14 Disappear

In the teahouse, Charles and Raina were drinking the tea. 1 of the group had already returned.

"So those are all our information." One of the subordinates reported.

"Good." Charles answered. [This Roger isn't bad. He has a clean background. He is also diligent in training. His previous tests are good.] He had got some report about the 'real' Roger.

"Look, Father! Trevon returned." Raina saw Trevon. He walked with a smug look on his face.

"I am back uncle. Hahaha." Trevon smiled. "You can ask me anything. I could even answer all his previous lovers."

"What do you think, Hendrik?" Charles asked.

"Our investigation is no longer a secret, Elder. It was my mistake." Hendrik answered. Trevon had acted too fast. He started the fight before Hendrik could interfere. He also directly asked the questions. How could Hendrik stop him?

"What happened?" Charles asked.

Hendrik whispered what happened.

"You!" Charles pointed his finger at Trevon. "Good. Don't you know this was a secret investigation?"

"Why did you hit those kids?" Charles asked.

"Of course, it was to make them talk." Trevon answered. "I remembered uncle's lesson. Who had the bigger fist? I have a bigger fist than them, so they need to obey me. I got all the information that you want. Hahaha." He felt so proud that he even got information faster than Hendrik.

"You!" Charles almost lost his temper. "Do you know what the meaning of 'secret' is?" Charles asked.

"Even, when most people know that we would do a background check, you should not do it openly like that." Charles taught his nephew. "We are not a barbarian tribe, we are an educated family." He continued.

"If I want that kind information, I only need to post a reward. We would get enough people from one end of Redwood to the other end of the city!" Charles screamed.

"We do it covertly to show how good our information gathering staffs. We also do it to prevent people to plant fake information beforehand. If our gathering was known, people might be prepared in the future." He continued.

"Hendrik, quickly solve the problem!" He told Hendrik.

"Yes, Elder." Hendrik answered. "I have prepared a team in the cleanup process." The cleanup was usually forcing those young men and their families to keep their mouth shut. That would be enough for a big family like McArthur.

"Elder... Elder..." A man suddenly came to the to the teahouse. "An emergency message from the forest." He sent a small paper to Charles.

Charles took the small paper and opened the seal. He had a surprise on his face.

"Let's go back to the pavilion!" He ordered.

"Hendrik, after the cleanup I might need you to do other tasks. In case of my absence, you continued the recruitment with Trevon." Charles ordered.

"Yes, Elder." He answered.

Their group separated into 2. One was returned to the pavilion and the other cleaned the mess behind.

This time, Charles allowed Trevon to enter the carriage. During the journey back, Charles was busy thinking. The message didn't tell a good news. The group on mining site got an accident on the meteorite site. Some miners were attacked by unknown demon beasts. His brother, Alvaro, went deeper into the forest to chase those demon beasts.

Alvaro requested more support from the family. He asked the mission to be increased from Rank B to Rank A. This rank showed how important a mission was. A Rank A mission needed the family to monitor them frequently.

Other than being a member of the recruitment department, Charles was the leading figure in the McArthur Redwood branch.

[I might need to send some Peak Rank 2 warriors or even a Rank 3 warrior to protect the mining site.] Charles thought. [Who could I send?]

Charles needed to ensure a good support for his brother. Alvaro was the pillar of the family. He is one of the family children. He also had seen Alvaro grew from a baby until he became an elder of the family. He had some extra feeling for his brother.

Nevertheless, this brother of him always loved to do dangerous missions. He even went to chase the beasts while the main duty was to protect the mining process. [Alvaro had always put family benefits first. Perhaps there was something special that made him chase the beasts.]

"Hey, what do you think about the message?" Raina whispered to Trevon.

"Nothing good perhaps." Trevon easily answered. He had seen the serious face on his uncle.

"You. I am talking seriously. It might be about your father." Raina turned angry.

"What happened?" Raina's angry tone awoke Charles from his deep thinking.

"Nothing Dad." Raina didn't dare to disturb his father. She was still in the playing stage of her life.

"She wants to know the letter." Trevon just openly sold his elder cousin. "Even if it is about my father, nothing would happen to him. It is not like he could die easily." His father had managed to survive many dangerous missions.

