Watching Alice’s departing back, Linley sat down. Grabbing a fruit, he began to casually eat it. At this time, Bebe popped out as well.
“Boss, you’re gonna help that Alice? If it were me, I would’ve kicked her out long ago. Heck, it’s enough that you didn’t just slap her to death with one palm!” Bebe said unhappily.
Linley glanced at Bebe. “Bebe, humans aren’t magical beasts.”
At this time, Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon ring. Looking at Linley with an approving gaze, he said, “Linley, you performed very well. I was a bit worried that you’d have a child’s temper and shoo her away, throwing another stone into a drying well.”
“A child’s temper?” Linley was startled.
In Doehring Cowart’s eyes, such behavior was indeed that of a child.
“That’s right. Women, psh. They are all over the place.” Doehring Cowart chuckled.
Linley was instantly speechless. He was very much not in favor of Doehring Cowart’s viewpoint on women, which was rather similar to the viewpoints of Yale and Reynolds.
“Alright, enough chat. I need to continue my training.” Linley immediately rose and returned to the Hot Springs Garden.
As far as Linley was considered, Alice was nothing more than a side-episode, incapable of affecting his mood. Right now, the only thing Linley cared about was… avenging his father.
“His Majesty is in his study, laboring over affairs of state. Lord Linley, please come with me to the study,” the palace attendant said respectfully.
Linley nodded.
Bebe standing on his shoulders, Linley followed the attendant towards the study. After a while, they finally arrived.
“Your Majesty! Lord Linley has arrived!” The palace attendant called out loudly from outside the door to the study.
Clayde, who had been absorbed in reading some texts, raised his head. When his tiger-like gaze landed upon Linley, his eyes shone excitedly. Laughing loudly, he said, “Linley, quick, come in. There’s no need for the two of us to stand on so much ceremony.”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Linley laughed faintly as he entered the study. Clayde, in Linley’s eyes, really was a bold, straightforward man, and was incredibly polite when interacting with Linley, never using his position as the king to try and bully him.
“If it wasn’t for my father’s death,” Linley mused to himself, “Perhaps you and I would’ve become friends. But there will come a day where I must kill you. Right now, the only thing I am lacking is an opportunity.” Linley had never hesitated in his determination to kill Clayde.
As soon as he had the opportunity, he would definitely kill him.
Clayde clinked wine cups with Linley in a toast, took a sip, then said, “Linley. It is quite rare that you would voluntarily come pay a visit to the palace. What business do you, my Prime Court Magus, have to discuss with me today?”
Linley chuckled.
The Prime Court Magus actually had quite a few responsibilities, but Linley had never undertaken any of them. He allowed the other court magi to assume many of the responsibilities, and Clayde had never given him any pressure. After all, Linley was only a servant of the Kingdom of Fenlai in name. All he was doing… was showing that he, Linley, considered himself to be on Clayde’s side.
“It’s true that I came here today to discuss something.” Linley smiled as he looked at Clayde. “With the Debs clan under suspicion of smuggling water jade, your Majesty ordered that Kalan and Bernard be seized, right?”
“That is so.” Clayde frowned as he looked at Linley. “What, you’ve also come to speak on their behalf?”
Over this period of time, quite a few nobles had come to speak on behalf of the Debs clan. The reason they had done this was because the Debs clan had made use of their fortune.
“If you really want to save their clan, I can indeed give you face,” Clayde said forthrightly.
The only thing Clayde really wanted to do was to break the power structure that had been erected by his younger brother Patterson. As for the Debs clan, he was going to dispose of them just as a matter of course. He was totally willing to pardon the Debs clan in exchange for Linley now owing him a favor. After all, even if he were to pardon the Debs clan, he could also squeeze them for quite a hefty price in the process.
“No.” Linley only shook his head. “I haven’t come to speak on their behalf.”
“What?” Clayde looked curiously at Linley.
Linley said casually, “Your Majesty, the question of whether or not the Debs clan engaged in the smuggling of water jade naturally has to be handled in a fair, aboveboard manner.”
