During this period of time recently, whenever he thought about these things, he would feel deeply condemned by morality.Perhaps he was still not cut out to be a swindler.Because even the leaders of thieves and swindlers like Mr. Juan and Odrie, who had a conscience, would never care about these meaningless emotions and morality, but he couldn't do it, not at all.
Of course, Odrie knew exactly how Ivan reacted. He said, "Ivan, do you think the trial at that time was just to randomly find a target to test how much you had mastered? No, it was not just that. You were deliberately arranged to meet those people. In front of those down-and-out nobles, you have already proved how outstanding you are. In this way, no one will think that you are a clumsy impostor. Ivan, you haven't forgotten what kind of people were invited to that banquet, right? More than half of them had deep connections with Lord Medin.
You will need their support, and now it's undoubtedly much easier for you to be accepted by the nobles in Luxembourg, isn't it?" There was a smile on the corner of Odrie's mouth.
"Yes, your trial was definitely successful. Mr. Juan originally asked me to publicize you well in Luxembourg, but it was completely unnecessary. There are many people willing to do this job for me. Especially, the deep impression you left on those young ladies. Now, I'm sure that all the girls in Luxembourg are looking forward to your early appearance. You know, I don't have the ability to get into their circle. Your achievement is really amazing," Firth also said with a smile.Hearing their half-true and half-false words, Ivan didn't feel happy or proud, because he could never accept this way of using everyone and everything that could be used.
Apparently, Mr. Juan knew clearly how Ivan felt in his heart. He said, "Ivan, if you feel that someone has been hurt in this matter, you can try your best to make up for it. However, running away won't solve the problem. There will always be a time when you have to face this difficult problem. The only thing you need to consider is how you plan to solve this matter. This is the key point, rather than thinking about whether to solve the matter. If the goal is not clear, the process will be extremely long and full of the danger of failure."
"Alright, I won't let these unnecessary things affect the work," Ivan said.
"No, I don't mean that feelings are unnecessary things. Hey, you'll understand this one day. But it's still a bit early for you now. As you said, you can go to work."
Hearing Mr. Juan's instructions, Ivan stood up from his seat and walked towards the door.
When he walked to the door, Mr. Juan seemed to remember something and said, "Ivan, tell the butler to quickly buy a few goats, live ones. Your experiment will need these goats. As you said, it will be useful to make more hallucinogenic powder. However, you have to hide it in a safe place, and you also have to learn when you should use these dangerous potions. Ivan, remember that those potions are much more dangerous than the hand crossbow in your hand."
"I'll be careful," Ivan replied.
Walking out of the study, Ivan gently closed the door. He wondered whether to make some more hallucinogenic powder. Anyway, there were still plenty of materials. It took eight hours, so it should be successfully refined by lunchtime.
However, before that, just as Mr. Juan had said, it was necessary to figure out the characteristics of these hallucinogenic powders first. It seemed that some experimental subjects were really needed.
Thinking about this, Ivan walked towards the butler's room downstairs.In the study, Mr. Juan was sitting there, looking at the door of the study. After a long while, he sighed and said to himself, "It seems that my words didn't work."
"Why do you think so?" Firth asked. He didn't see anything abnormal.
"Back then, Lavash also repeatedly told us this. Our reactions at that time were not much different from Ivan's, but the tragedy still happened. The most terrifying thing about this potion is that at the beginning, it doesn't show great harm. On the contrary, its benefits are countless. However, after excessive use, people will lose their vigilance against that terrible harm, and danger often occurs in this situation," Mr. Juan explained.
"What a humanized drug," Odrie said sarcastically.
Although it was unknown whether this matter was still that bad for Odrie after such a long time, everyone knew that this was not a good topic.
"Odrie, how are your arrangements going?" Mr. Juan asked.
"All done. Ivan is the most outstanding student I've ever seen. Precisely because of this, he only spent a week to remember most of the things he needed to know in his mind. Besides, with the deep connections already established in the previous trial, it's not difficult to make the nobles in Luxembourg accept his identity. The only problem is that aunt."
"Yes, I'm also troubled by this matter. I don't have any way to deal with that old lady," Firth also frowned and said.
"But she is the most important person. We must firmly win over this old lady. Without her help, Ivan will never be able to gain a foothold in Luxembourg," Mr. Juan said. "However, this incident may not be a bad thing for us. Those mercenaries were originally the most unreliable part of the whole plan. I was worried about how to deal with these people after Ivan was recognized in the future. Now it's good that someone has helped us solve this problem and has removed the trouble for us instead."
