After confirming the accuracy of the news, Bellros immediately rushed to the desolate City Lord's mansion. Relying on a bit of past connection and a bribe of money, he quickly persuaded Monton, who was only eight years old and not yet firm in his stance.
The reason for persuasion was simple: when Avril and Li Xi were still around, Cardo City was essentially theirs, and all city affairs were handled at the hotel.
Now that both were dead, Monton, as the nominal City Lord of Cardo City, possessed the moral high ground and naturally had the right to claim the Leaf Village Merchant Group. Thus, Cardo City would return to his control.
Furthermore, Cardo City, which had been injected with a large dose of vitality by the Leaf Village Merchant Group, was more powerful than ever. Looking back hundreds of years to the founding of Cardo City, no City Lord had been as bold as to equip every guard with dwarven-crafted weapons.
Ancestral honor, a prosperous Cardo City, the admiration of future generations – these were temptations that nobles found hard to resist. This was Monton's reason for following.
Monton followed Bellros, his nominal uncle. Although he disliked Bellros's cunning and stingy nature, if it meant reclaiming the substantive power of Cardo City, he wouldn't hesitate to betray his noble integrity. The Leaf Village Merchant Group had expanded too quickly, consuming the family's accumulated assets of centuries within months. No matter how young he was, he understood the suffocating powerlessness of being squeezed out.
Bellros's words were ineffective. Boricanse, with his beard braided into two plaits, stepped forward. The dwarves behind him collectively advanced, their still-warm hammers swinging in unison, the heat alone forcing Bellros to retreat in disarray. "Get out! You're not welcome here. If you don't leave, I'll throw you all into the furnace and burn you to ashes."
"Lord City Lord, look, do they still have any semblance of being citizens of Cardo City? They are trying to rebel," Bellros said, retreating in a panic, complaining to Monton. He bowed so low that his waist was almost level with Monton's.
At this moment, people from all walks of life in Cardo City were rushing over: mercenaries from the Mercenary Guild, small vendors, shop owners, clerks, the poor...
Many low-level mercenaries and ordinary citizens spontaneously stood beside the dwarves, joining the dwarves and Sinis in opposing Bellros and the City Lord they would normally have knelt before without question.
The situation was now clear: those led by Monton and Bellros, who didn't even bother to hide their intention to seize Li Xi's inheritance, were the majority. The dwarves and Sinis, protecting everything belonging to Li Xi, were the minority. Another group stood on the periphery, either watching the show or waiting for an opportunity to profit from the conflict.
The rise of the Leaf Village Merchant Group had harmed many people's interests, but it was primarily the interests of merchants and nobles that were damaged, while the common people, small mercenaries, and the lower and middle classes benefited.
Therefore, these former proletariat stood firmly in front of Li Xi's house, while the upper-middle class with some financial means stood by watching, like vultures on the savanna waiting for the remnants of a hunt.
Being publicly challenged in front of the entire city, the young Monton trembled with anger, pointing his childish finger at what were nominally his citizens. "Rioters! Rioters! How dare you treat your noble lord like this? You all deserve to be burned on a stake!"
"Guards! Arrest them all and throw them into the dungeons. I want to show others the consequences of offending a noble."
"Long live the City Lord! Such rioters should be drowned in the sewers," Bellros cheered like a sycophant, watching the guards he brought and the merchant group's escorts charge ferociously towards the dwarves and Sinis.
Bellros couldn't help the secret joy that filled him, a smile unconsciously appearing on his lips. In this world, anyone who could be bought with money could be bought with a higher price.
Avril had used expensive dwarven-crafted equipment to enlist all the guards of Cardo City under the banner of the Leaf Village Merchant Group. At the time, the agreement was to offset the equipment price with Cardo City's tax revenue. In essence, the equipment still belonged to the Leaf Village Merchant Group – a masterful stroke of getting something for nothing. Now that Avril was dead, the young City Lord Monton had only to say one sentence to bring all the guards back under the City Lord's control.
