Two days before Valdel woke up from mana exhaustion, Lara was almost done doing everything written in the list Ren gave her. The only thing left unchecked was to convince the fallen n.o.ble families to join them. Ren allowed her to use any means necessary to convince the fallen n.o.ble families. Unless the fallen n.o.bles demands weren"t too much, that it tramples on their groups dignity, if that is not the case then Lara was to do whatever they wish. He also written on the list to bring Kithra when she does negotiations. Lara didn"t want to do that, she wanted to do the task by herself. Still she didn"t want to disobey Ren, but she didn"t like to ask Kithra for help either. She would rather ask Hilda for help, but Ren specifically told her not to do that.
"Okay then, first I"ll try to negotiate by myself, and then if I fail I"ll ask that b*tch Kithra for help." Making her decision Lara headed towards the residential area of the western district. This is the area where the majority of the fallen n.o.ble families in Grenton reside.
There were a total of twenty six fallen n.o.ble families inside of Grenton. The highest ranking n.o.ble that has fallen was the Regalcrag family who used to have a position of Earl. Their downfall came when they supposedly tried to kill the second prince of the kingdom.
But in truth the first prince wanted to kill his compet.i.tor the second prince and used the Regalcrag as a scapegoat. Still because of their past performance as a succesful military family, they were not executed but instead were stripped of their n.o.ble rank.
The warrior king Willmot Reschbeauch of course knew the truth of the matter, but didn"t save the Regalcrag, since it was their own decision to follow the first prince and failed to execute his plans. This kind of infighting was normal during the time when the king hasn"t announced a crown prince.
Until he does so, the four princes will try to kill each other. This was the same as the time when the king himself was fighting for the right to be the official crown prince. This fight was meant to be training for the young upcoming King, to be able to scheme, form alliances, and if possible overpower his opponents. Of course it is possible to not join this fight, and support another candidate.
That"s what happened during the warrior king Willmot"s era, when his brothers banded together to fight him, but in the end he took the throne for himself, and killed all the opposition.
...
Being strip of their peerage, the Regalcrag family were no longer able to continue being knights and soldiers of the kingdom, so most of them became adventurers or mercenaries, while some decided to kill themselves because of the dishonor. The current head of the family was a young man called Stephan.
Lara who finished reading all the information she had on the Regalcrags she went straight to their home.
...
The house that the Regalcrags stayed at, was a small mansion like house that at first glance looked little bit untidy. The reason that they were still able to afford living in such a place even though they weren"t n.o.bles anymore, was because the family was still able to gain enough funds from being adventurers and mercenaries.
...
Lara who was about to knock on the door, was then greeted by an arrow which she knew was coming, but didn"t bother to dodge since it wasn"t aimed at her.
"That was a warning shot, the next one will be aimed at your head. So state your business." Lara looked above her head, and saw that on the roof, ten men were aiming arrows at her. Lara wanted to attack them, but she didn"t come here for that, she came here to negotiate. She came here to make them join under Ren"s flag. Attacking them might not be the best thing to do.
"But if I don"t show my dominance now they might think we"re pushovers. Well, Ren did say that if I"m confused in what to do with someone, I just need to beat them up and think about what to do once they"re unconscious. So better beat these guys up and decide what to do with them later."
"Why aren"t you talki-" The person aiming the bow at Lara, wasn"t able to follow every movement but he saw that Lara moved from her spot. A second later Lara was already beside him. The man was about to strike, but before he could do anything he lost consciousness.
Lara quickly dealt with the remaining nine men, but to her surprise the last one standing was actually able to hit her. Still she already dealt with the archers and as she was about to move on and go inside the mansion another person appeared before her.
It was a middle aged man wearing a butler uniform, Lara was surprised to see him get so close without her noticing him. Overall Lara wasn"t expecting that a fallen n.o.ble family had this much strength.
"Milady, we"re sorry for the rude introductions. You must understand, most of the people inside the mansion are wary of outsiders. Especially those who don"t state the purpose of their visit."
Though the butler was speaking politely and had no ill intent, Lara could sense that the butler was ready to attack if need be.
"I did not appreciate being fired upon, and then questioned. That"s the only reason I fought back."
The butler bowed "once again milady, I apologize." The butler even with all his experience couldn"t get a read on Lara"s intentions, since she was completely expressionless.
"Very well, just bring me to the current head of the house and then I will forgive you." The butler hearing what Lara said, was a bit surprised. He was under the impression that Lara was from one of those old enemies they had back in the capital, and was here to make a mess. Still it could be possible that she"s here to a.s.sa.s.sinate the family head, but he was already ordered by said family head to bring her to him.
"Very well milady, please follow me inside the mansion." Lara and the butler jumped down from the roof, after which the butler opened the door of the mansion inviting Lara inside.