"Moreover, I was originally worried about whether Ivan would be willing to work wholeheartedly for us. With Lavash backing him up, I definitely couldn't force him to do these things. But now, the matter is completely solved. Ivan has always dreamed of adventures, and he has a sense of so-called justice in his heart. Those people's bloody means have helped us a great deal. Odrie, find a substitute later, a substitute about the same size as that butler, and throw him into the sea to make others think that the guy is dead, so that no one will worry about him.
However, you have to keep an eye on that guy. If he runs out and is discovered, all our efforts will be in vain."
Hearing Mr. Juan's instructions, Odrie nodded and agreed, "Yes. However, just to be on the safe side, do you think it's better to make him disappear completely?"
"No, keeping him may still be useful. No one knows the Este couple better than him. You just need to keep an eye on him and not let others discover him," Mr. Juan said.
"That's easy. That butler is a rather cowardly guy. Now he stays indoors all day long and doesn't even dare to approach the window," Odrie said.
"That's good. Firth, you go back to Luxembourg immediately. Find out clearly for me who is the most concerned about this tragedy. It seems that someone can't wait to take action," Juan ordered again."Yes, boss.""Herbert, you should know best about the assassination. You've already been to the scene. Did you find anything?" Mr. Juan asked.
"Amateur level. It seems that the murderers were just a motley crew. Otherwise, that butler couldn't have escaped successfully. However, those people were much better at using swords than thugs. It seems that they had received special training. Judging from the wounds on the corpses, those people were extremely neat and quick in their attacks," Herbert replied."So what's your opinion?" Odrie asked. Although he already had some ideas in his mind, he still wanted to hear what Herbert had to say.
"They're soldiers. More precisely, they're knights. At least five knights, and one of them is left-handed," Herbert said."A left-handed knight? I can look into that," Firth nodded and said."Firth, you can investigate it casually. However, don't put too much effort into it. I guess for such an important matter, it must have been planned by some important figure. If so, for safety reasons, they may not necessarily use people from Luxembourg. Pam, I'll leave this matter to you. Send your spies to inquire around. I'll say hello to padraic. However, you also have to warn your men in advance to keep their fingers in check," Mr. Juan said.
"Understood, boss. I'll ask my men to stop doing business and focus on inquiring about this matter," Pam replied."By the way, Pam, how many men do you have now?" Odrie asked."In Avila city, there are fifty-three. Baz is their leader. The spies that can be temporarily summoned add up to a hundred. However, these spies make a living by working in Avila and can't be sent to other places. There are about ten people in the two towns around Avila, plus twenty spies. In Piton, there are twenty-one pickpockets, but there are a lot of spies, more than two hundred in total.
Piton is very poor, so they can only target passing merchants. Bart is really not a good place for pickpockets to make a living, but there are also more than ten spies there. In Luxembourg, there are thirty-seven pickpockets and about sixty or so spies. As for South Port, the boss has always told me not to interfere in that place," Pam replied.
"Keep an army for a thousand days to use it for an hour. Pam, it's time for your men to play their roles. Let those spies closely watch every stranger entering and leaving their hunting grounds. No one knows their cities better than them. As for the pickpockets, let them be ready at any time. I may have something for them to do. During this period of time, the pickpockets can restrain themselves a little. I don't want them to be locked up in prison when I need their help," Mr. Juan said."Understood."
"Herbert, you can go and gather people. Since someone wants to play a dangerous game with us, then we'll accompany them to the end. As soon as Pam or Firth gets any news, it may be your turn to take action." Juan showed a cold smile. At this time, this old man really looked like the leader of thieves.
"I'll ask the Leben brothers to come back from Xibai. They're good helpers and absolutely reliable. The Sisfil group can also be summoned back if needed. I know they've been tired of staying on Cassy Island for a long time. If you can get Crazy Pete out of the big prison in Luxembourg, he'll be a good accomplice. His ears are the sharpest among those in our line of work," Herbert said.
"Call them all here. Firth, can you think of any way for that crazy guy?" Mr. Juan said."Oh, I've heard of that crazy guy. I heard that he was caught because he exposed his lower body to a certain noblewoman. The people in the prison have long wanted to throw him out. I think it won't be difficult to rescue him. But is it safe to let such a crazy guy participate in our operation?" Firth asked.
