Intermission 4: Priston Ballos

As a way to relieve accumulated stress, Priston Ballos, also known as the mayor of Solaris, enjoyed a relaxing back massage from his young maid.

In his youth, he was an exceptional warrior, rising through the ranks of the army despite being a commoner. He became a Knight and even achieved the title of Superior Warrior, an impressive feat since even with no deep knowledge of the spells, he managed to elevate a simple spell of body strengthening to the peak.

Upon retiring, he received several medals and the title of Baron, along with a territory. It was incredible for a commoner like him to skip the Baronet rank and directly become a Baron. The best part was that it wasn't just an honorary title; he could pass it on to his children.

However, lacking support from the nobles due to his commoner background, he ended up with Solaris, one of the worst territories in the kingdom. The lands weren't infertile, but neighboring kingdoms, Edrorian and Tarodel, were Poutis' fierce enemies. The alliance between Edrorian and Tarodel caused enormous pressure on Poutis.

Until recently, Edrorian and Tarodel were also enemies, engaging in skirmishes with Prazar and Poutis. But everything changed when the king of Edrorian's daughter married the new king of Tarodel. They formed an alliance and quickly conquered half of Prazar's territory. Afterward, they took a break from war to consolidate their gains.

In response, Prazar and Poutis formed an alliance as well, but the distance between their kingdoms made it challenging. It was likely that after conquering Prazar, Poutis would be the next target. The war was on the verge of breaking out again, as Edrorian planned to attack Poutis, giving Tarodel time to conquer the rest of Prazar.

Priston found himself in an uncomfortable position, unable to leave his territory during an enemy attack. His age weakened his power, making things even more difficult for him.

Setting aside thoughts about the upcoming war, Priston decided to enjoy the moment. He put his hand under the young maid's dress, caressing her delicate thighs and slowly moving up to her buttocks. Priston was getting excited, thinking this might be his last time with a woman before going to war. He continued, reaching into the maid's private parts.

As he felt her heat on his fingers, a knock interrupted them from the door. Annoyed, Priston shouted, "Didn't I tell you not to bother me?"

"I'm sorry, My Lord, but someone is requesting an audience with you," the voice from outside said.

"Tell him to leave, I'm busy," Priston replied.

"But he seems like a nobleman, and he was quite intimidating. If you refuse, he might cause us problems," the voice said anxiously.

Taking a deep breath, Priston said, "Fine, take him to the waiting room. I'll get dressed and go find him."

The footsteps from behind the door faded as they moved away.

"Should I prepare tea for the guest?" the young maid asked.

"No, just let him wait while I get dressed," Priston replied angrily, taking his clothes from the maid. "How dare he come to my mansion without an appointment! I must teach him a lesson."

***

After making the visitor wait for a few minutes, Priston ordered them to come to his office. Not long after, a young man with curly hair and an older Dogkin woman entered. Although annoyed by the unannounced visit, Priston, as the city's mayor and a nobleman, greeted them politely.

But something unexpected happened.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Priston Ballos. My name is Sian de Castilho, and this is my wife, Ophilia," the young man said with a smile.

Internally, Priston was in shock, almost having a heart attack.

'Shit shit shit, The Reaper is here!'

'Why is he here?! So many years of war and I'm going to die at the hands of this vile creature?'

Unaware of the turmoil in Priston's mind, Sian continued, "I recently arrived in Solaris, and I noticed an opportunity to open a business. So, I wanted to know if there is land available to buy."

'Wait, he is speaking politely, maybe it is not him. But just in case it is better not to annoy him.'

"S-So Your Lordship wants to settle in my humble town?"b Despite trying to remain calm, knowing that he could disappear from the map at any moment, still terrified him.

As they continued the conversation, Priston noticed that the young man in front of him resembled the person from a painting that Lady Charlotte had warned the nobles and soldiers of the marquisate about.

She had advised them to avoid this person at all costs and contact her immediately if they encountered him. If that were not possible, try not to irritate him, otherwise a tragedy might happen. But even without Charlotte's warning, he would not dare to oppose this young man, for his notorious fame was widely known among the nobles.

Once he learned the purpose of the young man's visit, Priston asked the maid to bring tea and the butler to prepare the paperwork.

As the tea was served, Priston remained silent, afraid of irritating the young man in front of him and facing his legendary spear. He hoped his butler would quickly finish the paperwork so that the encounter would be over soon.

When the butler returned, he quickly handed over the contracts to the young man. Even though he tried to remain calm with the help of his several years of war, his hand still trembled involuntarily.

'Wait, he still didn't do anything to me, if he wanted I would already be dead. I need to calm down.'

Waiting while Sian was reading the contract, Priston recalled that he had forgotten to tell the butler to put a below-normal price on the contract. He was afraid to lose his life to this young man if he thought the price was absurd.

Then he asked nervously. "Wh-What Your Lordship thinks of the price? I can make a readjustment if Your Lordship wishes."

"No need, 36 gold coins it's a good-"

*Cough Cough Cough*

As Priston was very focused on the young man in front of him, he had completely forgotten the woman, which caused him to be scared to death by the sudden cough. The scare was so great that he felt as if his heart was about to come out of his mouth and started to sweat involuntarily while his limbs stopped.

Seeing that the young man was anxious while comforting the woman, Priston tried to calm down.

'Damn, I almost shit myself. How did this woman choke out of nowhere? There's no way anyone can be stupid enough to choke on their own saliva.'

'Besides, why is he accompanied by such an average woman?'

Looking at the interaction of the two, he realized that the young man seemed to care a lot about the woman.

'If I am not mistaken, he had said that this woman was his wife... Did this vile creature fall in love with this woman? Maybe that can explain why he's so tame. '

After the scare, the contract was concluded quickly, and seeing the information that the young man filled out, he had the final confirmation that the young man was really Sian.

After receiving the money, Priston was relieved, thinking that Sian would finally leave.

"With that, the contract is concluded." He said.

But contrary to his expectations, Sian started asking about taxes. Doing his best to answer his questions, Priston realized that he would have to return in the future to register for his inn.

Not wanting to meet him anytime soon, he convinced him to do one immediately.

After Sian left, as if he had just escaped death, Priston sank down on the couch relaxed while letting out a deep breath.

'I thought I was going to die.'

'I need to punish my guards, how can those imbeciles fail to recognize a national threat?'

After a brief moment of relief, he went to the desk drawer. After removing a small brown magic tool in the shape of a flattened circle with a blue magic stone in the center, he sat on the armchair.

This is a magical tool for communication. It was given to him by Charlotte herself to be used in emergencies. Although communication was possible, it wasn't simultaneous. In addition to the fact that this tool uses up a lot of mana, it can just send a message and wait for a response.

When he activated the tool, it released a faint glow and shortly after, it started to blink, indicating that there was a message.

"What happened?" A voice came out of the tool.

Priston immediately sent a message about Sian's visit to Solaris.

Shortly after, a female voice came out. "Has he done anything harmful in the town?"

For that question, Priston told her everything he knew.

After receiving a new message, he felt more relieved and leaned back in the armchair.