Chapter 21: The Agreement

George pretended to be calm and only glanced at Knight Val with the corner of his eyes. He saw that Val’s expression remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

‘Mr. Val has no intention to speak up. That means this matter is entirely my responsibility, right? It’s better not to give a quick reply now, since they are the ones who need our help.’ George made his decision. He pretended to be young and innocent, acting as if he couldn’t understand the previous words at all.

“Meow—” For a moment, the room was so quiet that you could hear the cat meowing outside. In this situation, no one was eager to give a response, because doing so might put them at a disadvantage in future negotiations. Actually, if George and his group really wanted to make a decision, the people in the town wouldn’t even get a chance to bargain. But to avoid getting a reputation for bullying the weak, or to balance the relationship between Knight Val and the Mayor, they still needed to put on a bit of a show.

As the weaker party, Mayor Duz-E couldn’t hold back any longer: “Given the current situation in the town, we can only seek help from Lord Bolerum and your group. In the time before the reinforcements arrive, please help protect the town’s safety and maintain daily order.”

George pretended to think for a moment, then looked up and spoke: “It makes everyone feel bad that this happened. To be honest! If you ask us to completely ignore the lives of the town’s Commoners, we simply cannot do that. But just from last night’s battle, our caravan lost about twenty people permanently. Although most of the losses were peripheral members, there were still quite a few ordinary injured. So, the help we can give you is actually very limited.”

The Mayor waved his hand, and all the town representatives stood up. Then they gathered in a circle and started a hushed discussion, which all fell into George’s ears.

“Why should I pay so much? Why doesn’t the Rinda family have to pay?”

“Nonsense! Their eldest son died last night protecting the town. How dare you ask them to pay this money.”

“Um, you all know our family is in the business of selling Adventurer supplies. I guess there will be a good profit after last night’s battle. How about I pay a bit more?”

“No need. This money must be handled according to the rules. If you really care, just work harder when the town is rebuilt after the disaster.”

“…, …”

After their internal debate and bargaining, they dispersed. Except for a few people who looked like they were in pain, the rest of the crowd also looked unhappy.

After the meeting, the representatives spoke to George on behalf of the Mayor: “First, we thank Lord Bolerum and his group again for helping our town. Regarding your losses last night, the town will provide compensation. If you are willing to protect the town in the coming days, we will try our best to settle the subsidy matter.”

Since the words were said this far, George felt it was awkward not to respond. If he agreed completely, it would look like he was taking advantage of their misfortune. George thought for a moment and then agreed: “Then we thank the town for your kindness. However, the losses of my group last night were not that big, so let’s skip the compensation matter. Of course, we still ask you to handle the compensation for the deaths and injuries of our guards. As for the subsidy, there is no need. Our caravan also plans to stay in the town to rest for a few days. During this time, we will be responsible for protecting the town from attacks by outside invaders. But regarding maintaining order in the town, we cannot interfere. Please have the town select its own young men to handle this matter. After all, we are vassals outside the territory, and it is not appropriate for us to interfere in the daily affairs within the Liege Lord’s land.”

Hearing George’s reply, the Mayor let out a long sigh of relief: “Then we will rely on you for our safety in the next few days. We will send the compensation money to the camp later.”

Since the agreement was set, George decided to leave as soon as possible to avoid disturbing the town’s internal affairs: “Then this matter is settled. If there are no other questions, we will leave now, as it is better to arrange the town’s defense work as soon as possible.”

After George said this, Knight Val also spoke: “Duz, I will return with Lord Bolerum as well. If there is anything, please send someone to find me in the camp. Unless something unexpected happens, I should be there these days.”

“Oh, then no need to see you off. We still have some matters of our own to discuss.” The Mayor showed a relaxed expression.

Since the host was no longer trying to keep them, George and his group stood up and left.

However, as soon as they left the Mayor’s courtyard, George received a System prompt.

Host has completed the regional mission: Shadow Night Attack under Peace. Host has also completed the life mission: The First Night Battle. The rewards have been issued. Please check them yourself.

Completing two missions at once was something George had not expected. The System never gave rewards in advance; it only gave them after completion. George thought this might be to prevent the host from becoming lazy, because if one relied too much on the System, some people might slack off in other areas of effort. Such uncertain missions were often treated as Easter eggs. The sense of uncertainty and crisis often made people more motivated.

