Chapter 356: Working Together With You Worms, How Can the Great Western Territory Be Governed Well?!

The Great Western Territory, a city located at the fork in the road to the southeast.

A group of nobles and officials from various cities of the Western Territory gathered here for this grand occasion.

"Lord Svetin, have you been well lately?"

A young noble holding a glass of red wine with a beautiful female companion at his side approached an old man with graying hair dressed in magnificent robes, and offered a greeting.

"Well what well, that group of brainless barbarians relying on a bit of martial force, actually set down so-called rules for us upper-class people.

Now, my territory's tax revenue declines year after year, and even wanting to find some pretty girls in my territory to play with, I still have to fear those lowly commoners below might denounce me to that group of assassin barbarians……"

The magnificently robed old man complained with dissatisfaction.

"Lord Svetin, watch your words!"

The young noble's face changed, and he changed his form of address as well.

The Assassin Alliance's butcher knife has killed far too many high officials and nobles these years.

"Watch what words, it won't be long before that group of assassin barbarians is finished!"

The magnificently robed old man said disdainfully.

"They haven't finished yet, what if this time……"

The youth's words were unfinished when the old man interrupted.

"No what-ifs, even if the assassins the Empire sent this time fail, don't forget we still have the First Martial Artist of the West Border on our side this time, and as long as we deal with those two leaders of the assassin barbarians, can the rest of those guys resist our army?"

The old man was full of confidence, and the people listening around him chimed in one after another; these Western Territory dignitaries had long suffered bitterly from the Assassin Alliance.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have, when the Empire's intelligence personnel made contact this time, upon learning so many were willing to join forces against the Assassin Alliance, also generously contributed among them, secretly providing the Empire's spies with all kinds of support unconditionally.

"However, I didn't expect that Baron Romanov, who on the surface fawned over the Assassin Alliance the most, would actually be the initiator who united us to scheme against those assassin barbarians."

Someone suddenly spoke, and the surrounding nobles looked toward the person mentioned — this city's City Lord, now surrounded in the center by others, the upstart Baron Romanov who seemed like the core figure.

"This is probably what they call: a dog that bites doesn't bark, and when there's a bone to eat, it wags its tail and begs its temporary master for mercy."

At this, the magnificently robed old man sneered.

"Hahaha……"

The nobles surrounding him laughed along very cooperatively.

Only, no one laughed too loudly.

After all, that Tax Official-turned-Baron over there, because he was the first City Lord to wag his tail and pay taxes to the Assassin Alliance, was valued by the Assassin Alliance, and thereby also valued by the Empire scheming against the Assassin Alliance as an important mole.

If the Assassin Alliance is exterminated this time, his merit won't be small; his previous various fawning offenses against the Assassin Alliance might be easily forgiven, and he would be heavily favored by the Empire, leaping to stand on equal footing with, or even surpass, them, these dignitaries with deep foundations.

Even if their group takes Marquis Svetin as the lead, on the surface they dare not offend Baron Romanov too much; who knows what it will be like in the future.

Seeming to see through the crowd's thoughts, the magnificently robed old man suddenly whispered a bit of inside information to them.

"I have a maternal cousin serving in the Empire's core, a clerk in a Minister's office; according to him, Minister Honest is very dissatisfied with Baron Romanov who took the lead in paying taxes to the barbarians.

Hmph, he looks glorious now, but that's because the Empire still needs to use him; when he's no longer needed, what will become of him?"

"Lord Svetin, what do you mean?"

"That scoundrel Romanov is adept at flattery, puts on a show on the surface, who knows how much he's skimmed in private; when it's time to settle accounts, half his family assets go to Minister Honest, the other half I don't want at all — please divide it among yourselves; not only that, if your family merchant caravans pass through here in the future, all commercial taxes halved."

Hearing this, the surrounding nobles' laughter suddenly grew louder; although the lion's share of this city's administrative rights might be swallowed by the old man alone, fortunately he was still willing to share other benefits.

"Gentlemen, may I ask what you're laughing about?"

At this moment, Baron Romanov walked over upon hearing the laughter, smiling as he inquired of the crowd.

"Nothing, just that Marquis Svetin told a joke a moment ago, and we found it funny."

Someone answered.

"Oh, I wonder what joke; would it be convenient to tell me as well?"

The Baron smiled and pressed further, but the surrounding people only smiled without speaking, hiding the jackal-wolf-tiger-leopard looks in their eyes.

"This joke is funny to us, but to you it might not be funny, Baron Romanov; it's getting late, you should go on stage and say a few words."

The magnificently robed old man replied with a smile, not a trace of the contempt he'd just held for the Baron before showing on his face.

"Is it time?"

