Chapter 12: 12 Demanding

Chapter 12: 12. Asking for Compensation

Luo Ning naturally knew that the guards had not betrayed him because of Wiggins's instigation; he had confirmed this at the moment the traitors first acted.

Now, he was pinning the blame on Wiggins mainly to make him appear culpable, so he could "claim compensation" from him.

"Grandfather, those nine guards were carefully selected by Father to serve me. Would Father not know what kind of people they are?"

Ru Lans glanced sideways at Wiggins, noticing the latter shifting his body and looking somewhat evasive.

Luo Ning was right—the nine guards had indeed been carefully selected by him, but they were chosen precisely for their poor qualities.

They had all engaged in at least one or two incidents of laziness, fighting, gambling, and so on, with the leader, Pi'er, being particularly notorious as a troublemaker.

He had intended to send a troublemaker to hassle Luo Ning, but he never expected these men to betray Luo Ning and even attempt to kill him.

"My convoy had just left the Wushan City and rested in the woods when these nine men acted."

Luo Ning continued, his tone carrying a sense of panic akin to surviving a catastrophe.

"Grandfather, think about it—they were merely castle guards, each one ordinary people. How could they have such boldness to attack me? Although my inheritance rights were stripped, I was still their master, the Baron of Forest Hill Town, and a descendant of the Wushan family!"

At this point, he glared angrily at Wiggins. "After much thought, I believe they were definitely instigated by Father; otherwise, they would never dare!"

"I did not!"

"Though I dislike you and even refuse to acknowledge you as my son, I would never send someone to kill you!"

Wiggins bristled with anger, his beard and hair seemingly standing on end. He hated being falsely accused the most in his life, yet whenever he was falsely accused or criticized, he struggled to find reasons to refute because the accusations often seemed plausible.

"If I truly wanted to kill you, why would I give you so many resources?"

"That was out of respect for my deceased mother!"

Luo Ning retorted sharply, leaving Wiggins speechless.

The hall fell into brief silence. Ru Lans sighed and said, "Perhaps there was an accident in this matter. I believe your father is not foolish enough to try killing you."

No one understands a son better than his father. Ru Lans had a deep understanding of Wiggins; though the latter was foolish, reckless, and lacked brains, he was not so stupid as to commit such a foolish act as killing his own son.

"Did those fellows say anything before they acted?" the Marquis asked.

Luo Ning pondered. Since the question had been raised, he could not hide certain things.

After all, the remaining traitors were still alive; their motives for betrayal would be revealed if Ru Lans sent someone to interrogate them.

"Before they acted, they told me they didn't want to go to Forest Hill Town, saying it was remote and dangerous, that going there meant waiting for death. They also said the family had abandoned me and that I would likely be killed before even reaching Forest Hill Town."

Behind him, Cha Ha'er felt puzzled—did those traitors really say such things? Why hadn't he heard them?

In a moment of realization, he understood: probably the traitors said those words when chasing the Baron into the woods; at that time, he had fallen to the ground and hadn yet risen.

"Child, the family has never abandoned you. Stripping your inheritance rights was merely for the long-term consideration of the family!"

Ru Lans revealed a bit of the reason to comfort Luo Ning, then turned to sternly criticize Wiggins:

"The eldest grandson of the Wushan family dared to go to Forest Hill Town, yet as family guards, they dared to shrink back? Wiggins, how have you trained them normally?"

This point was Wiggins's weakness; he remained silent.

Luo Ning still wanted to assign some blame to Wiggins. He continued, "The leader said he wanted to seize my supplies and money, then leave the Wushan territory to live elsewhere."

"Although their motives seem reasonable, I feel someone still instigated them behind the scenes."

He voiced his suspicion. "Otherwise, they would not have had such boldness."

"Haha, my grandson, you are mistaken here."

Ru Lans understood: Luo Ning mistakenly believed Wiggins had instigated it behind the scenes, hence venting his anger on Wiggins.

"Anyone has ambitions to pursue benefits, including guards. They surely saw you were an ordinary person with no manpower around, so they thought to unite and rob you."

The old Marquis analyzed, "And I dare say, they definitely knew you had many gold coins, hence stirring their thoughts."

Upon hearing this, Hallwart, who had followed, felt a sudden pang in his heart and immediately stepped forward to bow. "Sir, you are correct! That day when I handed you the gold coins to Luo Ning, it was done in their presence!"

Then, he expressed apology to Luo Ning: "I never thought my negligence would bring you such trouble; Hallwart is guilty!"

Wiggins spread his hands, "See, I told you it has nothing to do with me!"

Luo Ning appeared embarrassed and did not reply, tacitly accepting this outcome.

His reaction further confused the manservant Cha Ha'er standing behind him.

Strictly speaking, he had been bewildered since standing before the gates of Wushan Castle.

He did not understand why the Baron suspected the Count had instigated the traitors; even more, if the Baron believed the Count wanted to kill him, why dare return to Wushan Castle?

"Could it be the Lord firmly believed the Marquis would stand up for him?" Cha Ha'er wondered.

At this moment, Ru Lans above relaxed his stern demeanor, softening considerably. If a father killing his son truly occurred, he would be deeply distressed.

"The matter is clear now. Luo Ning, do not be so angry with your father. Though he is somewhat foolish, he would not attempt to kill you. Our Wushan is not the Hyde family."

