"Oh, in other words, you really were all going to intentionally murder me?"
While Maz and Rick were discussing, a sound suddenly erupted from their surroundings. That familiar voice made them instantly jump. "Luhn?! Oh my god!"
They were always looking behind them, so when did the other party manage to close the distance to such an extent?
"I'm very pained… After all, you were all my friends before…." Fang Yuan spoke at an appropriate pace. "Today, you actually wanted to murder me. Didn't you know that according to the laws of the Duchy, what kind of reparations you would have to pay after murdering a free citizen? All of you would be taken to the gallows!"
"No!"
Rick's legs weakened, and he nearly knelt onto the ground. "Everything was Maz's idea!"
"Stand up, you idiot!" Maz's eyes were completely red, and an angry glare shimmered from within. He suddenly whipped out a dagger and said, "Now, I have no choice but to send him to the netherworld, or else we would both have to go to prison!"
With a fast strike, the dagger in his hands shot out like a poisonous snake that was spitting out venom. Although he hadn't undergone professional assassination training, this strike was accurate and vicious, a testament to the number of times that he must have practiced in private.
In the beginning, it was also him who backstabbed Luhn in the jungle!"
Smack!
However this time, an accident occurred.
There was an intense feeling of pain, and Maz instantly felt that his wrist was restricted by a strong force as the dagger dropped straight to the ground.
"Decent determination, unfortunately…"
Fang Yuan sighed and exerted a little force with his wrist.
Crack!
A loud bone-crunching sound was heard.
Maz immediately screamed and fell to the ground, nearly fainting to death from the pain.
"Rick…"
After doing all of this, Fang Yuan turned his head and looked at the other companion who was nearly scared stiff. "Do you want to be like him?"
"No!"
Rick's entire body instantly quivered, and he fiercely shook his head.
"Very good… Then tell me everything that happened!"
Fang Yuan glanced around at his surroundings.
Although Luhn's small wooden house was at the outskirts of the town, this type of situation, however, was easily seen by outsiders, and thus, it required a quick resolution.
"It's for an inheritance object from Knight Jorah of the Shawshank Stronghold!" Rick looked at the dagger on the ground and swallowed his saliva as he rapidly spoke, "All the Knight Jorah's family died from a plague, while the other inheritors down the line also successively met their demise, hence coming back to you! It's true… very soon, you'll receive the inheritance documents, so Maz pressurized me to act!"
"A knight's heritage?"
Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.
A warrior was an Extraordinary profession, while a knight was nobility!
They're comparable to the high-level warriors of the lords. They need to prepare their own saddle horse and corselet during battle and follow alongside their lords during wartime. As repayment, they will normally be given an estate. If the lords are unable to bestow this fief to them, they would have to pay a handsome annuity as compensation.
Normally, the knight will have their own estate, and as of this moment, most of the estates are self-sufficient, and they even produce olive oil and wine that are exported to make money.
Needless to say, once you become a knight, it means that you've made your way up the social hierarchy. Even at the lowest level, a person's status will instantly be transformed.
At the moment, such temptation was indeed able to propel a lot of people into devising numerous evil schemes without the fear of danger.
"I have the qualification to succeed a knight?"
Fang Yuan shook his head and instantly didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Suddenly, his face turned slightly serious.
Luhn's parents didn't leave behind any inheritance, but the status of a free citizen is what many normal citizens in this era would love to have but were unable to obtain.
"Needless to say… Luhn's mother seemed to have some royal blood, although it's rather small…"
Regardless of whether someone was a baron or an earl, he isn't able to endlessly divide his own territory. Hence, those bastard children had to find a way to survive by themselves—it was entirely possible that they would become the steward of other royal families or followers of the knight, and this was definitely the case for the daughters of concubines as well.
Under this huge environment, it wasn't impossible that the blood of a knight would spread to a free citizen's family.
"Only…"
Fang Yuan shook his head. "This relationship is already very thin. With a generation gap of three years… it was still able to land on my head. How many unlucky fools have died before me?"
He predicted that if his own blood was able to reach the eighth or ninth position down the line, then it was worth celebrating already.
However, now a large gift had actually been bestowed by the heavens, and it still hit him in the head. In other words, the other successors in line before him had all died already?"
"The depth really is so bottomless that it cannot be scrutinized!"
Fang Yuan felt a surge of coldness and instantly continued to interrogate him.
Rick wasn't as worthy as Maz, and he immediately divulged everything. The main gist was that the successor, that was next in line after Fang Yuan, had paid a great deal of money in exchange for Luhn's life so he could obtain the position of a knight!
"A position that's so terrifying that I want to avoid it at all costs, is actually still desired by a fool who is eyeing it… Of course, there's the possibility that he's the actual mastermind behind the scenes, but this possibility is too low…"
If the other party actually had the capacity to be sinister and stealthy, it would be effortless for him to grant himself the position of the knight leader, regardless of where he was. He didn't even have the need to cause such a large fuss.
