Working Overtime Tonight

"I'm so angry! So angry! That Claire actually dared to humiliate us like this!" Baron Eugene repeatedly slashed at the furniture in the room with his longsword.

The nobles sitting beside him also had faces full of indignation. At this point, how could they not see that they had all been played by Claire?

"I'm going to kill him!" Baron Eugene continued to hack at the furniture, venting his rage. He had suffered the most losses; fifty thousand Gold Coins were gone just like that. That was more than half of his entire fortune!

"This bastard!" Baron Eugene swung his longsword a few more times before finally stopping, panting, but still muttering curses.

"Where is that bastard Frank! Why isn't he here?" Eugene asked, hands on his hips.

Lord Wilby curled his lips. "His entire family moved out of Nafu City last night. I bet he and that Claire had already agreed to swindle our money, and they ran off after they got it."

"Damn it!" Upon hearing this news, Baron Eugene became even more furious. "That damned guy, so he came back that day to team up with Claire to trick us! I knew something was off with his expression! Where did he go! Catch him! Killing him wouldn't even be enough to vent my anger!"

"He left last night, and by now he's almost in another territory. Besides, who knows where he ran off to."

Angrily, Baron Eugene raised his longsword and hacked away again, finally calming down with great difficulty.

"Let him go for now. The most urgent matter is how to get our money back!"

At the mention of this, the nobles' faces showed pain. The money they had donated was more than half their wealth. If Frank hadn't suddenly donated thirty thousand Gold Coins, they wouldn't have donated so much themselves. Now it had all fallen into that brat Claire's hands!

Lord Wilby's eyes darted around, and he whispered, "If all else fails, we can do what we did last time..." As he spoke, he made a gesture across his own throat.

Baron Eugene froze. A hint of a smile had just appeared on his face when it was interrupted by a sound from outside.

"Da da da!"

The loud, crisp sound of horses' hooves rang out once more, interrupting Baron Eugene's plan. Ever since they had returned, groups of Knights had been patrolling non-stop outside their residence. While it was said they were patrolling the city, they all knew they were being supervised.

"Damn it!" Baron Eugene slammed his fist on the table. "With us being watched like this, we can't find any opportunities!"

Baron Eugene had no doubt that the moment he made contact with any assassins, thirty to forty Knights would storm in and handcuff him the next second.

The other nobles, hearing the synchronized sound of hooves, instinctively cowered, some in fear.

The scene of the Knights drawing their Greatswords in front of them had left a deep impression. At that time, a single charge from them would have been the end of these men.

"Forget it, we shouldn't provoke him." Eugene said this, almost through gritted teeth.

The other nobles exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. After all, with their strength, a direct confrontation with Claire was out of the question.

"Don't tell me you donated all your money. At least you kept some of your fortune, right?" Baron Eugene scanned the group and continued, "Let's pool some more money, and then we'll transport another batch of goods back. Almost all the shops and businesses in Nafu City are in our hands. If we go bankrupt, the entire Nafu City will collapse with us. Claire wouldn't dare to touch us!"

"As long as we bring the goods back, Nafu City will still be our domain!"

"Mhm, mhm!" The other nobles nodded repeatedly in agreement. The Noble Law protected their private property as sacred and inviolable. Even if Claire was a Viscount, he couldn't force them to hand over their shops through force.

"My Lord Baron, something terrible has happened!" a servant burst through the door, his expression extremely panicked.

Baron Eugene sat up from the sofa angrily. "We're having a meeting! Can't this wait until it's over?"

The servant gasped for air, wiping the sweat from his brow. "It's truly a terrible thing."

Baron Eugene frowned. This servant was usually quite steady. If it weren't for a major disaster, he wouldn't be this flustered.

"What is it?! Speak quickly!"

"The Viscount is giving away goods for free at the city gate. They're all items sold in our shops. If this continues, no one will buy from our shops anymore!"

"Boom!" Baron Eugene felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. He slumped back onto the sofa, feeling weak.

He muttered to himself, "How could this be... How is this possible! Where did they get the goods to give away for free to those commoners?"

Suddenly, Baron Eugene slapped his forehead, connecting all the clues. His voice trembled, "Could it be... there were no bandits at all?"

