Chapter 82: The Lady Viscount

Choosing the roof of the largest building to land on, Gervas immediately heard movement below.

“Boss, we’re rich now! A viscount! Hah! This must be worth two thousand gold coins at least—we’ll split half, right?!”

“Two thousand gold coins? You’re underestimating this viscount. The Violet Family is famously wealthy in the borderlands; even if they had to pay double, they could manage it!”

“Four thousand gold coins? When would we ever spend it all? We’d never need to raid again, hah!”

“What’s four thousand gold coins? Use it to buy potions for further cultivation, and train more extraordinary knights—soon we’ll raid earls too!”

“Raid an earl? Boss, I can hardly wait!”

“Enough. Go tell the men to keep watch over the lady viscount. Under no circumstances must she be harmed until we receive word from the kingdom.”

“Also, warn the men—keep your hands to yourselves. If anyone so much as pulls a single hair from her, don’t blame me, Boss Scorpion, for breaking brotherhood!”

“Yes, Boss!” Sack felt a chill and instinctively shrank his head.

But Boss Scorpion, sensing his words were too harsh, added, “Of course, once this is over, the lady viscount won’t be left alive—we’ll let the brothers have a taste of her too!”

“Boss, you’re mighty!”

…

After leaving the meeting hall, Sack headed toward a stone house on the side.

Outside this stone house, dozens of bandits formed layers of encirclement.

It wasn’t just guard duty anymore—it was a blockade.

Even if someone managed to infiltrate the camp, slipping silently into the stone house would be as impossible as climbing to heaven.

“Boss Sack!”

“Hmm. Boss said stay alert—no mistakes allowed!”

“Also, if anyone dares lay a hand on the lady viscount, you’re not just betraying the bandit gang—you’re betraying brotherhood. Understood?”

“Understood, Boss Sack!”

“Boss also said, once this job’s done, everyone will feast and drink till they’re drunk—sleeping with whores for months won’t be a problem!”

After giving the bandits a pep talk, Sack returned to his own hut. The silent night held no further movement.

Time passed second by second; the guards gradually grew lax. Then, a white figure silently descended from the sky.

…

Catherine was terrified.

The past week had been a nightmare.

A week ago, she, newly appointed as head of her family’s title, received a visitation letter from the Tulip Trading House.

The letter claimed the Tulip Trading House wished to establish long-term procurement of Violet Family’s crystal ores.

For Catherine, newly installed, this was clearly something to take seriously.

They agreed to meet at the Violet Family’s own crystal mine.

At the appointed time, Catherine left the castle to keep the appointment.

But five or six li from the mine, over two hundred bandits burst from the trees on either side of the road.

They killed her knights and guards, and kidnapped her, the viscount.

Though the bandits didn’t harm her after the abduction,

the fact they openly declared themselves the Scorpion Bandits and intended to take her to the Chaos Wasteland made her sense what was coming.

She had been trained as an heir—she had enough wit to understand.

If they weren’t afraid of her knowing their identity, then they meant to kill her.

These past days, she’d considered escaping, but the bandits were extremely cautious, keeping her chained to the wall the entire time.

Outside, footsteps echoed everywhere—escape was impossible.

“I only hope when they kill me, they make it quick!”

As a woman, Catherine feared something worse than death.

Just then, a straw suddenly fell from above.

But Catherine paid it no mind.

Another straw fell—this time landing directly on her head.

Catherine finally looked up.

In the next instant, her beautiful eyes widened.

The straw roof had been cut open into a small hole; above it was a young, handsome face.

The young man gestured for silence, then lowered a note tied to a rope.

“I am Baron Gervas of Stormhold. I know your plight. Give me a token—I’ll find you reinforcements!”

“Baron Gervas?” Catherine’s eyes instantly welled with tears, but she fiercely suppressed her excitement.

Calming herself, Catherine pulled a crystal hairpin from beneath her linen blanket.

The hairpin had been overlooked by the bandits because her hair had become disheveled after capture.

She had kept it hidden, planning to use it at the final moment.

Gervas took the hairpin, overjoyed.

He had expected her to tear off a scrap of clothing as proof—this crystal hairpin was far better proof of her identity.

He tucked the hairpin away, gave the lady viscount a reassuring glance, then pulled the straw back together.

As long as the bandits didn’t deliberately climb onto the roof, they wouldn’t notice anything for a long time!

…

“They kidnapped a viscount? The Scorpion Bandits have balls of steel!”

On the return journey, hearing that the Scorpion Bandits had dared to kidnap a royal viscount, the knights were utterly stunned.

“If they weren’t bold, we wouldn’t have had such a perfect chance to annihilate them early!” Gervas sneered.

Hearing they would annihilate the Scorpion Bandits, the knights instantly perked up like they’d been injected with bloodwine. “My lord, what’s our next move?!”

“You’re all so eager—I’m eager too. So, Lei Meng, this task falls to you.”

One day later, Violet Viscount’s Domain.

The castle gates stood wide open; anxious knights and soldiers came and went constantly.

Servants’ faces were filled with worry and unease.

The newly appointed Violet Viscount had been attacked and kidnapped by unknown bandits.

The kidnappers left only a note demanding a large ransom in gold coins, then vanished without a trace—no one could even confirm if the viscount was alive.

In other noble families, servants might not panic so much, since there were many heirs.

But the Violet Family had only one blood heir: Viscount Catherine.

If Catherine met with misfortune, the entire domain would collapse and be reclaimed by the kingdom.

And these servants and guards might even be punished for failing to protect her.

“Any news yet?” Lord Ryde asked the returning knights.

“My lord, still no word. We’ve scoured every forest and hill around the domain—no trace at all!”

The castle steward’s brow furrowed deeply; in just a few days, the middle-aged man looked ten years older.

“Who are you? This is Violet Castle—commoners and peasants are forbidden to approach!”

At that moment, a shout rang out at the castle gate.

A man and his daughter in linen robes were stopped by guards.

“Guard, I’m a distant relative of Lord Ryde. I’ve come to see him—could you please notify him?”

“A distant relative?”

The steward was immediately drawn to them—he had no memory of either.

Still, he instinctively walked toward the gate.