"That is not the way to talk about your father." Charles turned a bit angry. There was a huge problem, and this kid didn't care. [Wait, Alvaro was almost a Rank 3 warrior. He would be able to ensure his own safety. We must be prepared for the unknown demon beast. Alvaro went with Cyde. Cyde was an alchemist, he knew lots demon beasts. This unknown must be a new type of demon beast.] Charles was smart. He had years of experience leading a family branch.

"Marco!" Charles called one of his subordinates from inside the carriage.

A person came close to the carriage and answered. "Yes Elder."

"Tell the beast taming division to prepare! I want to make the second team." Charles ordered. "Gather the other elder! We will have an assembly!"

"Yes, Elder." The man using his movement technique disappeared.

"What happened, Father?" Raina asked. She was confused by her father's actions.

"It's only some little problems happened in the jungle. Nothing serious." Charles didn't want to add more problem to the young kids. [Raina is still a kid at heart anyway. She should focus on cultivation for now.]

"From tomorrow, you should focus on cultivation again." Charles ordered his daughter. "Father might need to go to elder assembly."

Elder assembly was an important decision maker in the family. When a Rank A mission was issued, all elders in the city who wasn't in deep cultivation were to be present. This mission was either a big danger or a good opportunity for the family.

Trevon didn't like to hear that 2 words. He had a nightmare with Elder Assembly. It was even worse than Raina.

They soon arrived at the family pavilion. Darvis was waiting in the front of the pavilion.

"Did Alvaro send any new message?" Charles asked.

"Yes. This is the message." Darvis gave a small letter to Charles.

Charles read the letter. "Good. This is good news. Time was the most important. Darvis, you gather the second team! I had told Marco to gather some beast tamers. I will ask the family to send more guardian elders."

Hearing this, those tense people, including Raina were happy. They all know when Charles said that time was important, they needed to do things quickly. It was all for the family. If the family became stronger, their employees would be stronger too. McArthur family had always provided enough for their employees.

The second message was better. Alvaro managed to capture one of the unknown beasts. It was a mutation of Iron Horned Rhinoceros. It was a new species. The mutation was even better, its horn was gold. This was a possibility to grow gold, but of course, more testing had to be done. If the family managed to monopolize the species, the benefit would be endless.

McArthur family had several mutation demon beasts that they managed to monopolize. For example, Fire Alogo was one of them. It was one of the family special demon beasts that came from their ancestor. The species came from their family origin land. Whenever McArthur family sold one, the creature had already been neutered.

Because of this possibility, Alvaro requested the permission to go deeper. This meant he would be allowed to abandon his current mission. For this kind of decision, Charles needed other elders. On one side was an important demon beast species, but the other side was the mining operation. It was already a Rank B mission.

Charles quickly entered the command room, he had to make some preparation. The other elders would come soon. The command room was the most important meeting hall in the pavilion. There would be endless discussions and planning from that room. His subordinates were busy preparing the meeting room. Charles knew the first thing he had to do was requesting a Rank 3 elder from the family.

This sudden meeting allowed Raina and Trevon some free time today. No. A more correct term would be Raina would be free to order Trevon around again.

"You! Follow me!" Raina ordered Trevon.

[Aih! Not again.] Trevon complained.

"I want to buy something." Raina smiled.

"Please don't, Elder Sister!" Trevon begged. He only had some small money in his wallet.

"Who is that cruel?" Raina complained. She took one spirit stones and gave it to Trevon. "Trade it into gold coins! We are doing some shopping today." She knew this younger cousin of her was poor. "I will wait for you in the tea house next door." Next to McArthur pavilion was one of the top tea house in Redwood. It was owned by McArthur family, this was because Charles loved tea so much.

"Thank you, Elder Sister." Trevon smiled. For him, each spirit stone was important. It would be fine if the things were paid by Raina.

Trevon went into a Coin Exchange store nearby, Jack and Jerry followed him. The Coin Exchange store was a special store that helped with the trading of coins. These stores were owned by the imperial family. This was the place where the people would pay their country tax. In return, the people would receive citizenship plaque. This plaque was used to enter any cities under a country's jurisdiction. Without those plaques, one would be charged 1 spirit stone to enter.

The exchange rate was a fixed number. This was because of the creation of an inscription. Even Trevon didn't know when this creation was. Nevertheless, this inscription was freely available in public libraries. This inscription allowed one to trade copper coins into silver coins, silver coins into gold coins, and gold coins into spirit stones. The only weakness of the inscription was they couldn't trade the other way. Perhaps the creator intentionally shared the inscription so there would be more spirit stones in the world.

