Spreading News

  Hearing the second condition made the baron hesitate a little. But that hesitation disappeared when he heard of the reasoning. 

  The baron looked at the Gurdon Family Ancestor, the other man bowing to him, "I will ask the little one to look for some clue. If they are truly the culprit, my men will definitely find it,"

  The Baron nodded hearing his words. He looked at the Hal Family Ancestor, "Tell the key holder I and the rest agree to the first condition. As for the second one, until it was determined, then tell him it was up for consideration.

  If the speculation is correct, then I will assist him myself if he can't handle it," the Hal Family Ancestor bowed at his words.

  "Now we have confirmed the existence of the treasures, let us return to the city. We should make the necessary preparations for the upcoming events.

  After all, the appearance of a small treasure trove belonging to a Sovereign, maybe even a Saint would cause some waves in the Barony.

  Those guys from the other vassal nations would likely tried to join in the fun. We let them join in, after all, we could use some funds for the upcoming war,"

  Hearing how the Baron himself says that the war is a likely thing makes the mood dampened. Even though the Adventure Guild is a neutral entity, they still would prefer to work with people they are used to.

  Despite the somber atmosphere, they returned to the city quickly, ready to prepare for an event that likely made them famous for a while.

-x-

  The Baron is usually a calm man. He needed to be to be able to govern his nation properly. However, the information he got had made him angry.

  His aura was released, making some of the servants to be pushed to the ground, unable to handle the fury of a Genesis Source expert.

  The person who delivered the news, thankfully, at the same realm as he is. If not, he would suffer even worse than the servants. Still, he would prefer to not be on the receiving end of the powerful aura pressure.

  "Please be patient my lord. We have confirmed their involvement. We could destroy them, maybe even release rumors of them being traitors along with the four families," the Gurdon Family Ancestor suggested.

  The Baron merely raised his hand, "No, I already agree to let the key holder handle it, and I will," hearing how his old friend was willing to put his trust in the unknown person, the Gurdon Family Ancestor could only nod. 

  He hoped the person could live up to their word, or he would make the person regret living.

-x-

  In the span of a week, the rumor of the founding of a treasure trove belonging to a Sovereign expert had been spread all across the Barony.

  The news even passed the border, with every other nation sharing the border with Mariz Barony now knowing of the existence of such a treasure trove.

  The other nations first dismissed it, but when an official from the Birak Kingdom went to the Mariz Barony and confirmed the fact, the news spread like wildfire, making the rest of the vassal nations of the Birak Kingdom know of the treasure trove.

  Some of the more powerful nations had even moved their force, claiming they wished to help the Mariz Kingdom in protecting the treasure, even though the army's purpose was to claim the treasure trove as their own.

  The intervention of the Birak Kingdom was the thing that finally stopped the other nations from moving their forces. The official had made a statement saying that only nations sharing borders with the Mariz Barony could send some forces to safeguard the treasure trove along with a detachment from the Kingdom itself.

  As for the other nations, they could send people to join in the fun, however, they need to pay for a quote to enter as decided by the Mariz Barony. Some of the more powerful nations tried to argue, putting some pressure on the Barony but a single order from the Birak Kingdom made them stand down.

  As a huge commotion occurred from the reveal, another force was not having a good time.

-x-

  "How did the Baron know about the treasure trove?!" the patriarch of the Tol Family yelled, feeling indignant. After all, they should be the ones to claim sole ownership of the treasure trove.

  "My lord, it's likely they get the information from the destroyed town. After all, we send a large portion of the bandits we control there to search for the location of the treasure. 

  Maybe, after they destroyed the bandits, they found the location of the treasure," his advisor told the patriarch, making the old man calm down slightly.

  "With the entire Barony knowing the existence of the treasure trove, we couldn't monopolize the treasure trove. However, we could kill any of those unaffiliated cultivators and claim the treasures they found.

  As long as we get the most benefits, the rise of our family will be assured. We could even topple the Mariz Family and become the ruler of the Barony," the patriarch exclaimed, laughing maniacally as he dreamed of his bright future.

  Meanwhile, several people remained hidden as they watched the Top Family. "A delusional wretch. I hope he will die in the treasure trove," one of the spies sent by the Gurdon Family said in disguise.

  "Let's go to the Hal Family Estate. The one to take care of these scums would like more information," the other spy said. The two quickly left the Tol Family Mansion.

-x-

  As they had said earlier, the two spies went to the Hal Family Estate. The guard let them pass easily, having been given orders by the higher-ups earlier. The two quickly head to the training field, where two people are sparring. 

  One of them was a Genesis Core expert of the Gurdon Family, who possessed strength at the 2nd Stage. His opponent is a young man at the 8th Stage Genesis Foundation. While the former should be the one in the advantage, the reality is different as the younger man constantly pushes his older foe back, before he puts a sword next to the other man's neck.

  "I lost," the Genesis Core exclaimed before he spotted his subordinates returning.

  The two spies bowed to the two men, before giving a detailed report to the young man, 

  "Here you go, young master Ryker," Ryker nodded at the two men before taking the report, reading it carefully. His eyes narrowed as he read the report.

  "Their strength is greater than we knew. It looks like they had been hiding their true strength for a long time now,"

  His eyes glinted as he could guess something,

  "The most likely reason they were able to strengthen their force is likely because they had found some other treasure troves, "