you are trying to kill me.”

“Me?” Urter asked, almost amused.

“Where did all your money go?” Anfey said as the two left the room.

“I don’t have a family to take care of, but my men do. Their lives are much more difficult than mine.”

Anfey nodded, but did not say anything more. He walked out of the inn and towards where Suzanna, Apa, and Black Eleven were standing. He had spent too much time speaking with Urter, and the three of them were all curious about their conversation.

Anfey walked over to his carriage and jumped in. “Suzanna,” he called, “come in. Urter, you come in as well.”

Urter blinked, then hurried over to the carriage. He held out a hand out of courtesy and wanted to help Suzanna up. Suzanna, however, did not need his help. Urter’s hand fell back to his side awkwardly, and he climbed into the carriage after her.

“How many coins do you have right now?” Anfey asked Suzanna.

“How many do you need?”

“A hundred.”

Suzanna pulled out her money pouch and began counting the coins. A few minutes later, ten columns of gold coins were laid out on the ground neatly.

“Urter, take these.”

Urter’s expression paled. “What do you mean, my lord? It is my job to assist you. You don’t need to…”

“Don’t,” Anfey said, interrupting Urter’s protest. “It’s not just for you. You need a dimensional ring. Some things are only safe when you put it in a ring, do you understand?”

“But…”

“You can twist my intention however you want, but you will keep the money,” Anfey said. “Go and arrange my meeting with Aroben tonight.”

“Yes, my lord,” Urter said. “I will get on that.”

“Alright,” Anfey nodded. “Go. People will grow suspicious at the length of our conversation.”

“Yes, my lord,” Urter said. He looked at Anfey, then began to collect the coins slowly. If Anfey appeared too proud, Urter would have left immediately. However, Anfey had appeared very sincere. In the end, Urter had to break his own rule.

A hundred gold coins, however, were much heavier than Urter had expected. As he stood, the coins fell out of his pocket and onto the floor.

Suzanna grinned at the sight. Urter tried to pick up the coins quickly while hiding his embarrassment, but the coins were scattered all over the floor.

Technically, this was the first time Urter accepted a bribe, and he had learned his lesson. Anfey tried to hide his smile, and did not say anything. After a few moments, Suzanna stood up, and helped Urter gather all the coins.

“Armin, coming in,” Anfey called, suppressing his laughter.

Black Eleven appeared, and frowned when he saw the coins on the floor.

“Take these to Urter’s,” Anfey ordered.

Black Eleven nodded. He waved his hand, and gathered all the coins into his dimensional ring.

“You know the convenience of a ring now, Urter?” Anfey asked with a smile.

Urter nodded hurriedly and looked at neither Anfey nor Suzanna.

“Armin, be careful. Don’t let Apa know what’s going on.”

“Why?” Black Eleven asked, frowning. He had already told Apa about some of Anfey’s deeds. If there was something wrong with Apa, the warning was clearly too late.

“No,” Anfey said, “but still, don’t tell him.”

“Alright,” Black Eleven said, nodding. “I understand.”

Chapter 215: On Show

“It did not work!” Anfey disappointedly waved away gas series elements, which had gathered a moment ago. He walked to the window and looked out.

“Don’t worry. You are just a junior mage right now. You still do not have a mage license issued by magic union yet,” Suzanna smiled.

“The problem is I do not know where it went wrong.” Anfey rubbed his head as he talked. They were at a hotel at the time that was only 30 yards away from Anfey’s new garrison residence construction. Anfey wanted to release Eyes of Sky to see what was going on inside the garrison residence, but he still failed after a couple of tries. Anfey knew the procedures for releasing Eyes of Sky very well and carbon copied from Christian. He could communicate with different elements well with telephathy. Anfey believed there was no reason to fail. He needed to go back and ask Christian.

“Anfey, should I go and check on it?” Suzanna asked.

“Never mind.” Anfey shook his head and walked to his bed. He picked up an old-fashion book and started to read. He was going to be a big landlord soon. He needed to understand the scale of his authority and anything forbidden by the laws and regulations. The book in Anfey’s hand was the legal statute of the empire. Anfey would not get to know unspoken rules from the legal statute of the empire, but it was better than nothing.

Suzanna held herself on the elbows with hands on her cheeks, quietly watching Anfey. She never dreamed to be a master swordswoman when she was little. Her mother asked her to carry the extra weight on her shoulders without consulting her if she wanted. Her father should have been a mature man that Suzanna could rely on, but he was barely around her. She only remembered seeing her father three times. The last time she saw him he was covered in blood. Before she met Anfey, she had been living an intense life. She practiced days and nights, took the horrible tests, which made her feel like she was in hell. She was constantly chased and in danger. She lived a nightmare. Suzanna thought her life would be like this forever. Anfey made her feel a warmth that she had never felt before. She would never ever forget that warm feeling.

Is this so called happiness? The corners of Suzanna’s mouth curled up. She was always happy when she was around Anfey. Anfey was not super powerful and could not give her a peaceful life or take care of her troubles, but it did not stop her from feeling the way she felt about Anfey.

Anfey skimmed the legal statutes and flipped the pages fast. He only wanted to get the main idea when he read. He believed the deeper understanding of the book came through thinking, not literally from the book.

As time slowly went by, Suzanna and Anfey were in totally different thinking tracks, but they still got along well. They felt at peace and warm with each other. Suddenly, a magic signal in a distance ruined it.

Anfey was shocked for a second and tossed the book on the bed. He stood up and rushed out of the room ahead of Suzanna. It was the magic signal from Black Eleven.

Anfey worried it would cause a scene to run with combat power. Luckily, a wagon was parked at the hotel. He took two horses out. He used them as his new transportation. He ran towards the magic signal as fast as he could. A tense battlefield came into Anfey’s sight.

Black Eleven and Urter stood in the front with over a dozen patrols from the police department on one side, while Shamash lead a group of personal soldiers on the other side. There were already seven or eight people hurt in total from both sides. The conflict was obviously there, but it seemed that both sides had some concerns that prevented them from killing each other. The conflicts between two parties with weapons usually caused fatality. Right now those hurt people at least still could curse standing up.

Anfey pushed patrols to the sides to make a path and walked to Black Eleven. He whispered, “What happened?”

