"Alright, I will release you…"
The big man and the rest smirked. As a seasoned hooligan around the neighborhood, he knew no one dared to go against them harshly. As long as they didn't kill anybody, the matter would be soon forgotten. He was feeling happy, yet something wasn't right. Instead of letting them go, Baston casted his ice magic until it further covered the body. Except the big man, all the lackeys were already frozen solid. There was not any sign of life since the
ice suffocated them, plus it was also freezing their body. Noticing the calm fat boy, the big man was horrified.
"What are you doing? Don't you know my boss won't let you go! He will kill you and all of your family!"
Baston didn't care and just glanced at him, "Do you happen to meet your boss personally?"
"Of course! He's very cruel and won't hesitate to kill if he has to…"
"Tell me about your boss then…"
"Do you think I'm stupid? Let me go first before I tell you about him."
"No need. I already know him…" Baston moved closer to the big man, "It's Levan, right? The kind and humble one around here."
"You! How did you know that?"
Baston only grinned, thinking the old book was always right. Just after the word of mastermind popped inside his head, the new quest suddenly appeared. That was why he could deduce everything. Still, something
bothered him since there were more than one sentence at this time. Usually, the given quest only consisted of one sentence which making him to think further if there was anything he had to find out more or not. Anyway, he just had to focus on present quest at the moment before thinking if there was any impact regarding the sentences.
Before he ended the man's life, the big man wailed and started to spill what he knew. Despite looking mild from the outside, what they did was worse than he could imagine. The thugs simply robbed someone or few
people and the boss behind would get the money. After deducting the salary for the thugs and taking a portion for himself, this person named Levan would come to the victim in open arms. He would act like an angel, visiting the victims who just got robbed by his own people and gave their own money disguised as help and support. By doing this, he got good reputation with little effort. It was really disgusting since no one knew about his wrongdoings.
Since they were bounded to be his enemies, there would be no difference if Baston killed the thugs. In the end, the man named Levan must be killed so all his subordinates would soon follow him. The thugs would be gone,
but he hesitated about his legal workers. Levan's business must be surely big in the light where many people leaned on him. These people somehow might know or not regarding the dark secret of their own boss. Baston didn't mind to finish all bad people, but there had to be a lot of good people who would be impacted once Levan perished in his hands. Considering this matter, he had to
make the plan carefully.
After making sure all the thugs died of suffocated, he set a flare magic on their corpses. The fire ignited well and burned everything into ash. By then, no one would find out where they went away. Certainly, no one would notice their disappearance anyway since all they did was only robbing
people. Baston went back and Karte was still waiting worriedly. As soon as he saw him, he hurriedly ran and checked him.
"Young noble, are you alright? Are you hurt? Did the thugs do something to you?"
"I'm alright. You don't need to worry about me. As for the thugs, I had already talked with them and they won't disturb you again."
"Really? Thank you, young noble, for your kindness," Karte bowed down, "Then, come in quickly. All the food and drink are ready. I have picked the best from the best so you will be satisfied."
Baston felt Karte was very eager to serve him. The man devoted himself as his personal servant, although he wasn't a noble to begin with. Despite the truth, it seemed Karte didn't mind it. The fat boy also
didn't think too much and just enjoyed the food. He thought it was just a normal portion, but when he stared at the table, he was sure the diet plan he formulated would fail terribly. The thought of simple man like Karte was to provide a lot since Baston was training in here while it was completely different for what Baston wanted to. He dared not to complain so he just took the food for granted. Since his personal money was used here, it wasn't wrong if he just enjoyed it.
In the meantime, the targeted merchant mentioned by the old book was staying in the best inn at the town. Although it wasn't luxurious like the big city or capital, it was already good enough with many statues and
ornaments to be admired. The innkeeper took painstaking efforts of buying many
expensive things from the outside so the customers could feel it was worth it to stay for a few days here. Right now, the innkeeper personally sent a complimentary food for Levan since everyone around thought highly of him.
"Sir Levan, if you don't mind, please take these complimentary snacks from us…"
"Ah, you don't have to… I'm very ashamed to get such treatment in free even though I have the money."
"It's alright, sir. Your kindness and high reputation already bring many businesses to us so I'm the one who is ashamed since I'm
taking advantages from your presence here."