However, out of them, spirit stones were the one that was consumables. Because of this, the weakness was forgotten. Every cultivator needed lots of spirit stones. This was why, if McArthur managed to breed the mutated Iron Horned Rhinoceros, they could have a breed-able spirit stone mine. Of course, further researches needed to be conducted.

"Beautiful lady, I want to trade a spirit stone into gold coins." Trevon asked the receptionist. She was a sexy lady. While she wasn't that beautiful, this woman had more than enough curve. [Mature women are the best.] He thought.

"Please wait, Sir!" The employee took the spirit stones from Trevon. [What a poor young boy! He was only a kid and already worked as a servant.] She really pitied the handsome boy.

Luckily, Trevon couldn't hear her thought. He was happily ogling at the receptionist.

"Put your hand above your head! Everybody stays in your places!" Suddenly someone screamed. "This is an explosive talisman, Blazing Talisman. I will throw to anyone who moved." The person took a piece of paper.

Nobody dared to move. This included Trevon. No matter how powerful he was, that was a famous talisman for attacking. Any warriors bellow Rank 2 would be injured if the talisman exploded near them.

[Shit! I totally need to repent.] Trevon thought. This was a very rare case. It was almost close to impossible in a big city such as Redwood. He moved his hand above his head. [Jack and Jerry were outside. They should think a way to protect me!] He thought.

"Stay your hand!" From outside the store 2 people came, one thin, one thick. Both took their weapon and used their aura. They were Jack and Jerry. Both the bodyguards and the attacker were facing each other. The attacker himself was not bad. From the aura, Jack and Jerry knew, he was a Peak Rank 1 warrior. He was similar to Jack.

"Good, 2 cultivator bodyguards! There is an important person here. Hahaha." The attacker felt happy. "Tell those Redwood to bring their young master, Jacob, if you want to free your young master!" He grabbed a well-dressed young man inside the store. He put lots of blazing talismans on this young master's body. Only a bit spiritual energy and this young master would be blazed into parts.

"Help Me! Help Me!" The young man screamed. He wasn't a young master form a large family. He was just a son of a wealthy merchant.

Jack and Jerry were surprised. They looked at their young master. [Well, young master Trevon looks like a common servant.]

At the same time, Trevon thought. [Thank you, whoever God who helped me! I will donate if I survive this.] He prayed his thankfulness. He wore servant clothes at that time.

"Stay your hand!" Jerry quickly acted. He was the smart one in Trevon bodyguard. If this unknown young master was taken instead of their own, they would be happy. "Free our young master!"

"Who is your young master?" The young man screamed. [Did my father send 2 cultivators to protect me? He didn't have a cultivator bodyguard himself.] He thought. [Perhaps, my father actually cares about me!]

"Just calm down, Young Master. We could manage this!" Jerry said to the unlucky man.

"State your demand!" Jerry talked to the attacker.

"I have said. Call that bastard Jacob Redwood if you want me to free these people." The attacker also pointed his talisman to the other people inside the room.

"Stop! Stop!" Jerry panicked. His young master was one of those other people. "We would do what you say. Please don't hurt anyone, especially our young master during this time!" He asked.

"Go quick!" The attacker ordered.

"Sh*t!" Jerry couldn't stop his anger. [Following our young master, there would be trouble everywhere.]

"Do not worry!" Jack was the calmest person in the bodyguard team. "Young Master is a Beginner Rank 1 warrior. He wouldn't be in direct danger as long as the talisman is not exploded directly on his body. Call the elder to handle this matter! I had locked young master's aura using my spiritual sense. I can see that he is ok. I would enter the store if he is in danger."

If Trevon heard Jack words, he would be angry. It was not because Trevon didn't feel ok. It was because he said that Trevon was only a Beginner Rank 1 warrior. He was a Middle Rank 1 warrior for correction, but the news about his ranked up was kept as a secret. These 2 ranks had a huge difference in prestige.

"Ok. The attacker might be a Talisman Maker. You should be careful in case he has a better Talisman." Jerry said before he ran into the pavilion. There was just a little distance between their family pavilion and the coin exchange shop. This was the best office location in the city. Perhaps it was because of the location the attacker chose this coin exchange shop.