Urter heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Anfey. He smiled bitterly at Anfey but did not say anything. Black Eleven stepped back a little bit and said quietly, “We were here to buy Dimensional rings in this magic store. Shamash and his people picked a fight with us.”

“That is him.” Shamash had recognized Anfey and yelled loudly, “Look at that guy. He killed people in Garden Hotel. Our mayor saw it but did not catch the killer. He is even with the killer now. Does nit ot it prove where those gold coins were from?”

Anfey glanced at Shamash. “What gold coins is he talking about?”

“He saw our gold coins when we were paying for the Dimensional rings,” Urter said, smiling bitterly.

“Urter, you do not deserve our trust.” Shamash raised his voice even more. Shamash’s personal soldiers were more powerful than a patrol. However, this was a conflict instead of a war. He dared not to fight with what the patrol represented, a government. Now he saw the killer at the scene and believe the opportunity had come his way. He tried to stir up the civilian onlookers.

Shamash and his personal soldiers yelled and cursed, but the civilian onlookers still looked cold and indifferent. In terms of their reputation, Urter had a lot better reputation than Shamash, since Shamash kept his hands in the pockets everyday. No one would believe what Shamash said.

“This guy is really annoying.” Urter did provoke Shamash on purpose for the very first conflict so he would like to forgive Shamash for what he did. But now Shamash acted like a crazy dog. He was so annoyed by him.

“Hand over that killer to me,” Shamash yelled in high pitch. “Hand over the killer to me.”

“Hand him over!” Shamash’s personal soldiers yelled after him. A few of them even inched in towards Anfey with weapons in their hands.

“How dare you!” Urter stepped out in front of Anfey. “Put down your weapons! Do you know who he is? How dare you to be so rude to him? He is Violet City…”

“Urter, come back!” Anfey interrupted him.

Urter was shocked for a second and looked at Anfey, confused. He slowly stepped back behind Anfey.

“Suzanna, stay there and don’t move until I tell you to,” Anfey said.

“Yes,” Suzanna said.

Anfey slowly walked to those few personal soldiers with weapons. Anfey took everything in when he tried to figure out an issue and make it complicated, but sometimes he liked to simplify problems as well, depending on different situations. Now he had become the owner of Violet City. If he bore something with unreasonable anger or was unable to accept challenges when others challenged his authority, it would make sophisticated people suspect him. “People, who could take a lot in life or plan far and in details, must be sophisticated.” This always made sense. If Anfey went to extremes to solve this problem, those old men probably would just laugh at him if they heard about what happened later. They might critique him by saying, “Anfey is too young and acts too much on impulse. He needs more practice.” They would put their guard down toward Anfey.

There was a saying that “It is a tactic to let others’ guards down.” In fact, there were skills involved in reporting to supervisors as well. There was a general in Qin Dynasty. He was about to lead his military unit to travel far to the border to fight with the invaders. He was worried that the king would suspect him of getting too powerful. He knew this battle would last a long time. Officials being far from the central government had the potential to control the military and overthrow the king. Before he went on the journey, he asked for a large amount of money, jewelry and land on purpose. He wanted the king from Qin to believe he cared about money over other things. The king from Qin agreed to all his requests and gave him the support he wanted for a long time during the war. This general was one of only a few officials who did not get set up, tortured by the king even after the war ended.

The key strategy to report to kings was to let kings know one’s weakness or expose one’s weakness on purpose in order to let the king’s guards down. Kings were afraid of people too perfect. For kings, it was important to take control and balance the power. The problem was the rein, the power to control and balance. What if there was a person who could not be controlled? Simple. Just destroy him. If that person could not be destroyed, then kings would wait for the opportunity to present itself. There was no trust at all.

Those few personal soldiers did not expect Anfey would step out himself. They could not help looking back at Shamash. Shamash gave them a look and yelled, “Catch that killer.”

Those personal soldiers understood what Shamash meant. They rushed towards Anfey. Their swords, covered with combat power, were pointing at parts of Anfey, where they definitely could cause fatal damage if they got him. This was not to catch Anfey. They wanted to kill him. It looked like Shamash wanted to teach Anfey a lesson. However, targeting Anfey was a huge mistake.

Urter’s face immediately turned pale, but Suzanna and Black Eleven’s faces did not change at all. They knew about Anfey’s fighting ability. Apa heard a lot of stories about Anfey from Black Eleven. There was a junior swordsman among those few personal soldiers, but they believed Anfey would be fine.

Anfey did not dodge until the sword radiant was close to him. His moves looked slower than usual for some reason. A sword radiant swept above his arm and another sword radiant brushed over his shoulder. Suzanna screamed in surprise.

Suddenly Anfey accelerated and ran back to Black Eleven’s side. He looked at Suzanna and Black Eleven’s shocked face and smiled. He pointed at the blood on his shoulder and asked, “Urter, is this enough for the evidence?”

Urter suddenly realized what had happened and raised his voice, “Shamash, how dare you try to kill Master Anfey? Do you want to fight against our government? You guys, catch the people who tried to kill Master Anfey.”

Urter said it loudly. It was enough. Those patrols definitely did not have the ability to catch those personal soldiers. They would be lucky if they did not get killed by them. Anfey waved his hands and countless little fire balls appeared around him. The little fire balls turned into a gigantic flaming shield and a gigantic flaming sword. Anfey ran towards those few personal soldiers.

Suzanna pulled her sword out in anger, but she was stopped by Urter. “Madam, don’t go out now.”

“What?” Suzanna was shocked.

“Master is pretty powerful, isn’t he?” Urter asked immediately

“Of course, he has no problem taking care of these trash.” Black Eleven answered for Suzanna.

“If master could handle it himself, we had better just stay here. It will be good for the master.” Urter smiled at them.

“Urter is right,” Apa responded. Before he came here, King Yolanthe had told him a lot of things. There was another reason to give Anfey the fuedal realm in Violet City besides setting things up for their plans on the Country of Mercenaries. King Yolanthe wanted to set Anfey as an example of a hero to give people hope that the empire could and would protect them. Right now it was a show for the hero.