Just then, a male servant ran over and leaned close to Baron Romanov's ear to whisper.

"My apologies, my apologies, I'll go on stage right away."

After hearing who knows what, Baron Romanov's face also broke into a smiling expression.

Excusing himself to the crowd here, he walked straight toward the high platform.

"A lucky dog who climbed up, hmph, let you be smug for a while longer."

After Baron Romanov left, Marquis Svetin spat.

"Thank you all for gracing this banquet with your presence……"

Baron Romanov on stage first gave an opening speech, then listed the various cruel atrocities the Assassin Alliance had committed against them dignitaries over these years.

"We merely collect taxes normally (heavy taxes), occasionally fool around with the commoners below (bully men and women, occasionally kill someone we don't like the look of for fun), and those barbarians (Assassin Alliance) actually judged us guilty based on this, carrying out terrifying slaughter against noble us……"

Baron Romanov took out a handkerchief, wiped away non-existent tears, then suddenly raised his arm and shouted: "But fortunately, the Empire's adults have come, our Great Western Territory has its clear sky.

I know, among those present there are certainly those with hearts turned toward the rebel traitor assassins, but I tell you, those traitor assassins are done for.

Just now, I received intelligence: the Empire's Assassination Squad has already annihilated that group of barbarians completely in the dense forest five kilometers west outside the city."

As his words fell, the hall erupted in heated discussion, but it was certain that the dignitaries able to come here for this grand occasion (scheming against the Assassin Alliance) were all loyal retainers with hearts toward the Empire; their faces, one by one, were all beaming with joy.

"Servants, bring in the fine wine."

Following Baron Romanov's command on stage, a group of male and female squires pushed cart after cart laden with fine wine and glasses into the City Lord's Mansion hall.

"This is the private reserve from Marquis Clinton's family wine cellar; although Marquis Clinton was brutally murdered by the Assassin Alliance three years ago, his wine can still be with us at this moment when dawn's light arrives in the Great Western Territory; I wish to share this victory vintage with you all."

Baron Romanov took the lead picking up the red wine glass a squire brought up on stage, held it high, and said to the crowd below: "For the Empire, cheers!"

The atmosphere had been perfectly set, emotions fully stirred; the dignitaries below suspected nothing, and all raised the fine wine the squires brought, chanting in unison: "For the Empire, cheers!"

On the stage, Baron Romanson drained the fine wine in one gulp.

Below the stage, a group of aristocrats followed suit.

However, a few frowned, sipping the wine in their mouths, feeling the taste was somewhat strange.

"Baron Romanson, please take care of me from now on."

Some aristocrats who believed Baron Romanson would certainly be heavily promoted after this went up to curry favor.

And the aristocrats surrounding Marquis Svetin looked at those unaware of the truth like clowns, watching a dog fawn and flatter, mockery surfacing in their eyes.

But soon, this mockery was interrupted...

"Take care of you, how am I supposed to take care of you?"

"That is naturally in all aspects..."

"Slap~"

Before the words were finished, the face of the minor noble who was shamelessly asking for favor was struck by Baron Romanson's palm.

"Working together with you greedy worms, how can politics be done well, how can the Great Western Territory be managed well?"

An angry shout rang out, the aristocrats present all looked over, some confused about what madness this was.

"Baron Romanson, what's wrong with you? If you don't want to show favor after making it big then don't, why resort to violence?"

An official close to the struck minor noble spoke up in indignation.

"Heh, violence? No, this is violence!"

Baron Romanson finished speaking and suddenly hurled the empty wine cup in his hand to the ground.

With a crack, the wine cup shattered.

And this seemed like a starting signal; in the next moment, continuous retching sounds came from around the hall.

The aristocrats present followed the sound and saw their own guards who had followed them in being killed one after another by the waiters bringing in wine.

"Romanson, what are you doing?"

Someone questioned in shock and anger.

"What am I doing? Naturally killing you greedy worms."

Baron Romanson answered as a matter of course.

"But why exactly?"

Another asked.

In response, Baron Romanson merely suddenly struck a somewhat strange pose with both hands placed diagonally at his original spot, then shouted at the group of aristocrats questioning him: "Long live the Red Scarf, long live the Assassin Alliance, justice is with me!"

His voice was resonant, causing the listening aristocrats to freeze directly.

"No, you're one of the Assassin Alliance's people?"

After two or three seconds, an aristocrat asked.

"Precisely."

Baron Romanson retracted the strange pose, but smiled and nodded in admission.

"But how can you be one of the Assassin Alliance's people?"

As the open leader of the anti-Assassin Alliance alliance who, in the Great Western Territory, acted as a matchmaker for the Imperial Intelligence Agency, contacting aristocrats large and small in various cities within the Great Western Territory who harbored hatred for the Assassin Alliance, organizing them in secret.

