Chapter 175

Hehehe!

Neo coughed and gasped in fury, but Gervas calmly searched his body without haste!

"Secretary Neo, don't thank me—after all, everyone will know it was the goblins who killed you. Even Minister Willard won't dare trouble me!"

Hehehe!

"Secretary Neo, do you know what's the most painful thing in life?"

Hehehe.

"Hmm, I know you don't know, so I'll be merciful and tell you: it's dying with money left unspent!"

Saying this, Gervas had already found the remaining ninety gold coins and waved them in front of Neo.

Puff!

Finally, Secretary Neo spat out a mouthful of old blood and collapsed completely.

His head tilted sideways—he died right there.

Secretary Neo is dead!

……

"My lord, these are the coins and money bags taken from the goblin leader!"

Half an hour later, Lei Meng and Mi Gen joined Gervas's group aboard magic swift eagles.

"What happened to the goblin leader?"

"My lord, we eliminated the goblin leader outright. The other goblins tried to surround us, but with our magic swift eagle baskets, they could only watch helplessly as we left!"

"After we departed, that goblin band retreated deep into the wasteland."

"Good!"

Gervas gathered all the coins and money bags.

What a satisfying release of anger today!

If Neo and his men hadn't been so greedy, the silver and copper coins alone would've been enough for them to enjoy a fine two-day rest on their way back.

But now, aside from the few cavalrymen, all the rest died at the goblins' hands.

Even to make the deception convincing, we later tossed the corpses of Neo and his men into the wasteland using magic swift eagles.

After killing prey, goblins don't even spare their own kind's corpses—how much less would they spare human ones?

……

Boom! Boom!

At the edge of Lord Parker's domain, an army galloped toward them—leading the charge was Lord Parker himself.

When they reached the former battlefield, they found only vast patches of dried blood—no other traces of people remained.

Not a single corpse, weapon, or scrap of gear was left.

If not for the bloodstains, no one would've believed a battle had taken place here just half an hour ago.

"My lord, we were surrounded by those goblins right here. Secretary Neo was stabbed to death right at this spot—three or four bone spikes pierced his abdomen!"

"If we hadn't fought our way out, we'd be dead here too!"

The bronze knight who had escaped earlier had only crudely bandaged his wounds and now pointed to the battlefield, recounting the ambush.

Of course, he didn't mention the bone whistle.

There's a great difference between "fighting bravely to break through" and "escaping while the enemy grew careless."

"My lord, the ground is covered in tiny goblin footprints, all pointing toward the Chaos Wasteland. No corpses or weapons remain anywhere!"

Soon, the soldiers who had scoured the surroundings reported the same.

"What terrible luck—it seems Secretary Neo has become the goblins' meal!"

Lord Parker sighed.

But inside, he silently rejoiced.

These goblins had likely intended to ambush his own domain.

Had they not stumbled upon Neo's party, his losses tonight might have been severe.

"Lord Parker, are you certain no bodies of Secretary Neo and his men remain?" the cavalrymen asked, though they'd never seen such a thing before.

"Correct. Goblins' nature is well known—they're filthy creatures with no pickiness. Any race—even their own kind—is just roasted meat to them!"

"Come, gentlemen. I'll assign soldiers to escort you out of my domain—after all, this did happen on my land!"

……

"My lord, this is the mine!"

"Oh? So the mine now directly borders our territory?"

Gervas had bought this iron mine, but he'd never actually known its location.

Now, seeing it, he realized the mine was directly connected to Baron Kain's domain.

But wasn't this land originally part of Parker's?

Shouldn't the kingdom's road have run through Kain's side?

"My lord, this iron mine never actually belonged to the Parker family…"

Seeing his lord's stunned expression, Old John wore a peculiar look.

His lord had spent seven hundred gold coins—and had never even visited the mine.

Only someone this careless could do such a thing.

Old John then recounted the origin of the Parker family's iron mine.

In truth, this mine had once been the subject of a major dispute.

Originally, the mine had indeed belonged to the Kain Baron's side—evident from where the kingdom road passed through.

But decades ago, before the mine was discovered, this border forest was utterly useless.

Until one day, Lord Parker's father accidentally learned the forest contained iron ore.

So Parker's grandfather concealed the truth and bought the hill from the Kain Baron's lord at an extremely low price.

His excuse: to establish a high ground on the border to better defend against invaders from the Chaos Wasteland.

At the time, the border was far more chaotic; the Kain Baron's lord had no hesitation accepting the offer for what seemed like a wasteful purchase.

Of course, that land wasn't called Kain Baron's Domain back then—its old name had been forgotten with time.

It had simply been a minor noble family.

At first, the baron thought he'd made a profit.

But a year later, he saw the Parker family rise in power—and heard it was due to iron ore production.

Only then did he realize the truth: after secretly investigating, he confirmed the very hill Parker had tricked him into selling was the source of the iron.

From then on, both sides engaged in years of bickering and arguments, even suffering several covert clashes.

But everything ended one night two years later, when an alien force attacked the Kain Baron's Domain.

After that, no noble ever questioned the mine's ownership again.

Especially as the Parker family rose further, the new baron dared not mention the mine again.

Even the current Kain Baron followed suit.

Good heavens! Gervas exclaimed in amazement!

It seems I've done a good deed—this is truly returning what was rightfully theirs!

Then Gervas followed the others into the mine shaft and ordered excavation to begin at the central direction.

"Baron Gervas! I've held back a thought for a long time—but given your generosity, I'd feel guilty if I didn't speak!"

The iron mine master, brought from Iron Wolf City, finally spoke after receiving two extra silver coins as a reward from Gervas.

"Speak."

"My lord, I'm only speculating—if I'm wrong, please don't blame me…

"It's that, after days of surveying, I've felt something odd about this mine—the ore inside is unusually loose…"

"As if… it was artificially packed in…"