“I’m Otto Fengquan, Philip’s eldest brother and the eldest son of our generation,” the man nodded reservedly. “Since my younger brother’s unfortunate death, my grandfather’s health has become critical, so I’m currently in charge of the family’s affairs. I hope this doesn’t seem disrespectful to you all.”

It seemed that Philip’s relationship with his eldest brother wasn’t particularly bad, as Otto had taken special care not to use the hand-kissing gesture again, thus avoiding the most awkward situation. As long as it wasn’t rude to that extent, Angelita could generally accept other cultural differences and etiquette flaws.

Despite the age difference between Angrita and Otto being nearly identical to that between Angrita and Reslaufer, the young woman’s eloquence quickly captivated all Maple Springs family members, including Otto and Martins. With a few glances from Otto, the already prepared banquet quickly began to adjust. To welcome these guests, the Maple Springs family had prepared five different contingency plans. Otto and his companions had originally planned to prepare a third contingency plan once they were certain that Angrita was a member of a friendly family from the Empire.

But after just a short while, Fengquan and the others found that they seemed to have to adopt the highest level of reception.

Chapter 233 Otto

“Do you think your good big brother might be ‘the one’?”

At the banquet, Reslaufer stood beside Edward, carelessly swirling his rum. The god of wine was truly powerful. This special drink, known as “Drunken Killing,” perfectly suited his preferences, conquering the mercenary’s taste buds and throat with just one glass. He even worried about what he would do if he couldn’t get a taste of it again.

So he decided to stop immediately and not give the drink any more chance to take advantage.

“From the perspective of the beneficiary, Otto is indeed a strong suspect.” As a tomb robber, Edward’s presence was already a great favor from the Maple Springs family. Therefore, no one besides his teammates wanted to approach him, which gave them room for conversation. “But Otto has never been that kind of person. He’s easier to understand than Philip.”

Philip’s limited ability made it impossible for him to hide any of his scheming; but Otto was different. He appeared mature and steady to the outside world, but he was completely open-hearted with other family members. Even after Edward was designated as the heir by his grandfather, Otto did not seem to have done anything wrong.

He was depressed for a while, but then he picked himself up again with the guidance of his elders. In short, he completely fits the profile of an ideal eldest son and grandson.

If Otto had not gone through this process in between, Edward might really have doubted him, but now… he really had no reason to.

With Edward’s “death”, Otto naturally became the default heir, and he would not reveal any flaws until more outstanding brothers and sisters emerged.

“What about the others?” “I don’t know. When I was still ‘alive’, only my eldest brother was worthy of my special attention.”

“Perhaps…” Edward gritted his teeth and made up his mind. “Perhaps I should go one step further. My current shameful identity may also be an opportunity.”

Leslaufer shrugged, casually put the full glass of wine back on the table, picked up a bottle of ordinary wine, and watched Edward walk towards his biological parents with extremely conflicted steps.

Judging from their expressions and movements, no matter what Edward was planning, it didn’t look like it would go smoothly.

“Hey, Old Ray, your wine is really good!” Daisy’s voice attracted Leslough’s attention. The poet quietly moved up to him, secretly took a sip of the glass of “Drunken Killing”, and immediately exclaimed, “You are really…”

Before the poet could finish his words, her eyes suddenly reddened. “Oh, God, why am I so… empty? Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?”

“I’m not a priest, Daisy,” Leslaufer took the wine glass from the poet and placed it on the table again, “but all passion will become empty after it passes.”

“N-No, then fill it up! Oh my god…” Daisy reached out to take another bite of that wonderful feeling, but the mercenary held her head with his other hand and turned the poet one hundred and eighty degrees.

“Go and bother others with your ‘Oh my god’ and leave me alone.”

Unfortunately, such words could only be used to send his companions away, but not the host here. Leslaufer had only been alone at the edge for less than ten minutes when he saw Otto Fengquan suddenly walk towards him with a smile on his face.

“You shouldn’t waste your time on me, Lord Otto,” Reslaufer said before the other party could speak. “I’m from the East, a barbarian compared to Western Inassus. And I’m not a noble.”

“But you just don’t want to, right? There’s a big difference between not wanting to and not being able to.” Otto smiled and raised his glass, while Reslaufer responded with a half-empty bottle. “I’d like to hear your opinion on something about those scarecrows outside the city.”

“A small organization within a large one, a small conspiracy within a large conspiracy,” Reslaufer summarized simply. “But as for the specific details, we don’t know. The mastermind behind this is a feint. We only destroyed one of his nests where the constructs were stored, and the clues are broken.”