"Additionally, Hallwart acted insufficiently cautiously; penalize him with half a year's salary!"

Hallwart did not argue but bowed accepting punishment. "Hallwart accepts punishment and will remember this lesson, hoping this can appease the young master's anger."

Although Hallwart indeed acted somewhat imprudently, he had also assisted somewhat; penalizing him made Luo Ning somewhat uncomfortable.

"Grandfather, this matter has little relation to Hallwart; let's forget it."

Hallwart insisted on acknowledging his mistake. "No, young master, this indeed was my error; please do not defend or plead for me."

Ru Lans chuckled, "Since Luo Ning pleads for you, let it be waived."

He then addressed Luo Ning, "You and Wiggins are father and son; misunderstandings resolved suffice."

Luo Ning also gave Ru Lans face, slightly bowing to Wiggins. "Earlier, I was too angry. Now thinking carefully, I indeed wrongly accused."

"Hmph!" Wiggins turned aside, grumbling angrily, but feeling somewhat better inwardly.

Luo Ning turned to Ru Lans. "The knight Maiken killed four of the nine betrayers; the remaining ones I have brought back to hand over to Father. Such betrayers, I dare not keep near me."

"Maiken Knight?"

Ru Lans glanced at the unfamiliar knight standing behind Luo Ning. "I see him for the first time."

Luo Ning chuckled lightly, casually fabricating a story.

"Maiken is a wandering knight; we have known each other for several months. Learning I became Baron of Forest Hill Town, he wished to follow me. Thanks to him, I safely survived today."

Maiken performed a knight's salute to Ru Lans, then continued standing behind Luo Ning.

Wiggins, however, scrutinized him up and down. "Though I did not exert one percent of my strength in that kick, you managed to withstand it without falling; you have some capability. Following the Wushan family will not disappoint."

Not using full strength was true, but claiming not one percent was clearly Wiggins's exaggeration.

Luo Ning did not expose it, instead beginning to introduce his purpose for returning.

"Although Maiken's capability is acceptable, lacking guards around me remains inconvenient; I cannot entrust all matters to a professional knight."

Luo Ning's tone became respectful, starkly contrasting with his earlier attitude toward Wiggins. "Thus, I ask Father to arrange several trustworthy guards for me."

Perhaps seeing Luo Ning so courteous, perhaps having just been cleared of false accusations, in short, Wiggins now felt rather pleased.

Upon hearing this, he loudly agreed without thought. "Fine!"

Wiggins looked toward Hallwart. "Go, find nine new guards for Luo Ning."

"Father, nine is too few!"

Ronin halted Holvart, who was about to turn away to carry out his task. "Forest Hills Town is too dangerous. If you only give me nine soldiers, they’ll think the family is sending them to die. They might even turn against us. So I hope you can give me more men. If I could have a hundred, that would be best!"

Rulanse, seated nearby, couldn’t help but twitch his lips upon hearing this.

He suddenly understood why he had felt that awkwardness from the moment Ronin entered the room.

Meanwhile, Wigins regained his usual irritable temper. "What, a hundred? There aren’t even a hundred guards on duty in Mountcastle now, and you’re asking for a hundred!"

"No, absolutely not!"

Typically, only one knight regiment garrisoned the area around Mountcastle. Each day, a knight squad was dispatched from the regiment to defend Mountcastle.

A knight regiment consisted of ten knight squads, each with twelve professional knights, thirty-six squire knights, ten archers, and sixty infantrymen.

The guards Ronin saw at the gate were infantry from one knight squad, so Wigins wasn’t lying—there truly weren’t a hundred guards on duty.

But Ronin didn’t need to worry about these details; he just had to open his mouth and ask. After all, asking without getting anything wouldn’t cost him anything.

"Father, you wouldn’t be unable to provide even a hundred guards, would you? You’re the Count of Mountcastle! In my heart, grandfather ranks first, you rank second, but you can’t even provide a hundred guards..."

"Bullshit!"

Wigins roared angrily, "Just a mere hundred men, and you think I can’t provide them?"

Rulanse rolled his eyes and shook his head helplessly. When had his grandson become so provocative?

"Ronin, asking for a hundred guards is too many."

The old marquess directly extinguished Ronin’s hopes. "From what I know, Forest Hills Town has a population of less than a thousand. Even if you want to form a defense force, recruiting ten or twenty militia would be enough. Asking your father for a hundred guards—first, you wouldn’t need them, and second, you couldn’t afford to maintain them."

Upon hearing this, Ronin’s fervent heart plunged into cold water.

Forest Hills Town had a population of less than a thousand?

Could that even be called a town?

His territory was truly struggling!

"Alright then, Wigins, arrange twenty guards for Ronin, and give him more resources. That way, when he arrives in Forest Hills Town, he won’t have to worry about recruiting militia."

Wigins nodded, "Twenty is about right."

"Grandfather, twenty is too few!"

Ronin transformed into a bargaining merchant. With so few people in his territory, he had to find ways to increase the population.

How else would he reach the 3,000 people required for the [Population Prosperity] achievement?

Waiting for natural generation over generations—how long would that take?

"Eighty, grandfather and father, just give me eighty guards!"

"That’s the minimum!"