”You have nothing to worry about, everything is under control” Claire softly said,
”Things could have been better if I had tied some loose ends”
Michael’s face was void of any expression.
”What’s truly going on Sect Leader Claire? Tell me everything”
His gaze turned colder as Claire found no strength to hide what was going on in Bradford. Besides, he trusted them with the kingdom so Claire knew that he deserved to know the truth.
Letting out a deep sight of breath, Claire and Olivia began to narrate the events unveiled over the last three months. Almost fifteen minutes later, they finished their report and expected some kind of reaction from Ghost who listened to everything showing no emotions at all. They were unable to grasp what he was thinking or what the hell was going on in his head.
After hearing Claire and Olvia, Michael realized why he received no reports from Azazel about Bradford. From the outside, Bradford was running as usual. Inside, however, the kingdom was dying little by little and Claire was the one keeping the kingdom alive using the treasury of the Sunrise sect.
According to Claire, the merchant companies who used to trade with Baron Totonk stopped their trading. In addition, the various noble families of Bredia who owned businesses fired the people of Bradford and stopped buying fish and farm products produced in Bradford. In simple words, they blacklisted Bradford. Over the three months, Bradford had lost most of the revenue streams. Thus, Claire and Elder Sandra had to access the Sect treasury to keep the people from starving to death.
If this wasn’t enough, the Bredian soldiers had been exerting an absurd amount of tax on anyone who comes to Bradford through their borders as well as arrested Bradford citizens for phony crimes that they never committed.
Because of this, new merchants and nobles stopped visiting Bradford and Bradford citizens quit traveling to Bredia for work. Even Hades’s income was affected by Bredia.
Michael doubted that the nobles of Bredia visited Hades much over the past three months. Claire also mentioned that some of the prominent noble families left Bradford and those who worked for them lost their jobs which enlarged the hole of unemployment. Altogether put a major strain on Bradford. If it wasn’t for Claire’s deals with lesser nobles and new merchants, the kingdom’s economy would have completely collapsed.
However, Claire and Sandra weren’t magicians who could perform a miracle and fix the economy right away. Without new revenue streams and new jobs for the Bradford citizens, the kingdom would sink eventually.
”Olivia” Michael turned his gaze to Olivia,
”Your father has contacts in Bredia right?”
Olivia nodded but she had no idea why was he asking,
”Do me a favor and ask him if King Bredia has anything to do with the situation on Bradford”
Instead of Olvia, Michael heard another voice. He turned his head and saw Ricky and Daniel entering the hall. Michael was impressed by their transformation. Both dressed in black robes and had neatly pruned shoulder-length hair. Their hair looked glossy, just like their skin.
Finally, they both reached an adequate cultivation level. Due to his X-ray eye, he could see Ricky was at Core Formation level 2 while Daniel had reached level 3 and was just a few months cultivation away from reaching the next level.
”We have some information regarding that Master Ghost” Ricky and Daniel bent their backs and bowed deeply. For them, Ghost was their god. Their adoration towards him was evident by the way they bowed.
”Sect Leader Claire, Lady Olivia” They then bowed towards Olivia and Claire before turning their gaze back at Ghost
”We wanted your permission but you weren’t here Master Ghost so please forgive us for buying this information from Lord Information” with a flick of his wrist, Daniel took out a silver parchment from his space ring.
Claire wasn’t surprised as Olivia because she knew they might do something like that. Although Daniel and Ricky took care of things related to the sect too, they were ultimately Ghost’s minions. So Claire knew it was not her place to tell them what they could and couldn’t do.
”So you two took initiative, good. I like that”
Ricky grinned from ear to ear since it was his idea to buy information from Lord Information regarding Bradford’s status using Michael’s coins. Daniel was reluctant to take Ghost’s coins but Ricky convinced him Master Ghost liked them to take the initiative. Just like Ricky said, Michael liked what they did. He always wanted his subordinates to act on their own for the betterment of him instead of always looking for his orders and guidance.
The parchment contained all of King Bredia’s meetings for the last three months. After reading the parchments, Michael handed over the parchment to Claire,
”Sect Leader Claire, see if these were the people who revoked their support to Bradford”
It was obvious to Michael that King Bredia was the one behind everything. Still, Michael handled the situation calmly rather than resorting to instant violence.
Claire laid her eyes on the parchment and in a few moments, she creased her brows. She knew this deep down yet looking at a solid proof felt weird,
”Every single one in this list either left the kingdom or stopped dealing with us all of a sudden” Claire said,
”I don’t think we need more proof on King Bredia is the one behind everything”
”Ghost, don’t do anything rash. We can talk this out with him” Claire quickly said trying to calm him down before the things go south,
”Even if we know he’s the one pulling the strings, we can’t prove anything, teacher. This is a delicate situation which has to be dealt with utmost caution” Olivia pitched in letting Michael know her thoughts,
”Do you think I am rash and unreasonable?” Michael asked the two girls,
When he looked at Daniel and Ricky they immediately shook their heads, wordlessly telling him he was neither.