"After we seize the Leaf Village Merchant Group, the dwarven equipment you wear will belong to you, and your future salaries will be tripled."
In this world where whoever held the power dictated terms, young Monton's method of bribery was undeniably simple and crude, but most effective. Otherwise, the guards would not be so ruthless and merciless towards their former benefactors.
Even with the dwarves, Sinis, and some poor people and small mercenaries, they would be no match for the city guards. Not only was the disparity in numbers immense, but there was also a vast difference in strength. An organized force would always be more professional in matters of war than an unorganized populace.
Aside from Sinis and a few others who were level four professionals, everyone else was below level four. Facing fully armed guards, their strength was as weak as chicks, and they were quickly defeated. The dwarves, having been enslaved by the black dragon Amandra in the past, also had low combat power.
Facing the onslaught of the guards, curses and shouts became their last form of resistance.
"Take it easy, everyone! Anyone who injures a dwarf, I'll skin them alive." Seeing the guards striking the dwarves with abandon, Bellros became anxious. The core of the Leaf Village Merchant Group was these few dwarves; each was a money-making machine worth millions of gold. He rushed out desperately, aiming to be the first to secure these dwarves. If he could win over these dwarves, his fortune could expand dozens of times over.
"How can you do this to us, to the Leaf Village Merchant Group? How can you do this to Lord Avril?" Sinis shouted at the guards who were forcing the dwarves and his subordinates to kneel with their arms twisted behind their backs.
"The equipment you wear, the salaries you receive – where do they come from if not us? You are ungrateful. The gods in their divine kingdoms are watching all this."
The leading guards laughed heartily. "The gods have not yet returned to their divine kingdoms. Who will hear these words?"
"I can."
The door to Li Xi's house opened, and a dwarf carrying a small black bat on his shoulder walked out, clad in beautiful armor with a scale-like texture that accentuated his imposing presence.
"So it's Chief Copperbeard Ironhammer. Now that Avril and Li Xi are dead, you can only cooperate with us in Cardo City. I promise you double whatever conditions Avril agreed to."
Bellros spoke confidently to Chief Ironhammer, believing that money was everything in this world. If Avril could persuade the dwarf tribe to join them, he could too, it was just a matter of how much more money he had to spend.
"You dare? Even as a mount, I'd find you too slow to walk," Copperbeard Ironhammer's disgusted expression suggested he would vomit if he had to listen to Bellros for another moment. For a stubborn dwarf to utter such an insult clearly showed how insignificant Bellros was. Sudan Novel Network
"Hahahaha!"
"Chief Copperbeard speaks the truth."
Copperbeard Ironhammer's words made the surrounding crowd burst into laughter. They were already rivals in the competition for Li Xi's inheritance. By using this opportunity to suppress Bellros, they could also foster closer ties with Copperbeard Ironhammer. Why not?
Bellros could see the wealth of the dwarves; others were not blind. Every person present had ulterior motives, waiting to pick up scraps.
This was the first time Bellros had been publicly ridiculed in years. His face turned ashen. "Chief Ironhammer may not have heard my offer clearly. Please return to the City Lord's mansion with me, and I will explain the terms in detail."
"Take them away."
Bellros's eyes conveyed a frantic hint. Monton also reacted, thinking that proximity was an advantage and that striking first was best. Once a stronger force intervened, they wouldn't even get a drop of soup. "Quickly invite our dwarven friends from the Copperbeard tribe back to the City Lord's mansion. These dwarven friends have been in Cardo City for so long, and I, your City Lord, have not yet hosted them. It is my negligence. This time, I must make amends."
The guards surged forward, intending to capture Copperbeard Ironhammer and carry him to the City Lord's mansion. Once inside, everything would be up to them.
Just as the guards' hands were about to touch Copperbeard Ironhammer, the small black bat on his shoulder suddenly flew up.
The little bat flew above everyone's heads and transformed. A twenty-five-meter-long black dragon appeared, its blood-red eyes seemingly ready to devour, its sharp fangs radiating intense killing intent. Its thirty-meter wingspan stirred, and the resulting gust of wind sent the people below tumbling like ragdolls.
