The captain of the knights of the City Defense Troop immediately stepped forward, shouting at the troop which was galloping toward them from the distance, "Which aristocrat is it?"
Ordinary people were not allowed to form troops of knights; only aristocrats had the right to form them with a certain amount of knights to guard the safety of their territory. As for the others such as merchants, wealthy men and so on, all of them were not allowed to form troops of knights. They could only employ the services of some powerful Swordsmen at best.
The troop of knights before them slowly decreased their speed. The leading knight was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a helmet that looked like fire and a suit of heavy armor. Riding a mighty black steed, he slowly came forward and said in an indifferent and condescending manner, "I'm Baron Vingult Bore. I've brought an important guest to visit the honorable castellan today."
"So, it's Baron Vingult. Please hold on for a moment, I'll go and inform the honorable castellan about your arrival."
Naturally, the captain of the City Defense Troop knights knew who Baron Vingult was as he was an important aristocrat in Blackwater City. However, before he left to make his report, he gave a deep, hard look at the carriage that was in the middle of the knights. The identity of the person in the carriage must be extremely respectable, to be personally escorted by Baron Vingult.
Therefore, the captain of the knights did not dare to tarry. He hastily entered the Castellan's Mansion.
As Baron Vingult gazed at the great Castellan's Mansion, a hint of a blazing glow flashed across his eyes. Following which, he called out softly to someone behind him, "Tirath."
Tirath had followed as well, in the midst of the troop of knights. Hearing Baron Vingult's voice, he hurriedly took a few steps forward and said in a respectful tone, "Father, what are your orders?"
Baron Vingult's eyes narrowed a little. He lowered his voice and said, "In a while, Augustin definitely won't allow entry to all of you, so you take charge of the knights in the castle and be on guard here. Wait for me to come out."
Tirath squinted his eyes slightly. He asked somewhat worriedly, "Father, would there be any danger, if Augustin disagrees..."
"Disagrees? It'd be even better if he disagrees. After the business is done, who knows, the master of this Castellan's Mansion might have to be changed. As for danger... With the presence of that honorable sir, what danger could there be?"
Baron Vingult looked to the horse carriage behind him. There was even a hint of fear on his face.
In just a short while, the knight who had gone to send his report returned. He respectfully looked at Baron Vingult and said, "The honorable castellan has ordered that only the baron and the distinguished guest in the carriage may enter."
Baron Vingult nodded. "Lead the way!"
Saying thus, Baron Vingult and the mysterious carriage slowly followed the knight and entered the Castellan's Mansion.
Inside the reception hall of the Castellan's Mansion, the current castellan of Blackwater City, Baron Augustin, sat on a chair. He furrowed his eyebrows as he gazed out with bright, piercing eyes.
"Castellan, sir, Baron Vingult has arrived."
Baron Augustin hurriedly waved his hand, saying, "Welcome, Baron Vingult."
His voice fell when Baron Vingult strode into the hall with a big smile, before bowing slightly toward Baron Augustin as a form of etiquette between aristocrats.
Baron Augustin's expression did not change. He merely gave Vingult a cold look before saying calmly, "Baron Vingult, is there anything of importance that pushed you into not staying in your castle, and instead, coming to this Castellan's Mansion of mine?"
Despite Augustin's chilly tone of voice, Vingult was not offended. His expression remained the same. All he did was to lower his voice as he spoke, "Baron Augustin, I'm not the one who has come to find you this time. It's a distinguished guest instead!"
Having finished speaking, another man dressed in a white robe, with a silver crossed-swords embroidery in front of his chest, came into the hall.
When he saw this white-robed man, Augustin's expression changed greatly; he immediately stood up and said in a deep voice, "Wizard Jason, haven't you already killed the evil heretic the last time? Could there still be evil heretics in Blackwater City?"
Astonishingly, this white-robed man was Wizard Jason who had previously come from Grand City to Blackwater City and killed old man Etha.
Wizard Jason had a pair of extremely clear eyes that seemed to be able to see through a man's heart. He did not reply to Baron Augustin's question. Instead, he said with a spurious smile, "Baron Augustin, you should be making your decision already!"
