Chapter 374: Welcome Home

"Don't! I'll talk, I'll talk!" The sharp dagger scraped against the Speaker's skin. Though it hadn't even broken the surface, his mind had already replayed the scene of him collapsing in a pool of his own blood countless times. "Fine, I'll tell you!"

"It's the Molten Iron Barrier! They have designs on Delusional Land and want to use Rose City to stage a grand show to lure Ron here and force him into submission!" The Speaker spoke in a rush, completely devoid of the calm, deliberate air of authority he usually carried. "Their people have already infiltrated Rose City. How could I possibly refuse? It wasn't up to me!"

"So, you just kept this to yourself, and we weren't even allowed to know?!" The legislators immediately erupted into an uproar. One with a fiery temper slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, berating the Speaker for his treachery. "What a grand show this is, turning the whole city upside down!"

"I demand the council compensate me for my losses!"

"I'd advise you all to calm down," Seymour grunted amidst the chorus of denunciations against the Speaker. "I'm not a particularly brave man, and my hand gets shaky very easily."

"If any of you slam the table and shout again..."

"We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare." The Zor Elf's words instantly transformed the previously irate legislator's expression into one of meek benevolence. He scrambled back into his seat, not daring to utter another word.

"I didn't know it would get this out of hand, either. Sigh." The Speaker's face was a mask of misery. "They only said they wanted to 'invite' the Daniel Couple for a 'chat.' They never said it would cause such a commotion."

"Besides, they didn't authorize me to inform any of you about the situation. They did, however, provide a hefty sum as compensation, which I was planning to..."

Old Feibo cut him off again. "That doesn't add up. If that's the case, why isn't Mr. Hendrix in attendance either?"

"Well, supposedly they originally wanted him to cooperate, but they had some kind of falling out," the Speaker said after a moment's thought. "Feibo, it's no use asking me more. Compared to all of you, I was only privy to a little information. I have no power to interfere..."

"I believe that part," Old Feibo said with a nod, motioning for Seymour to release the Speaker. "You don't have the guts. None of us here do. If we did, there wouldn't be a Rose City or a City-State Alliance."

The legislators murmured in agreement. This wasn't some great shame to them. What was wrong with just trying to live a quiet life? It was just that this time, they had misjudged the situation, and things had spun a little out of their control.

Who could have imagined that some fellow who'd been established in a wasteland for less than a year could raise such a ruckus against the Molten Iron Barrier? This was far more intense than their own counterattack against Carolina back in the day!

"Old Feibo, your actions today... this isn't that Ron's handiwork, is it?" Seeing that Old Feibo and his son just seemed to want them to stay out of the affair, an acquainted legislator ventured the question.

His question was met with a nod. "Then tell me, is it possible this young man wants to use this opportunity to get rid of us—"

The man made a throat-slitting gesture. From any angle, Rose City was a far better prize than Delusional Land. If Ron truly possessed that kind of power, there was no guarantee he wouldn't get ideas about Rose City.

"Relax. Wasn't your nephew sent to Delusional Land to train?" Old Feibo shot him a look. "Did he not mention it in his letters? This Ron isn't that kind of man. He's only striking back against the Molten Iron Barrier this time—just like he did with Carolina."

"'Striking back,' huh..." The legislator muttered, then said no more.

'Some counterattack. He nearly leveled their entire city-state! With so many goblins!'

"But speaking of which, why is this Ron making such a huge scene?" the "hot-tempered" legislator from before piped up again. "If Legislator Daniel was kidnapped, why didn't he just ask us to mediate? As long as the price was right, I don't think it needed to escalate to this point, did it?"

"That's because you don't understand who Legislator Daniel is to him!" Old Feibo sneered. "Do you know his daughter? The last time she was here, she grew quite close to Lord Ron! With her parents kidnapped, you tell me, how could Ron *not* be in a hurry?"

"That's not a given. If my in-laws were kidnapped, I certainly wouldn't be in a hurry—"

Seymour shot a cold glance at the circle of disreputable old men around the table and let out a scoff. 'Aive? Can that Half-Elf even compare to Silvia? He was firmly on Team Silvia!'

Leaving the increasingly bizarre council meeting aside, let's turn to Ron. As chaos erupted all around, Ron confirmed that he wouldn't be disturbed for a while and gave the signal. Constance, who had been lying in ambush near the manor for some time, immediately opened the main gate. Ron followed her as she charged in, making a beeline for the large, beautiful house.

The door wasn't locked. Constance easily flicked the handle down with the tip of her Swift Sword, and the two of them slipped inside, one after the other. The rest of their team fanned out across the manor grounds to catch any potential stragglers.

"No one's here?" Constance frowned, her gaze sweeping over the home she hadn't returned to in months. Her confusion was quickly overcome by a pang of longing. "Mr. Ron, my father doesn't seem to be here."

'A trap without even any bait?' Ron blinked, but an idea immediately came to him. "Come on, upstairs!"

"We'll take the staircase Mr. Hendrix forbids anyone else from using!"

"Alright!" The question "Where's Dad?" now echoed in her mind, just as it had for her cousin. At this point, Constance couldn't be bothered with Hendrix's instructions. She hurriedly led Ron through the hallway and dashed upstairs.

The room's furnishings were basically the same as when Delaford had last seen them, unchanged: on the bookshelf sat a book that was welded to the shelf, likely part of some mechanism.

Ron summoned a Mage's Hand. He motioned for Constance to stand back and watch out for any surrounding traps. But before the Mage's Hand could even touch the mechanism, a figure appeared behind them.

A familiar scent pricked at Ron and Constance's senses. They spun around to see a humanoid creature, only half the height of an average person, standing in the doorway with his hands behind his back.

"Butler Sred?" Constance froze for a second, then a look of surprised delight crossed her face. "Sir, where is my father? We've run into some trouble that might involve him!"

'This Halfling bore a striking resemblance to Butler Sred, but his demeanor was completely different. Even dressed in the exact same clothes Ron had seen Butler Sred wear last time, there was no way he would mistake the two.'

'But Constance didn't recognize the difference?'

"The master had to step out on urgent business," 'Sred' said, keeping his hands behind his back to carefully conceal a poison-laced Flame-shaped Dagger. He gave Constance a slight bow. "If you would please exit the study, shall we wait for the master downstairs?"

"Of course!" Constance took two quick steps forward. As she sheathed her Swift Sword, her hand swung back several times in a rapid gesture. Ron didn't understand the signal, but he guessed it was a hint for him to remain calm. "Sir, please lead us down."

"After you." The Halfling leaned against the doorframe, showing no intention of moving. Seeing this, Constance had no choice but to step out of the study first.

She seemed to recall something and suddenly turned back. "Mr. Sred, have you forgotten to say something?"

"What might that be?" 'Sred' blinked, then lowered his head as if in sudden realization. "Of course."

"Welcome home, milady."