“Oh?” Clayde looked questioningly at Linley. “Then Linley, the reason you came today was because…”
Linley laughed. “I’m thinking that it’s enough for you to have seized the clan leader, Bernard, due to your suspicion that the Debs clan engaged in the smuggling of water jade. As for his son, there’s no need to seize him. After all, what’s the point of seizing a successor? If you seize the first one, they’ll still have a second one. As long as their clan isn’t exterminated, someone will continue the line.”
“Linley, you mean to say…” Clayde looked at Linley.
Linley looked back at Clayde. “Your Majesty, I hope you can release Kalan.”
“Oh, release Kalan. I heard that you and Kalan…?” Clayde had done a very thorough investigation on Linley. Naturally, he knew of the complicated history between Linley, Kalan, and Alice.
Linley let out a helpless laugh. “Your Majesty, that was a long time ago.”
Clayde reminded him, “Linley, I must remind you that based on my investigations, this Kalan fellow is a very vicious, narrow-minded person who can hold a grudge.”
“I know.” Linley nodded slightly.
Based on the few interactions he had with Kalan, Linley had already sensed that Kalan viewed him with hostility. And… Linley knew that during the seven day exhibition of his sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, someone had desired to destroy it.
Destroying a sculpture was an act which benefited nobody.
Aside from Kalan, Linley couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to destroy ‘Awakening From the Dream’.
“Then why do you help him?” Clayde continued.
“Your Majesty. Do you believe a narrow-minded man of limited vision such as him is someone I would be concerned about?” Smiling, Linley looked at Clayde. Clayde blinked, then laughed as well.
“Right. In the past, it could be said that you and Kalan were old acquaintances. But now, not only does he not wish to befriend you, he even harbors enmity towards you. It is his father who continues to try and befriend you. Compared to his father, Kalan’s vision really is very limited.” Clayde laughed loudly.
Clayde patted Linley on the shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ll instruct Merritt to handle this case fairly and to investigate everything thoroughly. The Debs clan definitely won’t suffer any injustice. But if the Debs clan really was guilty of smuggling water jade, I won’t allow them to escape punishment either.”
“Right. Handle the case fairly.” Linley nodded.
On the way back home in the carriage, Bebe was lying atop of Linley’s thighs.
“Wow, Boss, you are so evil. The leader of the Debs clan definitely engaged in smuggling. Later on, his clan will be finished. Even if Kalan is able to escape for now, in the future, he’ll still be in terrible straits!” Bebe said excitedly.
Bebe had wanted to destroy Kalan a long time ago. Linley shook his head with a laugh. “Whether or not the Debs clan really will be finished is hard to say. For example, they could give the majority of their clan’s fortune directly to King Clayde, and perhaps Clayde would give them a way out. But no matter what, now that they’ve fallen into Clayde’s hands, even if they don’t die, they’ll lose several layers of skin and flesh.”
Linley fully understood how dark the world of nobles could be. Although on the surface, they talked about handling things fairl
y, that was nothing more than a sham. “Compared to Clayde, the Debs clan is too weak.” Linley shook his head.
That puny little Kalan was someone Linley had never worried about. Kalan simply wasn’t even close to being on the same level as Linley. The one Linley wanted to deal with was Clayde!
“Milord, we have arrived,” the driver said respectfully.
Linley pushed open the carriage door and stepped out. With a leap, Bebe hopped onto Linley’s shoulders again. Just as Linley was about to enter his manor, a gate guard said respectfully, “Lord, a guest just came by. He’s currently in the main hall waiting for you.”
“A guest? In the main hall?” Linley felt suspicious.
There often would be nobles coming to visit Linley, but without his permission to come in, all of them would quietly wait outside. Only people with a very high status, such as Duke Patterson or King Clayde, or Cardinal Guillermo, would directly head to the main hall, instead of waiting outside.
“Who is it?” Linley couldn’t help but ask.