“I’ve heard about this,” Otto nodded, “but I’d like to hear your opinion. You’re a seasoned warrior, and your experience is well worth learning from.”

“Then you should know that people like me don’t usually use their brains very well…” Before Reslaufer finished speaking, a few Valu coins were handed to him. “Well, maybe this will make my brain more flexible.”

“For example, they probably won’t let it go. You’d better protect your brother, or anyone in the family.”

“How to say?”

“If you just want to kill an ordinary noble, you don’t need to assemble an entire army.” Reslaufer shook the bottle of wine to confirm that there was nothing worth drinking. “If you do that, then your target must be more than that. Perhaps an entire family.”

“Perhaps the entire city-state,” Otto understood Reslaufer’s next words. “You are indeed unique. In fact, this speculation coincides with some of our intelligence.”

“But I still have a question: Why the Maple Springs Family? We’re neither Luvalu, who’s number one, nor Curry, who’s number ten. Third place isn’t too high, but it’s also not too low. Using the Maple Springs Family as a breakthrough point…?”

“That’s beyond my consideration,” Reslaufer waved his hand, returning the gold coin Otto had handed him for the second time. “But I’ll give you an idea: On the battlefield, who would you most like to attack?”

Otto cooperated with interest: “Who?”

“The person closest to you, no matter who he is.”

Otto walked away, lost in thought. All Reslaufer meant was that it might have been a random attack, but perhaps the other party had his own agenda. But what did that have to do with Reslaufer? He didn’t accept the money for the question.

Banquets in the empire usually last a long time, and the banquet in Sienasas was no different. When the guests and hosts were having a great time, it was already dark. Alfonso Louvalou even sent someone to lead the way. However, among the crowd, perhaps Edward’s sincere attitude of atonement infected the Martins couple, so they made an exception and allowed this black dragon who had an inexplicable connection with their young son to stay, and took him to Edward’s former bedroom.

It was a room on the second floor, and Edward could see at a glance that although it was cleaned frequently, there had been few changes – his parents were still trying to maintain the same state as when he was “alive”.

This was good news. Edward was sure that some of the small mechanisms he had set up in the room had not been discovered, which might be the key to solving his problem.

“Go ahead,” Martins said, standing in the corridor, as motionless as the decorative armor on either side, looking like cast metal. “Go and take a look. Edward loved reading books about dragonborn. Perhaps he’ll forgive you for that.”

“He will. He’s always been a good boy.”

When Edward heard his mother say this, he walked into the small house he had not been away from for a long time and went straight to the bookshelf where even the order of the books had not been changed.

Let’s take a look, my good brother… Edward muttered to himself, stretching out his claws to fiddle with the seventh book from the left in the third row, “Biological Models and Behavioral Experiments of the Dragonborn of the Shire”.

Could it be you who did this?

Chapter 234 Burning Streets

Edward’s actions were not hidden from the Martins. Those “gadgets” were all magic mechanisms he had set up himself, and Edward’s parents were far less adept at this than he was.

In fact, the Martins couple had no intention of stopping him. They just watched quietly as the thief who had turned over their son’s grave continued to rummage through their son’s room.

Only this time, he didn’t choose to take anything – the Black Dragonborn put every item he picked up back to its original place, exactly as if he knew where they should be.

Edward did know.

“You don’t look like this is your first time here,” Edward’s mother finally couldn’t help but speak, “You…”

“Maybe this is Ed’s forgiveness for him,” Martins interrupted his wife. “The kid doesn’t want him to be punished for this. I think he’s telling us in this way.”

“Uh, yes,” Edward turned around, not knowing what emotion to express. “I hope he does forgive me… I will atone for this.”

“I hope so.” Martins turned around and heard hurried footsteps in the corridor. A maid belonging to the Martins, not the Maple Springs family, was running down the aisle towards her master and mistress.

Edward knew the maid, who came with his mother when she married, and who had “taken care of him since he was even born.” – these were his mother’s words. And Edward saw her as his sister rather than a servant.

A sister who is closer to her than other members of the same generation in the Fengquan family.

“Ellie, you shouldn’t be in such a hurry,” Edward’s mother said with a hint of resentment, “You have received training from both the Popenos and Maple Springs families.”

“I, I’m so sorry, mistress,” the maid finally stopped before running into her mistress and bowed her head in apology. She was still a little flustered, perhaps because her mistress had never said this to her before, “but I wanted to tell you this news in time.”

“Tell me, what’s going on?” Martins straightened his collar, although it wasn’t messy.