”If anyone was unreasonable and rash, it’s King Bredia. He was the one who decided to marry his daughter to whoever won the tournament. I won that and I wasn’t going to marry that princess even though I could have said yes, no one would have batten eye”
Ricky and Daniel bobbed their heads up and down agreeing with Michael,
”I was perfectly reasonable and if not, magnanimous when I rejected the princess. Now Princess Katherine gets to marry her love and King Bredia gets to see his daughter happy, all because of what I did”
Olivia agreed with Ghost. She had met hundreds of men in her life and she couldn’t find a single one who would have rejected a princess. Despite what the others were thinking, she knew her teacher was a good guy. Otherwise, he would have married her and destroyed her love without batting an eye as most would have. If she was in King Bredia’s shoes, she wouldn’t have messed with Bradford.
”All I asked in return is being left alone. Tell me Sect Leader Claire, why can’t he leave me be”
Claire had no answer for him as he turned his head to Daniel and Ricky,
”When is this engagement gala? In three days right?”
”Yes Master Ghost”
As Ricky said, Michael stood up and so did Olivia and Claire,
”Ghost, what are you going to do?” asked Claire with a worried face. The last thing they needed was an open war between Bradford and Bredia. Although Bradford had one-third of Bredia’s army, they were nowhere near to defeating Bredia in an all-out war.
”Don’t you think I should attend the gala as a well-wisher of Bredia and the princess?”
Claire’s heart skipped a beat when she heard him. They all felt a chill running through their spines because his words sounded colder, drenched in killing intent.
”Ricky go to Grand Spire bank in Flamefair and ask Miss Valric to meet me at Hades”
Bradford owed Sunrise sect millions of gold and there were some things Michael wouldn’t do even for millions of badass points and one of those things was being in debt. Thus, he decided to pay the amount Claire gave to Bradford from the sect’s treasury.
”Ghost”
Claire tried to stop Ghost from doing whatever he was planning to do but before she could say anything, he raised his hand,
”This is something I have to deal with myself, Claire”
Michael cast the ‘lightning dash’ spell and disappeared from the room, leaving a trail of golden light.
”How strong is he now?” Olivia wondered. The pressure Claire felt when he cast the spell was several times stronger than what she felt around her grandfather. Somehow Claire couldn’t even think that he had reached the Soul Refining stage.
**********************************
Michael didn’t stop until he reached Hades. Most of the river town people were going on with their lives when he descended to the doorsteps of Hades. Before many on the streets could notice, Michael entered Hades and saw the restaurant was loaded with people. Except for a few tables reserved for him, elders of the Sunrise sect, and his subordinates, the rest of the tables were occupied by the nobles and rich from various kingdoms and families.
Michael raised many eyebrows as he entered the Hades, especially the girls who stared at him as though they were gonna eat him alive. He made his way to the table reserved for him. It was a curved sofa located at the far end of the hall.
It was only a couple of seconds after he sat when he saw Gloria rushing to his table from the back,
”Master Ghost” Gloria immediately bowed, greeting him with a wide smile.
Michael disliked being addressed as ‘his majesty’, somehow it felt weird for him. Therefore, he ordered everyone to keep addressing him as ‘Master Ghost’ instead of ‘your majesty’.
”Hey Gloria how are you?” Michael asked with his usual gentle alluring smile,
”I am doing wonderful thanks to you Master Ghost. Sorry, we didn’t expect you. I could have done something special”
”No need, I just wanted to surprise my favorite manager”
”Master Ghost” Gloria let out a shy grin as her face reddened slightly,
”Where is Raylene? In the kitchen?”
Gloria bobbed her head as Michael expected,
”I should go tell her you’re here”
Hearing her, Michael shook his head,
”No no no, it seems you guys are so busy. Let her work, I can meet her after we close”
This time, Gloria who was the one shook her head,
”No Master Ghost. If I don’t let her know you’re here, she will fire me. Please let me inform Lady Raylene Master Ghost”
Michael chuckled looking at her pleading with puppy eyes,
”Okay and I would like a glass of grape juice and special please”
”Coming right up, Master Ghost”
The nobles who saw the conversation between Gloria and Ghost were pleasantly surprised. Many heard that he was a man of simplicity despite his talents, it was truly stunning to witness his simplicity in person.
Now they knew why the people of river town worship him regardless of the recent hardships they were facing.