"Anyway… You two are Bennetts."
Yang Qiu pointed at the man who had brought up the grievance. Then, after a short pause, he pointed at the gloomy fatty. "And you guys are from the Eugenes."
As if recalling something, Yang Qiu smiled and said, "Speaking of the family name Eugene, it reminds me of someone. The last time I passed through Camore, there was a little girl who left quite an impression on me, Rebecca Eugene."
A strange look appeared on the chubby man's face. "Th-that's my great-grandmother's name."
"Oh, what a coincidence." Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow. "It looks like Rebecca got her wish."
The chubby man's face froze, and the two gentlemen from the Bennett family also wore peculiar expressions.
"It seems that this town has seen quite a few stories." Yang Qiu didn't have the intention to delve deeper. He sat back on the sofa and waved his hand to release the restraints on these people. "Have a seat, gentlemen."
The three men looked at each other, adjusted themselves, and each pulled a chair to sit down. They didn't dare to approach the sofa where Yang Qiu was sitting, let alone the bloodied figure lying on the other end of the sofa with shattered arms.
"I'll be frank. I need to take in a group of people who are struggling to survive here and have nothing but their lives," Yang Qiu bluntly stated. "Your families oversee the local weaver unions, and you guys should be well aware of where to find such individuals."
The three men from the two families were taken aback.
"M-Mr. Yang, I don't quite get your point," one of the men from the Bennett family mustered the courage to speak. "If you could, could you please explain in more detail?"
"Allow me to rephrase it, then," Yang Qiu spoke even more bluntly. "I know more about how Camore's weaver union operates than you do. Four hundred years ago, the steamships of the Kenyan Empire conquered the endless sea and brought back cotton seeds from the Outer Continent. These 'man-eating' cotton seeds were later brought to the Duchy of Shiga by merchant caravans.
"The affluent in Camore saw this as an excellent opportunity to grow their wealth and solidify the status of their own families. Using various means, they seized the land from free people and dedicated them to cotton cultivation while coercing the farmers to work as cotton growers on their own plantations. After all, unlike grain, cotton doesn't become stale, infested, rotten, or moldy within a year, so it doesn't devalue easily.
"But soon, the affluent class realized that it wasn't profitable to turn all the farmers into cotton growers. There wasn't a need for so much manpower in the cotton fields except during the harvest season.
"Thus, they came up with a solution. They selected the more obedient ones among the cotton growers and instructed them to lead the rebellious ones to demand 'freedom,' causing a few 'peaceful, non-violent, not so intense' conflicts. Following that, the noblemen 'relented.' They liberated all the cotton growers, granting them the status of free people.
"Upon the successful 'revolt,' the leading families naturally formed a union, bringing together the scattered free people and engaging in negotiations with the affluent class…"
At this point, Yang Qiu couldn't help but chuckle. "In short… the free people emerged victorious at the end of this farce. Not only had they obtained the status of freedom, but they also 'forced' the noblemen to compromise and pay them for their work, transforming them from traditional farmers into skilled craftsmen with lighter workloads and higher social status within the Duchy of Shiga."
Upon Yang Qiu's narration, both members of the Bennett family and the chubby man from the Eugene family alike were drenched in sweat.
Meanwhile, the underlings, who had been restrained and unable to move on the spot, were consumed by shock.
"There was a single weaver union the last time I visited Camore, belonging to Rebecca Eugene's husband. But this time, there are now two weaver unions, with a new Bennett family which I have not heard of before. It appears that there has been intense competition within the weaver union over the years."
Yang Qiu smiled and continued, "The noblemen who exploited Camore's locals have since hidden away behind the scenes while you gang leaders… I apologize, union leaders, reaped the benefits and became quite the targets for contempt in Camore. So, I suppose there must be quite a number of tactless idiots who have offended you guys. Hand over those people to me. That's what I mean. Is that clear enough?"
Half an hour later, a bloodied Descartes Eugene was wrapped in a cloak and sent back to the Eugene family's mansion by his loyal underlings.
Yang Qiu was right; the weaver union in Camore did resemble post-World War I British gangs that functioned as a sort of "local family enterprise."
Of course, compared to such British gangs, the lives of the weaver union leaders were slightly more comfortable. They didn't need to vie with other gangs for territory using knives and guns, nor did they have to worry about being stabbed by gypsies. As long as their family clan was sufficiently large and had enough adult males, they could aggressively seize control of the union and then have their subordinates do the dirty work.
Despite the lower risk, their profits were comparable to those of British gangs. The tens of thousands of weavers in the town and the workers employed by various cotton plantations had to pay tribute to them if they wanted to work. Because of their "control over the lower echelons," the upper echelons in town would occasionally reward them.