Chapter 216: A Good Fight

A man would only regret something after he had done it. He would not know how terrible something was until he had experienced it himself. The soldiers were not afraid when they heard Anfey’s name. Their employer was one of the few marquis left in the empire. Even though he was far from the center of the political playing field, Marquis Djoser’s influence in this area was unmatched. Even the old city lord, Aroben, feared the marquis. The soldiers were used to doing whatever they wanted without any consequences. They didn’t care who this young man was. The soldiers had some experience with fighting. Seeing that Anfey came at them alone, two of the soldiers took a few steps back, and the rest ran around him. They were trying to block anyone who was trying to help Anfey and gain an attack angle.

The fire sword in Anfey’s hand swept forward and flame on the tip of the sword burned brightly. The junior swordsmaster waved his sword and blocked the attack. The soldier on the other side was able to block the attack as well.

The fire sword clashed with longswords, sending bright sparks flying. The two men felt their arms growing numb and tired, but they were still able to block the attack. The three soldiers who were behind Anfey saw an opportunity and lunged at him together, their swords aiming at his unprotected back.

The swordsmaster smiled. If Anfey turn around and try to block the attack, it would give him the chance to attack. If Anfey didn’t, then the three soldiers behind him could easily kill him. Before he could rejoice, however, he realized Anfey was suddenly moving again. He widened his eyes as a large fire shield came crashing down.

He screamed then jumped back, the shield missed him by a few inches. The other soldier, however, was not as lucky. Anfey thrusted his sword forward and blocked the man’s attack, then plunged the sword into the man’s chest. The air smelled of burning flesh.

If he was fighting a master swordsman, then maybe his opponent could deflect all of his attacks. However, Anfey’s opponents were normal soldiers and a junior swordsmaster. His opponents were not skilled enough to stop his attacks.

Anfey jumped aside and chased after the swordsmaster. He looked like a large meteor with the fiery shield held out in front of him. Before he even engaged the men in combat, he already knew how powerful his opponents were. However, he was still very cautious and did not want to get distracted. In close combat, getting distracted could mean death.

The swordsmaster knew that his opponent was superior to him and did not try to engage in combat. He kept jumping away and waving his sword, trying to distract Anfey. The three soldiers followed Anfey. Shamash, who was observing the fight, frowned and called, “What are you doing? Attack!” The rest of the soldiers joined the fight before he could finish his sentence.

Anfey suddenly stopped and, without a moment’s delay, jumped aside and out of the path of the three soldiers. Before the three men could react, Anfey brought the sword down on one of the men’s head. The man fell to the ground.

The other soldier slashed at his target and began running back, but before he could get away, the fire shield knocked him down. His body slid across the ground due to the force, and when he stopped, he did not move again.

The deaths of his companions gave the survivor a chance to react. He did not choose to run, however, and instead he lunged at Anfey, thrusting his sword forward.

Anfey looked at the man, but did not move. When the sword was less than three feet away from him, he suddenly ducked down, and the sword missed its target. Then he plunged his sword into his opponent’s chest.

The fire sword pierced the man’s body, but there was no blood, since the heat of the sword was enough to cauterize the wound.

Anfey waved his sword and threw the dead body towards the remaining soldiers. The soldiers stared at the body, but none of them moved. Seeing three companions dying in such a short time made them hesitant.

The soldiers stopped, but Anfey did not. He held the shield out in front of him, and began walking towards the soldiers. The way he approached the soldiers showed that he did not care whether they lived or died. There was no point in being just. There was no justice in the world, and the only people that cared for justice were the weak.

Anfey already had a plan before he even started attacking. According to Urter, his arrival would be met with resistance from Marquis Djoser. Compared to the marquis, Anfey had no networks and no experience. More importantly, he did not want to fight with the marquis. He was a skilled combatant, but he knew nothing about politics. It would be stupid for him to try and play political games with the marquis. He needed to scare him enough that he would not try to do anything.

In comparison to Anfey, Shamash’s men appeared weak and cowardly, especially the swordsmaster. Technically, he should be the most powerful one, and he should be at the front. Now, however, he was too terrified to lead the counterattack. He kept backing away, and was almost behind Shamash. This made the soldiers even more terrified.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you attacking?” Shamash questioned angrily. He raised his foot and kicked the swordsmaster in the back.

The swordsman stumbled, but did not try to lead the attack. Instead, he stopped in place. He had led the initial attack with four other soldiers, who were all killed. If he wasn’t backing away, he would not be standing there. He would rather be jobless than die.

Anfey suddenly took a long stride forward, then thrust his sword at one of the soldiers. He did not use his full strength, because that would make it harder for him to move after each attack. He was able to move around because he had preserved parts of his power.

Now, however, the soldier were not as daring, and Anfey was switching up his tactics. Now, his strategy was more intimidating but more dangerous for him.

The soldier tried to block the attack, but his strength was far inferior. The fire sword was only slowed, and came down onto the soldier. The man’s head burst into flames.

The soldiers around him gasped in horror. Anfey turned to the left and struck out. The soldiers were caught off guard, and could not block the attack. One soldier’s sword plunged into another’s chest. The second man fell to the ground.

Anfey’s every move was full of power. The soldiers were too scared to fight back, and those that did try to fight back were slaughtered mercilessly.

The swordsmaster had already abandoned his sword and disappeared into the crowd. Shamash, however, did not even notice. This was not a fight. It was a massacre.

If he was simply fighting, Anfey usually stayed very calm. Now, however, he felt a strange joy when he saw his opponents falling like leaves before him.

Soon, there was no one standing around Anfey. All the remaining soldiers were behind Shamash, and no one tried to protect him. The mage next to Shamash whispered several spells, but didn’t release any of them. Right now, he cared only for his own life.

Anfey stood in front of Shamash, who was sweating furiously, and did not feel any pity for the man. This man must die. There were a lot of men willing to work for the nobility, and it did not matter if those men died. The only way to make the nobility fear him was to kill Shamash.

“I remember him!” someone in the crowd suddenly called. “Isn’t that the guy that terrorized Shansa Empire?”

People in the crowd began whispering to each other, and the sound of their voices became louder and louder. They had been hearing a lot about Anfey lately.