Although he was the open leader, this situation of openly defecting to the Assassin Alliance at this moment still left all the anti-Assassin Alliance aristocrats unable to process it.

"How can I not be one of the Assassin Alliance's people? From the start, after Imperial Intelligence personnel contacted me, I reported this matter to Lord Merad of the Assassin Alliance, and that lord had me play along, the purpose being to lure you hidden worms out. I truly didn't expect you lot to be this stupid, brains just like worms..."

Baron Romanson's sarcasm made the group of aristocrats somewhat red-hot with rage.

"That news about the Assassin Alliance barbarians being annihilated by the Imperial Assassination Unit..."

"That was naturally fake. The ones truly annihilated were the Imperial Assassination Unit."

"Ah!"

The aristocrats exclaimed, and instantly those with quick wits dropped to their knees sliding forward.

"Lord Romanson, you know me. I've always been your staunch supporter. You support the Empire, I support the Empire. You support the Assassin Alliance's lord, I support the Assassin Alliance's lord..."

"You really are a good dog. Pity, a fence-sitting weed like you who sways both ways, I don't want."

"Ah, how can this be?!"

The official who failed to slide-kneel was full of despair.

"Damn it, seize Romanson. Only by seizing him can we survive."

Suddenly, someone shouted from within the group of upper-class aristocrats.

Some young aristocrats unwilling to await death had their qi and blood surge. Originally somewhat broken down from being deceived, they began to concentrate and charge at Romanson.

"Miss Hill, I entrust this to you."

At this, Baron Romanson bowed slightly to the glasses-wearing squire beside him.

"Stay behind me, don't get splattered with blood."

The glasses girl said one sentence, and a cute little white dog slipped out from under her long skirt.

"Don't be scared. That's just an immature puppy. Even if it's a tamed special Danger Beast, it's just a skinny dog!"

Someone stopped their steps, but others continued to incite. The flow of people charging at Romanson paused, then continued surging this way.

"Xiao Wang~"

Hill called softly, and the little white dog instantly turned into a burly white dog.

Over two meters tall, bulging muscles, crimson pupils, sharp fangs.

She swept her hand forward, and the foremost few people in the crowd who couldn't stop in time were struck.

In just an instant, they flew up like tattered cloth dolls, their bodies splitting apart from the dog claws' scratching.

"Bang~"

Another punch, and a person who couldn't retreat in time was smashed from head to toe into the ground by the Hundred-Armed Giant's Xiao Wang, blood and flesh slurry splattering everywhere.

"Roar—"

With a roar, it opened its huge mouth revealing rings of fangs, scaring a group of aristocratic high-society figures covered in blood and flesh so badly they lost control of their bowels and bladder.

"Lord Romanson, please spare me, I swear I will serve the Assassin Alliance from now on!"

Another person scared out of their wits directly knelt on the ground and began begging.

"Sorry, but it's a bit late for you to say that now. Hmm, time's just about up too."

"What do you mean……"

A middle-aged noble who had been hiding in the back and now spoke up suddenly felt something drip onto his hand; he lowered his head and saw it was blood.

"Ah, you're bleeding!"

Someone exclaimed.

"You, you put poison in the wine?"

"That's just insecticide."

"Ah—"

Everyone started clutching their stomachs and kneeling on the ground in pain.

"Creak—"

The City Lord's Mansion's gate opened at this moment, and Merad, wearing a tight combat suit, walked in with catlike steps.

"Tap tap tap—"

When passing by the fallen aristocratic high-society figures, this person still looked left and right, just like appreciating the fully blooming flowers of the other shore.

"Romanson, you did well."

She praised the Baron with a sentence.

"This is all thanks to Miss Merad's wise leadership."

The Baron bent his waist, not daring in the slightest to look at this sexy Assassin Alliance Leader with colored glasses.

"I only provided you with the worm poison; the fact that so many idiots drank it is all your ability, don't be too modest."

"Yes."

Baron Romanson obediently replied, waited a while, then asked: "Miss Merad, do the corpses of these people need separate handling?"

"Hmm, chop off all their heads, then make them into specimens and send them back to the cities they belong to, for the residents, nobles, and officials of those cities to observe, so everyone knows the consequences of daring to violate the ban on their own and resisting us, the Assassin Alliance."

Merad thought for a moment and said.

"Then what about the families of these guys……"

Baron Romanson made a throat-slitting gesture.

"No need. Except for those families that stood up to resist, keep all those who knelt. After all, we are assassins representing justice, and we wouldn't lightly bring calamity to family members."

Merad said with a smile.