Ever since Rebecca Eugene, the aforementioned great-grandmother, killed her husband and seized control of the union with her brothers, the Eugene family had been thriving.
Although the Bennett family, who aided Rebecca at that time, took away a considerable number of union members to form their own and claimed nearly half of the profits, it was still enough to allow the Eugene family to continue growing over the past century. The family didn't only build houses as impressive as the affluent members' on the main street, but also ventured into businesses such as taverns, casinos, and horse racing.
The Eugenes, considered a local hegemon, were naturally enraged when Descartes, a prominent figure of their younger generation, returned with his hands in such bad shape after the negotiation.
When Descartes's cousin, the corpulent Harvey, rushed back home in a cold sweat, he saw the women in the house weeping while uncles and brothers were gathering angrily, preparing to confront the Bennetts.
"Stop! Everyone, stop!" Chubby Harvey was frightened out of his wits. He quickly ordered his trusted men to close the main gate of the mansion and dashed forward to console his agitated uncle. "It wasn't the Bennetts, believe me! We were negotiating at our own casino, and everyone there was our own! The Bennetts couldn't have done this!"
"Harvey! What the hell is going on?" The enraged uncle pushed Harvey away and shouted, "You were with Descartes. How could something like this happen under your watch?"
"Uncle, do you still remember Black Mage Yang that great-grandmother mentioned before?" Harvey responded with a trembling voice.
"What black mage?!"
"Black Mage Yang, the Nightmare Butcher!" Harvey exclaimed. "When I was young, there used to be a wanted poster of him on the sheriff's board, with a bounty of 90,000 gold coins!"
The clamoring men and crying women in the room fell silent instantly.
"Great-grandmother once pointed at the wanted poster on the notice board and told me that she had seen this black mage when she was young," Harvey said grimly. "The last time this black mage, who was wanted by multiple nations, came to Camore, he invaded Sir Hans' mansion.
"In front of Sir Hans's family and many guests attending a party, he immobilized Sir Hans and kidnapped the mayor's young son. He then hung the young master on the city wall for three days and even forced a baron to ride naked on a horse through town—great-grandmother said it was because of the chaos the black mage caused among the upper class on the main streets that she had a chance to seize the union for the Eugene family!"
Life in a small town was rather dull, and any rumors would be passed down by word of mouth for many generations. When Yang Qiu caused a disturbance in the town of Camore, the events on the main streets naturally became lifelong fables for the elders in town.
Descartes's father, Harvey's uncle, had also heard these legendary tales. He broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing Harvey's words. "Y-you said… Wait a minute! You said this black mage came to Camore. What's that supposed to mean?!"
Harvey gulped hard, still trembling as he explained, "Jimmy Bennett tried using his sister's situation to pressurize our family into giving up the casino on East Street, and when we were in a deadlock, th-th-this black mage suddenly appeared… claiming that 'he couldn't tolerate the violation of young boys and girls' and personally crippled Descartes…"
Everyone in the Eugene family was dumbfounded.
"O Goddess of Prosperity!" Descartes's mother, Harvey's aunt, pressed her hands against her chest, wailing in despair. "The Nightmare Butcher was only targeting the people on the main streets, why would he be so cruel to our Descartes?!"
Descartes's wife couldn't help but chime in, "It was clearly one of those Bennetts bitches seducing Descartes. Why should Descartes be the unlucky one?!"
"That's right!" another woman from the Eugenes said. "That slut couldn't control herself, what has that got to do with one of us?"
"Enough!" The head of the Eugene family stopped the women and grabbed Harvey's arm. Beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead as he asked anxiously, "Tell me, Harvey, what does this black mage want?!"
Harvey quickly conveyed Yang Qiu's request… Of course, he deliberately avoided mentioning the Weaver Union's unsavory origins.
"He has given us only five hours to choose the right people as quickly as possible." Harvey gulped nervously and said anxiously, "If we cannot provide him with the desired number of people… he threatened to take away all of the union members along with the Bennetts!"
As soon as these words came out, the previously angry crowd, who were furious about Descartes's ordeal, shuddered.
"Give him what he wants! Find people for him!" Harvey's aunt immediately shrieked at her husband. "Quickly send this plague away!"
"Watch your words!" the head of the Eugene family berated furiously.
In small towns like Camore, seeing a traveling mage once every few years or even decades was a rare sight.
Most of these mages hardly interacted with the locals. Only a few would chat with the locals, have a drink, share their travel experiences, rest for a day or two to replenish food and water, and then leave.