Chapter 217: Hope

“Why are you trying to kill me?” Anfey asked coldly. The feeling of joy only stayed with Anfey for a very short time. Joy never dominated Anfey long because being calm was his instinct. Anfey did not forget what he should say at this moment. He actually did not talk to Shamash, but to the civilians who were looking on.

“I…” Shamash was scared and forgot how to argue. He even forgot to beg for his life.

“You do not have to explain.” Anfey turned away. He waved his flaming sword, which created a track of heat. Shamash was only a senior swordsman. He was so scared that he did not make any response before he got hit by the flaming sword.

Onlookers leaned their heads back to follow Shamash’s head being thrown high in the sky. The body twitched before falling on the ground. Those watching screamed in surprise. No matter what kind of reputation Shamash had, he was a well-known person in Violet City. However, he was killed like he was just a little chicken. Not only the surviving personal soldiers’ jaws dropped, onlookers stared wide-eyed.

“Stop, stop.” A loud voice arose in the distance. “Master asked Master Shamash to go back now. Don’t make any trouble.” The clip-clop of hooves sounded closer to them.

The onlookers made a path for a group of horses. A boy around seven years old stepped back as others moved to the side. Maybe he had no guardian to take care of him, or his parents forgot to take him with them as they made the path. That boy just stood there, looking at the dead body. The little boy did not know how to cover his emotions. He looked scared and curious and totally forgot that a group of horses were coming his way.

The people on the horses were only concerned about rushing forward. As people made a path for them, it became too late for them to stop in time. Everyone watched as a horse was ready to step on the little boy.

A flaming fireball shot out and hit the fore legs of the horse. The fireball flew so fast that it left a trace of red shadow.

Fire elements shoot out everywhere. Anfey had to move two steps back to steady himself. The rider and the horse rolled back like a rolling windmill. They rolled over for about a dozen yard. On watchers were startled by what they saw again.

Anfey felt sharp pain in his arms after the flaming shield disappeared. The flaming shield had turned into a real object before it disappeared. Others might have seen that Anfey literally crashed into the running horse. Actually it did not happen as they thought they had seen. Anfey was not that stupid. His flaming shield hit right below the horse’s neck. He pushed the flaming shield diagonally upwards. Anfey did take some hit but not all of the hit, otherwise he would not have knocked the horse so far.

The rider struggled to come to his senses and slowly stand up. Blood oozed from his nose and mouth. Obviously, his organs were damaged after taking the indirect but intense blow. He stared at Anfey, shocked and scared. He was unable to hide his emotions.

Surviving personal soldiers looked at each other, but dared not to help. They could only choose to be quiet.

“Master Shamash.” The horse rider stumbled forward. He did not forget his duty. “Master Shamash! Are you guys dumb? Where is master Shamash?”

The personal soldiers could not help looking at the dead body without a head. The rider’s response was quick. At first, he was shocked and had eyes open wide to check the clothes on the dead body. He suddenly turned around to look at Anfey. “You killed master Shamash?”

Top powers were usually not constrained by regular laws. The power among them had to be balanced by other even more powerful powers. Seeing their master being killed and his crew scared to speaking for him, he immediately suspected Anfey.

“So?” Anfey looked combative. He challenged the rider.

That rider was so mad that he suddenly puked up some blood. His body shook a little and then he fell on the ground with a huge thud. His wound had gotten worse, but other personal soldiers dared not to come over to help him. They stayed where they were without doing anything.

“Hurry up and go home. Playing on the street is dangerous.” Anfey turned to be gentle and also caressed the little boy’s head.

“Uh…” The little boy looked at Anfey with bright eyes. He may not even have realized what had just happened.

Onlookers seemed to feel perplexed. Anfey had looked like a crazy killer a moment ago and killed the well-known Shamash and his personal soldiers in the blink of an eye. Now, however, he looked like a sweet brother to that little boy. No one would think Anfey faked it since he did save that little boy from the horse.

“Master, are you ok?” Urter ran over with excitement on his face. He had heard about what Anfey had done before. He wanted to believe there was a savior for the people who were suffering. This world seemed to need a hero after the war. Seeing Anfey’s fighting ability, he would totally believe he was their hero.

“I am fine.” Anfey shook his head with a smile. He turned to look at the surviving personal soldiers. “All of you go to the police station. Suzanna!” Suzanna slowly walked up to him. Senior swordsmen were considered top powers in Violet City. When Suzanna practiced combat power to try to help Anfey, she already got people’s attentions. However, when Anfey has showered fire balls, they had turned their attention to him. Now Suzanna walked out and everybody noticed there was a senior swordswoman. She was also a follower of Anfey. People could not be more surprised.

The junior swordsman who ran away at the beginning of the fight gasped. He thought he was so lucky to make the decision to run. He was too wise for that. Suzanna was a senior swordswoman.

“Are you going to the police station on your own or do you need someone to escort you?” Anfey asked casually.

“Master, we can go to the police station on our own.” The junior swordsman realized he should do something to make it up, so he stepped out and spoke.

Anfey looked at Urter. As a mayor, Urter definitely knew what he should do. He needed to judge the case, listing all the evidence to make sure there was no way for Shamash’s family to reopen this case. Urter walked back to Iliverny and gave him some instructions quietly, and then Iliverny walked to those personal soldiers with a few officers. Since the leader of the personal soldiers had died, both parties were not combative anymore. They looked like they got along well and cooperated with each other. At least one party did. Personal soldiers put down their weapons and followed behind the officers.

“Master, your little unicorn came out. We could not control him,” Urter suddenly said loudly.

“Huh?” Anfey was shocked. He turned around to check. The little unicorn was looking at the people around him.

Anfey could not help staring at Urter. The little unicorn had been forced to develop the habit that he would not come out until Susanna gave him permission. The unicorn would never come out on his own. The reason Suzanna let the unicorn out definitely had to do with Urter.

“Come here,” Anfey waved at the little unicorn.

The unicorn’s eyes brightened. He turned into a white light and the next second he stood beside Anfey. He looked very close to Anfey. He rubbed Anfey’s lower leg. The unicorn was still small, but his speed was phenomenal. Shally used to play with the little unicorn, but now she did not even bother with him anymore. She could not catch him and lost interest in playing with him.