"Trouble is brewing…"
Fang Yuan lightly sighed, but he wasn't actually that scared.
His personality has always been happy-go-lucky—to stay and make the best of a situation.
Furthermore, that story of Knight Jorah really did arouse a bit of his curiosity.
"Still, before that, I have to settle the matter of these two troublemakers first!"
Fang Yuan thought and escorted both Maz and Rick to the town and found the previous town mayor.
"Ah, it's Luhn. Why have you all come here?"
The town mayor's name was Michule. Seeing the three of them, including Fang Yuan, come over, especially Maz's terrible state and his dagger, made a hint of astonishment flash past his muddy eyes.
"I want to report these two for plotting to murder the successor of a knight!" Fang Yuan instantly announced loudly.
"Plotting to murder a member of royalty? Where's the victim?"
Michule instantly jumped up, which was different from a free citizen's character.
"The victim is me!"
Fang Yuan pointed at himself.
Although he hasn't received the documents yet, the Dream Master could differentiate between truth and falsehood. He naturally knew that these two people didn't lie.
At this moment, he was doing nothing else other than borrowing the tiger's skin first.
"You… a knight's successor?"
Michule felt his brain become numb.
After all, Luhn, Maz, and Rick were originally three good friends. At this moment, it was already very shocking that he escorted both of them over here and reported a murder attempt.
Furthermore, Luhn even proclaimed himself as a horseman successor. This was even more surprising.
"Correct, I'm about to inherit the Jorah manor of the Shawshank leader!"
Fang Yuan spoke eloquently, and his tone possessed a great deal of audacity within it. "These two were actually plotting to murder me in the forest. Just now, they were, once again, plotting a despicable conspiracy! They were planning to assassinate me a second time!"
"… I understand, guard!"
Michule looked at the dagger and called for two militia to first bring Maz down. "No matter what, this is a case regarding an attempt to kill a free citizen. I will continue to investigate. And you, Luhn, I will verify the truth or falsity of this information, and before the outcome of the case has been confirmed, you cannot leave Blue Moon town!"
"Of course!" Fang Yuan promptly agreed.
Although he knew that, from today onwards, he would be monitored by the other citizens 80% of the time, it wasn't a problem for him at all.
His main goal was to throw these two people to the town mayor to settle whilst using the town hall as a channel to help him investigate the truth behind Knight Jorah successor.
Nevertheless, after the news has spread, will that vicious, manipulative person from behind the scenes still dare to continue with his evil plans?
Fang Yuan was very excited about this.
Of course, if he found out that everything was a mess and just a misunderstanding till the end, there would be nothing better to say, and he could just walk away.
After all, he isn't the real Luhn, and he had no sense of belonging to this identity.
What was more amazing was that Luhn's relatives and friends had already diminished to such an extent that he could be said to be free of all attachments, and he could go on an impromptu journey anytime he wanted.
"A horseman… Hehe…"
After returning to his wooden house, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged, and a cold smile emerged on his face. "Originally, I didn't want to cause any trouble… but, instead, it became so complicated in quick succession… could it be that this is also the retaliation of this realm's subconscious?
"Since a disaster has arisen, simply avoiding it at all costs isn't a wise decision. I should proactively tackle the disaster to find a way to remedy it. It seems like… I should compete for the horseman position."
That night, there were a lot of people who would definitely wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully.
…
In the town hall.
Michule wore a set of round spectacles and looked at the official documents under the oil lamp. After a long time, he took them off and rubbed his eyebrows.
In reality, Maz and Rick weren't powerful characters, and they didn't even need to be tortured—just scaring them would make them reveal everything.
All the details of the entire incident were already very clear.
Furthermore, he had even heard the news of Knight Jorah and knew about the unlucky demise of the other party.
Hence, it could be said that these two people had irrefutable evidence. A charge for plotting to murder a member of royalty was definitely sufficient enough to send them to the gallows.
But how can this incident be so simple?
Looking at these confessions, Michule simply wanted to kill them directly.
"The instigator of everything is actually the businessman, Owen? After all, he's a close friend of the baron… could it be that the baron is behind all of this?"
It was precisely because of this consideration that Michule was unable to quickly determine a solution.
Furthermore, he really wanted to escape these muddy waters and go as far as possible!
"Town mayor, Pastor Torello is here!"
At this moment, a servant knocked on the door and brought news of another uninvited guest.
"My God… he's not willing to wait for just one more night?"
Michule lamented, but he still immediately invited Torello over to the big hall with a fake smile plastered on his face. "Pastor, your arrival is timely. Regarding your compensation, I've already ordered people to prepare…"
"Truthfully… I didn't come for the compensation!"
A slight grin hung from the corner of Torello's mouth. "Instead, you, the town mayor, seemed to have encountered some trouble. How may I be of service to you?"