Of course, there were also those like Black Mage Yang who would intervene in certain events. However, most of them only taught a lesson to oppressors and gave some loose change to the poor and suffering.
But causing upheaval throughout the town and instilling fear into the upper echelons of the main streets as Yang did was unprecedented. So much so that several decades later, when the black mage Yang gained the moniker "Nightmare Butcher" and became wanted by numerous countries, his wanted poster remained on the sheriff's board for many years.
Rumors about this Nightmare Butcher persisted among the townspeople until the death of the Eugene family's matriarch Rebecca. Stories circulated at the time, such as him dragging a cardinal of the Radiant Sun Church to the town square and having the latter mate with a bear, or hammering to death a prince from a certain kingdom. These alarming rumors were widely spread.
In any case, with confirmation that this individual was indeed the "Nightmare Butcher," the Eugenes, a local mafia, no longer had any desire to oppose him. They mobilized almost all of their family members to gather the normally unruly union weavers or those impoverished families that were left with mostly orphans and the elderly.
While the Eugenes and the Bennetts were panicking and gathering people, the culprit, the feared and hated Black Mage Yang, showed up at the mansion of Viscount Lynn, a philanthropist, who wielded more influence in Camore than the mayor.
He approached in a formal and courteous manner, first sending a messenger boy with his calling card, and arrived at the mansion half an hour later. He hadn't forgotten to bring a gift for the viscount's family, adhering to the customs of the noble class in this world without being presumptuous.
As for Viscount Lynn's reaction upon receiving the calling card… Yang Qiu couldn't be bothered.
When he arrived, Viscount Lynn personally received him with his wife and prepared a pot of sweet tea that spellcasters generally liked.
…It was a tea made from dried flower petals and sugar, with roses and chrysanthemums as the main ingredients.
In the reception room of Viscount Lynn's mansion, which was located in the garden and had glass walls of high purity, Yang Qiu lowered his teacup and smiled, giving a slight nod to the viscount and his wife. "Crofts Lynn had been the owner of this place when I was last here. Now, being back again, I can only see this old friend from his portrait. One truly can only lament at the passage of time."
"I'm glad you still remember my great-grandfather," Viscount Lynn said with a subtle touch of melancholy in his dignified smile. He moved with elegance and ease, concealing his anxiety…
The viscount's wife, a well-bred and well-mannered lady, also smiled and nodded gently, expressing gratitude for Yang Qiu's remembrance of their elders.
Since they were putting up such a good act, Yang Qiu pretended not to notice the couple's nervousness. After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, he began, "I came this time to take away some unfortunate people who are struggling to make a living in town. Once I leave, the Radiant Sun Church's Inquisition should come after hearing the news. At that time, don't trouble yourself, Viscount. Just tell them where I went."
Viscount Lynn's face stiffened, and he struggled to maintain his composed facade. "Th-this… Mr. Yang?"
"Calm down, I'm not trying to test you," Yang Qiu said with a slight wave of his hand. "I've been embroiled with these lunatics for decades and have gotten tired of it. It's time to put an end to this."
The Lynn couple lowered their heads in unison and sipped their tea. They had to quickly conceal their true feelings to keep up the pretense.
"In addition, I hope the viscount can delay informing them of my whereabouts until five days after I leave," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "I have to let those poor and unfortunate I'm bringing away settle down first."
"Uh… yes," Viscount Lynn managed to respond, neither able to refuse nor directly comply. He could only vaguely acknowledge with an "uh" to get through the situation.
"If that's the case, I shall not impose on you any longer," Yang Qiu said as he picked up his staff from the table and stood up before giving a slight nod. "I hope the young master will like the gift that I brought."
The Lynn couple quickly stood up to see him off.
They politely and courteously bid farewell to their guest, who was like a great plague. As soon as the door shut, the most respectable couple in Camore anxiously rushed to the room where their young son was.
"Poli! Throw that thing—ahhh!"
The Lynn couple's legs went weak upon seeing that their son had already unpacked Yang Qiu's gift and was already playing with a peculiar object.
"O Goddess of Prosperity! Poli, how could you unwrap something from that evil black mage!" Lady Lynn rushed in, attempting to take the toy away.
"No, Mom, this is my gift," Poli held onto the toy tightly and dodged.
"Listen to me, sweetheart, give it over, and Mommy will buy you something better," Lady Lynn pleaded desperately.
The child was of no match to the adults. Under the "siege" of the couple and the maid, it didn't take long for the toy to be snatched away, leaving the young child in tears.