“My God, it is a unicorn,” someone yelled in surprise.

“Couldn’t be!” Some doubted how true it was.

“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what your mayor said?” an onlooker responded.

“It has to be a unicorn! I did not even see him run over!” another onlooker said.

“A Magic-Combat-Twin discipliner with a unicorn? I have only heard about it in the legends,” another person commented.

The little unicorn did not know he was the center of attention. He tried hard to look up at Anfey with his light blue eyes. Magic beasts had quite simple emotions. If Anfey was calling him, he could only see Anfey’s eyes.

Anfey sighed and bent down to pick up the little unicorn. Changes always came faster than plans. He was supposed to keep this trip secret. The little unicorn should be a secret too. However, both of these were now known to the public. Human intelligence was too limited. In most cases, a wise person could not control how things would happen. That was why there was the saying about “opportunity knocking”.

The crowd grew loud. Their indifference and coldness were from their disappointment. Shansa Empire had messed up their lives. Many people had died and disappeared. Yolanthe was very wise, and he provided them a comparatively decent life, but he could not protect them in dangerous situations. Now a hero was here. The power and kindness were obvious. In addition, he was going to be the owner of Violet City. What else could make them more excited. The hero in the legend could beat thousands or tens of thousands of magic beasts just by himself. The presence of a unicorn meant Anfey had the same power as the heroes in the legends. Heroes like Anfey should be able to protect them. No one knew the exact answer, but they all wanted to believe, in other words, they would like to force themselves to believe Anfey could protect them.

Anfey was a little confused and anxious. He used to hide in the dark in his past. He did not think anything good would come from being the center of the crowd. Anfey turned around and said to Urter, “Let’s go buy the rings.”

“Yes, master.” Urter lowered his head. His eyes were smiling. He had planned everything right on the money and had gotten unexpectedly positive results. He was quite happy about it.

Anfey and Urter walked up to the magic store. The crowd immediately made a path for them. Suzanna followed behind Anfey. The legendary hero always had a powerful, beautiful and loyal female assistant. So did Anfey. It only confirmed their belief.

Anfey and Urter walked up the steps before they entered the magic store. A person suddenly stopped them at the entrance of the magic store. It was a chubby guy around forty years old. His eyes avoided looking at Anfey, and his trembling fingers also showed his timidity. However what he said sounded very harsh: “I am sorry, masters. Our store is closed today.”

Chapter 218: Helper

“What do you mean?” Urter asked, his expression dark.

“I’m sorry, sir, but my shop is not open for business right now,” the merchant said. His voice was shaking, but he was determined.

Urter glared at the man. It was embarrassing to be blocked by a merchant in the middle of the town. If he was alone, he would have just admitted defeat. Now, however, he had other people with him. The merchant was just about to tell him the price of the ring, and this sudden shift in attitude meant that he was hiding something.

“Sir, this isn’t the only shop that sells dimensional rings,” a man in the crowd stepped forward and said. “If you don’t mind, please, feel free to come to my shop and take a look.”

Anfey glanced at the man who had just spoken. He was young, perhaps in his twenties. He was wearing a finely made white robe, which made the youth look more handsome than he would have in simple shirts. His expression was calm, but his eyes were filled with joy. Anfey did not know if the man was happy because he was able to catch someone’s attention, or because he was able to steal business from his competition.

Urter sighed and glared at the merchant again before turning to the youth. “Where’s your shop?” he asked.

“Not far,” the young man said, pointing to his left. “Just down the street.”

“My lord, do you want to go look there?” Urter asked Anfey. He was worried that Anfey would rush into yet another decision without thinking it through. He knew the merchant was hiding something, but he was the owner and he had the right to do what he wanted. As long as there was another solution, there was no need to force the merchant to do anything. Anfey was the new city lord, and Urter was the sheriff. They had plenty of time to investigate what the merchant was trying to hide.

“Alright,” Anfey said. He turned and followed the young man and Urter.

Anfey, however, was not trying to pressure the merchant into doing anything. He had remained quiet and allowed Urter to do the negotiation. He was the new city lord, and it was not a good idea for him to have petty arguments. The appearance of the young man was exactly what Anfey had wanted and needed.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the young man’s shop. The young man hurried over to open the door for his customers. The crowds, instead of dispersing, followed the group to the young man’s shop.

Anfey frowned. He turned to Urter and said, “Tell them to leave us alone.”

Urter nodded and turned around. “Everyone,” he called loudly. “Go home now, please. It is distracting for Lord Anfey with all of you out here.”

Hearing Urter’s order, the crowd slowly began the thin. Most people looked eager to tell others the story they had just witnessed.

“That man has no professionalism to speak of,” the young man said, shaking his head. “You may not know, my lord, but he works for the Marquis. He must have received instructions from the Marquis not to sell you anything.”

“I see,” Urter said, nodding. He was just going to buy the cheapest dimensional ring, but Black Eleven thought that a cheap ring had no real value and would be a waste of money. The two had just compromised when Shamash had surrounded them and accused Urter of accepting bribe. Urter’s men attacked Shamash for insulting their superior, and Shamash, who was intentionally angering them, did not back down. Now that Urter had the time to think back on it, he realized it must have been the merchant who alerted Marquis Djoser.

“What do you want, my lords?” the young man asked. He waved his servant away and began leading Urter and Anfey around the shop.

“He wants a dimensional ring,” Anfey said, pointing at Urter.

“Dimensional ring?” The young man frowned, then nodded. “Please, come with me.” He walked over to a display case full of rings, but did not reach into the case. He waved his hand, and a small hole appeared on the wall. The young man reached into the hole and retrieved a box made of antimagic crystal. He held out the box for his two customers to see.

Urter hurried to look at the ring. Ever since he had become a sheriff, he had adhered to the rules and laws, because he did not want people to see him as a corrupt and ineffective man. He did not take bribes, and his pay could barely cover his living expenses. Even though Anfey gave him a large sum of money, he did not want to spend all of it.

A black, dull ring lay in the box. Next to the ring was a magic scroll. Urter did not know what the material was, but he relaxed visibly. If the young man wanted to bribe him or get in his good graces, he would present them with a more extravagant ring. A ring as plain as this one must not be expensive.