"Then, I won't be shy anymore…"
Levan and the innkeeper took a short conversation before everything went silent when the innkeeper left the room. The humble man from before slowly turned into grumbling person. If the innkeeper saw him, he must be shocked because such a good person couldn't possibly become bad in no time. Too bad Levan had already fooled many people. He felt flustered since many efforts from him never reached the dream he wished for. Surely, nobility was hard to earn by yourself. Having much money in life didn't guarantee that you would soon achieve it.
Although money couldn't be exchanged with the status of noble, but it could make an impression for people around as a good person. He was known as philanthropist, often making charity everywhere he went. Despite his kindness, there was a dark secret inside his heart. People only knew he
always helped others with the money he had, but never asking where his wealth came from. If they know he colluded with the thugs, people wouldn't stay silent. Getting punch and kick was the smallest impact while being jailed by the authority surely hit the worst. Not only they could take all his money, they also could strip his status. Anyone would be crazy if their status as merchant suddenly became poor in one night.
That was why as an experienced merchant, he didn't do much to people. Basically, killing was almost impossible except the victim was the one being hated every where. Then by no means, it worked wonderfully if he ordered the thugs to kill and clear everything. He would then use the robbed money to appear as the saint, slowly impressing an official from the kingdom. It needed to run slowly until they were sure he had a good heart and worthy to be a noble. He needed many merits so the kingdom could finally award him with the best.
Merits in here worked amazingly in different ways. A person could save many people from disaster to earn merits. It was just like Alicia when she was the responsible one of handling the aftermath after Baston's
puppet took the damage. Baston could also earn his own merits before when he gave a certain formula to Angus. Unfortunately, he wanted to avoid the limelight for now, so it was better to hide first. The recent one when Alicia notified her family of the existence of dark wizard could also be included in merits. In summary, anything that benefited the kingdom was worthy to be praised and awarded.
Helping robbed people and doing charity scored low, but it was the easiest. Levan chose this way since he got the money by taking it forcefully before returning it back. He built his reputation and he also got an
opportunity to become the exclusive supplier for the academy. Although he wanted a faster way, but he reluctantly kept doing it since he believed his reputation would eventually pay off. As long as he continued with this fake performance, everyone would believe it as the real one.
"The magic competition is near. I have to use this occasion to spread my influence further. Let's see what I can do…"
The cunning smile crept out, showing his inner wickedness. While he prepared his own good deeds, Baston also wouldn't stay silence. After trying to combine flare and ice for many times, he finally could concentrate it to one point. The impact at the surrounding wasn't big like an explosion, but he could say the damage was fatal. It was just like a laser that could pierce the body. With this, he believed if he met with his opponent, he only needed to unleash this spell. Just focusing it into a certain target, he could pinpoint it to destroy heart or brain. As long as the other side was dead, it was good. Of course, he
wouldn't use it recklessly since this one was only prepared for the hardest opponent.
The fat on his body wasn't dismissed at all since Karte provided much than he needed. If he gave less money, the servant would think he was dissatisfied of the service so in the end, he could only gnaw the food that
Karte bought painstakingly. Anyway, there was still much money left since the price in the town wasn't like big city. It was very affordable for him. During his disguised training, the magic competition was getting near.
Baston wanted to retreat yet Principal Viral already booked a slot for him. The fat boy was speechless because he wanted to avoid a trouble, but the situation didn't permit him. It would be different if the old book gave
him the quest to attend the magic competition. He would gladly register himself
and tried his best to win. Baston believed he could easily proceed in junior competition since no one could take him face to face. However, this time, he would find a suitable chance to forfeit the match.
Most nobles would come to watch so he was sure they wouldn't like it if he as the poor class suddenly won until the final. The pride of them would be hurt and rather to be applauded as the winner, many would ostracize him because they would have a hard time to convince themselves that the fat boy had higher capability than nobles.
"He should come to this competition…"
Baston started to collect more information regarding Levan. As the exclusive supplier, the person must be well-known among the students here. Most merchant students already knew Levan beforehand since many dreamed to be the one who could replace him. Although the academy was unlike the famous one, it was still big expenditure to spend every year. Levan only needed to
take care Prius Academy for the rest of his life and his wealth could be already guaranteed to last until many generations ahead.
While he was in low spirit, Karte who stood beside him was full of motivation. The servant felt he already chose the best one to serve. Even though the fat boy was deemed to be a poor one, what he saw during the
training was entirely different. There would be no way Baston had enough money to feed himself for several days. The only reason Karte could come up with was the fat boy should disguise himself as the most important person in the academy. He knew it must be true since Panto and Alicia kept delivering food and drink to him. With this clue, Karte wished he could stay with Baston until the end.