Chapter 73: Playing with Slave Mercenaries

Lion-haired Gruk casually threw nine silver coins to the ground, a malicious smile on his face as he jerked his chin toward Duke. "Go on, pick them up, old dog. Want your little puppy behind you to help?"

Scar-faced Nos immediately burst into loud laughter, while the enigmatic Simon merely frowned, saying nothing.

Rayan was seething with rage, nearly grinding his teeth to dust, his eyes filled with murderous intent. He knew that at times like these he had to stay calm and leave matters to Duke to handle, but if he didn't do something about these three damned bastards, his rage would have nowhere to go.

However, now was not the time. This place was the Ravenstorm Inn, not a slaughterhouse for killing livestock; they couldn't dirty the inn's floors.

Seeing that Rayan hadn't acted impulsively, Duke's expression actually brightened. For him, Rayan's growth was the most important thing. The taunts of the other three ants were like wind past the ear, failing to stir any ripple in his heart. He dryly smiled at the three slave mercenaries and casually bent down to pick up the nine scattered silver coins.

"Good dog!"

Gruk and scar-faced Nos laughed even more unrestrainedly, their shrill laughter further igniting the rage hidden deep within Rayan.

—Absolutely unforgivable! Absolutely... not!

Duke straightened up amidst the mocking laughter, sighing to Gruk, "Sir, I assume you're not someone who can't count, so it must be that I'm seeing things. After all, we agreed on ten silver coins for gathering intelligence, so why do I have only nine?"

Lion-haired Gruk's face suddenly flushed with anger, Duke's words clearly insinuating that he couldn't count. Gruk said venomously, "Old man, didn't you pick up one earlier?"

He wasn't really stingy; a single silver coin meant nothing to a slave mercenary used to pillaging and plundering. However, accustomed to arrogance, he seldom encountered anyone who dared speak to him like this, especially not an innkeeper.

Duke was not the least bit flustered, his smile pleasant. "Sir, that coin I picked up earlier was simply found. As we businessmen say, money found on the ground belongs to the finder. To not pick it up would be as foolish as the person who dropped it—by the way, sir, that wasn't your money, was it?"

Gruk swallowed hard, then expressionlessly pulled out another silver coin from his pouch, handing it to Duke without throwing it to the ground this time, while a displeased grunt came from his nostrils.

"Old man, today is your lucky day. We're in a hurry, otherwise, I wouldn't worry about killing a small fry like you getting my hands dirty—Righteous Blood Group isn't afraid of dirt."

Gruk paused briefly, then continued, "Now that all ten silver coins are in your hands, tell us quickly where to find that damned Crow Lord!"

"Of course, of course—"

Duke chuckled softly, unhurriedly putting away the coins. "That damned Crow Lord, well, he's neither too far nor too near—"

"Cut the crap!"

Scar-faced Nos shouted impatiently, "What do you mean 'neither too far nor too near'!?"

"Don't rush, don't rush."

Duke calmly raised his hand, pointing down the cobblestone road. "Gentlemen, just follow this cobblestone road, take a left at the first intersection, then left, left, and left again, and you'll understand what I mean."

"Let's go!"

Gruk didn't think further, immediately mounting his horse, turning its head, and leading the way toward the first intersection, with scar-faced Nos following close behind.

The mysterious Simon, with a strange expression, glanced at Duke but said nothing, driving the black iron cage wagon to catch up with his companions.

"Boss, you've fooled them all."

Rayan, half-amused and half-angry, saw his anger dissipate a bit at Duke's cunning. But only a bit. Thinking of the trio's insults toward Duke, Rayan's gaze turned icy again.

"Just making them run around in circles isn't enough, we can't let them off that easily. I'm going to change clothes now, put on a mask, and wait for them at the town hall. Boss, could you please inform Olivia to bring those three fools to the town hall?"

"It's not three fools."

Duke shook his head seriously, "It's two fools and one pretending to be oblivious."

"You mean that Simon guy? His behavior is indeed strange, and his identity..."

Here, Rayan's brows furrowed slightly. "Gruk and Nos are genuine Righteous Blood Group slave mercenaries, but that Simon is likely a servant of some noble from Stonerock City. Given such secretive behavior, his master's status must not be low. If I kill a slave mercenary, perhaps no one will care, but if I kill a noble's servant in Shadowcrest Ridge, it will surely provoke retaliation, and newly revived Shadowcrest Ridge might once again fall into bloody chaos."

"That you've thought of this shows you've grown a lot."

Duke patted Rayan's shoulder, comforting him, "Play your role as Crow Lord well, let them go. Sometimes compromise is just to protect those we care about more. We commoners shouldn't get involved in the power games of the upper nobility."

