Ⅲ
Anxiety.
An unsettled Malinda paced her study. Though her pipe remained unlit, she kept it clenched between her teeth-she hoped the taste of tobacco would soothe her troubled heart.
But it did nothing.
No kind of tobacco could ease the anxiety in Malinda's heart now.
After all...
Old Lion had arrived!
Yesterday evening, Old Lion had entered South Los openly.
There had been no warning.
It had been so sudden.
And with Old Lion's arrival, the atmosphere throughout South Los had turned ominous.
None of those who knew Old Lion had arrived in South Los knew why he had come, but everyone knew that if Old Lion had shown himself, he was utterly confident he could control the situation-even the Countess of South Los would not deny that.
Because-
The Countess had sensed Old Lion's fierce fighting spirit and...
The power he only let show in fleeting glimpses.
That fighting spirit was fierce enough to turn heads.
And that barely glimpsed power?
It was even more astonishing.
At that moment, the Countess had become certain that Old Lion had come to fight-and to "reclaim" his reputation.
As Old Lion aged and the Countess grew stronger, all of South County believed she would replace him in the near future.
Many even believed the Countess was already stronger than Old Lion.
And at one point, the Countess had believed so herself.
But clearly, Old Lion disagreed.
As the man who had ushered in the Pioneer Era, Old Lion had no intention of letting his story end like this.
That posed a considerable problem for the Countess.
"I will devote everything to preparing for battle."
That was what the Countess had told all her subordinates.
She had said nothing more.
But anyone with any sense could tell from that simple sentence that