Some people started to gather outside the store. "What happened?" Some people wondered.

"It is a hostage situation." One of them answered.

"I heard he shouted young master Jacob of Redwood family." A gossiper added.

"I heard that Jacob forcefully took a girl as his concubine yesterday. Perhaps the girl has a connection to this man." Another gossiper added

"Then, there is no way Redwood family would send their young master here." Another man said.

"But I saw 2 cultivators come here before! There must be an important person inside." Another person added to the conversation.

"This would be a big scandal in the city." People talked.

While people crowding and talking outside, the attacker sent some furniture to block the entrance. "Close the windows!" He ordered the customers inside.

Trevon moved into one of those windows. He acted as if he wanted to close the window in front of him. He was about to jump when he realized that he picked a wrong side. [Sh*t! This is the window to the inner hall.]

He could only close the window. [D*mn. I could only stay. If only I had my treasures, I could protect myself from these talismans.]

"All of you, go behind the counter!" The attacker gathered the customers and employees inside.

Trevon jostled with other hostages. One of them was the sexy receptionist before. She was behind Trevon, so her body and Trevon back were pressed together. This was, especially when he was forced to go back by the people in front of him.

[Hallelujah!] Trevon felt so happy. [I loved this accident. HweHweHwe!]

"Now, all of you sit! Do not try to do anything funny!" The attacker forced those hostages to sit.

[No... No... No...] Trevon felt the happiness in his heart gone.

The attacker still kept the unlucky young man in the center of the room. He was wearing multiple blazing talismans. Those talismans were ready to explode anytime the attacker send a tiny spiritual energy.

"You, sit here! Do not talk!" The attacker believed this one young man would be more valuable than the rest of the hostages. [As long as I keep you a hostage, I would be Ok.] He thought.

Inside the crowd of hostages, the women started to cry. Yet they didn't dare to cry loudly, most of them only whimpered.

"I hope there would be a savior. I would do anything for him." One of the women said.

"Yes, let's hope for a savior!" Her friend replied.

"There wouldn't be a savior!" The attacker scolded those two young women.

[Does anything?] Trevon was surprised and looked into those two young women. [HweHweHwe, I would only ask you to be a model for my painting. What should I do?] There was a proverb that said birds would die for food, men would die for wealth, but for Trevon, he would definitely die for women.

Trevon tried to remember all his martial arts. [This can't do. He is 2 small ranks higher than me.] He thought. [I should recheck my treasures then. Hopefully, there is something valuable left behind.]

He started to check his treasures. [This qin is not good. This fan is useless.] He started to check his leftover belongings. [F*ck! This ring.] He found the ring which made him lose to Raina. [Wait, I was unlucky since I obtained this ring. Even from the random herb picking, I picked a straight 15 boxes wrong from 20 boxes. Your previous owners also died from bandits. I don't care about Raina's anger. I must throw this ring.] He used his spiritual energy to summon the rings into his arm. This won't be dangerous since he could cover the light from taking such a small item from his storage rings.

[Young master disappeared?] Jack was surprised outside. He quickly entered the premise.

"THIS GUY GONE!!!" The sexy receptionist screamed. She was directly behind Trevon.

"Where is the guy here?!" Another person screamed. He had seen that young and handsome servant before.

"What?" The attacker panicked. He had counted that he had 182 people as his hostages using his spiritual sense before. Yet his current hostages were only 181 people. 1 person had disappeared.

"Where is our young master?" Jack screamed.

"What? Here is your young master!" The attacker picked the unlucky young man from the chair. "Do not move or he dies!"

"Where is the person there?" Jack asked. He pointed to the location where Trevon used to be.

"How the hell I know!" The attacker answered. He was so shocked by the disappearance so he answered. He didn't even see any light. Just one blink and there was 1 fewer hostages. "What happened?" He asked those hostages.

"This guy here! He suddenly disappears." Few of the hostage answered. [Perhaps this is the method of Redwood family to save them. We would be saved.] They thought.

"Do you rescue someone? Tell the people outside not try anything funny or your young master will die!" He believed some powers tried to save the hostages. He took the unlucky young man and pretended to activate the talisman.

"Calm down!" Jack knew from his spiritual sense that the attacker had done nothing. [Perhaps master Alvaro had given young master some special treasures.] He thought.

At the same time, somewhere dark.

"HELPPP!!!" Trevon screamed.