"Dragon!"
"Black Dragon!"
"Run! The Black Dragon is going to massacre the city!"
Some of the onlookers shrieked in terror at the sight of the black dragon, a creature like a shadow with obsidian scales and gaping jaws, soaring above them.
Their extreme reaction was understandable. In the minds of ordinary humans, dragons were synonymous with disaster and death, insurmountable beings.
For most of their lives, people had only heard embellished tales of evil dragons from their ancestors and troubadours. Every story of a dragon's appearance was accompanied by the destruction of cities and massacres, or the abduction of princesses. Every story was built upon the bones of ordinary people, and black dragons were the worst offenders.
"I am the contracted beast of Avril, my master—the Black Dragon Amandra. Anyone who dares to take another step—dies." Amandra's voice echoed across Cardo City, shaking the ground and dusting the earth. Bellros and Monton's faces turned deathly pale, leaving them stunned. When had Avril acquired a dragon as a contracted beast? They had no idea. Had they known, this would never have happened.
Amandra's gaze fell upon the guards holding the members of the Leaf Village Merchant Group. The intense dragon's breath made the pampered soldiers repeatedly glance behind them, their demeanor suggesting they were waiting for a summons from their dream lover, waiting for Monton's order to retreat.
But Monton, despite his young age, had already exceeded expectations. Now, facing the dragon's breath, his mouth stammered incoherently.
"Archbishop, according to the human-dragon treaty, when an evil dragon intrudes upon a human city and threatens human life and property, we may drive it away or kill it."
A group of mages appeared on the side at some point. The speaker was Dik, the Bishop of the Church of Magic, who had discovered the deaths of Li Xi and the other two. The Archbishop he referred to was Angelina, standing before him.
Behind them were about fifty mages, ranging from apprentice to high mage. The presence of fifty mages in one city was a testament to the terrifying power of the Church of Magic.
Angelina bared her slightly pointed teeth. "The Goddess grants us the ability to cast magic, and we must protect her people. Now that an evil dragon has invaded, we are duty-bound for the glory of the Goddess."
"I am the contracted beast of my master, Avril. According to the human-dragon treaty, dragons contracted by humans have the same rights as humans." Amandra wasn't sure if stepping forward this time was the right decision. After seeing the fifty mages, her legs trembled slightly. She could disregard others, but a mage of Angelina's caliber, a Magister, was undoubtedly stronger than her.
"Heh, you claim to be Avril's contracted beast, but where is the mark of the contract on you?" Dik immediately seized Amandra's weakness, negating all her arguments. He had personally seen Avril's corpse. Even if a contract had been signed before, it would have vanished with Avril's death. Amandra was now a masterless dragon, an evil dragon for anyone to see.
"What else is there to say to an evil dragon? For Cardo City, the glory of dragon-slaying is before us! Follow me to slay the dragon!" Angelina's eyes gleamed. The value of a dragon was even greater than that of the two hundred-plus dwarves. She never expected such a bonus. The secret she had painstakingly sought was gone, but slaying a dragon was also good.
"We shall follow the Archbishop's command."
With a Magister like Angelina present, and Li Xi dead, who could resist the temptation of dragon-slaying? In this current situation where victory was assured, as long as they participated, they could later claim to be dragon-slayers. A multitude of people surged forward from all directions, their gazes fixed on Amandra like that of a groom seeing his new bride with her veil still on.
Amandra, seeing the vast crowd below, felt a tremor of fear with each pair of eyes. She was only an adult and couldn't possibly fight so many people, especially those represented by Angelina. She might very well be slain today. She couldn't help but glance down at the one she had once enslaved—Copperbeard Ironhammer. Was this guy trying to trick her into taking revenge for his past enslavement?
However, Copperbeard Ironhammer stood confidently in the center of the crowd, regardless of the number of people. Although his strength was not outstanding, his composure in the face of impending disaster made Amandra inwardly question. Could what Copperbeard Ironhammer said be true?