“How much is it?” Urter asked.

“Ten gold coins,” the young man said.

“Alright,” Urter said. “I’ll take it.” At the last shop, the owner had asked for twenty-five coins. The price the young man gave was reasonable. Urter knew that cheap things tended to be of lesser quality, and this ring may not have as much storage space, but he was satisfied.

“Ten gold coins?” Anfey asked. Unlike Urter, he was able to sense the magic surge of the ring. He knew very well how powerful the ring must be.

“Yes, my lord,” the young man said. “I bought this ring for seven coins. I’m making a three coins profit here.”

“I like this one,” Urter said. He glanced at the display case, and saw that some of the rings were selling for more than two thousand gold coins. A ring as inexpensive as this one was rare.

“If you like it…” Anfey’s voice trailed off, then shook his head.

Urter took the ring out of the box and inspected it. The young man picked up the magic scroll and said, “My lord, please. Put on the ring, then activate the scroll. You don’t have to be able to use magic to activate this scroll.”

“I see,” Urter said. He took the scroll and activated it. As soon as the scroll was activated, light burst from the paper and enveloped Urter.

Anfey frowned. “It wasn’t this dramatic when I got my ring,” he commented.

“You didn’t use a scroll?” the young man asked, frowning. All dimensional rings come with a magic scroll. It was used to activate the ring and to leave the mark of the owner on the ring.

“I just put it on,” Anfey said.

“You are a student of Archmage Saul, my lord,” the young man said, smiling. “You wouldn’t need a scroll.”

The light dispersed, showing Urter standing there in shock.

“Urter?” Anfey called.

Urter frowned and turned to the young man. “You’re selling this for ten coins?” he asked. He could not use magic, but he had common sense. The price of the ring was proportional to the storage space of the ring. Now that he could sense the ring, he knew a ring like this was worth far more than ten gold coins.

“Yes,” the young man said. “Like I’ve just said, my lord, I bought the ring for seven gold coins. I’m only making two coins.”

Urter frowned. The way the young man tried to bribe him was very clever. He could pretend he bought a cheap dimensional ring, and forget about this encounter. However, Urter could not ignore the fact that the young man sold him something expensive at a cheap price. He was a sheriff, and he could not take advantage of the people he was trying protect. If this continued, something would go wrong sooner or later. He wanted to return the ring, but something like dimensional rings could not be returned. He had already marked the ring, and it would be worthless to other people.

“Come on, Urter,” Anfey said. “Let’s go visit Aroben.” For Anfey, this was normal. If someone was trying to befriend him, he would be friendly with them. He was about to become the new city lord, and he needed helpers.

Urter shook his head and turned to follow Anfey. Before he could take another step, he stumbled and almost fell. The young man reach over and helped him steady himself. “Be careful, my lord,” he said. “Everyone’s like this when they first get a ring. A few days of rest should fix it.”

“What?” Anfey asked.

“Dimensional rings require magic. Lord Sheriff here doesn’t have magic, and part of his life force was used to activate it. Don’t worry. A few days of rest is what you need to recover.”

“He’s right,” Suzanna said. “The more storage space, the more magic the ring will need.”

Anfey glanced at his own ring, and recalled Saul’s exhaustion with a frown.

Chapter 219: An Unusual City Owner

Urter’s house did not look very fancy. Of course, the so-called “not so fancy” house was referenced with other royal families’ houses. If it were compared with civilians’ houses, Urter’s house was still pretty good. At least the house was free. The empire provided residences for the government officials who worked for city management. The officials would return the houses to the empire when they left their positions. During the time they lived here, they were not charged. The empire also provided them some servants, who got paid through the empire, which definitely saved them a big chunk of money.

Passing the slightly worn tall door, there was a standard living room. The desks and chairs looked outdated but very clean. A city mayor’s salary was set by the empire. Urter had no control over his salary. The tidiness and cleanliness of the living room had everything to do with him though. Some people believed that how good the house was kept had a close relationship to how well the owner of the house lived.

There was a long, dark hallway upstairs. Many candlesticks were on both sides of the hallway, but they were not lit up. Some candlesticks did not even have candles on them. The candlesticks shone like metal in the dark.

Urter looked a little awkward when he saw Anfey looking at the candlesticks on the sides of the hallway. He hurried to lead Anfey into a front a room and moved his body sideways to let Anfey in. “Master, Aroben lives in this room.”

Anfey nodded. He tried to regain control of his emotions before he slowly walked in. Aroben had suffered the loss of his country and the pain of losing his whole family. Only he, a lonely old man, still lived in this world. What was more cruel was he saw the soldiers from Shansa Empire killing his family in front of him. Anfey thought it would be really hard to communicate with an old man who was in deep sorrow. However, Anfey had to come see him. First of all, as a future city owner, he needed to send his condolences to Aroben. Secondly, he wanted to find opportunities to consult him on some issues. He heard from more than one person that Aroben was a very capable citymaster. Under Aroben’s government, Violet City was prosperous, but a damn war had ruined everything.

He wanted to learn some basic knowledge about the city, talk about his experience managing it, and take some advice or suggestions to take over the city and manage it. A lot of things could not be learned through experience. Governing a city was not a joke. It could cost Violet City plenty before Anfey could learn from failures governing the city.

Anfey slightly cleared his throat and went over the condolence words he wanted to say. He knocked on the door.

“Come in please,” someone inside the room responded.

Anfey pushed the door open and walked in. He was shocked when he got to see the room. It was not as he had imagined. He thought Aroben would be helplessly lying on the bed with a haggard face. He thought he would either be in deep sorrow or scream his lungs out to vent his anger, frustration and sadness. However, what he saw was quite different from what he had imagined.

Aroben sat on a chair, quietly watching Anfey. His light blond and slightly curly hair was combed well, and his face was slim. He even wore some foundation on his face, which prevented people from telling the real color of his face. He wrapped himself in a long dark red mage gown with a junior mage badge hung on his chest. Anfey felt close to him immediately, since he finally met a mage at the same level as Anfey’s.

“You must be Master Anfey. Urter has told me about you. Please take a seat.” Aroben smiled and held his hand out to signal Anfey to take a seat. This “holding” move was very weird. Aroben moved his arm, but his hand was like a decorative object hanging on his wrist. His hand shook as the arm moved.