“No clue, but in his hands, he was holding the medal of a Cardinal,” the guard said respectfully. As a Knight of the Radiant Church, he was very familiar with the insignias of the Cardinals.
Each Cardinal only had a single medal. Naturally, some extremely powerful Ascetics had medals as well. Possession of a medal implied a certain status, representing that this person’s position was no less than that of a Cardinal.
“An insignia?” Linley was startled.
Without hesitating at all, Linley immediately went towards the main hall. By the time Linley passed through the walkway and reached the main hall, he was shocked by who he saw.
Within the main hall was a middle-aged, black-haired man wearing a long, loose robe. Judging from appearances, he was in his thirties or forties. He gave off an indolent, lazy aura.
When Linley saw this middle-aged man, that middle-aged man seemed to sense him as well. He immediately looked over towards Linley, a look of excitement in his eyes. “Master Linley, you came?”
“Master Linley?” Linley’s mind was full of questions, but he quickly entered the main hall.
“You are… oh, I remember now. You were that one who made the bid of ten million gold coins.” Linley remembered now. During the sculpture auction of ‘Awakening From the Dream’, this middle-aged man was the one who had bid ten million.
The middle-aged man nodded excitedly. “I didn’t expect Master Linley to remember me. This makes me so excited. Oh, right. Let me introduce myself. My name is… Cesar.”
“Cesar?” Linley had never heard this name before.
“Cesar?!” Doehring Cowart’s voice suddenly boomed out in Linley’s mind. “I didn’t imagine that little freak Cesar would still remain on this plane, in the Yulan continent.”
Linley was startled.
Grandpa Doehring knew this Cesar? Grandpa Doehring was from a long gone era! If he knew this man, then how old would this Cesar be?
“Linley, this Cesar is a total freak. His rate of improvement in strength is extremely fast, and he kills without blinking. When I was alive, he had already entered the Saint level. Although back then, he was only an early-stage Saint-level, after five thousand years, based on his rate of improvement, he is most likely far more powerful now.”
Linley’s heart clenched.
The man in front of him appeared to be only thirty or forty, but was actually already a Saint-level combatant during Doehring Cowart’s era. Doehring Cowart had only lived for a thousand years before dying, but this Cesar, if one were to count accurately, had been alive for nearly six thousand years now.
A six-thousand-year-old freak!
“Master Linley, what is it?” Cesar said with concern. “Your face seems to have a rather unpleasant look.”
“Nothing, Mr. Cesar. Please, sit.” Linley forcibly calmed himself down, but whenever he thought of who this person in front of him was, he couldn’t help but be stunned.
A six-thousand-year-old freak, a super-combatant who had survived from the era of the Pouant Empire until the modern era. He had already been a Saint-level combatant back then. And now?
“Master Linley, I am very much in awe of your sculpting skills. If it weren’t for the fact that Delia, that little girl, begged me, that day I definitely would’ve bought your sculpture.” Cesar pursed his lips as he spoke, but then his eyes lit up. “So Master Linley, when are you and that Delia girl getting married?”
“Married?”
No matter how stunned Linley had been by Cesar, upon hearing these words, Linley’s eyes bulged out of his sockets as he stared speechlessly at Cesar.
19
The King of Killers
Cesar stared at Linley suspiciously. “What? Can it be that the little girl of the Leon clan isn’t your fiancée?”
“Fiancée?” Linley mouthed the words.
Seeing Linley’s reaction, Cesar seemed to understand something. Laughing, he said, “Haha, how amusing, how amusing! Master Linley, I must say, that little Miss Delia of the Leon clan has spent quite a lot of trouble on your half. She’s spent a lot of time, a lot of effort, and also gold in order to buy that sculpture of yours, ‘Awakening From the Dream’.”
Linley stared questioningly at Cesar. “Mr. Cesar, can you perhaps tell me where you heard that Delia was my fiancée, and that we were going to get married?”
Cesar stroked his goatee. Delightedly, he said, “Mustn't say, mustn’t say.”
