Chapter 163: Sharp Words (Part 1)

“Of course not!”

Faced with Dean, who had proven with his actions that ‘if I made a move, Baron Janel would not have survived,’ Baron Defendi naturally had nothing to say. After forcing a smile onto his face, he took his subordinates and left. Almost the instant he turned around, the forced smile on Baron Defendi’s face vanished without a trace, leaving only a deep, cold gloom. Paired with his gaunt frame and high cheekbones, he looked like a venomous snake walking upright.

Dean watched the other party’s retreating figure, a faint smile still hanging on his face—a moment ago, if he hadn’t possessed [Dragon Swordsmanship], even if the level of [Military Swordsmanship (Emerald)] were two levels higher, it would have been useless. Without the intimidation of [Momentum of Might], his failure would have been almost predictable, and this was undoubtedly what the other party had anticipated.

Thinking of the other party’s purpose, the killing intent in the depths of Dean’s eyes was instinctively concealed—the other party’s identity as a Psychic Sorcerer made Dean hide his killing intent very deeply in his heart, revealing not a single trace; otherwise, being discovered by the other party would only alert the enemy.

Although the other party had already made it onto Dean’s kill list, it was definitely not at this time, inside Vauban City.

It was just like how the other party hadn’t truly killed Baron Janel earlier.

Dean similarly had that concern and could not truly kill the other party.

However, this was limited to within Vauban City.

Once they left Vauban City…

Dean sneered coldly in his heart and shouted to his subordinate: “Theron, take two men to notify Grand Knight Anluo at the City Guard, and tell that Grand Knight what happened here!”

“Yes, Regiment Commander!”

The young Captain immediately called two companions, left the residence, and ran toward the Lower District.

Being in Vauban City, such a murder should naturally be reported to Marquis Vauban or Marquis Vauban’s subordinates; this was something a guest and a vassal Lord of the County King must do.

After Theron left, at Dean’s signal, Huck cordoned off the area temporarily, waiting for the arrival of Grand Knight Anluo.

Dean walked toward the young lady of the Tier Baron Family, who was once again being pestered by the Good-for-nothing Baron.

Seeing Dean approach, the Good-for-nothing Baron subconsciously took two steps back—clearly, even if his reaction was slow, he understood what the previous scene represented.

Even with two Knight-rank guards, his safety could not be guaranteed.

Moreover, he didn’t have any.

Therefore, as if afraid that Dean would suddenly attack, Baron Janel took a few more steps back after subconsciously retreating two steps.

He looked reluctantly at the young lady of the Tier Baron Family.

Regarding this, the young lady was extremely disgusted.

Therefore, seeing that she had gotten rid of the other party’s pestering, she walked toward her room without hesitation.

“Follow me!”

The moment she passed by Dean, the Baron’s daughter whispered.

Out of gratitude for earlier, Dean did not say much and followed directly.

“I’m sorry!”

Upon returning to the young lady’s room, when the door was closed again, the young lady bowed with an apologetic look on her face.

Dean was stunned, but immediately reacted; he smiled and waved his hand: “I am the Regiment Commander of the Ferrchelen Knight Order, and I can be considered a member of the Tier Territory; Baron Defendi attacking me is naturally obvious enough!”

“Thank you for your tolerance, but Baron Defendi is not one to give up easily, plus you…”

Naturally, the young lady of the Baron Family was full of gratitude for such an answer, but the expression on her face was somewhat serious.

“‘Knight’s Baptism’ and ‘Knighting Ceremony’?”

Before the young lady of the Tier Baron Family could finish, Dean interrupted.

“Hmm, you should be undergoing the ‘Knighting Ceremony’ after completing the ‘Knight’s Baptism’, right?”

The young lady of the Tier Baron Family was not surprised that Dean could guess what she wanted to say; she just nodded and asked.

Clearly, in this young lady’s mind, it was only normal for Dean to realize this.

“This is Lord Marquis’s arrangement, so naturally it won’t change!”

Dean answered.

“Therefore, if they can prevent your ‘Knighting Ceremony’, then the time of the ‘Knight’s Baptism’ would be the best opportunity—you know, when Knights gather, sparring is inevitable, whether they are ‘newly promoted’ Knights or Knights who have been famous for a long time. Normally, this wouldn’t be anything… but after that day, you have to undergo the knighting; once you are defeated by a certain Knight, your reputation will suffer a huge blow. If you lose twice or three times, then Defendi will definitely jump out and question whether you can be knighted!”

When saying this, the young lady of the Tier Baron Family was filled with worry.

Regarding this, Dean smiled gratefully, but did not say much—Dean now had the confidence to end a battle extremely quickly even when facing an existence of the Grand Knight level, and Knight-rank opponents were even less of a concern.

