206 – City Lord Gideon Durant

"Stables? What for?" Livy asked, bewildered. She glanced at the huge stable and felt that it could probably hold all the horses of the entire Ringwood Town in one place.

"There is still some distance from here to the guest house. Don't worry; it will only take five minutes of riding."

Eric, Lyria, and Livy were left speechless. Five minutes by horse? Just how big was this estate?

Brunhild felt embarrassed for having too much wealth; she ignored their surprised looks and proceeded to let them choose their horses. After that, they set off.

Along the way, Eric, Lyria, and Livy couldn’t help but admire the beautiful sight. Most of the areas were filled with countless blooming flowers, ponds, and so on. Other than a few gardeners and workers, the grounds were mostly empty, with just birds singing and small animals hopping around.

"This is really a beautiful and tranquil place. The fragrant smell of flowers is everywhere," Livy sighed with satisfaction.

Eric and Lyria agreed. The place was truly well-maintained.

"Sister Brunhild, is there any good place to go shopping?" Eric suddenly asked.

"Of course there are plenty.” Brunhild looked towards Eric, “What does Brother Eric wish to buy?"

Eric grinned and answered, "A hat!"

"A hat?" Even Lyria and Livy were taken aback.

Eric didn't elaborate. Ever since he had visited Maplemurk Village and seen the straw-built huts, he had been cursing himself for forgetting something crucial for his adventuring days. He needed a hat! Only then could he call himself a qualified adventurer!

Brunhild smiled awkwardly, "Yes, that is no problem. Does Brother Eric wish to go today?"

Eric shook his head. "Today I have plans; maybe tomorrow."

"Alright."

Brunhild then took the three to a tiny hill.

The location was scenic, hidden within a well-maintained bamboo forest. The place was silent and peaceful—a perfect place to retreat and enjoy serenity.

After stopping, Eric, Lyria, and Livy saw a beautiful flower field in full bloom, and also a pond with many lotus flowers. On the further end stood a three-story, well-designed brick building, painted completely white, and beside it was a stable.

"What a picturesque place," Livy softly muttered.

Lyria and Eric gently nodded.

Brunhild smiled and rode to the stable, which was large enough to hold at least 10 horses.

After leaving their horses there, she proceeded to give the three a tour of the guest house.

Eric, Lyria, and Livy were very satisfied. After months of traveling, they finally had a nice place to rest for a few days.

After the tour, Brunhild brought them back to the living room.

They all sat on the luxurious sofa while Brunhild served cups of water to her guests.

"As you can see, there are no active workers around here. I will ask a few maids to attend to you all starting today."

Eric swiftly rejected the idea. "Leave the maids aside. It will be great if no one disturbs us in such a nice place."

Brunhild agreed, as she had expected as much. "If you want to have snacks or meals, there are fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients in the kitchen."

They all relaxed and casually chatted while waiting for Caius.

Suddenly, Eric's eyes turned towards the open main door, and he spoke calmly but sharply, "Please, whoever you are, come in and don't sneak around, or else I might do something in a panic."

Seeing this, both Lyria and Livy shot up to their feet, ready to fight.

Brunhild was taken aback by the sudden change. She too turned to look at the open door, but there was no one there, nor was there any presence.

After a moment, a tall, strong-looking old man with shoulder-length white hair, who had a broadsword hanging behind his back, walked out from the side of the door with a wary smile on his old yet healthy face.

Despite his well-built frame, the old man had a mild and peaceful air around him that anyone could notice at first sight.

"I apologize. It seems the younger generation these days is truly outstanding." The old man smiled modestly. "I heard of your deed at the eastern gate, but to even notice me when I was clearly hiding is truly... unexpected." The old man's smile turned bitter.

"City Lord!" Brunhild stood up, shocked; her tone was full of respect.

The old man was the City Lord of Batley City, Lord Gideon Durant, the only residing Master Rank in Batley City.

"Good to see you again, young lass.” Gideon smiled at Brunhild. “I am happy that you children have successfully returned when most of the Mana Wielders have unfortunately died." He sighed with regret and walked into the living room.

Brunhild frowned. She might be imagining it, but there seemed to be a subtle suspiciousness in Gideon's tone.

She quickly explained clearly and briefly, "Yes, we also faced ambushes during our mission. And thanks to our new friends here, we managed to survive and kill our enemies."

Gideon turned to observe Eric, Lyria, and Livy. After a moment, he smiled kindly, "So, these three are your new friends. Please introduce them to me. I have heard of what happened at the eastern gate and was truly impressed, so I personally decided to pay a visit to see these outstanding youngsters."

