Tina couldn't say exactly how much Foreman John had embezzled, only claiming she discovered it by accident.
According to her, John's behavior became increasingly erratic as the New Temple neared completion.
Initially, he merely drank away his sorrows, which then escalated into alcoholism, and finally, as expected, he became addicted to Dreamleaf Berries.
Once, at a gathering, John overdosed and was disoriented; while Tina was taking him home, he divulged many secrets.
He said he had an account book that meticulously recorded the money he had embezzled over the years, as well as the names of his accomplices and other information.
Corruption, this problem seems difficult to eradicate in any era or any world.
But what shocked Arthur was that John had continuously embezzled funds for five whole years during the construction of the New Temple, and had gone undetected during that time.
Such a long-term, large-scale embezzlement clearly couldn't have been a solo act; John was perhaps just a small pawn in this conspiracy of corruption.
What's worse, he's now missing, his whereabouts unknown.
Arthur pondered for a moment, then solemnly told the businesswoman, "I can help you make connections, or even personally go to the Temple to secure funds for you."
"But there's a prerequisite: you must meet my father and tell him everything, from start to finish."
Upon hearing that she had to meet the Earl, Tina's heart suddenly clenched.
She had heard of the Evil Wolf Earl's various deeds and knew he was ruthless, like a true Evil Wolf.
The thought of facing such a powerful figure made Tina's heart sink.
Noticing her hesitation, Arthur comforted her, "As long as everything you say is true, my father won't make things difficult for you; he might even reward you."
"Moreover, you should also understand that from the moment you revealed this secret to me, there's no turning back."
His words had an effect.
Tina nodded heavily, then tilted her head back and downed the wine in her cup, "I'll go!"
After the female prisoner had washed up and emerged, Arthur and Tina hurried to the castle.
To save time and speed up their journey, Tina hired a carriage, while Arthur rode his horse, following closely behind the carriage.
-----------------
The guards at Wolf Fang Keep had initially intended to question them thoroughly, but upon seeing it was Arthur, they decisively let them pass.
The Earl had just issued a new order this morning, allowing the young master to enter and exit the castle freely with anyone he brought.
Arthur arranged for the female prisoner to wait temporarily in the castle stables, while he took Tina directly to his father's study.
He was fortunate; his father had just returned from the training ground and was preparing to handle official business.
Arthur motioned for Tina to tell his father everything she knew, without holding anything back.
After listening to the businesswoman's words, the Earl fell into a long silence.
As time ticked by, the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense.
Tina could distinctly feel sweat constantly breaking out on the back of her neck; she began to regret why she had come here.
She worried that the Earl, in his rage, would take her life, or suspect her involvement in the embezzlement and throw her into prison.
Just then, the Earl slowly rose and walked towards Tina with a solemn expression.
Arthur was very familiar with his father's current expression; whenever this expression appeared, something big was always about to happen.
The businesswoman kept her head down, her feet seemingly nailed to the floor, not daring to breathe loudly.
She tried hard to control her inner fear, afraid that she would make a sound due to excessive fright.
"Look up, look at me."
The supreme ruler of the Evil Wolf Family spoke in a deep, authoritative voice.
Tina slowly lifted her head and met the Earl's gaze.
Immediately after, the Earl sharply questioned, "Can you guarantee that every word you just said is true?"
"I stake my life on it!" Tina nodded desperately, like a pecking chicken, "Even if I had the greatest courage, I wouldn't dare deceive you!"
"You are making an extremely serious accusation; you should know what the consequences would be if you were lying, right?"
"Of... of course."
"Bump!"
The Earl suddenly shouted loudly, and the sudden sound startled Tina so much that she nearly collapsed onto the floor.
Almost simultaneously, the steward pushed the door open and entered.
"Take this lady to see the Sheriff; escort her yourself."
The steward glanced at Tina and respectfully replied, "Understood, my lord."
The Earl then turned to Tina and said, "Listen carefully, tell the Sheriff everything you know in detail."
"She will take over the subsequent matters, and you no longer need to worry about the ritual supplies."
By this point, Tina was too scared to speak, only able to nod mechanically, and then, led by Bump, she left the room.
After they left, the Evil Wolf Earl turned his gaze to his younger son and asked, "What do you think about this matter?"