"Pete is indeed a crazy guy, but he's a useful crazy guy. I can manage him. He'll stay by my side like a normal person. And when I take action myself, the crazy guy is the only one who can cooperate with me and be helpful to me," Herbert said."I understand. I'll get that guy out. It's not difficult," Firth promised."Alright, it seems that the problem is solved. Let's divide up and do our respective jobs. There's not much time left," Mr. Juan said.
Hearing the boss's concluding instructions, Odrie, Firth, and Pam quickly stood up. Indeed, they had too many things to arrange.For the whole day that followed, it was extremely busy for everyone in the manor.Ivan was in his room, mixing the castor oil and dissolving the purple-red crystals into the castor oil. It wasn't an easy thing.A new potion was being refined in that crucible.
The butler had already sent someone to the city to buy goats. However, the goats wouldn't be delivered to the manor until at least the afternoon.As for Mr. Juan, he was packing his luggage.This matter was of great importance, and he had to go there in person. He wasn't quite at ease letting Odrie handle this matter alone.
Moreover, the dean of the parish was an acquaintance of his.Now, the only person in Luxembourg who knew that the dead person wasn't the real Ivan Este was this respected dean.Because the butler of the Este mansion had told this dean that Ivan Este had been quietly fostered in the manor of Lord Kewell Egrete Juan.
And he had arranged all of this himself, because he had always been worried that something like this would happen.In his long life journey, he had witnessed too many conspiracies and intrigues, and he had already learned how to prevent all of this.In Luxembourg, this dean was the most suitable person to be told this secret.
Because the dean had no connection with any nobles or interest groups. In the eyes of others, this dean was the only person who could maintain fairness and neutrality.Moreover, the dean was noble in character and deeply respected by everyone in Luxembourg.And his influence was also huge.Although the dean didn't have much power, several powerful nobles in Luxembourg were his godchildren, and he was also a close friend of most of the noble families there.
No one would disobey his words. Similarly, no one would think that he was lying.For Ivan's appearance, it was more appropriate to be introduced by this respected dean than to be accompanied by that butler.In addition, there were more than a dozen corpses behind the dean's words.This appalling tragedy undoubtedly strengthened the power of the dean's words.Everyone would take all of this for granted.
The death of those mercenaries wasn't a bad thing for him. And the reason for this was simply that he had prepared in advance.Mr. Juan was quite satisfied with his original arrangements.The opponent hiding behind the scenes obviously hadn't expected that he had already won the first round. And he had won it extremely easily and pleasantly.
However, the most important thing now was how to turn this victory in the first round into the final victory.Every step that followed couldn't afford any mistakes.Although he was already an extremely wealthy man with vast wealth, the life of wandering in his early years had left a very deep mark on Mr. Juan.Over the past few decades, there were some habits that he had never changed.One of them was that he always prepared his travel luggage by himself.
Because for a traveler, only when he packed his luggage by himself would the things not be in a mess.For a person who had been traveling around for decades, each item in his luggage had its own specific position, and outsiders would never understand these.Similarly, for a person who had been traveling for a long time, his luggage wouldn't be too much, as that would undoubtedly cause trouble for himself. Nor could the luggage be extremely simple. Only those who had suffered hardships knew the true meaning of being well-prepared. Sometimes, it might mean life.
Mr. Juan took out two large suitcases from under the bed in his bedroom.Although he was one of the richest men in the south of France, those two travel suitcases didn't seem to match his status at all.They were two extremely old suitcases that looked like they had been around for quite a few years.
Mr. Juan had always used these two suitcases when traveling. Although they didn't look very good, these suitcases were quite sturdy and very practical. What was even better was that they were waterproof. Once, thanks to these two suitcases, he was able to save his life from a flood.Mr. Juan wiped the suitcases clean. There was a thick layer of dust on them as they hadn't been used for a long time.Clothes and travel utensils had already been neatly placed on the bed.
Mr. Juan put them one by one into the specific positions inside the suitcases.As for Odrie, he didn't have any luggage to pack. He still had a lot of work, endless work.Odrie was different from Mr. Juan. He wasn't a traveler and seldom went on trips.If he needed to go out, he didn't know what to prepare. Anyway, the places he was going to were definitely big cities. And in big cities, as long as you had money, you could buy everything.
Therefore, there was no need to prepare luggage. It was enough to bring enough money.Throughout this whole day, he had to get all the preparatory work done. Tomorrow would be the beginning of everything, but it was also very likely to be the end of everything.Both Mr. Juan and he had already put everything on the gambling table.In fact, for ordinary scams, those who planned them didn't need to show up in person and step onto the stage.
