Returning to the Village

Allan's face darkened as he read the scrolls, he was in disbelief at the amount of money stolen. " Ruffus! Why?! Why did you have to do this?" Just like Curtis, Ruffus was one of his most trusted men.

Ruffus had no thought of trying to deny what he did, the situation had already grown way bigger than he initially thought. " I admit to stealing the prefecture funds, but, I won't accept being punished by the slave trade."

-" You won't accept?" Allan gazed at Ruffus straight in the eye and grinned. " Do you even hear what are you talking about?" Allan smashed the table, Ruffus's attitude was seriously making him angry.

-" I have nothing to do with the slaves! You can even ask this man!" All Ruffus wanted was to get rid of the slave trading accusation. " I won't accept being punished by something that I have nothing to do with."

-" If you had done your job nothing like this would happen!" Allan jolted up from his chair and pointed at Ruffus. " I don't want to hear one more word from you!" Allan quickly opened the window of his study and whistled.

Mathew watched Ruffus's anxiety-stricken face with delight, he completely resented the man for throwing him in jail. " So? What should I do know?" The last night was quite hectic and Mathew was completely exhausted and just wanted to rest.

-" You were the one who came forwards with the accusation." Allan perked his eyebrows as he looked at the man. " you three will come with me, we will pay a visit to your village."

-" Can't I rest for a bit? I'm quite tired." Mathew couldn't believe that he would travel all the way back to the village so soon.

-" You don't have to worry, it won't take too long for us to get there." As Allan finished speaking a gigantic bird landed outside the window. "Let's go!"

Mathew almost fainted as he saw the bird, just the monster's head was bigger than his entire body. -" W-W-What is this?"

-" Huh? Iron Feathers! My Companion." Allan patted the bird's head and jumped in its back. " Come on! Get up!"

It took Mathew quite a good time to finally calm down, he knew that this was a cultivation world, but, he never imagined that even magical best existed here.

He was a bit afraid of the bird initially, but, it all went away after getting on its back. He tightened his grip over the monster's back and prepared for the voyage.

Mathew giggled like a kid as the gigantic bird took flight, the view of the forest from up above was quite awe-inspiring.

-" Do you know where the slaves are maintained?" Allan looked at the young official and asked.

-" Uh? Me?" Mathew was jolted awake from his awe-struck state and began to search Sigebert's memories. " I searched around but I never was able to find it... It must be somewhere inside Clifton's estate."

-" Clifton? Is this the local noble?" Allan closed his eyes as he began to think, he wasn't sure about the extent of the corruption scheme, but, it looked like the prefecture magistrate and the local noble had completely taken over the village. "Sigh, I truly failed as a governor." Allan felt that he was to blame for this whole situation, he couldn't believe that Ruffus had deceived him for so long.

-" Yeah, currently he is the owner of most of the village land, he and Nicolaus had been slowly robbing every citizen there from their homes." Mathew quickly explained the situation in the village to the governor. " Most of the villagers refused to work for Clifton, so he decided to get a few slaves, and it eventually grew to the point of they even begin to sell them."

-" Sigh... Thank god you came forward with this information." Allan was relieved that he learned this before it got the attention of the Ministry of Justice, or else he would surely lose his position. " I won't pass this incident forward for now... so i will ask you to remain silent for now."

Mathew looked at Allan with suspicious eyes. " So you want me to drop this matter?" He couldn't believe that the governor would try to protect the people involved.

-" No... I wouldn't do that, I just ask for some time." Allan looked at the boy, he was young and most likely idealistic. " I just want to deal with the foreign noble situation first, I'm afraid that this will blow up and affect every one of us if we aren't too careful."

Mathew finally understood what the governor was talking about, and he couldn't blame him. He was sure that the man had worked very hard to get to his position and losing it would surely suck.

-" Makes sense." Mathew could accept this request, but, he wanted to get something out of this situation. " A favor for a favor, this should work right?"

-" Oh? What do you have in mind?" Allan was surprised, he didn't expect the man to try to fleece some benefits.

-" Now? There is nothing really that I can think of." Mathew wasn't sure of what to do in the future, so he decided to not think about this now.

-" That's quite surprising I must say." Allan grinned, he thought of the young official as a righteous person, yet, he was now asking for a favor in exchange for his silence. " I didn't think that you would accept my request, even more, ask for a favor in exchange for it."

Mathew grinned, he considered himself quite the upright person, but, not taking advantage of his position wasn't being righteous, but, stupid. " Well, a general is sure to favor his son, and a politician to use his position for his own gain. " Even in his past life, Mathew had taken plenty advantage of his role in the city administration, and Sigebert himself had decided to become a bureaucrat because of the power he would gain from the position. " What I can't accept is unfiltered greed."

Allan felt that dealing with the man was now easier, he always hated to interact with idealistic. " Well then, I owe you a favor." Allan smiled as he patted the bird's head, and they started to descend. " We finally arrived."

Mathew was impressed by the beast's speed, it had reached the village in less than one hour, while it took him almost twelve hours.

The group was astonished as the bird approached the village, an enormous crowd had gathered around the main plaza, and there were even some burning buildings.

-" What the hell happened here?" Allan looked at Mathew, waiting for answers.

-" The citizens rioted, they all had enough of Nicolaus' antics " Mathew looked around and was happy to see that the old man was fine. " Simon! I brought the governor!" He quickly waved and yelled at the man who helped him so much.

Simon's eyes were moist as he saw the gigantic bird landing in the village plaza, but, his eyes instantly turned serious as he saw Ruffus with the group. " Young Man! What is happening? Why is he with you?"

-" The governor brought him with us, something serious occurred." Mathew pointed at Allan and explain himself to Simon.

-" Something serious?" Simon was curious about what could be more serious than what Nicolaus and his goons did.

Allan looked at the old man and switched his attention to a group of people in the middle of the plaza. " It looks like we won't have a hard time finding the slave den. " Which one of you is the prefecture magistrate?" Allan asked as he approached the group, who were all beaten up.

-" Sir! Help me!" Nicolaus thought that Ruffus had dealt with the situation, and quickly plead with the governor. " Put down this riot! I beg you!"

-" Put down this riot?" Allan almost fainted from frustration, he never felt so disrespected in his life.

-" Nicolaus! You dumbfuck! Mind your words." Ruffus regretted choosing someone so dumb to be his partner.

-" What are you talking Ruffus?" It was only now that Nicolaus noticed how bad Ruffus's face looked.

-" It's over! He knows everything!" Ruffus humphed in anger. "It's all your fault! Why did you have to kidnap a noble from the Etruscian Kingdom?"

-" A Noble from the Etruscian Kingdom?" Nicolaus' face darkened as he realized what was happening. " I don't know what are you talking about!"

Allan sighed, it looked that the man wouldn't admit to his wrongdoings. " Come clean now and maybe you won't be beheaded!" Allan slapped Nicolaus and asked him one more time. " Where are the slaves?!"

-" I don't know what are you talking about!" Nicolaus' face was red from the slap, but, he would never acknowledge the slaves.

Allan sighed and was preparing to slap the man once again, however, the fat man close to him had enough. " Stop it, Nicolaus! It's over! It's over! " Clifton knew that they had no way out, and the only way for them to have a chance of surviving was to come clean. " The slaves are near a cave in my territory." Clifton trembled with fear as he looked at Allan.