In the Stonebridge City Caste:
Laxus was tapping his table impatiently.
It had been a week since he hired an assassin to kidnap Maximus' family, but until now, there is still no news.
"How is it, Martis? Do you have any news?"
"No, my lord. There's still no news."
"Did something happen?" Laxus thought gloomily.
"Maybe the assassin is still lurking, waiting for a chance."
"After all, Moonshadow City has two Tier 3 Earth Knights."
"That should be the case," Laxus nodded, convincing himself.
But in his heart, it seems that something is off.
"You should tighten the security just in case."
"I will, my lord."
...
At night, Maximus came to Stonebridge City with Johnson and Smith.
"Is this the place?" Maximus murmured as he looked at a parchment tracker.
After his wife was attacked, he became furious and worried at the same time.
He wondered who dared to attack his wife in his own territory.
Using his system, he bought this Tier 4 parchment tracker.
[Parchment Tracker (Tier 4): As long as you think of someone, their position will be shown. Price: 30,000]
As long as the assailant didn't reach Tier 5 or possess some special treasure, they couldn't hide from this parchment tracker.
When he thought of the one who was the mastermind behind his wife's assassination, he was led to Stonebridge City.
"This should be the place, my lord. It's the closest to Moonshadow City," Smith said.
"Then who do you think is the mastermind behind the attack on my wife?"
"It should be the lord of Stonebridge City, who caught wind of something interesting in Moonshadow City."
"Hmm," Maximus also pondered this.
"Let's go. Let's see if the noble in this city has three heads and three arms to attack my family," Maximus said seriously.
The three of them activated jade talismans to become invisible to the naked eye.
Looking at the clueless guards they made their way inside the castle.
"It really is him, damn it," Maximus cursed as he saw Laxus lying peacefully in bed.
"Who?!" Laxus, who was sleeping, awakened.
"Hehehe, the god of death who will take your life," Maximus said.
"Presumptuous!" Laxus also grew angry.
It was fine if the other two said such things, as they were equal in strength,
But a brat whose strength was only Tier 1 dared to utter such words.
"Go, hold him for me."
"I want to see if he really is a tough bastard," Maximus commanded, setting up a barrier to prevent noise from escaping.
"Hmph, it's not that easy!" Laxus yelled and tried to fight back.
"Get down," Smith and Johnson forcefully pulled Laxus down.
"Let go!" Laxus continued to struggle.
Unfortunately for him, Smith and Johnson were professionals.
Plus, they were already at the peak of Tier 3 Earth Knights, so subduing Laxus was quite easy.
"Hmph, now let the fun begin," Maximus grinned at Laxus as if he were a toy.
"Kill me!" Laxus shouted.
He knew that he was already done for, as couldn't even gather his strength.
"How can it be that easy?"
Maximus took out a pain amplification potion and forced it into Laxus' mouth.
Laxus struggled, but with two on top of his body, it was all in vain.
"What did you give me?!"
"Hehe, you'll know soon enough."
Maximus took out a needle filled with barbed edges and pricked Laxus on the arms.
"Aaargh!" Laxus shouted.
Soon, Maximus tortured Laxus until he vented his anger.
"Tsk, what a soft shrimp," Maximus clicked his tongue, looking at Laxus' numbed expression.
"End him, and also that Martin guy..." Maximus ordered as he went outside to get some fresh air.
He had let go of all the others, only targeting Laxus and Martis.
After all, he wasn't that cold-blooded.
He still had some morality left.
Looking at the dark sky, he couldn't help but sigh.
"I was careless..."
Although he knew that his actions would invite trouble sooner or later, he was still complacent.
Despite giving his wives some treasure to defend themselves, even against Tier 4 attacks, they could still survive.
However, he still blamed himself as didn't prevent the disease from appearing in the first place.
"Maybe I should create an intelligence organization," Maximus thought.
If he could know in advance that someone was after his family, then nothing would have happened.
"But who is suitable to take charge of this intelligence organization?" Maximus murmured.
After all, there were only Tier 3 individuals in his territory.
As for Tier 2, there were barely even 5, with four of them being newly promoted.
"Should I buy another slave?" Maximus pondered as he saw Smith and Johnson approaching him.
"Lord, everything is cleaned up."
"Then let's go home."
...
In the castle, Maximus was processing some documents.
A few weeks later, the commotion caused by the assassination subsided.
Regarding Laxus' death, the others only thought that it was done by the escaped cult leader.
As for his farmland, it didn't cause many waves.
After all, others could also hire a formation master if they had some money.
Those who can afford this kind of money had no interest in his territory.
And those who can't afford it is too weak to have a chance with two tier 3 earth knight in charge.
Knock* Knock*
"Come in."
"I've seen Count Maximus," Robert bowed.
"What is it?"
"It's the wine, Lord. We have already finished concocting a prototype based on your formula," Robert said as he presented a bottle of wine.
"Oh? Is it done already?" Maximus muttered as he took the wine.
Previously, he had thought of selling wine and clothes.
Unfortunately, bad luck struck and a war started.
Now the Faerie Kingdom had barely stabilized with the death of the crown prince, Felix.
Sniff*
"Hmm, it's fragrant."
"Go take out a glass from the shelf," Maximus ordered.
"Here."
Pouring out the wine, it displayed a deep red color.
Twirling the glass, a kind of magical reaction happened as the wine changed into several shades of red.
"How wonderful," Robert commented.
"Now, the taste..."
After taking a sip, Maximus felt that it was not bad.
But compared to the higher-tier wine he bought from the system, it was barely passable.
"How is it, Lord?"
"Hmmm, it's passable," Maximus nodded in satisfaction.
After all, it only used ordinary ingredients, so what more could he expect?
"It's good enough to pass," Robert nodded happily.
"How much should we sell this for, Lord?"
"Tell me the cost."
"Uh, overall, the cost of a bottle is about 5 gold coins, as we needed to transport materials from another place."
"But if we can grow our own, we can bring the cost down to less than a gold coin."
"Hmm, don't bother farming for wine ingredients for now."
"Just buy them; we're not short of money anyway."
"As for the price, since it costs 5 gold, we'll sell it for 500 gold coins a bottle."
"500 Gold?!" Robert was shocked.
After all, even the most famous wine in the Faerie Empire only cost 300 gold coins.
"That's it. You can discuss with Doran about this matter," Maximus waved his hand.
"Then I'll arrange the matter, my lord." Robert bowed and left.