But in his mind, Cesar thought back to the contents of the letter which Delia had her servant deliver to him. He mused to himself, “For a girl to have the courage to act in such a way shows that her feelings towards Linley are genuine. Best I not say anything, lest I end up embarrassing that little girl, Delia.”
Cesar knew that when a girl told him certain things, it would be rather morally wrong for him to spread it to others as well. He, Cesar… was a very principled man.
Linley buried his curiosity. After all, Cesar describing Delia as his fiancée was a small matter. This man in front of him was a six-thousand-year-old freak. This was what mattered.
“Mr. Cesar, for you to be here with one of the medals of the Radiant Church, does that mean you have come to me on the business of the Radiant Church?” Linley intentionally tried to probe the reason the man had come.
Cesar sat down with a dramatic gesture, then shook his head. “The Radiant Church? Don’t lump me in with those fellows from the Radiant Church.”
“Then this medal?” Linley stared questioningly at Cesar.
Cesar casually said, “Oh. It’s from back when I killed that Cardinal. I figured this medal would eventually come in handy, so I took it from his corpse. On occasion, I’d take it out and present it. I’ve got to say, it really has come in handy over the years.”
“Killed a Cardinal, then casually swiped his medal?” Linley’s heart trembled, and he couldn’t help but feel cold.
This Cesar in front of him really was an extremely forceful person.
Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind again. “Linley, back when I was alive, Cesar had already entered the Saint level. At that time, the Radiant Church wasn’t too powerful. After five thousand years, Cesar is definitely at an extremely terrifying level of power. The Radiant Church wouldn’t offend him just because he killed a Cardinal.”
“After all… Cesar is a Saint-level assassination specialist. A Saint-level combatant such as him is far more dangerous than your ordinary Saint-level combatant. What’s more, an assassination specialist, upon reaching the peak of the Saint level, is even more dangerous.”
After hearing Doehring Cowart’s words, Linley began to understand.
In the past, when he was in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, he had encountered assassins as well. Linley knew very well that despite only being of the sixth rank as well, a specially trained assassin of the sixth rank could be far more dangerous than other combatants of the sixth rank.
Because assassins specialized in �
��ambush’ and in ‘one-hit kills’. When they killed someone, they acted with no scruples or honor at all.
Most Saint-level combatants, on the other hand, cared greatly about their personal honor and reputation.
A peak-stage Saint-level combatant who had no shame and who was an assassin possessed terrifying power.
“That’s the reason why the Radiant Church has never tried to recover the medal from Cesar. This is also the reason why Cesar is able to live so openly in the Holy Capital, Fenlai City.” Doehring Cowart sighed. “This Cesar is really living a rather comfortable life.”
Hearing these words from Doehring Cowart, Linley couldn’t help but feel admiration for Cesar.
“What, are you afraid?” Cesar saw that Linley had fallen silent. He couldn’t help but grin at Linley. “Relax, that was a long time ago. It has been quite a while since I’ve last killed someone.”
Quite a while? How long a period of time was that? Remembering that the man in front of him was a six-thousand-year-old assassin, Linley wasn’t too sure.
“I’m fine. I’m just amazed by Mr. Cesar’s prowess, that you could kill a Cardinal of the Radiant Church, but still live openly here in the Holy Capital.” Linley smiled.
Cesar’s eyes lit up, and he clapped Linley on the shoulders, nodding. “Not bad, not bad. You really are a master sculptor; your mental fortitude is far stronger than most others. Despite knowing my power, you aren’t frightened in the slightest.”
“Master Linley, I’ve come to pay you a visit because I wish to ask something of you.” Cesar looked at Linley, speaking with sincerity.
Linley quickly said, “Mr. Cesar, please speak. As long as it is within my capabilities, I will definitely assist.”
But Cesar put on a stern look, saying, “Master Linley, I, Cesar, have always hated owing favors to others. Since I’m asking a favor of you, naturally I will assist you with something as well.”
Linley felt joy in his heart.
Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 15