"Doing this, isn't it a bit like letting the Danger Beasts return to the mountains……"

"Heh, do those dead remnants even count as Danger Beasts?"

Merad chuckled lightly, then looked at the man before her and asked: "Speaking of which, you're so eager to eradicate the roots—are you thinking there might be a chance to rebel against the Empire later?"

"Plop—"

Romanson directly knelt down and explained: "Absolutely not. I used to want to be a good person, but didn't have the opportunity. Now the Assassin Alliance gave me this opportunity, so how could I possibly betray the Assassin Alliance? My loyalty to the Assassin Alliance can be attested by the sun and moon!"

"Then just do your job properly, don't think too much."

Merad didn't say anything more.

The Assassin Alliance only looks at behavior, doesn't believe in human nature.

If one must believe in something, it's probably only the knife in one's hand.

Keeping a bunch of dead remnants from families that violated the ban, the ones those people hate most would be this Baron before them who turned traitor and poisoned their families to death.

This makes the difficulty of the other party wanting to turn traitor again skyrocket, even become impossible; only by wholeheartedly relying on the Assassin Alliance can the other party survive.

Hmm, perhaps someone would say this is too excessive, unexpectedly treating Baron Romanson, such a righteous scholar and good official who has awakened to reform, this way. But is this person really a righteous scholar and good official who has awakened to reform?

No, this is just an ordinary person who drifts with the current.

During the Empire's rule, the other party was a corrupt official who extorted, forced poor commoners who couldn't pay taxes to sell their sons, sell their daughters, sell themselves.

But after the Assassin Alliance came, killing a large number of disobedient nobles in this city, the other party luckily got promoted to the City Lord position, and Romanson became a reformed good official by the Assassin Alliance's standard.

And because he was once a corrupt official, he knows even better the corrupt officials' methods of deceiving superiors and concealing from subordinates, and provided many constructive suggestions for the Assassin Alliance's ban standards.

This person sold out his original corrupt official rank, a genuine fence-sitter; whichever way the wind blows, that's the way the person falls.

And the reason such a person protects the Assassin Alliance is simply because the power and status he now possesses all come from the Assassin Alliance's actions in the Western Territory.

The other party is a smart person; he might know that once the Assassin Alliance falls, his City Lord position is gone, and he might even be settled with by the Empire after the fact.

"Oh, right, there's still a live one over there. He wasn't poisoned. Remember to be careful when chopping his head."

Merad suddenly said.

"Bang—"

Svetin, who was playing dead on the ground, instantly bounced up and sprinted toward the City Lord's Mansion gate.

City Lord's Mansion guards tried to intercept him, but were blown away by a single punch from him.

"In my youth, I trained in martial arts at Yellow Springs Temple. If you don't want to die, scram!"

The luxuriously dressed old man roared as he rushed to the gate; just as he was about to burst out the gate, his head suddenly fell off his neck.

A thin, fine silk thread lay across the City Lord's Mansion gate; Merad moved her finger, and Cross Tail's thread was retracted.

"Was Yellow Springs Temple's level this bad before, or is it just that the opponent is a piece of trash, so killing him gives no sense of achievement, right, Hill?"

"Miss Merlade, I'm still working. Please don't engage in workplace sexual harassment."

"Woof~"

Xiao Wang barked twice at Merad, then jumped into Hill's arms.

Baron Romanov wiped away sweat; he had watched the retracted Cross Tail silk threads sweep past the front of his own neck.

"Right, Lord Merad, I don't know if you encountered an attack from the First Martial Artist of the West — I heard it was that old man Svetin, who organized people to donate money so the Empire's secret agents could hire him."

He shifted the topic, pointing toward the corpses at the front door of the City Lord's Mansion, and spoke.

"First Martial Artist of the West? Who was that again?"

Merad looked somewhat puzzled.

"It's Digimon Adult; the other party took the quest to deal with us, took the Empire's money, then directly ran over to one of our Assassin Alliance intelligence points, sold us this news, and even swore to our intelligence personnel that although he is a martial artist, he also understands benevolence and righteousness, and absolutely would not strike at our Assassin Alliance."

Nahashu walked over and said.

"Oh, that watered-down West Border Great Tournament double champion — his words sound better than singing; if he really has the ability, let him strike at us. Where is he now? I'll go exchange a few moves with him."

The Empire's scheme had already been shattered by them, a pile of the Western Territory's Crest Worms had also been eliminated, and now it was just perfect free time, so Merad planned to go slap the face of that First Martial Artist of the West — she did want to know whether the other party's martial arts were better, or their dance.

"He slipped away; after selling the info, he directly slipped into the Gifnora Sea Tree Great Forest."