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Tranton led his family away at once, showing urgency in private and a lack of urgency while leaving the Libarn Residence.

The only people left in the meeting hall were the task force, the Practor Family, and Kuldar.

“... Kuldar. Let’s talk in the other room for a moment,” Herman stated, already walking toward the side room.

Complying, Kuldar followed with an expressionless face devoid of emotion.

Once Herman closed the sliding door and activated the room’s silent formation, he heaved a dragged-out sigh. “Kuldar… Don’t tell me all of this happened without you knowing.”

“I... I didn’t know how far gone Walder was,” Kuldar replied. Water gathered atop Kuldar’s lower eyelids, waiting for the moment they could overflow. “I have caught him. In the past… But only twice.

“The first time was after he had received such a letter but didn’t have the chance or time to act on it. Before he could ever consider the offer, the letter was reported to me by a servant and I had a long discussion with Walder…

“The second time,” Kuldar continued with his regretful tone, “I caught Walder just after he had managed to meet with a foreign power. It took place between the city and the Taltin Mountains. Considering the damning evidence I had in the letter, I killed the invader myself and reported finding the intruder without Walder being involved… That was still a few months before the Olerron Clan appeared and assassinated Tranton’s younger brother.”

.....

Putting all the dots together, Hurman started to imagine the bigger picture. “So, that’s how Walder didn’t get targeted after the assassination. Because he had supposedly learned his lesson after you cleaned up the one mess he made.

“Only, it seems the lesson Walder learned was how to work around your back while pretending to be the laziest of your three sons…” sighed Hurman. “I can’t say I blame you for being out of the loop. After all, Mertin pulled a similar trick on me for years.”

“No. Mertin protected your family while gathering damning evidence on the people that dared to take advantage of him and your family,” Kuldar sternly corrected. “What Walder did… was all for himself. I didn’t dare to… raise him as firmly as I should’ve. It’s my fault for his lack of discipline and his lack of respect for the family at large. Maybe if I hadn’t smothered him so much, then Walder would’ve turned out differently.”

Slap!

“Snap out of it!”

Kuldar was in a daze. He let the cold, stinging pain on his cheek sink in.

Hurman shouted again, “You lost Kaldon, so you babied your second son. What parent wouldn’t have done the same thing?”

“But… That doesn’t erase the mess that my son has started,” argued Kuldar.

” I agree!” Hurman scoffed. “So, if you love your son, clean up after his final mess and let him rest in peace! I won’t tell you to hate your own blood or to blame yourself further. But if you want to call yourself his father, even now, then let’s clean this up and minimize what damages we can. At the very least, people will look down on your son with less venom and anger than if Walder’s mess remained at large.”

Unable to argue further, Kuldar retrieved a bottle of wine. He popped the cork and chugged the entire thing in one shot.

“Ahhh...” Wiping the dribble of wine from his lips, Kuldar remarked, “You know, all of you were right. My family is out of control. Without a deep cleansing, we would only be a hindrance to a place like Iron Territory.”

“Well, Oliver and I only said that because we saw it firsthand from people desperately hiding the truth from you,” stated Hurman.

“True. But I allowed that to happen by focusing more on cultivation than family affairs,” disputed Kuldar.

Shrugging, Hurman said, “So what? That’s what patriarchs do. They try to get stronger to more easily protect their family and help them prosper. You were doing one of your duties as the Libarn Patriarch.

“Now, as for Iron Territory’s backer, he seems to know more than the rest of us combined. So don’t be mad at yourself for not being as smart as that man. He’s unlike anyone else you’ll ever meet, Kuldar. He’s a special case all his own.”

With Kuldar silently beginning to accept the reality of the situation without only blaming himself, Hurman asked, “So… Would you like to handle the next step? Or shall I?”

Kuldar didn’t respond just yet. He took his time thinking it over and devising the best plan of action moving forward.

Those in the task force were calmly waiting in the conference hall, completely relaxed. After all, they weren’t too worried for their safety considering their average cultivation and being grouped together. For them, it was just a matter of time until Hurman gave them orders to either gather intel, kill someone, or both.

Fulkar, on the other hand, only acted calm on the surface.

It wasn’t difficult to find the reports of Walder’s travels beyond the city walls. After forming his list of names, Fulkar passed a few names each to some of his most trusted servants, speeding up the process of gathering the potential accomplices.

An hour after Walder’s death, over a dozen family servants began to pile into the mess hall.

As they walked in, thirteen servants were surprised to have a spread of freshly made finger foods already on the tables.

“Eat up! Master Walder will be here soon for a special announcement!” A chef stepped out of the kitchen, raising a tankard high into the air. “To Master Walder’s generosity!”

“AYE!”

The servants stopped holding back one by one until everyone started eating their fill.

Only a couple minutes after everyone had started eating did someone else step out of the kitchen. Then, a second person walked out as well.

Confusion quickly spread as all thirteen servants stopped eating.

“Welcome to what may be your final feast!” Hurman declared, speaking loudly with a tone of mockery.

“Master Hurman?” One of the thirteen servants recognized him immediately.

No one mentioned Kuldar’s name either, but all of them recognized the second man without batting an eye.

Another servant gulped down his mouthful of food and asked, “If you would, Master Hurman, can you please explain that statement?”

“For some of you, this might be your final feast. For others, it likely won’t be,” stated Hurman. “It would seem that you don’t realize why you’re here. So we’ll be frank about it and hope for a quick, peaceful resolution.

“Just now, you’ve all consumed a certain poison. One that will kill you within two or three days should you not get the antidote.”

“W-what?!” a servant shouted in fear.

Another yelled with a quivering lip, “I-is that true, Master Kuldar?”

“Shhh. Let me finish my explanation. Then, we can offer you the antidote,” stated Hurman. “... Good. Now that you’re all listening, let me explain how you can earn the antidote. All you have to do is reveal the identities of the intruders you helped Walder Libarn smuggle into the city.”

Without delay, a variety of emotions erupted out of the servants.

A couple of servants were completely caught off guard by the question, even tearing up in confusion and fear of losing their lives for no reason.

Some servants managed to keep their poker faces.

But a few instantly became frantic. One even bolted for the door.

“I haven’t told you what poison you consumed,” Hurman reminded them all. “Without that, you’ll never find an antidote outside of the ones we’re offering!”

The fleeing servant didn’t bother replying. All he wanted was to rip the door open and sprint away faster than his legs would allow.

K-krrip! Thud…

“Aaahh!” That servant howled in pain as he was launched back into the room the moment he cracked the door open.

In walked an adult drake, completely silencing the nearby servant with his presence alone. Oli showed a hint of malice in his smile while flapping his wings and flicking some blood off his black and purple claw. “Careful. I’m under stick orders to kill anyone that attempts to flee without answering Hurman’s questions. And since this isn’t a battlefield, I’m allowed to play with my prey instead of snuffing out your life in an instant.”

With a bleeding gash and a broken collar bone, that fallen servant did his best to not wail in pain or fear.

“The drake is correct,” Hurman announced. “We want answers. And you want your lives. Anyone that dared to be an accomplice to the invasion of Forell City and the fall of the Forell Family has only one chance to seek forgiveness and mercy. Otherwise, I don’t mind handing you over to my drake friend as free samples to test his new, painful abilities.”