Chapter 32: The Arrival of the Royal Grand Advisor

"For two whole weeks now, Sir Kael hasn’t shown his face at the pub or anywhere on the city streets. Where on earth has he gone?" Johan complained, his curiosity evident as he stirred the soup in his bowl.

The companion sitting across from him rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Why are you asking me, Vice-Captain Johan? Do you think I’m some kind of psychic or fortune-teller?!"

Johan and several other core members of the mercenary group were currently enjoying some free time at a fairly busy local restaurant, filling their stomachs and sipping warm ale amid the city’s ongoing recovery efforts.

Johan let out a long sigh and rested his chin on one hand. "That’s not what I meant... But whatever. What annoys me even more is why Captain Cherry has been hanging around that cowardly man so much lately! Just looking at them makes me sick."

His teammates immediately burst into mocking laughter.

"Hahaha! Come on, just admit you’re jealous, Vice-Captain! They really do seem to have gotten pretty close lately. If I remember correctly, that young man’s name is Loyd or something... He’s a former mercenary too, and as it happens, he’s Sir Kael’s junior."

"Well, now that I think about it, Loyd’s face is much more handsome and presentable than yours, Vice-Captain... Hahaha!" another soldier chimed in teasingly.

"Damn you all! Instead of offering your own vice-captain some moral support, you’re all ganging up on me and making fun of me!" Johan snapped irritably, biting his index finger in frustration.

Cherry used to like Kael, but now the woman seemed to spend most of her time with Loyd instead.

Am I really destined to spend my entire life alone, without a partner? What a cruel fate!

"It’s not that we’re making fun of you, Vice-Captain... We just don’t want you finding a partner, so you can stay single like the rest of us," the oldest soldier at the table replied with a chuckle.

"You bunch of bastards!" Johan grumbled dejectedly, draining his drink.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers at the end of the table slapped his forehead.

"Oh, right! Speaking of which, why hasn’t the news about Sir Kael’s incredible feats spread throughout the city yet? He slaughtered hundreds of goblins, took down a giant Orc, and wiped out the Dark Mages! Hasn’t anyone spread the truth to the public?"

Hearing this, Johan’s eyes suddenly lit up. He slammed his palm against the wooden table, brimming with enthusiasm.

"Then why don’t we take the initiative and spread the rumors about his heroic deeds ourselves?! Our savior deserves the fame he’s earned!"

Without a second thought, Johan rose from his chair. He took a deep breath before shouting loudly across the entire room, immediately drawing the attention of every customer in the restaurant.

"Excuse me, everyone! Citizens of Vex City! Did you know that a few weeks ago, our region was on the brink of destruction, with several villages being massacred by a heretical cult?!" Johan proclaimed passionately.

The restaurant, which had been bustling with noise moments earlier, fell silent in an instant. People exchanged tense glances.

"Of course we know! That disaster was truly horrifying..." an elderly merchant near the door replied.

"I never would have imagined that our former city official was actually a demon in disguise! That man is truly cursed!" another citizen added angrily.

"But... who was the incredible person who managed to deal with such a massive threat and eliminate it? I haven’t received any detailed information about who saved us."

Johan flashed a broad, proud smile, relishing his role as the bearer of news.

"You mean you still don’t know who the true hero behind our peace is? If you remember, our mercenary group was once dispatched by that impostor city government on a secret mission... and that’s where we witnessed the hero’s greatness with our own eyes!"

Before dozens of increasingly captivated onlookers, Johan began embellishing every detail of Kael’s battles with an extraordinary amount of dramatic flair.

He told them how Kael, with a charismatic aura that made his enemies tremble, had stood alone and sent the Dark Mages shaking with fear, slaughtered hundreds of goblin soldiers without the slightest assistance, and brought down an Orc as tall as a giraffe with a single swing of his sword that cleaved through the air.

The citizens listening to his story nodded in admiration, completely swept up in the heroic tale. In no time, the rumors were bound to spread throughout the entire city, and Johan’s antics would undoubtedly cause Kael a great deal of trouble once people everywhere began singing his praises.