Although Baron Defendi himself was an opponent of Knight-rank strength plus the abilities of a High Wizard spellcaster, the other party would absolutely not personally enter the fray to expose his trump cards.

His avoidance of the ‘duel invitation’ earlier had already explained the problem.

That left only the Knight-rank Guard Captain in the other party’s camp, and another guy hiding in the dark who was also of Knight-rank.

However, for Dean, this was obviously not the slightest bit dangerous.

As for hiring other experts?

After the battle of Vauban Castle, the experts with any reputation gathered in Vauban City had been wiped out; it was impossible for Baron Defendi to hire anyone even if he wanted to.

And after setting this aside, there was only one thing Dean needed to worry about—

“What we need to be wary of now is this guy joining forces with Bishop Deholl… by Bishop Deholl’s side, there are quite a few powerful Knights…”

When Bishop Deholl was mentioned, the worry in the eyes of the young lady of the Tier Baron Family almost materialized.

After all, regarding Deholl, who was known for being rigid and ‘just’, the young lady of the Tier Baron Family could almost be certain that he would work in cahoots with Defendi.

As long as Defendi paid enough Gold Pulton.

And coincidentally, Defendi, who owned an iron mine, did not lack Gold Pulton.

“Miss Lily, this is unavoidable!”

Dean looked at the worried young lady of the Baron Family and decided to tell her something.

But when Dean revealed Grand Knight Anluo’s ‘commission’, the young lady of the Baron Family paced back and forth in the room with increasing anxiety.

“Dean, how could you agree so casually? This is a struggle between Marquis Vauban and Bishop Deholl; you don’t need to participate. You have the appreciation of the Emerald Grand Duke, and the Potion bestowed by the Emerald Grand Duke, so you should take it now to increase your own Strength—don’t say it doesn’t matter; a sudden increase without the adapted strength is definitely not a good thing!”

When the footsteps of the young lady of the Tier Baron Family stopped, a string of complaints blurted out.

Knock, knock!

“Miss, Grand Knight Anluo requests an audience!”

Just as Dean wanted to explain something, footsteps outside the door and the knocking of a Guard sounded at the same time.

“What a coincidence!”

Dean was stunned—clearly, Grand Knight Anluo’s arrival speed exceeded his expectations; however, the next moment, looking at the young lady of the Baron Family whose face showed faint anger, Dean gave a wry smile.

Undoubtedly, Grand Knight Anluo had come at the worst possible time.

When Grand Knight Anluo, who carried a somewhat refined air, walked into the room, he immediately noticed something was wrong; the young lady of the Tier Baron Family, who always behaved properly, was glaring at him, while Dean stood by with a wry smile on his lips; however, Grand Knight Anluo was only stunned for a moment before he immediately recovered and greeted the two.

“Miss Tier, good day!”

“Dean, we meet again!”

Grand Knight Anluo’s distinct greetings showed his unusual relationship with Dean.

However, precisely because of this, the young lady of the Tier Baron Family became even more angry—

“Grand Knight Anluo, I believe your actions go against the Way of the Knight!”

The young lady of the Tier Baron Family said coldly, and almost the moment she opened her mouth, she placed the other party in a position of being judged.

“What is wrong?”

Grand Knight Anluo looked at the young lady of the Baron Family in confusion.

“You asked Dean to help you deal with Bishop Deholl, but have you considered what price Dean would pay?” The young lady of the Tier Baron Family questioned the other party, and then, without waiting for Grand Knight Anluo to speak, the young lady continued: “The struggle between Lord Marquis and Bishop Deholl is something we local Lords have always remained neutral in; this is something even His Majesty the King has tacitly approved. Why are you dragging Dean into this struggle now?”

“Moreover, don’t you know that Dean still has a ‘Knighting Ceremony’ to attend? If he is defeated twice, can he still obtain the title? Please don’t tell me that Lord Marquis has his own arrangements… such a reason is not something a Noble does to damage his own interests—you must know that Dean was willing to stay back then, which proved his noble character; otherwise, he could have left with the Emerald Grand Duke. With the Emerald Grand Duke’s appreciation of Dean, a Baron’s title would be guaranteed, right?”

The young lady of the Tier Baron Family spoke continuously without stopping, and almost set the tone between the vassal Lords and the County King.

Looking at Grand Knight Anluo’s wry smile, one could tell how strong such a tone was.

Grand Knight Anluo did not even dare to answer directly now.

After all, one wrong move could lead to rumors that ‘Marquis Vauban oppressed vassal Nobles’.

And once such rumors spread, it would obviously be an extremely bad influence on Marquis Vauban’s reputation.

As for whether the young lady of the Tier Baron Family would do such a thing?

Grand Knight Anluo looked again at the other party’s cold, Frost-like expression, and clearly had no doubt about it.