Chapter 50: They Must Be Brought to Justice!

“Don’t… don’t hit me anymore, noble sir, I’m wrong, I truly know I’m wrong!”

Carlo, beaten until stars danced before his eyes, begged and pleaded for mercy from Gervas.

Gervas finally stopped, “Where’s the electrum? And tell me how many men your Scorpion Bandits have altogether!”

“I’ll tell… I’ll tell, noble sir, the electrum is buried under the stone on the left side of the cave. Our Scorpion Bandits total…”

Now, Carlo only wished for death, for living was too much torment.

Soon, Gervas found the electrum exactly as Carlo had described.

In addition, Carlo had also revealed details about the Scorpion Bandits.

The core group numbered over two hundred, but during major raids, they could summon another two or three hundred ordinary fugitive bandits as auxiliaries.

So their total strength reached five hundred men.

For a minor lord, where even dozens or hundreds of men could be called a battle, this was a formidable force.

More importantly, beyond Carlo, the Scorpion Bandits had a second-in-command and a top leader, both stronger than him.

As for Kuntuo, who had been deliberately assassinated, he ranked fourth—effectively the fourth-in-command.

“This is somewhat unexpected—a bandit gang with such strength!”

Though the electrum matter likely wouldn’t be exposed, Kuntuo’s death would certainly be investigated by the Scorpion Brotherhood—perhaps even already known.

Thus, this utterly wicked bandit gang might still have a chance to retaliate against Stormhold.

Of course, as much as he spoke, Gervas wasn’t overly concerned; given enough time, he wouldn’t fear the Scorpion Bandits much longer.

“My lord, there’s also a letter here!”

At that moment, a knight reached into the corpse of the now-dead Carlo and pulled out a letter.

Gervas opened it immediately and found it was written by someone from the Quake Earl’s family to a leader named Blood Wolf Settlement.

The letter stated that if this electrum transaction succeeded, he would find ways to smuggle more electrum from his family for future trade.

Smuggling electrum from the family?

Was it not the Quake Earl himself?

Gervas suddenly remembered the earl’s younger brother who had conspired to falsely accuse Lukas the blacksmith.

“This electrum must be the very one that went missing!”

Now Gervas held it with greater peace of mind—it was stolen goods!

After cleaning up the surrounding traces, Gervas led Lei Meng and the others away directly.

Though the forest still held the Quake caravan’s lost ordinary goods, they were too conspicuous and worth little, so Gervas had no need to covet them.

“My lord, Da Wen is the Quake Earl’s younger brother—he conspired with that blacksmith to falsely accuse me!” Back at the castle, Gervas showed Lukas the name on the letter; Lukas the Hammer was overcome with emotion.

This was proof of his innocence.

“Lukas, I, Gervas, swear by the God of Radiance: I will deliver this evidence to the Quake Earl within three years at the latest, and clear your name!”

“Th-this, my lord… you need not do this!” The rough Lukas, chief blacksmith, stared at Gervas in disbelief, eyes brimming with gratitude.

This involved five hundred gold coins—he had never dared hope Gervas would help clear his name.

Yet now, Gervas had sworn before the God of Radiance.

Five hundred gold coins—even six years would not let him earn that much for the man!

“Lukas, I feel the pain you suffered from false accusation, so I must do this. Had I not needed this electrum so desperately, I wouldn’t have made you wait three years!”

“Lord Gervas, I will wait! Lukas thanks your mercy!”

Lukas fell to his knees in tears, and Gervas immediately stepped forward with humble courtesy to help him rise, performing a scene of deep lord-servant bond.

Of course, Lukas likely didn’t know.

With the power of the intelligence network, Gervas might not need three years—he could soon rival the Quake Earl’s family in resources.

Then, five hundred gold coins would be nothing.

And by then, would Lukas even want to leave Gervas’s golden nest of Stormhold?

“My lord, I’ll start immediately—begin forging longswords!”

“No problem. Are these materials enough for ten longswords?”

“My lord, they’re more than enough. I may even save some material to forge a shield!”

“Good, Lukas, I leave it to you!” Gervas nodded and left the forge with peace of mind.

As he stepped into the front courtyard, he met Migen, drenched in sweat, with another knight.

“My lord!”

“How did it go, Migen?”

“My lord, you were right—they really entered our Stormhold!” Migen was excited.

Gervas understood. “Come, to the meeting hall. Summon Lei Meng and the others.”

Gervas then gathered the other knights into the meeting hall, and Migen began recounting the afternoon’s events.

After returning to Kain Town, they waited just over an hour before the Tulip Caravan sent a group toward the southern wilderness.

Then, the prearranged group of hunters appeared.

They numbered over twenty, all carrying longbows; their builds were sturdy, clearly well-fed.

After a smooth transaction, they exchanged their goods for wheat, cloth, thread, and farming tools, then headed east.

Following Gervas’s orders, Migen and his men kept their distance, but the hunters’ trail was too obvious—they were followed all the way into Stormhold.

Eventually, Migen’s group lost the hunters’ trail over ten miles farther east than where they’d captured the Ironhide Fire Lizard.

Because the area had become dense forest, with mountains ahead, Migen’s men turned back.

“My lord, these hunters are clearly thieves hiding on your land, avoiding taxes!” Lei Meng immediately labeled them.

“Lei Meng, Captain, you’re right, my lord. From afar, we observed at least two to three hundred pelts they sold—clearly they’ve poached far too many animals!” Migen immediately agreed.

“My lord, this must be stopped—those thieves stealing your wealth must be brought to justice!”

As Gervas’s subordinates, defending his interests was the knights’ duty.

Thus, whether Lei Meng or Migen and his men, all were outraged.

Of course, in daily life, they also hoped their lord treated serfs kindly.

But that kindness rested on serfs fulfilling their tax and labor obligations.

“Rest assured, now that we’ve pinpointed their location, I will not tolerate tax evasion within my lands!”

“Lei Meng, Captain, notify Captain Laurence to assemble fifty guards. Migen, prepare your gear—we depart in half an hour!”

“Yes, my lord!”