“Nightingale Jewelry Store was just robbed!” “What did you say?!”

Luxury goods have always been a highly profitable business, with costs and profits far outweighed by the market, so it shouldn’t be worth such a shock. However, Nightingale Jewelry was a business Edward’s mother had invested in, and more importantly, it also housed some enchanted jewelry!

Some of them were actually completed by Edward!

“But how is that possible?!” Martins’s expression changed immediately. “It’s in the upper city! Almost all the people here are nobles. If someone wanted it, who would resort to such barbaric means as robbery?”

At the very least, they should challenge him to a duel! 70% of the abnormal deaths of nobles in Qingzun City every year are due to this reason!

“I don’t know, sir…” Ellie tried to remain calm. “It was the clerk on duty there who just ran over and found me. I saw a fire on the block over there…”

Mr. and Mrs. Martins rushed to the window. What the maid said was true. In the direction of Nightingale Jewelry Store, a blazing fire had already broken out on the block over there.

“It seems we’re not the only ones who’ve been robbed,” Edward’s mother clasped her hands over her chest. “We should inform the family, the consul, and the guards. They’ll seek justice…”

“It will be too late by then. Their justice has never been punctual!” Martins stretched out his hand. Ellie had already prepared coats for the couple to go out – it would definitely be too late to change into a full set of clothes according to aristocratic customs.

“I’m sorry, E(uh), Swampthroat, I’m afraid we don’t have time to accommodate you any longer,” the man turned to look at Edward, who was fidgeting a little. “We have some matters that need to be taken care of. You can go see Otto, he will arrange for you to return to your residence.”

“Wait, I think I can help!” Edward said quickly, “I’m one of the Spellscale Five, and I’m a spellcaster! This is my chance to atone for my sins, please!”

“But you’re still a child,” Edward’s mother said worriedly. “I mean, all you dragonborn are children. This isn’t something you should get involved in.”

However, her husband held a different view: “But they are also capable of chivalry – if you insist, then come on, we don’t know what’s going on, and I hope you won’t hold us back later.”

“I won’t. I’m already thirteen,” the Black Dragonborn paused, then quickly added, “Not young for a Dragonborn.”

“That’s true.”

The firelight illuminated half the street, and the vast majority of it was occupied by the businesses of the top ten families, used to harvest the gold coins of the lesser nobles. In their words, it was a “country bumpkin’s trap” (a trap consisting of a Y-shaped wooden stick, a large container, some bait, and a thin line, used to catch birds such as sparrows and pigeons).

But tonight, it could be called a “fire trap.”

“Damn it, I knew it!” Martins cursed loudly as he watched the fire spreading recklessly and the night watchmen running around the streets. “To hell with those guards! There’s not even a single person here to put out the fire!”

“We can’t put out such a big fire, but at least we can try to salvage what we can,” Ellie pointed to a small path. “Master, I think we might be able to get closer to the jewelry store there!”

The path was originally used for fire prevention, and there was no debris piled up, so it looked unobstructed.

“That way!” Martins nodded to his wife. “Honey, you stay here and help me watch over it so that those latecomers don’t get stuck here. The three of us will be back soon.”

“No, I’m going with you! Didn’t you just say, ‘To hell with the guards and all!’ Who knows when they’ll be here?”

Martins looked at his wife seriously, as if to confirm something. “Well, be careful. If the fire gets too big, we’ll just come back. It’s not worth the extra risk now.”

“You’re right, honey.”

The four of them walked straight along the path, two in front and two behind. The path was not difficult to walk on, but there was no light inside. Even though the fire was only separated by a few walls, the only thing they could get here was hot and dim.

This light does not affect races such as elves or dwarves who can see in the dark, but it is not the case for some dragonborn, and this is especially true for Edward, who is not actually a dragonborn.

So much so that it was not until they ran closer that they discovered that the place where they thought was a debris blocking the road, in addition to the debris blocking the passage tightly, there were also several fully armed men and women who were quietly waiting for their arrival.

Chapter 235 Fire Trap

Even the lightest-dressed among them, as far as Edward could see, wore scale armor, which made them sweat profusely in the burning streets, but they had to wait.

But now, the person they were waiting for has arrived.

“Who are you? Get out of the way immediately!” Martins raised his cane cautiously. With a sound of a mechanism, half of the rapier popped out from the cane.

But the man on the opposite side moved faster. Before Martins could completely pull out his self-defense weapon, a flying knife came from the opposite side and immediately stained the man’s left chest red.

