BXBX NOVEL Chapter 71: Roland Meets the City Officials
At this point, Ludwig had a disappointed look. He didn\'t expect that a high and mighty household was involved in the recent kidnapping cases. "Bring him away. I don\'t want to see his face." He waved his hand while shaking his head.
Roland nodded and asked one of his subordinates to take Brielle away. "What are your plans, city lord?"
Ludwig sighed as he responded with a heavy tone. "We have to discuss this thoroughly. The Blackcrow Household is not weak by any means and there is still the Morten Household. We can\'t be rash in dealing with this issue. Follow me to the meeting hall. We need to hear everybody\'s opinion."
"Yes, city lord." Roland nodded in agreement.
An hour later, the seats in the meeting hall of the city lord\'s mansion were packed. Every important official of the city was invited to join the meeting.
Roland was familiar with these people and most of them were his acquaintance. He greeted them one by one politely.
Excluding the city lord and Roderick, there was a total of five Nascent Soul martial practitioners among the city officials. One of them was the City Defense Chief Arthur Clayton. The City Defense Department under him was responsible for any outside threats.
Arthur was a martial warrior who was even older than the city lord. He was already over a hundred, but he still looked like a middle-aged man. His back was straight as a spear and his sharp eyes were akin to an eagle\'s.
From Roland\'s memory, the City Defense Chief was already at the 8th Layer of the Nascent Soul realm. He was only weaker than the city lord by one layer!
Roland moved his gaze to another notable official. She looked like a middle-aged woman from her outward appearance, but she was already over ninety years old. This woman was the City Treasurer who controlled the city\'s finances. Her name was Agnes Tyrell. She might look amiable on the surface, but she was also a ruthless martial practitioner at the 4th Layer of the Nascent Soul realm!
Sitting next to her was a fierce-looking, and bald middle-aged man. He was the Public Safety Chief who was responsible for monitoring the safety of the residents. This man was also a 5th Layer Nascent Soul martial practitioner like Roland.
Roland didn\'t have a good impression of this guy so he immediately looked at the next notable person in the hall. It was a smiling old man who was already over 150 years old. He was the chief of the city\'s Health Department and it was said that this old man was a 3rd Layer Nascent Soul martial practitioner.
After smiling politely at the old man, Roland moved his gaze to the last person. Unlike the other four who were relatively older, this guy was in his early sixties. He was the Planning and Development Manager who was responsible for evaluating the implementation of the projects and activities in the city. He was a 2nd Layer Nascent Soul martial practitioner.
Other than these five powerful officials, there were also more than ten minor officials and another ten elders from the Springfield Household. All of them were at the Core Formation stage!
This was the power of the city lord\'s mansion!
At this moment, Ludwig suddenly stood up and cleared his throat.
"Since everyone is here, let\'s begin the meeting!"
"First, let us discuss the main issue at hand." He paused and scanned the hall with his stern gaze. "Recently, there has been an alarming increase in the number of kidnapping cases in the city, specifically in Dandora Corner..."
A nervous look appeared on the face of the Public Safety Chief when he heard this. He was also aware of this matter, but his recent investigations ended in failure. He didn\'t even have a clue as to who was responsible for this crime.
The city lord might not have blamed him for this, but he could sense his disappointment.
"…With the help of my friend, Roland, and the Firecrown Household, we finally discovered the culprit behind the kidnapping cases. It was a criminal organization called the Snake Gang…"
Hearing this, the Public Safety Chief stood up and said. "City lord, please let me handle this organization! I have been searching for their whereabouts for months-"
"There\'s no need!" Ludwig muttered coldly while shaking his head.
The Public Safety Chief, Abraham Stillingfleet could only awkwardly take his seat after being ruthlessly rejected.
"The Firecrown Household has already dealt with the Snake Gang." Ludwig added.
Everyone turned their gazes to Roland upon hearing this. The latter nodded and smiled at them politely.