Meanwhile, somewhere else, at the very moment Johan was still engrossed in his storytelling inside the restaurant...

A man and a beautiful woman stood together.

Loyd and Cherry were standing side by side near the main gate of Vex City. Both wore gloomy, weary expressions, as though their faces were shrouded in dark clouds of regret.

Over the past few weeks, as their encounters had become increasingly frequent, the two had decided to take a bold step. They pooled their remaining savings and established a small trading business together, hoping to turn their fortunes around.

However, reality proved far crueler than they had anticipated. Their joint venture went bankrupt within a matter of days, leaving them with devastating financial losses.

Standing around in a daze near the city gate had now become their new daily habit every evening. They would simply stare blankly at a peculiar tree in the distance, its oddly shaped branches somehow offering them a little peace of mind.

"My money... All my savings are gone just like that," Cherry lamented in frustration, lowering her head dejectedly until her beautiful face was cast in shadow. "And I’d only received my salary directly from the princess a few weeks ago..."

"You think I haven’t lost all my money too?!" Loyd retorted sharply, folding his arms across his chest. "You should have listened to my advice from the beginning instead of beating that damned city official to a pulp! He was a former subordinate of the city government with plenty of shady connections."

"Will you shut up already?! Do you think I did it for no reason?! That bastard was trying to scam us! And because of that whole mess, our business license was revoked, we had to pay an outrageous amount in medical compensation, and our former customers suddenly demanded refunds after being manipulated by the vile rumors spread by that bastard official! Honestly... I want to kill him right this very second!" Cherry cursed, the veins in her neck bulging with anger.

Loyd let out a long breath, trying to suppress his own frustration.

"Forget it. Just let it go. Besides, that bastard has officially been dismissed from his position and is now locked away in the prison’s underground solitary confinement cell after recovering from his injuries. He’s finally paying the price for all the abuses of power he committed."

The two fell silent for a moment, each lost in their own regrets. Suddenly, their eyes met in an awkward silence. As they looked at each other’s faces, they spoke the same sentence at precisely the same time, their voices innocent and unassuming.

"By the way... What’s your name again?"

Perhaps they really were that forgetful, or perhaps they had been so busy arguing from the very beginning that they had never properly bothered to ask each other’s names.

However, before either of them could answer that awkward question, their ears caught the distant rumble of carriage wheels and the clinking of armor coming from the main road.

"Huh? Wait... Look at the golden lion emblem on that flag," Cherry whispered in surprise, pointing toward the road. "Isn’t that a royal carriage procession? But... why are there so many large cargo caravans following behind it?"

"I have no idea..." Loyd murmured, narrowing his eyes.

The procession consisted of approximately ten elite royal knights, each of whom was undoubtedly a genuine Two-Star Knight. The presence of these handpicked warriors radiated an overwhelming aura of combat prowess that could not be underestimated.

In the middle of the procession was a large, luxurious carriage under heavy guard. Inside sat a somewhat thin, middle-aged man with a long white mustache neatly curled upward. He wore a colorful cloth hat characteristic of high-ranking officials in the royal court’s bureaucracy.

Both Loyd and Cherry immediately recognized the important figure.

"Isn’t that... the Royal Grand Advisor?!" Loyd exclaimed in shock, his eyes widening. "Why would someone of his stature personally bother coming all the way to this city? Something extraordinary and extremely important must be happening!"

The guards at Vex City’s gate immediately bowed respectfully and opened the gates wide. They swiftly dispatched a runner to report the distinguished visitor’s arrival directly to the new city government.

Without wasting any time, the royal advisor’s entourage proceeded along the main road and stopped right in the middle of the vast city square.

The royal guards immediately sprang into coordinated action. From one of the caravans, they unloaded a small wooden speaking platform adorned with elaborate gold carvings, its appearance extraordinarily luxurious.

The Royal Grand Advisor stepped down from his carriage. He straightened his official robes before casting an imperious gaze around the city square.

"Make preparations..." the advisor murmured coldly, issuing instructions to his subordinates. "Wait until this square is filled with a crowd of citizens... Then we’ll announce an extraordinary decree that will shake this entire region to its core!"