The Lynn couple didn't have time to comfort their child. They ordered the maid to burn the toy and had the manservant watch over their son. Then, they hurriedly changed their clothes and went out to discuss with the other affluent families in Camore how to mitigate the impending disaster.
The gift that Yang Qiu brought was a transforming robot toy produced by a Chinese toy factory that was clearly a Transformer knockoff. The maid couldn't bear to burn such an impressive toy and secretly hid it away…
Meanwhile, Yang Qiu, who had made the Lynn family feel this way, was completely unaware of his role as a harbinger of disaster. After leaving the viscount's residence, he used the imprint matrix to trigger a hidden quest for Ji Tang, who was currently online…
Ji Tang had just finished his warrior advancement quest and was heading to the Town Hall to complete the quest and receive the "blessing," accompanied by his two buddies, Yang Ying and Tang Jia.
Girls were more enthusiastic when it came to playing together. Tang Jia and Yang Ying, who had gained "Friendly" reputation a few days earlier, had already completed their job advancement. They accompanied Ji Tang during his advancement quest, saving him a lot of trouble.
The advancement quest for warriors was simpler than the mage, wanderer, and knight classes. All that was required was forming a team to kill spiders in the Spider Cave and collect 20 spider venom sacs to turn in.
As the three of them jogged and discussed the mechanics of melee combat and spider hunting (mainly Ji Tang teaching the two girls), a quiet zombie NPC who usually didn't give players any quests suddenly raised its rotten arm and waved at them.
The three of them immediately stopped, turning their attention to the zombie NPC. Only NPCs that assigned tasks would initiate conversations with players. This NPC, who had never paid attention to players, was making a move. It was obvious that it was about to issue a quest!
The zombie NPC named "Hugh Potter" slowly looked up, and its gray eyes lingered on Ji Tang. "Hey, comrade, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while. You remind me of someone."
"Hidden quest!" Tang Jia exclaimed in her trademark sonorous voice, scaring Ji Tang and Yang Ying, who instinctively backed off slightly from her. Tang Jia then excitedly pulled Ji Tang's arm and urged him forward. "Quick, interact with it and accept the quest!"
Helplessly brushing her skeletal hand off, Ji Tang stepped forward and stood before the zombie NPC.
Skeletons controlled by players ran rampant in the streets, and it wasn't uncommon for zombie NPCs to talk and move. Ji Tang was young, and before joining the military, he was an ordinary guy born after 1990 and was rather open-minded. "Hello, Hugh. Who do I remind you of?"
The zombie NPC went silent, and Ji Tang began to doubt whether he had mentioned the right keywords. But then, the NPC resumed speaking, "His name was… Jean. We called him Brave Jean. He came from Camore and loved to sing. Back when we served together in the border guards, he would always talk about his hometown…"
Before Ji Tang could finish listening to the zombie NPC's slow-paced monologue, his quest panel popped up:
[While passing through Third Street as per usual, Hugh Potter called out to you.]
[Hidden quest [Brave Jean] has been triggered. Do you accept?]
[This quest is a prerequisite for a dynamic plotline. Please consider carefully.]
"It's indeed a hidden quest. And it can even activate a dynamic plotline," Ji Tang gleefully informed his two companions and promptly accepted the quest.
Just like when Give Me Medicine received the breakthrough quest, a "Side Quest" tab appeared on Ji Tang's quest panel, and [Brave Jean] appeared on the tab.
After the quest was accepted, the speed at which the zombie NPC, Hugh Potter, spoke increased slightly. "Jean was a brave and intelligent man who could always effortlessly solve troubles that others couldn't cope with. However, he never showed much happiness when we called him 'Brave Jean' and only smiled wistfully.
"One day, when we were on leave, Jean finally revealed the reason as we were having some rum together…
"Something once happened in his hometown of Camore which made him feel extremely resentful yet helpless. Their ancestral land was taken away, and the ones who took it became the magnanimous benefactors who provided work and food for the people.
"When Jean was born, his family couldn't even say for sure where their land used to be. His mother would sit in a dim room weaving cloth with numerous wounds on her hands and deteriorating eyesight. And his sister, at the age of six, had to learn how to weave in order to follow the same path.
"Jean would often argue and fight with others over who could enter their previously owned land to cultivate cotton…"
While this was merely a "plot" being recounted by an NPC, the contents made the three players furrow their brows.
Hugh Potter's monologue wasn't over yet. After a long sigh, he continued, "A year before we came to Taranthan, Jean took a leave and returned to his hometown. Before leaving, he told me in private that he would persuade his family to leave Camore. Even joining a pioneering expedition would offer more hope than staying there.
"After that, I never saw Jean again."