Nancy and Lily (1)

A few minutes later, the male servant roughly explained the situation.

It turned out that shortly after Green had gone to check on the gardener Gilmore's room, trouble broke out at the castle stables. Judging by the timing, after Green had driven back the six Xignos Banshees, one or two of them had gone to the stables, intending to devour the horses' blood essence to recover some strength. There, they happened upon old Nant and Xihado, who were hiding in the stables and plotting to steal horses and flee.

The two of them had truly been cursed with rotten luck. They had seen that the Wilson Family was facing a major disaster and had no desire to die alongside them, so they planned to steal two horses and sell them in another city. Considering the value of the horses raised by the Wilson Family, the money would have been enough for the two of them to live in carefree comfort for years. Yet in a moment of carelessness amid a hundred careful plans, before they could even untie the reins, two Xignos Banshees that had passed through the walls cornered them inside...

After the servant finished, Viscount Paul and Vincent both looked to Green, seeking his opinion.

Green pondered and was just about to speak when another male servant suddenly burst in from outside. In his panic, he had even forgotten to knock, crying incoherently, "B-Bad news! There are so many people outside, so many people—they want to burn us to death!"

Green and the others were all taken aback. Vincent immediately ran to the window, which happened to face the castle's main gate. Sure enough, several hundred people had gathered before Wilson Castle, confronting the patrol guarding the gate. They seemed to want to force their way in, though they had not succeeded yet.

"What is going on? Explain yourself clearly!" Viscount Paul demanded sternly. The male servant trembled in fright, finally regained his wits, and repeated the situation.

It turned out that just minutes earlier, a group carrying banners had gathered outside Wilson Castle. At their head was a middle-aged man holding a tin megaphone and delivering a loud speech. He kept spouting highly provocative words, claiming that something eerie lurked inside Wilson Castle and insinuating that the Wilson Family had committed monstrous deeds that had drawn the evil there. Only by burning down the castle, he said, could they drive the evil from Landon City. Most of those outside were ordinary citizens of Landon City, and heaven knew what medicine they had taken wrong. They were filled with righteous indignation, as if everyone living in Wilson Castle were devils guilty of every conceivable crime.

"Damn it, it's that bastard Oriland!" Vincent recognized the leader. He had once been Wilson Castle's patrol captain, but Vincent had expelled him from the castle for harassing maids and stealing. He had not expected the man to come and kick them while they were down at a time like this.

"There are more and more of them!" Viscount Paul had also come to the window. Watching the situation outside the gate, his expression darkened further. Though he tried his best to restrain himself, he was both anxious and furious.

"I'll go take a look. Once this is handled, I'll stop by the stables as well." At that moment, Green voluntarily took on the burden, and Viscount Paul and Vincent secretly breathed sighs of relief. In a situation like this, only Green had the ability to resolve it.

Green turned and left the study, heading straight outside the castle. As he walked, he used Soul Summoning, calling forth all the Skeleton Soldiers from the Graveyard in one breath.

Each of those Gun Skeleton Soldiers was fully armed. Their steps were neat and uniform, their bearing grim and chilling. The moment they emerged from the castle, they immediately cowed the crowd. The people who had been noisily shouting outside the gate seemed to have had their throats suddenly clutched shut. In an instant, silence fell so complete that not even a crow could be heard, lasting for more than ten seconds.

The leader, Oriland, had his eyes darting about. Even amid his shock, Green could see venomous, icy hatred flashing in his gaze. Oriland secretly gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and shouted, "Don't be afraid, everyone! We're all citizens of Landon City. He wouldn't dare do anything to us! If a mage massacres innocent people, such shocking news will definitely make the Royal Capital's newspapers. When that happens, the kingdom will surely put out a warrant for him. He wouldn't dare..."

Oriland's words were highly stirring and faintly carried a trace of magic. Green's brows rose, and he sneered inwardly. He actually used Charm. No wonder he managed to gather so many people. Unfortunately for you, you came to the wrong place...

Just as Oriland secretly activated Charm, attempting to stir the crowd's fervor once again, Green unhesitatingly ordered the Skeleton Soldiers to fire.

Clack! A bullet was chambered. One Skeleton Soldier beside Green crisply raised its gun and took aim. With a bang, Oriland's head exploded, and blood and brains splattered across the faces and bodies of the nearby crowd.

The crowd froze for an instant, then erupted into screams.

With Oriland dead, the source of the Charm vanished. The bewitched citizens regained some clarity, their hearts full of questions. Why had they come here? And when they saw the row of Skeleton Soldiers standing in battle formation inside the castle gate, fear and panic overwhelmed them even more. No one knew who started it, but they quickly scattered and fled. In the end, even a few slow-reacting elderly men and women hiked up their heels and ran.

In the blink of an eye, the imposing demonstration ended as a farce. The patrolmen guarding the gate watched Green and the Skeleton Soldiers, swallowing hard one after another. They felt even greater fear and reverence, while Green's decisive ruthlessness shattered their previous impression of him.

Green said nothing more. He had stepped in to drive away these troublemakers not to establish his authority, but simply because he did not want extra complications. What he needed most right now was time to deal with the other five Xignos Banshees. If this rabble broke into the castle to set fires and loot, things would become troublesome.

As for who had been plotting and inciting things behind the scenes, it was not hard to guess. Viscount Paul had quite a few enemies in Landon City, but only two or three had both the ability and the nerve to employ such methods.

Green had no interest in wasting thought on this mess. After dispersing the crowd, he ordered the patrolmen, "Guard the gate carefully. If anyone comes looking for trouble again, shoot them on sight. If someone dies, Viscount Paul will answer for it."

"Yes, sir!" More than a dozen patrolmen answered unevenly. They held Green in great awe, especially with those dozens of loaded Gun Skeleton Soldiers standing there.

Ordinary people knew that Necromancers could control skeletons, but skeletons capable of firing guns were exceedingly rare. They could not help but stare a few extra times in curiosity.

Green walked a few steps to Oriland's corpse. First, he absorbed the Psychic Energy, then searched for the soul. Only after squeezing every last scrap of remaining value from it did he head toward the stables beside the castle.

Seeing Green depart, the patrolmen all let out long breaths of relief. Under the pressure of Green and the Skeleton Soldiers, they had not even dared breathe loudly just now.

Meanwhile, inside the castle study, Viscount Paul and Vincent watched the entire scene. In particular, Green's appearance with dozens of Skeleton Soldiers divided into two squads, and his shooting of Oriland, left the deepest impression on them. Their feelings were exceedingly complicated.

"What a pity. In the end, he is not a direct descendant of our branch." Viscount Paul sighed again, wishing Green were his own son.

"Can a mage's power truly change a person's heart?" Vincent also sighed, though from a different angle. "If this had been before, no matter how ruthless Green was, he would not have killed someone so casually. Yet just now, he ordered the Skeleton Soldiers to shoot Oriland as though crushing an ant—cold and indifferent, utterly unmoved."

"My son, this has nothing to do with being a mage. Ruthlessness is itself a byproduct of power. Whether mage, knight, or high-ranking official—magic power, battle aura, authority, wealth—once you possess any kind of power, you must be prepared for it to corrode your heart." Viscount Paul was deeply moved as he recalled the year he had first inherited the viscount title and gained the Lineage's wealth and authority. Had he not been just like Green was now—decisive in killing, swift and forceful in action, treating human lives as no more than grass?