Chapter 720 - Traitor!
The air was filled with tension, as everyone glared at Landon furiously.
In their minds, they had already come up with the perfect plan which involved Alec kicking Landon's ass a hundred times over.
One should know that many of them were clam heads and elders within their branch families here.
So how could they leave their easy-going, rewarding and honourable positions just like that?
Moreover, just a 5-hour journey towards Baymard's direction outside the town...one would find a large copper mine there.
These noble branch families all had certain percentages from every copper ore that came out of the mine.
Their men had been there 24 hours a day just to dig out and transport these pres to them.
Their wealth had tripled over the past decades, so how could they let all of this go?
Additionally, why should they abandon their clan properties and estates just because this little imp said so?
Did he know how big their clan estate and property was?
There were about 9 elders in most clans.
And these elders had at least 15~40 other nobles within their fraction who all lived in the same estate with them and aided in overlooking their businesses or carrying out certain assignments for the main elders.
Again, each noble might've married 2 or 3 wives and had children too....not to talk of the thousands of knights under their estates.
And if one added up all the horses for these knights and the slaves to take care of every little thing in their clan... did this little imp actually know how large their clan properties were?
It was ridiculous for them to leave them behind.
No way!
As the victims here, why should they leave?
Of eyes could kill, Landon would already be dead by now.
F***!
They wanted him dead.
.
"Your majesty Landon Barn, are you trying to force us to leave all we have behind just like that?
Isn't this too much?
What is the difference between this and robbery?" Fabian bellowed angrily?
And Landon on the other hand just looked at the angry bird before him playfully.
"Eh?
Why should this king rob you?
Hmph!
Unlike the rest of you, this king is an honest man who wouldn't steal from beggars.
So your clan's properties will be bought upfront by this king.
Look!
Isn't this king great?
Just look at how compassionate I am towards you all.
Yes, this king is truly too kind!"
"..."
Everyone was made speechless by Landon.
Who praises themselves over and over again like this?
They had the urge to beat him up until he couldn't recognize his mother anymore.
Fabian clenched his fists furiously when he saw Landon's casual attitude.
'I don't believe it!
I don't believe that I can't correct this arrogant prick!
Just who the hell does he think he is?
I was already making a name for myself when he was still sucking on his mother's bosom.
So who is he, a former abandoned prince to challenge me?
Screw this!
I will have this little bastard to the very end!' Fabian thought.
This bastard must've been sent by his enemies to anger him to death.
.
Fabian took a deep breath and calmed himself again.
He was trying his very best not to lose his temper when talking to this son of a b**ch!
"Your majesty, do you think that money can solve everything?
We, as proud Arcadinian nobles have other things that we care about other than our properties.
So even if you buy them from us, we still won't leave."
"Oh?
And why is that?"
"Because there are more important things than money."
"Hmmm... like the copper mine?"
"_"
Everyone looked at Landon curiously.
How did he know about the mine?
They had been hiding its existence ever since.
So how did he know?
Was there a traitor or a spy amongst them?
Everyone quickly looked at the 26-year-old town lord who was shivering beside Landon.
Was it this little sh**head who told him?
The poor innocent town lord beside Landon almost wanted to cry when he felt everyone's gaze.
He was innocent alright?
.
Baron Jamison patted his already damp handkerchief anxiously.
All this time, he had been shivering from how tense the room was getting.
He was very timid by nature and had always done whatever these nobles requested him to do.
What other choice did he have?
Nonetheless, even though he was timid.... this was his town, and he truly wanted it to grow.
That was why he cooperated with Landon earnestly.
He had already seen the sealed doc.u.ment that transferred the land to Baymard.
But when he previously told those nobles about it, they didn't believe him at all.
How could Alec Barn give out his property?
Impossible!
For them, he had been fooled and the doc.u.ments were fake.
Plus if it was real, then why didn't Landon allow them to see it as well.
Each time they requested to see it, one story or another came out from these Baymardians.
The stories were too ridiculous to believe.
One time, they said that a dog chewed on it, and another time... they said that it had been accidentally washed during laundry.
Who would believe them?
.
Everything made them believe that these doc.u.ments never existed in the first place.
To them, Landon was just a con man who wanted to first gain their trust and loyalty before fully acquiring the land.
That was probably why he focused on developing the place and acted like a good Samaritan here and there.
And only stupid lowly men that Jamison would believe these Baymardians.
So with all that said, coupled with the fact that they knew their king's real nature and no news had arrived from Alec... they were sure that it was a lie!
But Jamison believed in what he saw and still worked with Landon.
Their puppet had betrayed them!
Jamison truly wanted to cry.
What betrayal, after getting their warnings over these past few weeks... he had never talked about the copper mine or any other important things that concerned these nobles.
All he did was help in recording how many people were in his town, as well as help in hiring people who could work alongside these Baymardians and build wooden structures.
In fact, he had been concerned with Development and hadn't even snitched on these people once.
So why was he targeted?
[Jamison: I'm really innocent guys
Nobles: Shut up you traitor!
Jamison: (TT□TT)]
.
Jamison felt suffocated under their hateful glares.
Over the years, he had been a puppet for many of the nobles here since they had powerful forces and came from powerful clans that had a strong holding within Arcadina's Capital city.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
All his life, he had known just how mediocre he was when compared to other nobles.
One should know that there were more than 45,000 different villages, cities and towns in Arcadina.
And many of these locations had a massive number of nobles living in them.
Be it nobles and rich merchants who owned restaurants, slave businesses, stores and whatnot.. one could find them within many cities and towns, and at times within some villages too.
So Menda town, there were many nobles too.
And even though he was the town lord, he was very weak and had way fewer forces than the rest.
That's why he had been their puppet.
Firstly, he was too young and had to be extra careful... lest they kill his wife and children.
One should know that he only got the position of town lord because he was his father's only surviving son.
So all he could do was keep his head low and allow these mighty nobles push him around in whatever direction they chose.
But now, there was hope for him to be rescued from his puppet cage
The moment he saw the seal on the doc.u.ment, his eyes became blinded with hope.
Maybe he had truly seen it wrong.
But his mind was already filled with hope that a self-righteous and straight forward person like Landon could own the land.
So he couldn't wait for this whole thing to end.
Only he knew what he had been going through at the hands since he succeeded his late father.
And now, there was hope.
Additionally, his majesty also sent some men to protect him and his family 24 hours a day.
So how could he not be grateful?
.
Landon secretly glanced at Jamison and sighed.
This 26-year old Baron needed more training.
Even though he was a good man by nature, he was too weak-hearted.
Nonetheless, he believed that with time... the little lord will become strong.
As for the nobles and merchants before him, it was time to get things straightened up.