Chapter 28: Confession

  Due to Jony's timely cracking of the case, the unknown fear among the city residents turned into anger towards the wild wolves and Count Raiseth. The originally gradually deserted business also recovered its former prosperity. Earl Delass wrote a letter to the nearby lords, accusing Count Raiseth of his ruffian and evil war tactics. At the same time, he also informed the Solaria Church in Tabri City about this matter, hoping they would uphold justice.

  The Solarian Church has long been known for its motto "Light, Justice, Eradication of Evil" and has a strong following in the southern parts of the Empire. The Solarian Church naturally strongly condemns such evil deeds and promises that if the corrupt Earl Rycis dares to invade the city of Tabor, the Temple's Holy Warriors and Clerics will fight alongside the army of Earl Delras, upholding the spirit of Daryunis, and swear to bring evil to its knees before justice.

  In the city of Count Raiseth, there is also a presence of the Solarian Church. They will launch an investigation into this incident and have stated that they will spare no effort in maintaining justice and fairness for the sake of supreme righteousness.

  In this era, a lord with status would use such despicable means is absolutely unforgivable. Earl Darius firmly believes that Earl Raisis will be nailed to the pillar of historical shame for his actions and will never be able to turn over again.

  As for the Emperor of the Empire, he has already been completely forgotten.

  Diplomacy has come to an end, and now it's time to deal with internal affairs. Since the matter has been settled, rewards and punishments must be given. The patrol team that failed to discover the massacre of the merchant guild at night had its captain, Davi Tanchis, a proud knight descendant, dismissed for reflection. Odara Ludwig, who cracked the entire case, was greatly rewarded with 20 gold coins and 10 hectares of land. Joni Smith, as a key figure in cracking the case, also received an audience with the Earl. After some encouragement, Joni received a reward of 5 gold coins and the Earl's favor.

  "Young man, work hard! On a certain day in the future, I look forward to you becoming my most trusted knight!" said Earl Delras.

  Jonah, once again alone, wasn't particularly enthusiastic about these rewards. Although he appeared extremely honored and excited, that was just a show. Having lost both parents, even if he became rich and powerful beyond compare, he couldn't repay the kindness his parents had shown him in raising him.

  Maybe there is still someone worth striving for.

  Joni found O'dara, counted out three gold coins: "Sir, I've worked for you for four months, paying back five silver coins each month, that's two silver coins in total. Plus these three, our accounts are settled, right?"

  Audrey took the gold coins and put them in her own purse: "Alright, starting next month you can get your salary. The Earl plans to hang that little brat from the dungeon on the square and then hang him on the city wall to intimidate the villains. Do you want to go to the execution?"

  "No need, I already know who my enemy is. Not that nameless little soldier." Johnny shook his head, "Unfortunately, our army was still one step late."

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  The only regret throughout the entire case was that they didn't catch the remaining culprit.

  Rour received the message from Odara and led his fifty warriors to the campsite mentioned in the intelligence, only to find some remaining traces. These traces indicated that someone had been stationed here before, while also mocking the tortoise-like speed of the Tabri City army.

  The most obvious trace was a piece of flat ground with words carved by knife: "Wild Wolf Mercenary Group has been here, don't miss it, will come back to visit soon."

  In the wine cellar of the lost tavern, the wild wolf cub who came to take over had already died under the siege of the remaining soldiers. This was the only highlight of the entire follow-up action.

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  "Sir, today... may I take a day off? I'd like to adjust my mood." Jony said cautiously.

  "Take a break? No problem. Alas, the dead cannot be brought back to life, so don't grieve too much. Take a good rest today and cheer yourself up, we'll continue training tomorrow. Go ahead!" Odara agreed readily.

  Joni arrived at the shooting range, where a beautiful figure was slowly and steadily shooting arrows at the target.

  "Astrid!" he shouted.

  Estelle has been cooped up at home these days, occasionally going out to watch the soldiers' training. Later, when the soldiers were almost all dispatched for various tasks, Estelle became even more bored and could only wander around the castle or go to the shooting range to practice archery. At first, she still wanted to practice some fancy moves, such as rapid firing or shooting while running. But just shooting at targets was ultimately a bit dull. And so she's been listless like this lately.

  She saw Johnny coming over and was delighted: "Johnny? Don't you have training today?"

  "It's on me," Jony said with a smile, walking up to Astrid. "Come on, I'm buying."

  "Invite me? You're so rich now?"

  "Haha, just received the bonus. Let's go, I want to find someone to chat with."

  "Great, I'm so fed up too! Let's hurry and go!"

  Two people came to the Sword and Shield Tavern, as usual with a snack and two cups of ale.

  "Where did I leave off in my story last time?" Johnny asked.

  "Bruyster has arrived in hell... Joni, I heard about your parents... are you okay?" Astry still had a girlish heart and couldn't help but want to say something. She remembered how sad she was when her mother passed away, almost crying herself into unconsciousness, not eating or drinking for two days, leaving Eisatis worried and at a loss for what to do.

  Put yourself in his shoes, how sad must this young boy be, who has lost both parents?

  Joni's expression turned gloomy, which made Aisley feel a little heartbroken. She suddenly felt that she shouldn't have asked this question. If she hadn't mentioned it, Joni might not have remembered the sad fact and wouldn't have stirred up his sorrow.

  "I'm sorry, I..."

  "It's okay." Johnny forced a smile, "Their deaths aren't your fault, what are you apologizing for? I already know who the killer is, next thing to do is just take revenge. As for being heartbroken...I think my parents wouldn't want me to live with eternal sorrow in this world either."

  Astrid nodded thoughtfully.

  "Alright, so our hero has arrived in hell or whatever? Okay, I'll continue..."

  That day, they talked a lot. By the time they finished lunch, the story had already ended. The ending was naturally that the heroic justice defeated the demon king and then lived happily with his lover. Then Johnny started talking to Astrid about some interesting historical, political, economic, and cultural anecdotes, interspersed with his own insights. He also talked about some mysterious phenomena and explained the principles behind them. After drinking cup after cup of beer, Johnny felt himself getting drunk, unable to control his mouth. All sorts of unimaginable knowledge in this world kept flowing out of the mouth of this drunken young man, as if it was a space channel that brought bits and pieces from another time and space into this world.

  Estelle was also a bit dazed. She drank ale and listened to Jony talk about things she had never heard of before. She heard him say that the world was round, and if you walked in a straight line, you could walk back to where you started. She heard him say that stars were huge, many times larger than the world under her feet, only they seemed small because they were far away. She also heard him say that there was a kind of weapon, more powerful than magic.

  Later, they all got drunk.

  "You're the kind of girl I like." With his last shred of sanity and the courage given by alcohol, Johnny said to Astrid, "I must marry you."

  "Hahaha, okay, I'm waiting for you to propose!" Astrid replied with a dazed expression.

  Joni's courage grew bigger, he stretched out both hands and tightly grasped Astrid's right hand, then...

  Then it dawned.

  Feeling the softness in his palms, Joni gazed blankly at his own hands with bleary eyes, clearly still not awake.

  On the other side, Aisley also slowly woke up, feeling that her hand was being held by someone, and she stared blankly at him - he wasn't awake either.

  The two of them focused their gaze on the same place, staring at that tightly clenched right hand for a long time.

  About thirty seconds later, Astrid let out a cry of surprise and quickly pulled her hand back. Johnny also released at the same time. The two stared at each other with wide eyes, saying in unison: "What happened?"

  Then comes the awkward silence.