Hearing those words, Augustin could no longer maintain his composure. He sat on his chair with a stunned expression as he hung his head, his face as dark as deep water.
Wizard Jason's purpose did not have anything to do with any evil heretic; it was for him to make his decision!
"Is the church finally taking action? Can't they wait a while longer?"
Augustin asked, with an ashen white face.
However, Wizard Jason's expression was somewhat indifferent and cold. He said with a sneer, "Baron Augustin, we've given you ample amount of time to consider this matter. Once we take action, the promise before this would be considered invalid!"
Augustin's lips were drying up. He looked at Vingult, who was beside Wizard Jason; he knew that if he still did not agree, the Vingult family would be the ones gaining an advantage eventually. As for the Augustin family, they might go on a complete decline due to a wrong decision made by him.
He could not afford to pay such a huge price!
After a long moment, Augustin slowly lifted his head. He took a deep breath and said in an extremely grave tone, emphasizing every word, "Wizard Jason, my City Defense Troop knights will obey your every assignment at any given time!"
"Haha, Baron Augustin. You're willing to return into God's embrace, and you'll still be God's most faithful believer. God will never abandon a faithful believer. Don't worry, we'll not be moving immediately, but we still need the cooperation of the castellan for what comes next."
"Wizard Jason, tell me, what should be done? I, from the Augustin family, am God's most faithful believer!"
Since the decision had already been made, Baron Augustin's heart relaxed instead.
"It's very simple. The castellan only has to invite all aristocrats in Blackwater City to the Castellan's Mansion for a discussion on the recent problem of frequent bandit attacks on the small towns. I believe all of them will come. By then, we'll naturally treat the aristocrats who are willing to have faith in God and become a believer well. But, if they're stubborn and foolish, I'll personally strike and kill them!"
After hearing Wizard Jason's plan, a chill pierced through Baron Augustin's heart. If this plan really succeeded, they would be able to capture all of Blackwater City's aristocrats in a single swoop.
Seeing that Wizard Jason's eyes had looked over to him, Augustin hurriedly said, "Wizard Jason, please don't worry. I'll surely inform all aristocrats of Blackwater City to come forth in my capacity as the castellan."
The matter was just about to be settled when Baron Vingult, who was on the side, suddenly stepped forward. In a low voice, he said, "Wizard Jason, Wilson is currently not in Blackwater City. He has gone to a land within his territory and has not return until now. If he isn't dealt with, I'm afraid that, by relying on the heavy armored knights in his hands, he would bring us a lot of trouble."
"Wilson? Castellan, what do you think should be done?"
Wizard Jason's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Baron Augustin coldly.
Baron Augustin glanced at Vingult; everyone in Blackwater City knew about the grudges between Vingult and Wilson.
After a moment of contemplation, Augustin said in a low voice, "Wilson has been in the army for twenty years and has accumulated various achievements in war before finally becoming a baron. He could be said to have plenty of experiences on the battlefield! The heavy armored knights trained by him, close to two hundred of them, are the most elite amongst the elite. Even my City Defense Troop knights wouldn't be able to block the attack of the heavy armored knights under Wilson, I'm afraid. Moreover, Wilson himself is a Second-level Elemental Swordsman. His power is great, making him very difficult to fight!"
"But, you can't dismiss getting rid of Wilson if you wish to control Blackwater City. Based on his nature, it's absolutely impossible to get him to betray the Royal Family and rely on the church, so he has to be eliminated. In this case, we could delay the time of the meeting slightly so that Wilson has time to hurry back from his territory. By then, with Sir Jason in the city personally, what trouble could Wilson stir up that we should be afraid of?"
Wizard Jason nodded, seemingly in approval and praise. With a smile, he said, "Not bad, not bad, Wilson has to be dealt with! But it's unnecessary to delay the time. The castellan should still send people out to pass the invitation to all aristocrats, including Wilson Castle. As for Wilson, hehe, he won't be able to return, forever..."