Russian Roulette! Please Vote and Bookmark!!!!

The moment Claire said that, everyone turned to look at the administrative officer, Frank. Frank still had no idea what had happened. He looked utterly confused as he glanced around at everyone.

What do you mean, my suggestion? I never said anything like that! And wasn't the tax reduction your idea for me to handle? How did it get pinned on me?

If he had not been in the prime of his life, Frank might have thought his memory was failing him.

But when he saw Claire's smiling face, Frank understood what was going on. She had shifted the conflict onto him, trying to keep the discord internal.

The solution was simple, though. As long as he denied it now, the matter would be resolved.

But the problem was, he did not dare!

She was looking at him with that smile. Thinking of how Knight Captain Dean had died before, Frank felt that if he denied it, he would not end up much better than Dean!

"Administrative Officer Frank, is that how it happened?" Baron Eugene asked in a pressuring tone.

Sweat beaded on Frank's forehead. He looked at Baron Eugene and the people around him who were threatening him, then at the smiling Viscountess. Frank swallowed, thoroughly nervous.

After weighing the pros and cons in his heart,

Frank forced himself to say, "Yes. The Viscountess had just returned to the territory, and I thought reducing the taxes a little would make the local residents think more favorably of her. It was a good idea."

"Hmph!" Baron Eugene snorted. He clearly did not believe such nonsense. Frank had received a share of the money they had divided up back then; there was no way he would do something so stupid just to curry favor with Claire.

The other nobles looked awful as well, glaring at the administrative officer who had betrayed them.

"Ahem. Although Frank has served as administrative officer for many years, people make mistakes sometimes. We feel that reducing taxes is inappropriate, Viscountess," Baron Eugene said, immediately shifting the focus away from Frank.

"Do you all think so too?" Claire asked with wide, curious eyes.

"Mhm!" The other nobles nodded one after another.

"Hiss, but my decree has already been announced. Wouldn't it harm my reputation if I withdrew it now?"

Seeing Claire waver, Baron Eugene immediately said, "Rest assured, Viscountess. We have already thought of a solution for you. You can say that you need to hold your coming-of-age ceremony at sixteen, but your funds are insufficient, so you need to raise taxes."

"Ohhh!" Claire suddenly understood. "You really are thinking of everything for me."

"It is merely our duty," Baron Eugene said with a smile.

"But I still think it is somewhat inappropriate." Claire rubbed her chin in thought. "How about we let the gods decide?"

"What do you mean?"

Bang!

Claire took a revolver from her Spatial Ring and slammed it onto the table. "This is a Magic Weapon. It is also the weapon I used to kill Dean yesterday. Next, we are going to play a game."

Though everyone was puzzled, they still asked, "What game?"

Claire revealed a mysterious smile. "Russian Roulette!"

"Russian Roulette?" the others repeated.

"That is right. Let me show you how it works." Claire took a bullet from her Spatial Ring and pushed it into the cylinder. With a click, she snapped it shut.

She aimed at a massive suit of armor displayed by the living room entrance and pulled the trigger. A thunderous bang erupted through the room, startling the nobles so badly that they sprang up from the sofas as though they had suffered a massive fright.

Once they recovered, they looked again at the suit of armor she had aimed at. It had been blasted over by the bullet, and a huge hole had appeared where it had been struck. It might have been a decoration, but it was still made of iron!

Everyone present was horrified. No wonder it had been powerful enough to kill Dean. Frank was especially glad he had escaped disaster. Thankfully, he had not defied the Viscountess just now. If that shot had hit him, he did not even dare imagine the outcome.

Seeing that the intimidation had worked nicely, Claire swung open the cylinder again, loaded in a bullet, and spun the cylinder hard. It rotated at high speed before she flicked her wrist and snapped it back into the revolver with a click.

"There are six chambers in total, and I put in one bullet. That means there is a one-in-six chance."

As she spoke, Claire slid the revolver across the table and placed it before Baron Eugene. "Now leave your fate to the gods. If you point it at your own head and pull the trigger, and it does not fire, then I will withdraw the tax reduction order I issued earlier."

Baron Eugene looked at the revolver Claire had pushed toward him. His body instinctively shrank deeper into the sofa, his eyes full of terror.

It might only be a one-in-six chance, but how could a noble like him gamble his life on something like that?

"It is one chance in six. Those are pretty good odds," Claire coaxed.

"Viscountess, I suddenly remembered that I still have some matters to handle at home. Let us leave it at that for today. I will take my leave first." Baron Eugene hurriedly stood up, his legs trembling as he walked.

The other nobles and merchants hurriedly rose as well. "Viscountess, I also suddenly remembered some urgent matters at home. I shall take my leave first."

More than ten of them crowded and jostled their way toward the door. This was not a place people like them could stay. It was far too terrifying!

Claire remained seated and said lazily, "Take care~ I will not see you out~"

Only after those irritating nobles had left the manor did Claire stand up. Regan also came over.

"Young Master, how could you hand such an important thing to them? What if they used it against you?" Regan's face was full of worry.

Claire picked up the revolver from the table and glanced at its cylinder. The white scratch she had made earlier marked the chamber containing the bullet, and there were still three chambers between it and the firing position. If someone tried to use it against her, then when they fired the first shot, she would simply take another revolver with a fully loaded cylinder from her Spatial Ring and turn them into a sieve.

"It is fine. Didn't you see that they were scared out of their wits? They did not even dare touch the gun." As she spoke, Claire frowned and looked at the sofa where the nobles had been sitting. She waved a hand in front of her nose. "Throw that sofa away. I do not know which noble wet himself."

Regan looked over. Sure enough, there was a wet patch on that sofa. His brow furrowed as well, and he quickly ordered the maids to carry it away.

Claire slowly walked toward the tall building, with Regan following close behind.

"Young Master, why did you not cooperate with them? From their tone, it sounded like they were willing to give you a share of the wealth."

"Why should I share with them? That was my property to begin with. They have been secretly taking my wealth all along, and now that the owner has returned, they still want to use my own money to brush me off?" Claire found it both amusing and absurd.

Regan frowned deeply. He felt as though he was unworthy of being the Griffin Family's butler. Even something like this needed the Young Master to point out before he could understand it.

"Do you remember what I told you before?"

Regan's eyes lit up. "You mean... whoever has money, takes their money? Are we going after these nobles?"

But Regan quickly became worried again. "After all, they have lived in Nafu City for so long, while we have only just returned to the Viscount's territory. Wouldn't this be too hasty? I am afraid they might affect your plans, Young Master."

By then, Claire had reached the fifth-floor balcony, where she could see the nobles leaving the manor below. The nobles also looked up and saw Claire standing atop the building.

The nobles below respectfully removed their top hats and gave Claire a noble's salute.

"Good day, Viscountess!"

Claire leaned against the balcony and smiled as she waved at them.

She replied softly, "They are just a bunch of useless fools. They cannot cause much trouble."

After listening to readers' suggestions, I will still be updating once a day for now. There will be two updates a day after signing a contract.