\'I feel guilty taking all my son\'s accomplishments. He should be the one receiving everyone\'s respect.\' Roland thought to himself.
"According to Roland\'s investigation, the Snake Gang is being funded by the Morten Household, and the kidnapped people are sent to the Blackcrow Household as slaves!" Ludwig dropped the bomb that made everyone in the hall suck in a deep breath of cold air. They were shocked by the news. They couldn\'t believe that two big households were involved in this matter.
Suddenly, someone raised his hand.
"You may speak freely Sir Arthur," Ludwig said as he nodded at the middle-aged man.
Arthur nodded. "I don\'t question the integrity of the Firecrown Household, but have you verified the authenticity of this matter, city lord?"
Everyone immediately understood the meaning behind Arthur\'s words. They also knew of the conflict between the Firecrown Household and the Blackcrow Household. Each person in the hall had different thoughts about the situation when they realized this.
Roland took a deep breath when he sensed everyone\'s scrutinizing gazes. He wanted to speak up, but the city lord had already spoken.
"I have already verified this information." Ludwig nodded. He had full trust in Roland\'s character. They had known each other for decades so they were aware of each other\'s personalities. Roland wasn\'t the type of person who would use underhanded methods for his gains.
"I see." Arthur nodded with a deep look.
With the city lord\'s acknowledgment, no one doubted Roland anymore.
"I invited all of you here since I want to hear your opinions on how we should deal with the situation. Let me know what you have in mind." The city lord glanced at them one by one, hoping that someone could give him a solution.
The officials and the elders racked their brains. This matter was quite sensitive. The Blackcrow Household and the Morten Household were powerful families with numerous martial practitioners under their command. One wrong move might lead to a full-blown war against them.
"City lord, if I may speak." Roland raised his hand. Before coming to the city lord\'s mansion, he had already discussed with his son how they would deal with the problem. Fredrinn gave him a suggestion at that time and he found it to be reasonable.
"Go on." The city lord signaled for him to speak.
Roland stood up and looked at everyone. "There should be a reason why the Blackcrow Household is amassing a large number of slaves. I think we should investigate this matter more deeply before we make any decisions. If we choose to deal with them now, both households would use every means necessary to avoid punishment. They might even kill all the slaves to remove all evidence of their involvement."
At this point, everyone nodded to his words in agreement.
"However, I hope that everyone will cooperate with us to fully implement the plan that I have in mind." Roland narrowed his eyes. The next step was the most important part of the plan, a clever move that Fredrinn had come up with.
"This is my plan…"
***
Meanwhile, Fredrinn was currently drinking alcohol with Lucas and Samantha at a nearby cafe. It was relatively obscure and only those with memberships could enter, making the place extremely peaceful.
"I didn\'t know that there was such a cafe in Red Sun City," Fredrinn commented. Even the previous Fredrinn who was a frequent visitor of numerous bars and restaurants had never gone to this place.
Lucas revealed a guilty smile. "Actually, it might be because of me…"
It turned out that this cafe was owned by the Springfield Household and it was directly under Lucas\' name. He didn\'t like Fredrinn back then so he told all the members and the employees to never let him know about the shop and forbid him from entering.
"I\'m really sorry, Fredrinn. I didn\'t know about your situation so I came up with that ridiculous rule." Lucas scratched his head in embarrassment.
Fredrinn could only shake his head helplessly.
In truth, he knew about this cafe. Ten years later, this small cafe would become a gathering place for the young elites of the city. When he was still a player, he was lucky enough to become a member of the cafe.
"I\'ll drink this entire bottle as an apology." Lucas grabbed a bottle of alcohol and without waiting for Fredrinn\'s response, he chugged it down. To make it even more convincing, he didn\'t use his Qi to refine the contents of the wine. He really went all out this time with his apology.
Samantha sighed when she realized that her brother was beginning to open up to Fredrinn. \'What a twist of fate…\'