Chapter 30: Voice of the Family

Pelzen stood in the center of the hall with a gloomy expression, looking down at the bright red carpet beneath his feet.

“Pelzen? I think we should really thank you for everything you’ve done for the Bird family,” a cold voice rang out, filled with obvious mockery.

“Thank you, thank you for making our Bird family a big joke. I think you should really go out and listen to what other nobles are saying. Oh, perhaps you don’t need to listen. You just need to know that you’ve completely lost face for our Bird family!”

“Clang!”

A golden wine cup was violently thrown to the ground, its bright red contents spilling onto the floor, blending with the red carpet. The delicate, beautiful cup body was dented from the impact. A precious work of art was thus ruined, but for the nobles, this obviously meant nothing. At least compared to their face, such a small matter was not worth mentioning.

“What else do you have to say!” The voice suddenly became furious.

“Do you remember what you said to me before you left? That’s right, you said you would go to suppress the bandits to enhance our family’s reputation with the United Merchant Association, and at the same time show those who covet us our relationship with the kingdom’s elite force, the Pale Hawk. You also promised me that after eliminating those small bandits, we could make our friend Darlos’s power even greater! Do you remember saying all this?!”

“…Yes! I remember!” Pelzen clenched his fists and replied. He could feel the gazes of those around him, those gazes full of mockery and contempt. This made him extremely angry. He was Pelzen! He was the pride of the Bird family. He should have been standing under flowers and applause, not in this damned hall being judged like a lowly prisoner! Holy Grace above, why was it him, why did it have to be him to encounter such a damned thing?!

“And now?” The voice paused, then softened slightly.

“Now, we’ve failed to suppress the bandits. Listen to what those nobles are saying, ‘Ah, the great, glorious Bird family spent a fortune to invite one of the kingdom’s strongest legions to help them encircle and suppress bandits that no longer exist. They actually took those soldiers on a picnic in the forest? Holy Grace above, if they wanted to curry favor with the Pale Hawk, even inviting them to a banquet and sending a few girls would be much better than this idiotic idea.'”

Pelzen gritted his teeth in silence. These mocking words were like sharp, keen curved knives, flipping up and down, digging out the flesh from his body, making him feel pain to the bone.

“Our Bird family’s face has been completely lost, and not just that. What about Darlos? Pelzen, you tell me, where is our dear, close ally now?”

“I believe… he’s dead.”

“I don’t need your belief!” The sudden roar not only made Pelzen tremble violently, but also silenced all the whispering people around. An unusual silence fell over the hall, as if it were the harbinger of a storm.

“He’s dead, then where’s the body? Did you see the body? Did you bring the body back to me? Did you?!”

“Enough.” At this point, the voice seemed to no longer want to discuss this matter further.

“I don’t want to say too much. Pelzen, you stay. The rest of you can leave. I hope you remember, don’t tell anyone outside about today’s conversation.”

With these words, the nobles seated around understood his meaning. Obviously, Pelzen had escaped a major crisis again this time. They understood very well that the reason he was asked to stay behind was to announce his punishment, but since this wasn’t decided in front of everyone, it meant that the punishment this time definitely wouldn’t be too severe. Although this made many people internally dissatisfied, they couldn’t say much. So, they had no choice but to leave.

Silence fell.

Then the voice sounded again, but this time, it was full of fatherly love.

“Raise your head, my child.”

“Father!” Pelzen suddenly knelt on one knee, raising his head to look at the old man sitting not far in front of him.

“I have tarnished the glory of the Bird family. Please punish me. Whatever the punishment, I have no complaints!”

“You haven’t tarnished the glory of the Bird family,” At this moment, this white-haired, small-framed old man no longer had that aggressive feeling from before.

“Don’t mind the gossip of those guys, Pelzen. Our Bird family has ruled this region for two hundred years. We’ve been through countless wars and crises, and we’ve survived. We are the rulers of this territory, great nobles. Don’t mind the talk of those small fry. They can’t really hurt us, they can only satisfy themselves with words. Paying attention to them would only lower our own status. But you’ve lost face for the royal family this time… This matter is a bit difficult to handle. But you don’t need to worry too much. I will personally apologize to His Majesty the King and Duke Balen. I think they will still give me this face. Of course, during this time, you should temporarily not appear in public. Stay at home and avoid the limelight, don’t let those guys catch any more handles.”

“…Yes, I understand, Father.”

“Failure is not shameful,” Saying this, the old man showed a gentle smile, then became serious again.

“However, I hope you won’t make the same mistake twice. Now, stand up and tell me what happened. You concealed some things in the meeting, my child. I want to know what you concealed.”

“Yes, Father.”

Soon, Pelzen stood up, sweeping away the regret on his face from before, calmly telling his father everything he had experienced, without any concealment. Listening to his son’s account, the old man’s brows furrowed. He thought silently until Pelzen finished recounting his last experience, then he sighed lightly.

“It seems you indeed encountered a formidable opponent.”

“Father, could it be that other families are trying to deal with us…”

“No.” Before Pelzen could finish speaking, the old man had already shaken his head in denial.

“I don’t think those guys have such combat power. Think about it, Darlos, a high-rank swordsman. The person who could kill him is definitely not an ordinary individual. If other families really had such a person, we definitely wouldn’t have no wind of it at all. Someone who can kill a high-rank swordsman and escape unscathed must be a knight. But a person with the strength of a knight couldn’t possibly remain unknown until now.”

“But…”

“By the way, I want to ask you, what’s the situation with that new lord of Twilight Castle?”

Suddenly, the old man asked a question that Pelzen had never thought about. He pondered for a moment before recalling.

“You mean the Felix family? It’s like this, we had our eye on the plain owned by the Felix family, so we made an exchange with them… Please rest assured, we did everything strictly according to the rules, absolutely not exceeding any boundaries.”

Although Pelzen didn’t say it explicitly, the old man clearly understood his meaning.

“Then, what about the members of this family?”

“Well… The original family head and his wife passed away from illness. Only their son went to that castle and inherited that territory. I remember there was no one else in the Felix family besides him.”

In fact, Pelzen had investigated this very clearly. After all, even fallen nobles might have some backing. If they hadn’t clarified the family composition of the other party, if they kicked an iron plate, it would be too late to cry.

“I see…” Hearing this, the old man nodded, not saying much more.

“Could it be that you suspect…”

“After hearing your report, I immediately sent people to investigate. But apart from this kid, there have been no other strange occurrences in the entire Twilight Forest recently, and no mercenaries have entered the Twilight Forest.”

“But…” Hearing this, Pelzen frowned deeply.

“I don’t quite understand your meaning. Are you saying that this matter is related to that kid? I don’t think so. If that family really had any connection with a knight…”

Although he didn’t finish, Pelzen’s meaning was clear. If the Felix family really knew a knight, how could they have fallen to this state? Moreover, when investigating, Pelzen had also specifically investigated their social circle and relatives, and found no such discovery. Otherwise, even if they had ten times the courage, they wouldn’t have touched this fallen noble family.

“Remember, my child,” The old man closed his eyes slightly.

“No matter how absurd a possibility, it always exists until it’s eliminated. Now, we have no other sources of clues, and I think it’s not a bad thing to communicate with this young lord… I think we can see who this little fellow really is, what he intends to do. This won’t hurt us. Being cautious is always good.”

“Do you need me to go, Father?”

“No need,” Faced with Pelzen’s inquiry, the old man shook his head. He opened his eyes slightly, revealing a glint of sharpness.

“I’ve already let Euwen handle this matter. If that little fellow has anything abnormal, he will report to me immediately.”