“No! Martin—”

Edward’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints. In just two or three seconds, two people crucial to him had fallen to the ground, one stabbed in the heart, the other pierced through the eyebrow. Their pools of blood contrasted beautifully with the flickering flames around them.

But Edward didn’t even have time to cast a spell. The maid Ellie beside him suddenly kicked him to the ground. Before Edward could struggle, a dagger flashing with cold light was pressed against his throat.

“I thought he was with you,” a woman’s voice rang out from the direction of the blocked passage. “It’s easier than I thought. This bitch is completely defenseless.”

The man who had just thrown the throwing knives was a burly man with an inverted triangle upper body. He walked to the bodies of the Martins and their wives, stirred the throwing knives vigorously for a few times before retrieving them to ensure that the people he wanted to kill were dead.

“Perhaps it is true as she said in her letter, madam. She has completely given up her inheritance rights. After all, she has already lost her son, and her family line is considered extinct.”

“Or perhaps my plan was so perfect that she didn’t even think of it,” the woman’s voice was filled with smug arrogance. “Don’t think too highly of others, Ben, especially the nobles. We are ruthless and don’t spit out bones when we are defeated.”

“She has only lost a son; she can have another whenever she wants, but thrones don’t give birth to children—except Richard the Great’s. That’s why Inassus is in this state. Popenous couldn’t stand it.”

“Is she dead?” “Don’t worry, ma’am. No one can pretend to be dead in front of me. But what should we do with this lizard?”

“He’s one of the Maple Springs family’s guests, but he robbed the tomb of the hostess’s son earlier,” Ellie replied from where Edward couldn’t see his face. “He’s also a member of the Spellscale Five, all of whom are highly gifted mages. I don’t think we should risk offending them.”

“Then let him go. Even the Kingdom of Pope can’t stand being targeted by four wizards, not to mention that I have seven competitors to deal with now.” Edward felt that the dagger that almost took his life suddenly left his neck, and then with a dizzying spin, his feet were standing on the ground again.

However, some people will never be able to stand up again.

“You… killed them?” Edward couldn’t control himself. He quickly rushed over his parents’ bodies. Even in the alley surrounded by flames, they were still losing temperature rapidly. “Why?!”

“Because of everything.” That annoying voice, Edward followed it and noticed the woman, about the same width as an adult male dragonborn. She also wore scale armor and a rapier at her waist, and the moment she spoke, she was clearly different from the others around her.

“You may continue to mourn here if you wish, but I would not do so if I were you, because soon I will have to change my clothes, wash off my makeup to make it look like I have been crying, and then testify to the guards about the arson and the murder. For the sake of your mage friends, you’d better leave immediately.”

“You can tell someone to report us, but we won’t care. We’ll be leaving soon, and the guards of Qingzun City can’t control the royal family of Pope Kingdom.”

The woman spoke these words recklessly, unconcerned with the other person’s opinion. Even if it was the caster, he was alone, and on her side… ordinary people couldn’t set fire to an entire street so quickly and easily.

Edward stood up unsteadily, his vision a little blurry. “What about you, Ellie? They treat you as family, how come you—”

Nightingale Jewelry Store is still nominally the property of the Maple Spring Family. If it weren’t for this maid, no one would have been able to seize such a weakness unless they intended to declare war on the entire Maple Spring Family!

“They treated me as family because they were stupid, and they died because of it,” Ellie seemed to have no regrets. “I was a nail from the beginning, but I was only pulled out recently – but I did have the illusion that I could stay there forever, until…”

“Until Edward Maple Springs is born? Or until he dies? I think the former is more likely,” Edward said with a shrill tremor. By now, he had basically figured everything out. “If they had never had children, perhaps they were infertile. Perhaps they wouldn’t have been murdered because they weren’t competitive.”

“But Edward’s appearance changed everything. This was the beginning, a very, very bad beginning. With one, there might be two, three, and they might become competitors. And when Edward showed his magical talent, their competitiveness skyrocketed.”

“But you, Ellie, you didn’t want to do this at that time, right? My parents were really good to you, and you couldn’t help but linger. So you killed me, even though I might have regarded you as a sister, you still killed me for your own sake.”

“Wait…” Ellie widened her eyes and looked at the Black Dragonborn in front of her. He looked nothing like the little boy, but from another perspective, they would… overlap.

The others reacted a few beats slower than the maid, but they still reacted. Several throwing knives flew towards Edward’s vital parts one after another, but it was too late now.

A shield exploded from the Black Dragonborn’s body, deflecting all attacks. “I was a mistake, from the moment I was born. But neither my parents nor I realized it. Perhaps they thought that giving up the inheritance was enough.”