Romon rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the infrastructure blueprints drawn up by the president of the Stone Town Merchants' Guild.
He carefully unfolded the folded paper.
"This is my Great Forest."
"Ah?"
"This is the forest land I redeemed from you. It should look familiar, right?" Romon gestured and asked.
Familiar? Of course, it was familiar! Since receiving the news, Matthews had been regretting it nonstop. Even in his dreams, he was trying to get that piece of land back.
Now, the Matthews family was also facing financial issues. If only he had found the labyrinth and the mineral deposits hidden in that forest sooner, he would have already become wealthy.
"You really are good at managing, my friend. This land, which was of no use to me, has been developed to this extent the moment you got your hands on it," Lord Matthews said with a headache, but he couldn't show it too obviously.
Romon paid no attention, continuing to display the plans.
He pointed at the infrastructure blueprints and said, "This is where Princess Angelia wants to build her royal manor. Everything is being constructed according to royal standards."
"A manor this size must require a lot of craftsmen, right?"
"How long did it take to build your estate?"
"I'm not sure. The estate has existed since my father's time. I've only made some minor adjustments."
"Then you should know, a royal-standard manor shouldn't have such an awkward situation." Romon pointed to the back of the estate, where it was already close to the edge of the forest. Just a few more steps and it would be out of Thune's territory, making this royal estate feel cramped, almost petty.
Matthews paused for three seconds as he looked in the direction of Romon's finger, and then he understood.
No wonder they say that those who come uninvited are up to no good. Initially, he had invited Romon to try and join forces with other lords at the banquet to pressure him into handing over the Great Forest.
But now, he hadn't anticipated that Romon would not only be carrying a "get out of jail free card," but would also be extending his claws toward him!
"Lord Romon." Matthews put away his complimentary smile and his expression grew serious. "You didn't secretly infiltrate my territory and discover something, did you?"
"Such a thing?" Romon put the blueprints away and shoved them back into his pocket. "If you can think of it, I probably haven't done it."
"That's impossible. I can't possibly split the land I inherited from my father," Matthews replied, his tone resolute.
Romon had nothing else to say. He'd rather let the royal authority deal with it.
This was the princess's request, not something I insisted on.
...
Meanwhile, at the entrance to Matthews' estate.
Other invited guests were arriving slowly.
They were part of the steady aristocratic class. Although their peak times hadn't been as glorious as the Thune family's, they also hadn't fallen into such a dire state like the Thune family had.
If nothing changed, their noble lineage would likely continue for a long time.
Among them, the Lord of the Nightingale family was a large lord to the southwest of Thune, controlling vast amounts of wealth, including Stone Town.
Lord Thomas Nightingale stepped down from his green-decorated carriage. He straightened his collar and was about to stretch out his hand to help his wife down like a proper gentleman when his gaze suddenly caught sight of a ground dragon.
"What? What is this?" Thomas's well-groomed beard trembled slightly. His family and the Matthews family had been evenly matched for years, but in recent years, Thomas had found a breakthrough and managed to undermine the Matthews family's economy, finally gaining the upper hand.
But who would have thought that a royal carriage would appear at Matthews' daughter's coming-of-age ceremony?
Could a royal carriage really be used for such a minor event?
When did that fat pig from Matthews' family acquire such power?
"My lord?"
From the green-decorated carriage, his beautifully made-up wife called out in confusion, wondering why her usually gentlemanly husband wasn't immediately helping her down from the carriage.
"Apologies, my dear."
Thomas Nightingale snapped out of his thoughts and reached for his wife's hand to help her down. However, his concentration was off, and he didn't support her properly. He only heard the sound of high heels clicking, followed by the sound of her foot twisting.
"Ah!"
"My lady, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault."
"It hurts..."
"Please bear with it for a moment."
Thomas Nightingale pulled out a small book from his chest and began murmuring something under his breath. Soon, a dark green light enveloped his wife's ankle. After a few seconds, the pain vanished, and she was able to stand.
"I'm fine now, my lord."