Arthur was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected his father to ask for his opinion.
Previously, he had been forbidden from participating in any family affairs or government matters.
He quickly calculated in his mind how to answer.
"Don't hesitate, speak," the Earl encouraged, "You brought the person, and you discovered the matter, you have the right to express your views."
"He alone could never have done such a thing," Arthur analyzed, "A mere foreman, embezzling for five years, yet the accounts are flawless—this is simply illogical."
"Keep going."
"I suspect someone in the upper echelons is involved; they colluded with each other to cover up the truth."
"Upon learning that John had evidence, they wanted him and the evidence to disappear together."
"That foreman is missing?" the Earl asked.
Arthur nodded, "It happened this morning. Moreover, there have been several consecutive murders targeting Temple craftsmen in the city recently, and I believe there must be a connection between these cases and the embezzlement case. That's all I've thought of so far."
"Good analysis, very detailed observation. However, I can tell you still have something unsaid."
Just as Arthur hesitated whether to voice his other thoughts, Richard suddenly pushed the door open and stormed in angrily.
"Father! You'll never guess what this disgraceful fellow did!" he yelled as he entered, "He actually privately released a female thief from prison in the name of the family!
"If this gets out, the Evil Wolf Family will be utterly disgraced!"
The Earl glared coldly at his second son, and Richard's momentum instantly weakened.
He then turned his gaze to Arthur and said in a deep voice, "I warned you long ago not to release criminals."
"Firstly, the thief claimed to be from Qingfeng Valley, and I needed to gather intelligence about that area;"
"Secondly, she only stole bread and sausage. I paid four silver coins for her ransom, and the Warden can testify for me." Arthur explained, neither humble nor arrogant.
He looked at his brother and retorted, "Is there anything wrong with what I did? As far as I know, the Supreme Council has granted the Baron of Qingfeng Valley a special privilege to pardon any criminal within the Empire, as long as they are willing to join the pioneering group."
"Or are you making such a big fuss to accuse me because I took the woman you had reserved?"
These words left Richard speechless; he clearly wasn't aware of the powers possessed by the Baron of Qingfeng Valley.
The Earl sighed heavily and roared at his second son, "Get out!"
"Father!" Richard still wanted to argue, "No matter what powers he has, he is still a member of the family, and doing this..."
"I said get out!" The Earl's roar made the room hum, and Richard, scared, hurriedly retreated.
After calming down slightly, the Earl sat on the sofa and looked at Arthur, saying, "Now, say everything you didn't finish saying earlier."
Arthur cleared his throat and said seriously, "If there are truly high-ranking officials involved in the embezzlement, handing the case over to the Sheriff is not a wise move. There's no guarantee she isn't involved."
"She is your aunt."
"So what?" Arthur retorted, "Those bastards are stealing Mother's money.
"Mother dedicates one-third of her territory's annual income to the Temple's construction. And they are stealing her money!"
"Leave this matter to me," the Earl waved his hand wearily, "However, you did very well this time."
"I'm starting to believe your mother's words; you are not beyond redemption, perhaps we just didn't give you the right guidance before."
"From now on, I will no longer stop you from recruiting people from prison. Thinking carefully, your options are limited. Perhaps..."
The Earl rose and walked to his desk, paused briefly, then walked back to the sofa and handed Arthur a pardon.
"Perhaps I can help you a little. It was sent by the Crow Family as a gift to celebrate the completion of the New Temple."
Arthur carefully examined the pardon.
"A gladiator, an orc gladiator," the Earl explained, "Originally, I planned to arrange for him to perform at the inauguration ceremony, but perhaps giving him to you could serve a greater purpose."
Another hot potato.
Arthur walked out of the study and stuffed the pardon into his pocket.
Earl has always upheld the parenting philosophy of the strong preying on the weak.
In his eyes, both direwolves and orc gladiators are conquerable.
As long as one has the ability to subdue them, these creatures can be used for one's own purposes.
He never considers whether the recipient has the ability to control them, because in his view, failure means weakness, and weakness deserves to be eliminated.
An orc gladiator.
Arthur guessed that his old father must have thought this orc could be of great use on his journey.
Each year, several wars break out between orcs and humans in the nearby mountains.
