Chapter 114: 114. A soft laugh
Count of Pringraf Stesa only realized the intense sll of blood emanating from behind his study when his handso face was pressed forcefully onto the desk, distorting it.
The hand pressing his face was frighteningly powerful.
Count Steza even felt that his facial bones might be crushed under that palm!
Yet, the owner of the hand did not do so; instead, he easily retracted his force.
The distorted features of Count Steza’s face returned to normal, leaving only a large, fierce bloodstain on his cheek.
The hand that left the bloodstain casually withdrew the docunt from in front of him.
The person behind the chair walked leisurely around the desk in a half-arc, heading towards the guest seat at the table.
Even without daring to lift his head, Count Steza already knew who had co, without seeing behind him.
The silver Roaring Bear Head Necklace was the mark of a Bear Demon Hunter.
While reviewing the docunts earlier, they briefly introduced the general situation of the Demon Hunters.
From the ways Count Steza maintained his interest groups, it was clear that he was not a noble who thrived in Teria solely on the basis of his noble lineage.
Indeed, after quickly skimming through the entire docunt, he had already extracted about seventy to eighty percent of the key information.
Thus, the mont he saw the necklace, Count Steza understood—the rightful owner of the docunt had arrived.
He even vaguely grasped how he had appeared in his study.
A secret passage, there was a passage behind the study leading directly to the basent.
For a noble as prominent as he had beco, it would be strange if there weren’t a secret passage in his ho.
The one behind his study was established because he would occasionally frequent it, sharing so common interests with friends from the Sun Sect.
The bloody sll on the gloves, directly entering the study from the passage... The thirty warriors stationed in the basent were probably all annihilated.
He behaved just as the docunt described; his skills and growth rate were utterly abnormal!
Cold sweat began to spill from the pores on his back, and the hairs from the nape to the crown of his head stood on end, taut.
Count Steza wanted to say sothing, but his mouth felt clamped shut, unable to open.
The aura that could silence noble banquets with a re cough, the self-assured elegance, the majesty forged by power and money, seed to vanish in this scene! Gone!
Why could this person enter the manor so quietly, find the passage entrance, and slaughter all thirty basent guards without raising an alarm... none of that mattered anymore.
Count Steza was a very practical person.
Lann had already entered his study, sharing the room with him, rendering everything before irrelevant.
What mattered now was how to preserve himself.
The noble Count cautiously lifted his head from the table, just in ti to see Lann casually settle into the guest seat opposite the desk.
Like flipping through a poetry collection to pass ti, he leafed through the docunt centered around him.
Count Steza pursed his lips, with a calm exterior masking a ntal storm of rapid thoughts.
He forced himself to calm down, pondering ways to secure his survival. In his journey to beco a top-tier great noble, he had faced countless dangers.
Bandits on the road during his travels, blood kin and friends eager to carve up his estate, officials reaching for his assets, even scrutiny ordered by King Veltrest...
He had survived them all!
This ti, he certainly would...
"Let’s talk. Why have you gathered information on these people?"
"You are the true master of Auridon—Old Allen, Bernie, White, Madam Donald... The kids nearly shoved into the basent, and their mother, who still must address you as ’My Lord’ upon eting you, it’s quite amusing."
Before Count Steza could sort his thoughts, Lann spoke with a smile.
He sat relaxedly in the guest seat, legs crossed, body inclined to one side, with his elbow resting on the chair’s armrest.
The expression and tone conveyed absolute mockery and disdain, as if the Sheriff were interrogating a petty pickpocket.
You’re like an ant I can crush at any mont, this questioning session is rely for my amusent.
That was roughly the expression.
Count Steza inhaled deeply in silence.
"We can talk, Lann."
"Talk?" Lann was smiling, but the well-connected Count Steza could tell, sothing chilling lurked in those gaze eyes.
"With a slave trader? A traitor? Soone using children as bed slaves for foreign liaisons?"
"You know, esteed Count, that Demon Hunters indeed lack national sentints, but soone like you, what can I say..."
Lann waved the stack of docunts in his hand.
"When we cut you down, there’s not a hint of hesitation in our hearts."
As he waved his hand, the sticky blood and flesh on Lann’s gloves splattered onto the Count’s face.
Yet, the Count himself remained unmoved, rely retrieving a handkerchief from his pocket to gently wipe his face.
"Are you certain, Lann?"
His tone was thodical, his gaze fixed on those cat eyes.
Before Lann could respond, he launched into a lengthy speech, revealing both eloquence and calm thinking.
"If you kill , while I can’t fathom your motives, I can guess—it’s for those children. But killing , what happens to you and those children?"
"You’ll all die. Not long after my demise, you’ll follow suit."
"You’re impressive, silently slaughtering thirty skilled fighters, but what about three hundred? Three thousand?"
"Of course, you might suspect that after my death, my subordinates might not remain loyal enough to pursue vengeance. But such matters aren’t about ’loyalty’, Lann... we deal in interests."
Count Steza’s tone was calm and assured.
"This isn’t arrogance; my influence has long surpassed a normal count’s realm. It can’t be simply called ’influence’; it should be terd an ’influence group’. This term indicates the imnse power I command and also reflects its complexity."
"Among those under , among the group attached to , there are leaders!"
"Once I’m murdered, imagine, to prove they’re capable of sustaining this ’influence group’ and demonstrate their ’knightly spirit’ to be new leaders, what do you think they would do?"
Without waiting for Lann to answer, the Count stated firmly.
"They will hunt down the killer! Lann, the mont you kill , your head, along with those children, will serve as the best testimony for these people’s ascension. To what extent do you think they’ll go crazy, fighting for the inheritance of everything I possess?"
"Even Veltrest, do you think he’ll thank you, will he contend with my subordinates over you and a few dozen worthless, poor children?"
"Kill
here, you’ll ultimately die too, with ."
"However, if you change your thinking, Lann... the power you possess, would you truly be willing to waste it?"
Count Steza spoke deliberately, emphasizing each word.
He looked into Lann’s cat eyes as if addressing a student in whom he’d invested all his care.
Sincere and earnest.
But the Demon Hunter across the desk quietly listened until the end.
"Ha."
A soft laugh.
Count Steza’s face suddenly froze.
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