Gideon was not at all angry at Eric or towards the girls; after all, they hadn't killed anyone. But even so, he still needed to check on them, especially when he heard that so many Mana Wielders were knocked out cold by a single Rank 1's spiritual pressure. That sounded absurd, something out of a fairy tale, totally impossible. He believed it was probably due to some special artifact, or that the youngsters were actually Master Ranks in disguise. No matter which, he had to at least come and check if they were necromancers or not. And after observing them, he could say for certain that these three were clean.

It was also obvious that these three didn't belong to the Silvia Kingdom or even to the neighboring kingdoms. Gideon had traveled to many places during his younger days, so he was quite certain of it.

Other than that, he could also see that the three were quite strong for their ranks; he couldn’t estimate how much, but just the spirit and confidence they radiated even when facing him suggested that all three of them had perhaps seen many Master Ranks or were probably even trained by a few.

‘These children’s backgrounds might be the key to solving the current imminent peril of Batley City,’ Gideon thought with some hope.

He was certain that these three had some way to contact their master or teacher.

Before Brunhild could introduce them, Eric did, "I am Eric; this is Lyria and this is Livy." His tone then shifted to annoyance, "Old man, what kind of rules did you set up? Can't a traveler suddenly decide to visit this city for a tour or business? Not only did your people reject us, they even forced us to act. Don't blame us for self-defense."

Eric also didn’t want to escalate the tension between them, as that wouldn’t benefit anyone. They were here just for a few days and then would leave.

If possible, he even wanted Batley City to be left intact for Ringwood Town; otherwise, without any big city nearby, trade and any other development would vanish from this part of the world.

Hearing that, Gideon just laughed to put away the earlier tense atmosphere.

"Can I join you children for some... water?"

Brunhild blushed, "Please, I will make some tea." She quickly rushed into the kitchen.

Gideon removed his broadsword from his back and sat opposite Eric in an empty chair. He then glanced at both girls, who were standing and glaring at him. He felt like he was being looked down upon by two beautiful, giant young girls.

He coughed and requested, "Can you lasses please sit down? It’s hard to talk like this."

"Ly, Liv, sit," Eric instructed, and both Lyria and Livy promptly sat down but remained cautious.

"I apologize again for the unannounced visit and also for not knocking on the door,” Gideon chuckled awkwardly.

Gideon felt he must first reduce the three's cautious attitude towards him and also explain the current situation before he could request help from them.

He coughed and began explaining, “The current situation in the city is much direr than you might think or see in the streets.” His expression turned grave as he continued, “We could receive a direct attack from a large number of necromancers at any time. I am not sure if you children are aware, but there are two Master Ranks ready to attack the city at any moment. And if necromancers attack, then the fate of the entire city will be far worse than if another kingdom were invading.” He sighed. “Everything and everyone will be razed to the ground; most, if not all, will be brutally killed. And that is why I am extremely cautious toward strangers entering my city at this moment.”

He felt helpless and weary. Being completely alone, he was burdened with far more weight than most people could imagine. He had a city to protect, along with the trust of millions of lives on his shoulders.

Eric thought a little and asked, "Why are necromancers attacking this city? Also, how can there be such a large number of them? I heard necromancers are rare, or at least that many shouldn’t gather together in a single place for no reason."

It all sounded strange to Eric. He had heard everything Caius was aware of, but the mere fact that they had encountered nearly six groups just on their way to Batley City was highly abnormal. Those necromancers were all veteran, not mere newbies. That many experienced necromancers shouldn't have traveled so far to reach Batley City without a good enough purpose. So, what exactly were they seeking in this city?

Gideon rubbed his forehead and replied with bafflement, "I don't know, and I also don't understand why this is happening." He exhaled tiredly, "Currently, the entire Silvia Kingdom is in a big mess. However, as far as my information goes, only Batley City is facing such a dire threat of extinction. Other cities are only facing troubles, and their surrounding smaller cities, towns, and villages haven't been killed or targeted like ours."

"Currently, the necromancers have forced all the nearby human settlements to gather into a single place—Batley City. I am guessing that someone must have hired them to wipe out Batley City and its surrounding humans entirely."

Eric felt like laughing but held back. “This much hate; did you or someone in Batley City provoke them by destroying their gods or something?” he asked curiously, but then he was stunned. He suddenly recalled something and became speechless internally.

He remembered a past event where some Dark Elves used to worship an undead entity. And he had turned them all into blood soup with noodles. That shouldn't be the reason, right? Right?

Eric silently wiped his sweat and quickly shook his head internally. That is impossible!

The Dark Elf tribe was only worshiping some guy named Voldemort. And as far as he remembered, Voldemort was never so protective and vengeful for his subordinates.

And more importantly, they themselves weren't Necromancers!

So, this event was definitely not because of him! He was innocent!