“I hope I am not interrupting you,” Anfey said, and smiled as he slowly took a seat.

“Master, you must be joking. It is my honor to have you come to see me, a crippled old man.” Aroben looked at his lifeless hand and a sadness flashed in his eyes.

Anfey smiled. He could only smile because the speech he prepared seemed inappropriate now. If he had passed his condolences on to Aroben, Aroben did not seem sad. If he had asked him to have a good rest, Aroben looked very refreshed. Anfey searched for words in his head to start their conversation. He was here to visit Aroben and learn from him about the experiences governing Violet City.

“I heard from Urter that Shamash from the Marquis Djoser’s tried to kill you. Did you kill him?” Aroben helped Anfey find a worthy conversation topic.

“Did I act too much on impulse?” Anfey said with a smile. He did not expect Aroben to go into a topic without any greetings. Aroben seemed to be direct. Anfey appreciated that.

Aroben went quiet for a second. “Master, even though we just met, I do have something to tell you. It may sound blunt and even cause trouble for me. I am already a disabled man now. I am scared of nothing.”

“You can tell me anything.” Anfey smiled. “You don’t have to call me Master. Urter and I are just your juniors.”

“Rules are rules.” Aroben slightly shook his head. “Then, I am going to tell you some truth.”

“Please.” Anfey felt this came a lot faster than he expected. He thought he would have a long conversation and they would get to know each other a little better before they could talk about anything important. It looked like Aroben was more eager than Anfey to talk about important issues. For an old man who had been a politician for so long, he should not be so impatient. Maybe the last cruel strike had changed Aroben’s personality a lot.

“Master, you were too nice to him,” Aroben said slowly.

“What?” Anfey was shocked by his comment. At first he thought Aroben was sarcastic. Not only Anfey, but also Urter, was shocked by Aroben’s comment.

“Marquis Djoser is a marquis of our empire. His family can be traced back several hundred years.” Aroben looked calm. “For a long family tree, its roots could grow even better than the leaves. Marquis Djoser has kept a very low profile, but it could just be the roots of an older tree. We have no idea how much potential Marquis Djoser has. Master Anfey, do you think we could underestimate Marquis Djoser?” Aroben glanced at Anfey.

“Are you saying…” Anfey looked more serious.

“Marquis Djoser has lost five sons. Do you know what he got in return? A couple of acres of barren land, some mediocre reward? If it were not because of you, Marquis Djoser would be happy to take those rewards, since their feudal lands have not increased for the past hundred years. It could be a good opportunity for him since it would leave something good on his family history.” Aroben sighed. “But everything changed because of you. People should not compare themselves with others. Many tragedies and disasters came from it.”

“You made such contribution to our empire, but Marquis Djoser lost five sons for the empire. Why did you become the owner of Violet City, but not Marquis Djoser? In terms of nobility titles, Marquis Djoser is a marquis, while you are just an earl. Do you think Marquis Djoser would find that fair?” Aroben snorted. “Do you think you scared Marquis Djoser after you killed Shamash? No, you only could scare some of his followers. Those followers would go to where the power is. I promise you, Marquis Djoser will only get crazier. Do you know you have wasted a great chance? Shamash was trying to kill you on the street and many people saw it. You could have taken him to your police department. The case would have led back to Marquis Djoser and wiped the whole family out. Unfortunately, it is too late now.” Aroben shook his head. “As long as Marquis Djoser is alive, there would be no peace in Violet City. If you don’t believe me, time will prove it.”

“Marquis Djoser is a marquis of the empire…” Urter murmured.

“You, Urter, you are such an idiot!” Aroben raised his voice angrily. “How could you do something beyond your authority? Why did you start the Transmission Portal magic array and send the official files to Blackania City. You should not have done that. We could have done something to save it, but now there is nothing we can do.”

“I only wanted to make sure Shamash got the punishment he deserved before Marquis Djoser reports on us. If the empire agreed with me on the crimes Shamash committed, we would have had so room to maneuver. We could have attacked or defended as we needed,” Urter said.

“Why are you getting even more stupid?” Aroben yelled in anger. “We could attack or defend as we needed? There are many things we could have moved forward on instead of going back. We have killed Shamash, where do you think we could go back to?”

Anfey and Urter looked at each other. It was not surprising that Anfey felt the way he did, since he did not know Aroben well. Urter was wide-eyed in shock. Urter never remembered Aroben being so aggressive. Aroben used to try to make everyone happy and not to piss anyone off. He had a great reputation in Violet City. He had a good relationship with royal families. Civilians respected him. However, he was totally a different person now.

“What should we do now?” Anfey smiled bitterly. He had been in this world a long time and understood how much power a royal family could have. It was already very risky to kill Shamash. Anfey never thought he would kill Marquis Djoser in a justified way. He did not forget his own profession. If Marquis Djoser became too much trouble, he would assassinate him someday.

“Wait,” Aroben said.

“We can only wait?” Anfey asked.

“If I am guessing right, General Miorich should be reading the office files sent by us. He will make a judgement soon. We will wait and see how Marquis Djoser will react,” Aroben said.

“Miorich?” A passionate and energetic image appeared in Anfey’s mind.

“Yes, the generals are usually in charge of all the military administration during the war, so General Miorich is in charge of it now. Master, do you know General Miorich?” Aroben noticed something unusual about Anfey.

“Did you forget who my master is?” Anfey smiled.

“Master, things will get better if you know General Miorich,” Aroben said, looking excited.

“What relation could I have with General Miorich? He thinks I am only a kid.” Anfey could not help shaking his head.

Chapter 220: Hatred

“If you can get General Miorich to come to this city, my lord, I am sure it would be a good influence,” Aroben said.

“I am not important enough to even talk to the General,” Anfey said with a smile. “I’m too insignificant.”

“You may be, but your teacher is not,” Aroben said. “As far as I know, Archmage Saul is on good relations with General Miorich. If you are in trouble, surely the General will aid you.”

