The ornately decorated carriage wasn't moving fast, so it wasn't difficult for Airo to keep up.
She moved like an agile wildcat, skillfully leaping and weaving across the rooftops.
Every now and then, she would avoid obstacles with acrobatic movements.
Her concern wasn't about tracking, but about the weapons she had on hand.
During a hurried search in the stables, she only found a pair of scissors and a farrier's hammer.
If she had two handy daggers, she could deal with the two burly men following the carriage much better.
As the carriage turned onto the road leading to the slums, Airo began to look for a way to stop it.
Soon, she spotted an opportunity.
As the road grew narrower and the houses became denser, she seized the moment, jumped, and landed steadily on the carriage's driver's seat.
The coachman was startled by the woman who had appeared out of nowhere and quickly pulled the reins, slowing the carriage down.
"Damn it, you whi—"
Before the curse word could fully escape his lips, the coachman took a heavy blow to the chest. After his lungs were severely impacted, even breathing became a problem for him.
Seizing this chance, Airo snatched the reins from his hand and kicked the coachman off.
"Dealt with?" Arthur poked his head out and asked.
"If you make me do this kind of work again, you'll have to pay more," Airo replied, "There are two more behind, they've been following you since we left the castle."
Arthur turned his head back and indeed saw two masked horsemen rapidly approaching.
"Can you drive a carriage?" he asked Airo.
Before Airo could answer no, the carriage suddenly accelerated, and the violent jolting threw Arthur directly back into the carriage.
The old servant swayed inside the carriage, his voice trembling as he asked, "Young Master, what... what exactly is going on?"
"You'll have to ask my petty brother about that, I'm afraid. Hold on tight, I think the carriage is going to speed up even more."
The old servant cried out in alarm, "What!?"
-----------------
An absurd scene was unfolding in the slums of Wolf Den City: a luxurious carriage was careening wildly like a runaway horse, and the woman driving it constantly yelled at passersby, "Get out of the way!"
Behind them, two masked riders were in hot pursuit. Wherever this group passed, chaos ensued.
But the residents of the slums were already accustomed to this; it was just another ordinary day in this place.
One masked knight finally caught up to the carriage, and after seeing that the driver was a woman, he uttered a string of curses.
He spurred his horse closer, attempting to jump onto the carriage.
The moment his hand gripped the driver's seat, a dazzling beam of light shot out from the carriage, piercing directly through his body.
This pure energy from the heavens would burn like fire, but its temperature far exceeded any earthly flame.
The masked man screamed and fell to the ground.
Airo, who was driving, naturally witnessed this scene, and that pure energy instinctively repulsed her.
She knew who was responsible for the light beam, and this far exceeded her expectations.
She slightly pulled the reins, slowing the carriage, deliberately allowing the other knight to catch up.
From his movements, she could discern hesitation and fear; the attacker's resolve had begun to waver due to his companion's death.
As soon as the carriage stopped, Airo abruptly hurled the hammer. The masked man dodged, almost falling off his horse.
Arthur pushed open the door and got out of the carriage at this moment, looking at the masked man.
As a Son of the Wolf, he, like all his brothers, had received combat training.
Although his skills were mediocre, they were sufficient to deal with one or two thugs.
Moreover, today he could even cast a 1st-level spell, which was the Guiding Bolt he had just cast.
As one of the most commonly used and destructive spells for a cleric, Guiding Bolt could inflict considerable damage.
However, it seemed he wouldn't need to act.
The masked man turned his horse around, preparing to flee, but Airo wouldn't give him that chance. She rushed forward like an arrow from a bow, leaping onto the horse's back.
"Leave him alive!" Arthur quickly reminded her.
The scissors in Airo's hand changed direction and plunged into the masked man's thigh.
The man screamed, no longer able to control his horse, and fell to the ground with his horse.
Airo had already nimbly jumped off the horse, landing steadily, her posture as agile as a wildcat.
Arthur watched the scene before him, secretly congratulating himself on making the right choice.
This thief from Qingfeng Valley was far more formidable than her appearance suggested.
He quickly walked towards the fallen man and pulled off his mask.
Upon seeing the man's face, Arthur smiled: "Hello, Marshall. I remember yesterday in the stables, you were the one laughing the loudest."
"Presumably, you also received the heaviest whipping, right? So you conspired with my brother, wanting to teach me, the least esteemed youngest son, a lesson?"
"Young Master, Young Master, this is all a misunderstanding... Ah—" Marshall's explanation was cut short by the sharp pain as the scissors pressed down.
Arthur snorted coldly, walked back to the carriage, and asked the old servant inside, "Bard, can you drive a carriage?"
Bard, trembling inside the carriage, poked his head out: "Of course, Young Master, of course I can."
"Good, come down and drive."
After Arthur finished speaking, he shouted to the surrounding commoners, "I need two people to help me carry this man into the carriage, ten copper coins. I advise you not to have any ill intentions."
With that, he chanted a spell, casting Light on a wooden stick, and pointed it at a few people who were stirring.
"Open your eyes and see clearly, I am a Son of the Wolf. Before you do something irreversible, use your brains and think carefully!"
The intimidation of magic and the pressure of his noble status deterred everyone present.
Many commoners even knelt on the ground and began to pray to him.
Two clever fellows stepped forward to volunteer, and Arthur pulled ten copper coins from his money pouch and gave them to them.
The two were overjoyed and quickly carried Marshall into the carriage.
Soon, the carriage set off again, this time heading towards the castle.
-----------------
On the way back, Arthur began to interrogate Marshall.
It didn't take much effort for him to learn the truth from the beast tamer.
They brought him to the slums because it was a lawless place, rarely patrolled by guards, making it the most suitable location to tie up a nobleman and teach him a lesson.
Arthur knew they wouldn't dare to kill him; they only wanted to inflict a lifelong humiliation, to make him lose face in front of everyone and become a laughingstock.
This way, his prestige would plummet, and recruiting people to go to Qingfeng Valley would become even more difficult.
If Anna hadn't reported Richard and the beast tamer's plan in time, this conspiracy might indeed have succeeded.
Attacking one's own brother. This was an unforgivable grave crime in the Evil Wolf Family.
The problem was how to conclusively prove that Richard was also involved in this conspiracy.
The beast tamer's word alone probably wouldn't be enough to fully convince his father.
After much thought, Arthur couldn't come up with a good solution, but no matter what, it was time for Richard to pay the price.