The First Step to Becoming a Lord: Establishing Authority

"That's how it is, Lord." Janie downed the Corona Ginger Juice in one gulp and then said, "Yatat City has recently suffered continuous sabotage from outsiders. After investigation, these people all came from the Qivita Family in Morata City. The Mistress naturally cannot allow such repeated provocations, so she has decided to take the initiative. And to get from Yatat City to Morata City, one must pass through your Yumaas Region. Furthermore, the Mistress hasn't seen you in a long time and misses you dearly, so she sent me here first to inform you. The Mistress will be arriving here soon, please be prepared."

"You mean my Second Sister is coming to see me?" Landen was stunned. To be honest, he never expected the envoy from Vivian to bring such news.

"She's just passing through and will also take the opportunity to visit the Mistress's younger brother, which is you," Janie replied.

"So, does that mean I should run away now?" Landen muttered as if to himself.

Janie's expression turned cold, but Landen continued, "Heh, just kidding. My relationship with my Second Sister is excellent. I'd be delighted if she came. I just wonder when my Second Sister will depart?"

"When the Moon Tide recedes."

"So, about a month from now?" Landen calculated the time and smiled, "My Second Sister is as decisive as ever. She's sending someone to notify me with a month still to go."

"Right." Landen's tone suddenly shifted as he looked at Janie and asked, "My Second Sister wouldn't just send you, Miss Janie, her trusted aide, merely to deliver this message, would she? I wonder, what other tasks has my Second Sister assigned you?"

"You don't need to worry about that, my Lord. My task here is complete, so I won't be staying any longer." With her task here finished, Janie couldn't be bothered to pretend anymore, and her tone grew a bit colder.

"Is that so? Anyway, I'm just a useless mongrel bastard, and you're the trusted confidante of the noble Mistress Vivian. You don't need to pay any attention to me, right?" Landen's voice suddenly softened, with a hint of teasing.

"Lord!" Janie's heart skipped a beat. Thinking he had seen something in her expression, she stood up from her chair, wanting to explain.

However, Landen's voice rang out first, "Oh my, as expected of Yatat City's Second Genius, second only to my Second Sister. You can still stand up at a time like this. It seems the rumors that you're a High-tier Black Iron are inaccurate. You're at least at Black Iron Peak now, perhaps even starting to break through to Silver!"

"What do you mean!" Janie's voice was sharp, but her body couldn't keep up with her expression. She felt an intense weakness in her legs, making it impossible to support her body. The body that had just stood up collapsed back into the chair. She stared at Landen, both surprised and angry, asking, "What did you do to me?"

Landen didn't answer Janie's question immediately. Instead, he leisurely said, "Although I don't know what my Second Sister is planning, it's definitely not good news. To be honest, her main purpose in sending you here at this time is to check on my condition. It seems she's been watching me all along and knows what happened to me recently, doesn't she?"

Janie's expression changed. At this point, she could no longer control her emotions.

Landen continued, "Since she knows what happened to me recently, doesn't she also know that it was precisely because I drank the Corona Ginger Juice that it happened? I'm starting to doubt now. Are you really a genius? Knowing all this, you still dared to drink that cup of Corona Ginger Juice so easily?"

Janie's face grew even more unsightly. Landen was speaking the truth, but because it was the truth, it was more cutting than any mockery.

Landen picked up his cup of Corona Ginger Juice, stood up, and slowly sauntered over to Janie. He said, "You must know my situation very well. You also know that although I'm quite pathetic, I still have the strength of a Low-tier Black Iron. How could drinking Corona Ginger Juice have affected me like that? Or perhaps, you added something to the Corona Ginger Juice yourselves, which caused that incident? So, you confidently assumed that only you knew about the additive, and I could only refine the original version of Corona Ginger Juice?"

As he spoke, Landen raised his hand and drank the Corona Ginger Juice in his cup. Then he said, "Are you feeling a powerful, chaotic force surging within you right now, scattering your own strength and leaving you completely unable to exert any force? I must say, this stuff is potent. To make someone like you, at Black Iron Peak, end up like this... no wonder my Second Sister was so disbelieving and eager to send you to investigate after finding out I didn't die. Honestly, if I hadn't had a bit of luck, my Second Sister would have gotten her wish."

"You don't need to look at me like that." Landen leaned down slightly, approaching Janie's ear, and whispered in a voice only they could hear, "You can be angry, but there's no need for threats. You've taken quite a few lives, haven't you? You should also know that after saying all this to you, how could I possibly let you leave alive?"

"Oh, right, there's one more thing I forgot to tell you." Landen said unhurriedly, "Not only do I know about my dear Second Sister's schemes, but I've also figured out the identity of the person she sent to monitor me and be ready to kill me at any moment. You can go first, and he'll soon join you."

As his voice, which had suddenly turned ruthless and resolute at the last moment, fell, Janie, known as Yatat City's First Assassin Master, felt a tremor run through her being, and she instantly plunged into eternal darkness.

And the Minotaur Butler, who returned to the dining room after clearing away the used plates, saw this scene.

His Lord gently patted Janie's head, as if comforting a child. Then, he lightly raised his hand and pulled a steel spike, over a foot long, from the top of Janie's head. As the spike was withdrawn, Janie's body seemed to lose all strength and toppled forward. Her beautiful face slammed into the plate of "pig slop" on the table with a thud.

"I never expected my dear Second Sister would send someone like this, daring to covet my wealth and attack me. Of course, being merciful, I didn't want to kill her. This was all an accident. After all, she was killed by her own weapon," Landen said, wiping the steel spike with the napkin on the table before letting it go.

With a ding, the steel spike hit a bowl, but it felt as if it struck the Minotaur Butler's heart. His body, as hard as stone, couldn't help but tremble violently with the sound