Orcs raid humans to take them as slaves, and humans also train captured orcs as gladiators or use them as servants.
Typically, orcs don't survive more than a year in the arena; these shackled foreign gladiators are filled with rage and hate humans to the bone.
In Arthur's opinion, keeping such a dangerous individual by his side was akin to holding a ticking time bomb, with the risk of losing his life at any moment.
Arthur sighed helplessly; what was worse, he couldn't refuse this gift.
He temporarily put the matter out of his mind, first went to the kitchen to get a live chicken, then headed to the stables.
The female prisoner was nowhere to be seen in the stables; Arthur searched everywhere but found nothing.
Just as he thought she had left, a figure suddenly flashed out of the shadows.
Arthur felt a chill on his neck, and he quickly saw that the object pressed against his neck was a very sharp pair of shears, used for trimming horses' manes.
"Looks like you haven't been idle," Arthur said calmly, "What did you do to the stableman?"
"He's temporarily asleep," the female prisoner said, "You'll be next very soon."
"I brought you a chicken, a live one."
"Are you mocking me?"
"No, I was just thinking you might need to drink blood too. Or, do you prefer human blood to chicken blood?
"Hey, friend, if you're going to kill me, at least tell me your name."
The pressure from the scissors increased, drawing a faint line of blood on Arthur's neck.
"How did you know...?" The female prisoner's voice was full of shock.
"Pale skin, blood-red pupils, and witchcraft, also the descriptions from the female prisoners who were incarcerated with you.
"Given that you can stand in sunlight without being affected, and the local priest couldn't figure you out, I deduce you're a half-blood, right?"
Arthur's deduction was thanks to his predecessor's understanding of the DND worldview.
A half-blood is a vampire-like being transformed from a humanoid creature.
The birth of such beings could stem from an encounter with a vampire, or from terrifying contracts, necromancy, or contact with mysterious supernatural creatures.
The female prisoner licked her lips, "I have to admit, you're very smart, and quite strange, unlike any noble I've seen before.
"But being too smart makes you annoying. Yes, I am indeed a half-blood.
"And ever since they put me in solitary confinement, I haven't had any blood in a long time."
Arthur pouted, "Do you want this chicken? If you don't like it, the castle recently purchased some lambs and calves."
"Stop being a smart aleck!" The female prisoner felt helpless against this glib fellow, "I have you, why would I want a chicken?"
"But I don't smell blood. Oh, come on, Airo, let's stop playing house.
"If you were truly starving, the stableman would have been drained dry long ago; at the Red Hook Tavern, you also had the chance to slip away to the slums and find some unfortunate soul for a full meal.
"But you didn't; you followed me all the way here, so you must have considered cooperating with me."
"How do you know my name? And why are you so annoying!" Airo suddenly pushed Arthur away.
She still pointed the scissors at Arthur, "Don't follow me. I thank you for getting me out of prison, but I sincerely advise you not to go to Qingfeng Valley. I have to go..."
"Don't worry, I won't send you back to prison for this. Chicken, or something else?"
Airo was very puzzled, "Why? I don't understand, why are you still willing to trust me when I'm like this?"
"You didn't kill the stableman, and you didn't really intend to kill me. If you were truly a monster driven by hunger, I wouldn't be standing here at all.
"To be honest, whether to go to Qingfeng Valley is not something I can decide.
"That's why I'm so eager for information about that place; if possible, I'd rather hire you as a guide.
"If you accept, put away those scissors, then come inside and talk. I don't want to keep standing here like a fool holding a chicken. It's too stupid."
With that, Arthur walked directly into the room.
Behind him, Airo hesitated for a moment, but still followed him in.
A faint, imperceptible smile flickered at the corner of Arthur's mouth: "Good, let's talk about your accomplices first."
Airo frowned, but quickly relaxed; this strange noble young master seemed to be able to see through her every thought.
"How did you know that too?"
"As far as I know, half-bloods survive by drinking fresh blood and don't need ordinary food at all. If that's the case, why did you steal bread and sausage?"
Airo gave him the middle finger, indicating her displeasure at being exposed.
"If you want me to talk about that, then you first tell me how you knew my name?"
"Fair enough." Arthur tossed the chicken to her.