However, this time it was completely different. This plan was so huge that small roles couldn't play any part at all. If they wanted to succeed, they had to show up in person.This was a huge gamble.Once they lost, everything they had in France would be gone. By that time, he could only go into exile in Otto.
As for the boss, presumably he would choose Xibai or Yingge. Otto had too many memories that he didn't want to recall for him.In Mr. Juan's manor, if there was the most idle person, it would be Herbert.Returning to his dark and gloomy room, Herbert released several carrier pigeons from the window, and that was considered as having finished all the things.A few months later, those helpers would come to find him on their own.Moreover, summoning helpers was the boss's idea.
For Herbert, except for the crazy guy, he didn't need any other helpers. Those people would only mess up his affairs.However, he also understood what the boss meant. The boss definitely had a lot of work for them to do.For a killer like Herbert, there was no need for any luggage when traveling. For a highly skilled killer like him, the needs for daily survival had already been reduced to a level that ordinary people couldn't imagine. Luggage was just meaningless decoration for people like them.All the things that a killer needed were carried on his body within reach.
Time passed bit by bit. Odrie was still arranging everything. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.As for Ivan, he was immersed in the joy of the magic experiment. Although, these so-called magic experiments seemed to be just torturing those poor goats to the fullest.The butler was really quite dutiful. He had people buy seven or eight goats of different sizes, both male and female.
Having so many experimental subjects, Ivan was of course extremely happy.He spent the whole afternoon among those goats.Those poor goats brought fruitful results to Ivan. In fact, in terms of the use of hallucinogenic powder, he could be regarded as an expert.Presumably, even his teacher, Magician Lavash, couldn't know as much knowledge about the use of this potion.
For example, the absorption speeds of hallucinogenic powder solutions with different concentrations were completely different, which was very similar to the knowledge about poisons that Herbert had once taught him.Come to think of it, magicians studied how to create something unprecedented. As for how to use it, those magicians might not be interested in that.While killers were a completely different kind of people. They had to be extremely familiar with any tool in their hands, even to the point of absolute proficiency.
Although Ivan was a magic apprentice, he had never studied by Magician Lavash's side for a day. On the contrary, Herbert and Odrie had a great influence on him.Therefore, the way Ivan thought about problems was inevitably more in line with those two.The research in the afternoon brought him quite good results.In the two kettles he carried with him were stored hallucinogenic powder solvents mixed into different concentrations.
One of them could quickly make an unlucky goat's limbs go limp and fall to the ground with just a tiny bit smeared on it.This potion was so effective and the effect was so obvious that it was far more effective than the poisons that Herbert had told him about.Those poisons still needed some time to take effect, but the hallucinogenic powder solvent worked almost instantly, making the goat fall to the ground at once.With this thing, there should be absolutely no problem with self-defense.
The other solvent took a little longer to take effect. For some reason, no matter whether it was made thicker or thinner, as long as the proportion deviated a little, it was difficult for the hallucinogenic powder solvent to be as quick and effective as the first bottle, which made Ivan feel a bit regretful.However, there was nothing that could be done about it. The other one was much more diluted, and it was used for pain relief. Mr. Juan had mentioned that this potion was very effective in this regard.For the experiment, Ivan even gently scratched a wound on his own arm, and that potion was really quite effective. He couldn't feel any pain at all.
Moreover, that feeling was really as comfortable as Mr. Juan had said.Although Ivan was absolutely certain that he hadn't had hallucinations, he indeed felt extremely comfortable all over his body. That kind of happy feeling was definitely indescribable.In the past, Ivan had thought that a delicious meal was already the ultimate enjoyment one could get in the world.
But now he realized that just a drop of the hallucinogenic powder solvent, just a tiny drop, would make you forget the temptation of any delicious food, because they couldn't be compared at all.Happy times were always short. When Ivan gradually came to his senses, his first thought was to open the bottle cap and drip another drop of the solvent onto his arm.Fortunately, at this time, Mr. Juan's warning popped into his mind.
Ivan restrained his impulse and suppressed his strong desire. With trembling hands, he tightly plugged the bottle cap.Now, Ivan finally understood why Mr. Juan had once said that the hallucinogenic powder solvent was an extremely dangerous potion. Indeed, this thing could easily ruin a person.That illusory sense of happiness was undoubtedly full of irresistible temptation for human beings.Fortunately, he had just experimented a little just now. Also fortunately, he had diluted the concentration of the solvent to a very, very low level.Otherwise...