After an explanation from dear old De Ye—no, the mayor—Loa finally understood what had happened.
A few months earlier, around the time word first reached the navy, the Bibi family had received a group of distinguished guests.
According to the mayor, the Bibi family had been shocked. They seemed unable to believe those people had come here.
Soon afterward, though, someone ordered him to clear out several of the best houses for the guests and keep their arrival secret.
As mayor of a town under the Bibi family's control, even De Ye dared not disobey. He respectfully settled the guests into the homes of the town's wealthy merchants.
It took some persuading to get one merchant and his family to move temporarily into a villa on the other side of the island.
If that had been all, the mayor would have seen nothing wrong with it. They were only a few distinguished guests. Ian Island rarely saw outsiders, but it was no deserted island cut off from civilization. Hosting them was no great matter.
The guests' behavior, however, infuriated the mayor.
A family of three had blocked their carriage for less than a second, and the guests had killed them on the spot.
That sent him into a fury.
He went to the person in charge of the Bibi family and demanded that the killers be punished. But...
"They were just lowly commoners, weren't they? They're all dead anyway. Find somewhere to bury them."
That was the Bibi family's answer.
When word reached the town, everyone was outraged. Carrying the tools they used for work, they swarmed toward the guests' residence to demand justice for their neighbors.
But no one had expected the old coachman driving the guests' carriage to be so strong. In almost a single exchange, more than