"I can't."

Rayan's eyes were resolute. "No matter who their master is, I must make them pay."

"You need to think this through, this isn't just about your personal grievances."

Duke advised.

"I know what I need to do." Rayan's tone was adamant.

Duke opened his mouth to speak but finally nodded. "I really am senile, trying to teach you how to be a lord with the experience of an innkeeper."

"Boss, I—"

Duke waved his hand, cutting off Rayan's words, "I didn't mean to blame you. Actually, a Crow Lord should indeed have the demeanor of a Crow Lord, and these are precisely what I can't teach you. Since you've made up your mind, I'll go find that long-legged girl to deliver the message."

With that, he turned and walked toward Olivia's house.

Rayan watched Duke's retreating figure, silently thinking, "Boss, even if it means destroying the entire Shadowcrest Ridge, I will not allow anyone to insult you like that!"

He clenched his teeth and quickly returned to the loft, taking out a black robe specially made for him by the joint council. He donned the Crow Sword, wrapped a black mask around his face, and then—he paused, sighing heavily.

The robe fit well, but its luxurious craftsmanship made Rayan feel somewhat uncomfortable. The long, wide sleeves were adorned with feather patterns, and the front of the chest was embroidered with a wing-spread crow using secret silver thread. The entire robe was comfortable from inside to out, but Rayan was used to wearing shabby linen clothes, and suddenly changing into a noble, mature robe made him unsure which leg to move first.

If wearing the lord's robe made him hesitant, then he couldn't suppress the swaggering Righteous Blood Group slave mercenaries.

But if he changed back into an assistant's clothes, masking would be meaningless, and his true identity and age would be exposed, leaving no trace of the authority of the master of Shadowcrest Ridge, and eventually, those three bastards would find a loophole.

"Wu ah!"

As Rayan furrowed his brows, a crow, like a godsend, flew in through the window and landed squarely on his shoulder.

Since losing a spar to Rayan, this self-respecting black bird had been greatly stimulated. During the day, it flew to the dense forest to practice, and at night, it ignored Rayan. This was the first time it had returned to Rayan's shoulder during this period.

The weight of the crow stepping on his shoulder suddenly grounded Rayan's heart.

"Brother Crow? You want to go with me?"

"Wu ah!"

Rayan smiled understandingly, "Great, let the two of us brothers seek justice for the boss together. But it's a pity I can't show my face—"

Rayan pointed to the mask on his face.

"Wu ah!"

The crow lightly flapped its wings, revealing a face full of fierce and ferocious expressions.

"Ha, right, your face is enough to scare them to death."

Rayan's expression turned as fierce as the crow's. "Alright, then let's show them the might of the Crow Lord!"

With that, Rayan, with crow, strode down from the loft, heading toward the town hall...

Left, left, left, and another left later, Gruk and the others had made a big circle and were back in front of the Ravenstorm Inn.

"Damn, I knew that old man had played us!"

Scar-faced Nos drew his horse saber, his voice vicious, "Captain, Simon, wait here a moment. I'll go chop off his head and come right back!"

"Come back!"

Gruk's face was grim, "If anyone's going to chop, it's going to be me! Damn, played like a bird over my head!"

Simon had already guessed it would end this way and was pondering how to soothe these two fools to get the prison wagon out of Shadowcrest Ridge sooner when he suddenly saw a long-legged girl gracefully approaching them.

His eyebrows twitched, and he said with a smile, "Gentlemen, please calm down. Someone is coming; let's ask her where the Crow Lord is."

Scar-faced Nos's eyes nearly popped out, his previous rage completely forgotten.

"Hey, hey, in such a remote backwater, to think there's such a beauty!"

Gruk also leered, "If we can't find that old man, why not relieve ourselves with this little beauty first?"

Saying this, the two jumped down from their horses in perfect unison, closing in on Olivia.

"I am a councilor of the Shadowcrest Ridge three-village joint council, the current village chief of Dusty Village—"

Olivia said icily, "You are being rude to me; do you really want to openly confront Shadowcrest Ridge?"

Hearing this, Simon quickly spurred his horse to block Gruk and Nos, preventing them from doing something foolish that would make it impossible to leave Shadowcrest Ridge.

"So it's the village chief, my apologies!"

Simon threw a glance at his impatient companions, then turned back to Olivia, saying, "We are slave mercenaries passing through Shadowcrest Ridge, looking to obtain passage from the Crow Lord."

"Then come with me."

Olivia turned away in disgust, leading them toward the town hall. "The Crow Lord will surely treat you well..."