Anfey shook his head and did not say anything. Seeing that Anfey did not want to accept his proposal, Aroben frowned. Aroben did not know Anfey’s history, however, and would not be able to come up with a plan Anfey could work with. What Anfey did in the Sacred City was unforgivable. Even though no one had blamed him, Anfey knew he was in deep trouble. He had made himself an enemy of one of the most powerful men in the empire, and brought a lot of trouble in doing so. He could not rely on Saul for everything. He must solve this on his own. Aroben, on the other hand, was trying to find a realistic solution. He knew that Saul was still busy on the northern front with Prince Grandon, or else he would have tried to convince Anfey to get Saul to Violet City a long time ago.

“What are you worried about, my lord?” Aroben asked quietly.

“I’m not worried. I’m just trying to solve the problem by myself.”

“I think you’re wrong in thinking this way, my lord,” Aroben said. “Some things were already set in stone when you became the city lord of Violet City. If you lost to Marquis Djoser, it’s not just your problem. Now that everyone knows you are Archmage Saul’s student, his reputation would be damaged, as well. When you are in trouble, I am certain that Lord Saul would try to help even if you do not request any help. All we have to do is to accelerate that process.”

“Let’s talk about this later,” Anfey said, shifting the topic. “Urter, how many soldiers do I have?”

“You are a count right now, my lord, which means you can have thirty soldiers according to the law.”

“What about city guards? Is there a limit on that?”

“There were twelve hundred city guards. During the invasion, they were either slaughtered or abandoned their posts. There is barely anyone left now.”

“Alright. We will start recruiting tomorrow.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I will leave the recruiting to you, Urter. You have to be strict when picking the men. I will not tolerate anyone who is slacking on the job, understand?”

“Yes, my lord. Do you have a specific standard?”

Anfey frowned. He recalled the Shansa general, Kumaraghosha, and his soldiers. “Intermediate swordsman, at least. The standard for mages can be lower. Same requirement for the knights.”

Urter frowned and stared at Anfey. Aroben frowned as well.

“What, is that requirement too high?” Anfey asked.

“Way too high.”

“Really?”

“If we use that standard, we won’t get a single recruit,” Urter said. “The wage of a city guard is lower than the wage of a real soldier’s. For a swordsman, the best thing to do is join a mercenary band. The life of a mercenary is dangerous, but so is the life of a civilian soldier. A mercenary can decide what mission he does, but a soldier cannot decide which battle to fight.”

“Even if they don’t become mercenaries, it’s better to become an actual soldier. There is no use for them to join the city guard. The older guards were all at least forty years old. Young, able-bodied people will not join the city guard.”

“What if we increase the wages?”

“For a thousand men?”

Anfey fell quiet. “Urter,” he asked after a few moments. “As a city lord, how much will I make a day?”

“It is all in the files I gave you, my lord, though it may not be accurate now. The city was pillaged, and it would take a while for it to recover. We barely have any income except for the money to rebuild the city.”

“It seems like we can’t do much at this point,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “I will leaving the city for a few days soon. Wait for me to come back. Lord Aroben, Urter, I entrust the city to you.” Anfey finally realized how difficult it would be to run a city by himself. He needed to find some helpers from Sacred City. He trusted Aroben and Urter, but he could not rely on them for everything. He needed to have his own helpers. If he relied on Aroben and Urter for everything, it would be as if he was handing off his power.

“My lord, I am just an old man,” Aroben said. He looked at his wrinkled hand and sighed.

“On the contrary, sir. Your experience running this city is priceless,” Anfey said with a smile.

“Are you going back to Sacred City, my lord?” Urter asked.

“It’s been awhile since I last saw my teacher,” Anfey said. “I need to finish what I started. Frankly, it is unsettling to think that I’m finally returning. You should know that the only reason I fled that city was because I angered the wrong man.”

“Don’t worry, my lord. If His Majesty gave you this city, it means that His Majesty is on your side. Philip will not do anything,” Aroben said.

“Not publicly,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “Who knows what he will do in secret.” Anfey doubted Philip would listening to Yolanthe’s orders.

“You may be right,” Aroben said. “Maybe you should wait for Lord Saul to return to the city. To ensure your safety.”

“I think Aroben is right,” Urter said. “Maybe staying for a few more days is a better plan.”

“No, I have some things I need to take care of,” Anfey said. He did not forget about the map Suzanna carried with her. The only things he took were some weapons and some treasures. There was still a large sum of money left, and now was the time to use it.

Aroben and Urter did not press for more answers. The three of them talked for a few more minutes, and Anfey stood to leave. Aroben tapped on his leg and said, “I apologize for not being able to see you out, my lord.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Anfey said with a grin.

Urter closed the door carefully as he stepped out of the room behind Anfey. Inside, Aroben’s expression suddenly changed. His eyes snapped shut, and his back bent over in pain. His family was slaughtered and he was crippled. It was hard to suffer through such traumatizing events. He chose to stay in Violet City and not to end his miserable life because Aroben wanted revenge. It was impossible to kill the emperor of Shansa Empire, but he didn’t care. All he wanted to do, and needed to do, was hunt down the general that allowed the killings to take place. He would never forget that general’s name. Urter helped him when he was at his lowest, and he was very grateful. For his, and Urter’s future, he had tried his best to hide his pain today and tried to advise Anfey. His goal was to let Anfey know that he was important and should not be ignored. Now that Anfey was gone, he could not keep the facade up any longer.

“Urter,” Anfey asked quietly. “Is Aroben always like this?”

“No,” Urter said hesitantly. “He had always been bad, but he’s especially bad today. I do not know why.”

“Because he was too traumatized,” Anfey said with a sigh. He had initially wanted Aroben to remain the city lord, but gave up on that idea when he realized that Aroben was too keen on killing the Marquis and have Anfey take over. Anfey did not know what Aroben would do after those things were done, but he knew that a city lord must remain calm and patient.

“Sometimes I wish Lord Aroben had died in the invasion,” Urter said with a sigh, “so he wouldn’t suffer like this.”

“You are too much of a pessimist,” Anfey said, shaking his head. “How’s his appetite?”

“He eats, but I can tell he is forcing the food down.”

Anfey nodded. He already had a vague idea what Aroben wanted. “What does he talk about the most?”

“Vengeance.”

“Alright,” Anfey said, nodding. “We will respect his wishes.”