The mission “Shadow Night Attack under Peace” seemed to be a series mission on the surface, and the name “Shadow under Peace” seemed to suggest that this mission was not simple. At this point, George felt he must have gotten involved in a big conspiracy targeting the entire Duchy or at least the position of the Grand Duke itself.

If it was the former, not only would the hair have no place to grow without the skin, but to prevent a large-scale drop in strength, they would also have to organize an army to fight fiercely. After all, a Knight’s strength is largely constrained by oaths and beliefs. If they watched from the sidelines when facing an external invasion, they would end up the same as a Paladin who betrayed their original path. If it was the latter, it was likely a struggle between Heirs for the top crown, which obviously seriously violated the long-standing Duchy’s rule of primogeniture. But how to handle this situation still needed to be decided after exchanging information with his father.

Throughout the whole event, George never linked this attack to his group. After all, if they were targeting George and his group, even sending a town-strength expert might not guarantee success. How much more so for this group of Goblins that were only slightly better than a rabble. Plus, the attack spreading in all directions and the main force splitting up proved that they had no intention of conducting a siege. Another point was that George did not feel any continuous malice or danger targeting him specifically.

George’s face changed colors continuously, which seemed to attract the attention of those around him. To hide the reason, he had to ask Knight Val: “Mr. Val, are there any special clues about last night’s attack?”

“Why would you suddenly think I have clues about this?” Knight Val crossed his arms and looked at George with interest.

“I guessed.” George smiled awkwardly and pulled Hiren beside him.

“Oh, how did you guess?” Knight Val continued to press the issue.

George scratched his head and said: “Hiren told me earlier that you were not in the camp very early this morning. Connecting that with the time you just sent someone to notify me to attend the meeting and the situation during the meeting, I think if it was just a preliminary negotiation with the town or a private meeting with the Mayor, it wouldn’t have taken you that long. So you must have spent your time elsewhere, and the most likely place is investigating last night’s attack. As for whether you found any results, I will wait for you to answer.”

Knight Val lowered his crossed arms and directly reached out to pat George on the head. The speed was obviously slow, but for some reason, George felt he couldn’t avoid it at all.

“This is the gap in absolute strength,” George sighed in his heart. Knight Val’s casual gesture, though unintentional, left George with no ability to resist.

“Sometimes I really don’t know how your little brain works. I did go outside the town this morning to look for clues. As far as I can see now, although I cannot say I found nothing, I also couldn’t find any truly decisive evidence.” Knight Val also whistled along.

“It’s just making possible inferences based on existing clues and following logical patterns.” This was the only ability from George’s original world that improved significantly without relying on the System after he transmigrated. Of course, he couldn’t tell others. Facing Knight Val’s teasing, George could only pretend to be a teenager being praised by an elder and let out a “hehehe” laugh.

“Don’t act stupid. Didn’t I say before? Your acting is not good at all. Next time you smile, remember to do it from the heart.” Knight Val said, and seeing no one else around, he gently patted George’s head.

George said in frustration: “Okay! Okay! Once something becomes a habit, it can’t be changed in a moment. Let’s not talk about this for now. Mr. Val, what clues did you actually find?”

“Speaking of clues, do you know what I found? About ten Rulers southwest of the town, I found a very simple camp. Judging from the footprints and other traces left at the scene, it should be that group of damn Goblins.” Knight Val shrugged, finding his teasing failed.

Hiren cried out in surprise: “Father, are you sure you are awake right now? Did the morning Cider not affect you? Goblins going out to build a camp? That is a real joke.”

“Thwack—” For Hiren’s teasing, Knight Val gave him a loud bonk on the head without any mercy. Of course, facing Hiren who was taller than him, Knight Val’s action was somewhat comical.

Seeing Hiren rubbing his head, George stepped in to smooth things over: “Although it is surprising that Goblins would build a camp outside, I don’t think Mr. Val would make such a low-level mistake on this matter. So please continue, Mr. Val. What exactly did you find in the camp?”

“Okay, let me show you some of the pointing evidence I found in the camp.” Saying this, Knight Val took out a black-brown block-shaped object from his waist pouch.