Chapter 382 - 206: The Golden Egg and the Morin Clan
Chapter 382: Chapter 206: The Golden Egg and the Morin Clan
Shefilya didn’t press for more details about his ability to raise a person’s Attributes. For one, she was a Maid, and it wasn’t her place to pry into her master’s secrets. For another, Shefilya preferred hands-on exploration through constant practice and experimentation over simply asking questions.
A short while later, they arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion.
The Guards standing watch at the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion saw Lin Mo and immediately greeted him with enthusiasm.
Everyone knew by now that he was the future husband of their City Lord’s Mansion’s very own Miss Feney. On top of that, Lin Mo had a good personality and treated people kindly, so he had an excellent reputation among the Guards.
Lin Mo smiled and greeted them back, making small talk for a moment before heading straight for Lady Beixila’s study.
He knocked on the door, and Lady Beixila’s voice soon came from within. "Come in."
Lin Mo pushed the door open and entered. This time, Lady Beixila wasn’t busy; instead, she was leisurely sipping her tea.
Beside her, Shefilya’s mother, Melissa, had just finished pouring a cup of tea. Seeing Lin Mo, she nodded at him, then exchanged a glance with Shefilya, who was standing behind him. A single look was all the mother and daughter needed to convey a wealth of information.
It seemed things had gone very smoothly.
"Please, have a seat."
Melissa placed a chair on the opposite side of the desk. Lin Mo sat down without ceremony, and the cup of tea Melissa had just poured was right at his hand.
"I’m sure you’ve already guessed the reason I had Shefilya ask you to come."
Compared to the Lady Beixila of a few days ago, she looked significantly more relaxed now. The worried expression was gone from her face, and her complexion had improved greatly.
But her eyes still held a great deal of thought and consideration, like those of a master strategist planning her next move.
"The Goblins... they’ve finally made their move?"
"That’s right."
Lady Beixila nodded. "Just last night, the Goblins launched a sudden, large-scale attack on Lania City."
"What’s the situation?"
Lin Mo was actually quite curious about this. After all, it hadn’t been easy for them to fend off the Goblin attack. Lania City was far less prepared than Silver Stream City, so could they manage to hold on?
"According to the latest intelligence, their losses are quite severe. The defensive line they’d prepared was broken twice that same night. However, it won’t be so easy for the Goblins to actually breach the city..."
Lin Mo thought for a moment. "The Lawrence Clan has preserved its strength well."
When the Goblin disaster was raging earlier, Silver Stream City adopted a proactive rescue approach. They frequently dispatched Guards from the city and various towns to provide support to the hardest-hit areas. Although this measure saved many lives and reduced the losses from the Goblin disaster, it also came at the cost of many of Silver Stream City’s own Guards.
Lania City, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. They were likely the ones who had orchestrated this disaster in the first place, so naturally, they couldn’t care less about the lives of the common people.
As a result, the villages and towns within Lania City’s sphere of influence suffered devastating losses. But because the nobles and their cronies simply stood by and watched, the number of Guards in Lania City remained almost unchanged. That’s why, after the Goblins turned against them, they are still able to defend the city, at least for a short while.
"But, that’s likely not the only reason..."
Lin Mo continued, "I’ve been thinking about this for a while—why would the Lawrence Clan go to such great lengths to intentionally cultivate Goblins?"
"In my opinion, aside from creating trouble for Silver Stream City, they must have had something to gain. But to let the Goblins develop and multiply on such a massive scale, to actively provide them with help... even going so far as to kill students from the Kingdom Magic Academy who discovered the truth—this doesn’t seem like something the Lord of a small border city would have the nerve to do on his own."
"I imagine there must be someone else above the Lawrence Clan, right?"
Lady Beixila nodded, her eyes filled with admiration.
In this world, a talented person was already a rare treasure. But to have excellent reasoning and wisdom on top of that talent was an even more valuable bonus.
This son-in-law who had seemingly fallen from the sky was looking more and more satisfactory the longer she observed him.
It made all the help she had provided him feel worthwhile.
"Your guesses are essentially all correct... There is indeed a much bigger ’tiger’ behind the Lawrence Clan. Through investigating various clues, and with the help of Flora’s teacher, the Great Mage Elvis, we’ve now been able to confirm the person’s identity."
"He is Sed Morin, one of the only six Dukes in the Doria Kingdom!"
"The Morin Clan is a renowned Alchemy Family in the Doria Kingdom. They’ve monopolized nearly fifty percent of the Kingdom’s alchemy business. Any Alchemy Shop in a major city like the Royal Capital or Fajade City must sign a contract with the Morin Clan, ceding a portion of their profits and adhering to a series of the Morin Clan’s rules in exchange for the right to establish themselves there."
"Otherwise, the Morin Clan will use all sorts of methods to ensure your shop can’t stay in business..."
’Sounds less like nobles and more like a crime syndicate.’
While Lin Mo snarked internally, he didn’t stop thinking.
’An Alchemy Family...’
"So, their reason for letting the Goblins run wild and even cultivating them is most likely related to alchemy?"
"The Golden Egg!"
A voice suddenly called out from outside the door. The person then pushed the door open and entered—it was Chacher, the owner of the Alchemy Shop that Lin Mo used to frequent.