Bonnie Tavern

"Young master? Why are you here?"

In the outer district of Havenlight, a tavern called "Bonnie" was bustling with activity. Although the afternoon was typically a slow time for taverns, the laughter inside this one was loud enough to nearly blow the roof off. A row of log chairs was packed with middle-aged men drinking heavily.

And among them were a drunken Jeremy and Benjamin, who had just walked in.

After hearing what the butler had to say, Benjamin had grown worried that something might have happened to Jeremy. Consequently, he had grabbed his pistol and ammunition, headed out, and come to the outer district to search for him.

He had arrived at that abandoned stronghold and asked the nearby passersby if they had seen a servant who looked like a rat and had a cowardly face. One person had replied, "Seen him? He's at Bonnie Tavern right now." Benjamin had been shocked to hear this, wondering if some unexpected development had occurred.

As it turned out...

Jeremy was perfectly fine. He simply hadn't returned because he was getting plastered in this tavern—which had a name that sounded like a stripper's stage name—with a group of people whose identities were unknown.

Even from ten meters away, Benjamin could smell the alcohol on him.

Damn it...

Why was there not a single reliable person around him?

Looking at Jeremy's drunken face, Benjamin felt the urge to smack him with a water ball.

However, he held back. He walked over without a word, intending to use force to drag Jeremy away. Once he sobered up, he would grill him on what he was doing and dock a few months of his wages.

"Jeremy, is this the young master from your family?"

Just as Benjamin was about to drag Jeremy away, a man nearby suddenly asked.

"Yes, this is our young master. Come, come, young master, meet my new friends. This is... eh, what was your name again? I can't seem to remember. Hey, young master, stop pulling me." Jeremy's tolerance for alcohol was abysmal. He continued to act out, a complete contrast to his usual timid, skittish self.

"It's time to go. You haven't shown your face all night, and the butler is already angry." Since they were in a public place, Benjamin kept his patience and did not lose his temper.

"The butler? Oh, god, I'm going to have my wages docked again. Young master Benjamin, what do I do? I'm getting docked again!" Upon hearing this, Jeremy froze for a moment before immediately breaking into wails and cries.

Neglecting his duties and getting his pay docked was only natural. He was lucky he hadn't been fired!

Benjamin's patience was reaching its limit, but fortunately, the mention of the butler seemed to hold a great deal of authority over Jeremy. While it wasn't enough to sober him up, it was at least enough to make him willing to follow Benjamin obediently.

However, things did not go as planned, and the situation shifted abruptly.

Just as Benjamin turned to leave, a giant of a man, nearly two meters tall, blocked the tavern entrance. He turned around, his face twisted into a menacing scowl, and glared at Benjamin with ill intent.

Benjamin's heart skipped a beat.

He looked back, and the few people who had been chatting and laughing with Jeremy were now standing up from their chairs. The smiles had vanished from their faces, and they stared at Benjamin like wolves on the hunt.

The atmosphere in the tavern changed instantly. The landlady quickly swept the fragile items off the counter into a cabinet and skillfully ducked into the kitchen.

Benjamin felt that things were looking bad, and he was completely bewildered.

What was going on?

No way, were these people targeting him?

But what did he have to do with them? He hadn't provoked them, had he?

"You, young master, why aren't we leaving? If we don't go back, I'm going to get my pay docked again!" Jeremy was clearly still not in his right mind and hadn't realized what was happening.

As soon as he said this, before Benjamin could react, one of the men with a scar on his face suddenly drew a knife. He slashed at a nearby chair, cutting it clean in two.

Jeremy was shocked into sobriety, his speech shifting from slurred to trembling: "W-what are you doing? Weren't we just chatting perfectly fine a moment ago? Didn't... didn't you say you knew our young master?"

The scarred man sneered and said, "That's right, I did want to get to know your young master, and I have you to thank for the introduction."

Jeremy was stunned, standing there at a loss for words.

With this back and forth, Benjamin, standing on the sidelines, finally understood how all of this had come to pass.

These people had used Jeremy as bait! They had likely fabricated some lie about knowing him, lured Jeremy over, and gotten him drunk to the point of unconsciousness, all while waiting for Benjamin to walk right into their trap.

Having pieced together the sequence of events, Benjamin still didn't understand why these people were looking for trouble with him.

Were they hired by someone?

Was Dick behind this? Or was it someone else?

He couldn't help but think back to that night he had just escaped from Michelle and returned to the Riser Family, when that mysterious assassin had tried to kill him. He had wanted to find out who had sent the assassin at the time, but he had no leads. Later, due to one thing after another, he had pushed the matter to the back of his mind.

At this very moment, he couldn't help but think about it again.

Could the assassin from back then and the trap right now be the work of the same person?

"Hey, kid, I'm asking you, where is that woman?" Suddenly, the scarred man leading the group spoke up, asking this very question.

"That woman?" Benjamin frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Still playing dumb? Do you want me to split you open with a blade? Do you really think that just because you're a noble, I wouldn't dare kill you?" The scarred man's voice rose several notches, and he said viciously, "If you really don't know, why have you been having your servant run around to all the places that woman has stayed?"

Hearing this, Benjamin finally understood who this "woman" was.

Were they looking for Michelle?

Benjamin quickly cleared his thoughts.

Looking at the menacing appearance of this group, they were nine times out of ten looking for revenge. It was likely that Michelle had crossed them, and they wanted payback but couldn't find her. As a result, when he had sent Jeremy to investigate Michelle's former strongholds, they had discovered him.

Therefore, they assumed he was connected to Michelle and used Jeremy to set this trap just to lure him in.

And so, this scene today had come to pass.

Finally understanding the whole situation, Benjamin felt speechless.

What did the people Michelle offended have to do with him?

He was truly unlucky...

"Are you talking about Michelle? It's a real shame, but if I knew where she was, I wouldn't need to have my servant running around to the places she's been." Thinking this, Benjamin replied to the scarred man.

If he could resolve the misunderstanding, that would naturally be for the best; the enemy of an enemy was a friend. Although Benjamin wanted to use these people for target practice, the members of The Church were likely nearby, and he didn't dare use magic.

He didn't want to clash with these people either; it was troublesome, offered no benefits, and would only benefit Michelle—and he certainly didn't want to do her any favors.

"What he said actually makes sense..." someone in the group muttered after hearing Benjamin.

"So that woman's name is Michelle. After looking for so long, we finally know what she's called," another remarked.

"Shut up!" The scarred man immediately barked, silencing his whispering subordinates. "These nobles are all cunning. Don't listen to a word they say. We've been looking for that woman for so long; now that we finally have a lead, how could we just let him go!"

"The boss is right, the boss is smart!" someone immediately flattered.

"Right, don't believe a word he says!"

The group quickly turned their gaze back to Benjamin, looking ready to pounce.

Benjamin felt speechless.

It seemed he couldn't avoid this trouble after all.

Damn that Michelle, even when she wasn't around, she could still cause him so much trouble!

There was no help for it. Seeing that these people wouldn't listen to reason and were closing in with blades drawn, Benjamin had no choice but to use his ultimate move.

"Help! Murder! Where are the knights of The Church! I, Benjamin, haven't even helped you catch Michelle yet, and I'm going to die here! If I die, the Bishop will never forgive you! Help! Hurry and rush in here!"

He shrieked at the top of his lungs.