"Let's go inside. The royal family is visiting today, so we must be a bit more cautious." He reminded her.
"I understand."
The butler, upon seeing the new arrivals, quickly stepped forward to greet them.
"Lord Nightingale, welcome. On behalf of my lord, I thank you for accepting the invitation."
Thomas Nightingale didn't mind that Matthews hadn't come out to greet him personally—after all, with the royal family present, it was understood that they should be the ones to receive the highest honor.
He quietly asked, "Who is it?"
The butler looked around before quietly answering, "It is Her Royal Highness, the Third Princess."
"Ah, I see." Thomas quickly thought about how to handle meeting the Third Princess and then asked, "Has that boy from Thune arrived?"
"Yes, my lord, he just arrived."
"But where's his carriage? He arrived faster than I did." He had already calculated the distance from Thune to here, and even if Romon had left as soon as he received the invitation, he would have arrived tonight at the earliest.
"He... he came by carriage."
"Oh? Hehehe." Thomas chuckled. He had done a bit of light investigation. Though Thune had discovered a mineral vein and a labyrinth, the tax amount they owed this year was substantial. Meanwhile, the Third Princess had seized the most valuable part of his territory, which clearly wasn't a good sign.
With the Third Princess's unpredictable temperament, it was only a matter of time before that boy would be executed.
What Thomas was really interested in wasn't the Great Forest that Matthews wanted to reclaim—it had already been claimed by the princess, and even if he got his hands on it, it would just be a hassle.
He only wanted the mineral veins and the labyrinth that Romon held, not the barren land or the weak villagers.
Thomas led his wife into the estate, and from a distance, he saw someone talking to Lord Matthews.
So, he headed directly toward the two men.
"Let me see who this is? Oh! It's my dearest friend, Matthews, you've gotten even fatter!" Thomas Nightingale said as he walked, immediately launching into his prepared sarcastic remark when Matthews turned to him upon hearing his footsteps.
They were peers, with Thomas being slightly older, but he had always been disciplined, maintaining a good physique and the dignity of a noble. In contrast, Matthews resembled a bloated pig.
Upon hearing this.
Matthews' face twitched. One moment, Romon says he's lost weight, the next, this old turtle says he's gotten fatter. Was he thinner or fatter?
Making fun of someone's physique, huh?
"Hey, Nightingale, you look even more abstinent. I'm starting to suspect you haven't done it in at least three months."
"Five months, my friend. Five months. The Lord has been moved by my devotion, constantly blessing me," Thomas replied.
Five months?!
Romon was stunned. What was the point of living if it was like that?
And at that age, if you didn't indulge a little, what would happen in a few more years? You wouldn't even be able to lift your head up, becoming a complete invalid.
"Hmm? I believe this must be Lord Romon of Thune. You look a lot like your grandfather. If you grew out some explosive facial hair, you'd resemble him even more."
"Greetings, Lord Nightingale," Romon said politely.
"Ha! This part at least isn't like your grandfather. Your grandfather would never have been this polite. He would've yelled at the top of his lungs—'Damn Nightingale, come here and let me see if your little bird's grown up!' Hahahahaha..."
Romon's expression darkened.
His grandfather had indeed passed due to a wrong decision, but that didn't mean every stray cat or dog could insult him. To insult his grandfather was to insult him.
So.
Romon made his move.
No, more precisely, he kicked. Although he was learning spells as a mage, he was young and strong, exercising every day with Lornis, so his movements were incredibly fast.
The swift kick landed squarely in Thomas Nightingale's crotch.
"Ahhh—!"
"Damn Nightingale, your little bird doesn't seem to have grown," Romon said, retracting his foot and speaking in a calm tone. "How's that now?"
A strike to a man's groin causes excruciating pain that shoots upward, rendering the victim nearly speechless from the agony.
Thomas Nightingale covered his abdomen and crotch with his hands, slowly bending over in pain. With his wife's help, he even collapsed to the ground.
He gasped for air, his curly, well-groomed beard drenched in sweat, his green eyes wide open as he looked up at Romon in shock.