Magnus Valorion raised his head, and a soldier standing on either side immediately understood the signal. They stepped forward to escort members of The Blackthorn family to the back mountain. Magnus did not trouble the porters who were carrying gifts up the mountain, but he did have Victor Blackthorn, his underlings, and a young man who seemed to be leading them taken to the back mountain.
There, the corpses of the original Crimson Vultures bandits were piled up like a small hill. Victor Blackthorn and his companions had never seen such a gruesome scene before. The mere smell of the strong, rancid blood was enough to make them vomit profusely, turning pale.
Even though Magnus Valorion had mentally prepared himself beforehand, his stomach still churned. But he couldn't show weakness now. He maintained a facade of calm and a fierce expression as he said, "Throw these three in and have them find Tuco and 'the One-Eyed'. Let them see what happens when they cross Magnus Valorion."
Noah immediately obeyed, throwing Victor Blackthorn and the other two into the heap of corpses. The three of them, terrified, tried desperately to retreat. They hadn't taken more than a couple of steps back when a steel knife, still stained with blood, blocked their way.
Noah snarled, "Either you find Tuco and 'the One-Eyed' and have them talk about the ten gold bars, or you hand over the ten gold bars to us right now."
Ten gold bars were no small sum—it would take a lot of grain to earn that kind of money. Although Victor Blackthorn was the manager of the Blackthorn family's grain store, he didn't have the authority to mobilize such a large amount of money without the family patriarch's permission. Helpless, Victor could only muster the courage to step into the pile of corpses.
Just as Victor reached the edge of the heap, a corpse slid down from a higher spot, landing right in front of him. The sight of its lifeless eyes glaring at him scared Victor out of his wits. His servants and the young Blackthorn family member behind him were so frightened they had wet their pants.
Victor quickly knelt down, kowtowing and pleading with Magnus, "Sinbad, please spare us. We'll give you the ten gold bars as we agreed."
"Victor, do you know why I wiped out the Crimson Vultures?"
Victor lay flat on the ground, not daring to meet Magnus's gaze, his voice trembling, "I... I know. The Crimson Vultures owed you money and didn't pay."
"Wrong. Tuco came to my house as a guest and found my dog annoying, so he killed it and refused to compensate me. So my brothers and I came all the way from the northern snowfield to Great Latium Imperium and killed over three hundred people in the Crimson Vultures."
Victor, still kneeling, didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Traveling such a long distance to avenge a dog by slaughtering over three hundred bandits—this was sheer madness!
"Tuco, you bastard, why did you have to kill their dog over some trivial matter? Look at the mess you've caused now—the entire Crimson Vultures wiped out!"
Magnus deliberately walked over to the young Blackthorn and asked, "Young man, do you think my brothers and I should demand justice for my dog from Tuco?"
The young man, already terrified, couldn't speak. When Magnus lightly patted his shoulder, he fainted from fear.
To avoid provoking the ruthless Sinbad, who was far more vicious than Tuco, Victor quickly answered for his young companion, "Yes, yes, you absolutely should!"
"Tuco had no right to kill your dog, Sinbad. He deserved to die for that."
Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Magnus ordered Victor and his companions to be taken back to the main hall. Back in the hall, Victor and his servants took deep breaths of fresh air, relieved to be away from the stench of the back mountain.
Once they had caught their breath, Magnus, having adjusted his own demeanor, continued to press the Blackthorn family. "I see you're a reasonable man, Victor. I'm sure you won't try to skip out on paying me fifteen gold bars."
Victor's eyes widened in shock. "Fifteen gold bars?"
"Sinbad, wasn't it ten gold bars just now? How did it become fifteen?"
Magnus lazily sat at the head of the table, propping his feet on the desk, "Yes, it was ten bars. But since you didn't bring them today, you've troubled my brothers. So I'm charging a little interest. Is that wrong?"
"Think about it. Tuco killed my dog, and it cost him over three hundred lives in interest. My five gold bars of interest are just a minor charge, don't you think?"
Magnus's calculation made Victor realize that the additional five gold bars were indeed not excessive.
Victor quickly nodded, "Not at all, not at all. Sinbad, you're very generous. This interest is more than fair!"
Seeing Victor's humbled demeanor, a new idea for revenge popped into Magnus's mind.
"Victor, I see you're still not fully convinced and think I'm just bullying you with force. Since this is our first cooperation, I should give you a gift."
A gift? Receiving a gift from a bandit leader? Victor was already thanking his lucky stars that they wouldn't have to pay protection money for peace. How could they dare hope for a gift from the bandit leader?
Terrified that Magnus might wave his hand and have his men fetch a bandit's head from the back mountain as a gift, Victor hastily refused, "No, no, Sinbad, you're too kind!"
"We didn't bring the ten gold bars, oh, no... the fifteen gold bars as requested. You've already been incredibly merciful by not punishing us. How could we dare ask for a gift?"