Chapter 254 - 24: Show of Force (Part 3)
Chapter 254: Chapter 24: Show of Force (Part 3)
Elvin’s expression finally shifted.
"My Lady, I’ve grown old. From now on, these matters are for you to handle."
Valentino was taken aback for a moment, then she smiled.
"Very well. I shall handle it myself then."
...
"Elvin, what is the meaning of this? That guard of Robson’s killed my son! They’re showing utter contempt for the Fengman Clan!"
The moment Robson and Valentino led their large army into the city, Srivici had immediately confronted Elvin, roaring furiously.
"Idiot!"
Facing these old retainers of the Fengman Clan, Elvin, for his part, held his ground.
"Who told you to arrange that?! This wasn’t part of our plan!" Elvin retorted.
Hearing this, Srivici deflated.
Elvin watched the departing army with a complicated expression on his face.
Although Elvin acted furious, he was actually more relieved than anything.
He had no idea where Valentino had found a husband like this. Thankfully, this new son-in-law didn’t plan on killing all of them.
Elvin looked toward the city gate, where several guards were being flogged. He recalled how easily that man’s personal soldiers had taken down the city guard, and he couldn’t help but feel a wave of retrospective fear.
"Aren’t you going to rescue those guards?" Elvin asked, looking over at Srivici, who was collecting his son’s corpse.
"Why should I save them? A bunch of good-for-nothings! All they know how to do is throw their weight around and bully people! Useless trash!" Srivici roared.
"If you’re not going to save them... you should at least kill them," Elvin said.
"That’s... a bit extreme, isn’t it?" Srivici said with a frown.
Elvin stared at Srivici for a long moment, a growing sense of relief washing over him.
’All this time, these guys fought so viciously, I really thought they had some skills. I never imagined they were experts at infighting but completely incompetent against external threats.’
These soldiers had been punished by Viscount Robertson, and they had personally witnessed a noble they didn’t recognize kill Srivici’s son and then brazenly walk into the city.
’This is a fatal blow to Srivici’s prestige. In the future, it probably won’t be so easy for him to mobilize the city defense guard anymore.’
"Well... I’ll be heading back now," Elvin said. After everything that had just happened, he was more determined than ever to cut ties with this lot.
Elvin had already been prepared to hand power over to Valentino. Today’s whole spectacle was just a result of some people within the Fengman Clan refusing to accept this. They wanted to drag Elvin in with them to maintain their grip on the clan’s power.
Elvin glanced around at the old retainers left behind by the late Count and sighed to himself.
’Greed is a serpent that tries to swallow an elephant... They’re reaping what they’ve sown. They made no end of trouble during Valentino’s transition of power. Now they fear her retaliation once she’s fully in control, so their only choice is to fight back desperately.’
In truth, these people had never been part of the previous Count’s real inner circle. The key figures had almost all died with the Count on the battlefield. The few who survived had peacefully transferred their authority to Valentino after Marquis Oscillate declared his support.
In Elvin’s opinion, this group should have surrendered their power the moment Marquis Oscillate made his position clear.
’A pity... a snake trying to swallow an elephant.’
Elvin himself had originally harbored some slim hope, but seeing Robson today had completely extinguished it.
After all, Robson was the fiancé Marquis Oscillate had personally chosen for Valentino. His very presence was a declaration of the Marquis’s support.
’The Marquis could play any random card from his hand and it would be enough to put the entire Fengman Clan to shame...’
Elvin could already see what the future held for this group of people.
’I hope it’s not too late for me,’ Elvin thought.