With this thought, he quickly got up and grabbed the servant's sleeve. "Quick! Hurry and prepare the carriage, I need to go and see!"

The other nobles, though unaware of what had happened, followed Baron Eugene to the city gate.

As soon as they reached the city gate, the nobles understood everything. Those horse-drawn carriages laden with goods were precisely their family carriages! Claire had brought them out without any disguise, not even bothering to remove the product tags. They were from the same supplier they used.

Baron Eugene collapsed onto the ground, staring blankly at the commoners receiving items from the Knights. Those goods originally belonged to them...

"Baron Eugene, are you alright?" a concerned voice called out.

Baron Eugene turned his head. The figure was bathed in sunlight, the blinding rays preventing his face from being clearly seen. Baron Eugene squinted and finally recognized who it was.

"Claire!" Baron Eugene said through gritted teeth.

Claire then half-crouched down, tugged at the other man's collar, and then released him, saying, "Baron Eugene looks rather down on his luck now."

"Isn't that all thanks to you!"

"No, no, no! It's due to your own greed." Claire said with a smile.

"Are you here to gloat at our misfortune!" Eugene stood up, dusting himself off. No matter the situation, he could not lose his noble dignity.

"No!" Claire extended an index finger and waved it. "I'm here to make a deal with you."

"Do you think we'll be foolish enough to make a deal with you like before?" Lord Wilby also stepped forward.

"Listen first," Claire continued. "Give me all your industries in Nafu City, and I'll give you some money. You can continue to develop in other cities."

"Impossible!" Baron Eugene reacted most strongly. These industries in Nafu City were hard-won. If he were to go to another city, it would be impossible to regain such a monopolistic position.

Claire wasn't in a hurry and said with a smile, "Are you sure you don't want to reconsider? How long can your money support you in Nafu City?"

"You see," she said, gesturing to the convoy distributing goods behind her, "most of your money is in my hands. I can continue these free distributions for years. During that time, your shops won't earn a single copper coin. Are you sure you want to drag this out? How much good living can your current money buy you in Nafu City? I've said what I needed to say. Think it over carefully."

Claire's words caused the nobles' eyes to flicker as they pondered. It was true that if things continued like this, they would surely lose. Their money wasn't plentiful; otherwise, they wouldn't have pooled their funds to buy another batch of goods. In that case, they wouldn't even last two or three months, let alone the years Claire mentioned.

"Think about it. I'm leaving now." Claire turned to go.

However, Baron Eugene stopped her. "I'll go! But the money can't be less!"

With one person taking the lead, the rest of the nobles agreed one after another.

"All smart people, I see!" Claire clapped her hands with a smile and waved for the Tax Official, Robin, to come forward. "You can negotiate with him."

Surrounded by the nobles, Robin walked to another area. The nobles began to bargain, hoping to exchange their properties for enough money to live comfortably and freely in another city.

Claire merely glanced at them before walking over to the area where goods were being distributed.

Seeing Claire approach, the commoners knelt down. "Thank you, Viscount!"

Claire, unsure whether to laugh or cry, waved her hand and quickly told them to stand up.

Hant also emerged from the crowd distributing goods.

"Lord!"

"How's it going?"

"The remote villages have had those brats take carts over. They should all be finished this afternoon."

"Good." Claire turned to look at the nobles still haggling, and Hant's gaze followed hers.

Claire said, without understanding why, "We'll work overtime tonight."

Hant, being clever, quickly understood Claire's meaning and grinned broadly. "Understood! My Lord!"

Claire smiled too. These nobles could die, but they just couldn't die within Nafu City. Don't think the Noble Law was just for show. Otherwise, with Knights like Hant, they could have easily dealt with Eugene and the other nobles. Why would they still be dragging this out?

All these nobles could know they died by her hand, but there couldn't be any evidence proving it was her. This was something great nobles understood implicitly. Many lesser nobles under powerful families died mysteriously, and didn't everyone know what was going on? Yes, they did, but as long as it wasn't brought out into the open, no one would really bother to pursue it for the sake of dead lesser nobles, especially when there was no concrete evidence, only speculation.