NOVEL NEXT Chapter 101 – This Is Bad
Crowne arrived in front of Ruth's room. The two women who escorted him immediately left. Crowne then opened the door.
When he entered, suddenly all gazes turned toward him.
"Sit down!" Ruth requested.
Crowne turned to the right. When he turned, he was shocked to see that there were many people there. Not strangers, but Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya were there. Seeing the three of them already present made him feel relieved.
He even smiled. After that, he sat on the same chair. Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya bowed their heads. They only looked at Crowne for a moment and then immediately lowered their heads again. They did not dare to stare too long at Crowne because they were embarrassed. Beside them was a man Crowne did not know.
"I have already handled your rank promotion," Ruth said.
"Thank you," Crowne replied.
Ruth's face became serious. There was something he wanted to discuss after this. Even though Ruth's condition still did not look good. Several wounds on his body were still visible. Even his left shoulder was still bleeding several times. Because there was something important, he ignored what he was feeling.
"It seems there is something important you want to talk about," Crowne said.
Ruth nodded. "You understand things very well." He moved his hands forward and placed his chin on top of both hands. "This is bad."
Crowne furrowed his brows. "How bad?"
Ruth was silent for a moment. After that he exhaled. "I could be killed because of this. Someone will target me after what I have done."
Crowne became even more confused. Ruth was very strong and a high ranking guild official. There should be no one who could touch him. If there really was someone capable of doing that, then that person must be extremely strong. Of course this made Crowne curious.
"Tell me!" Crowne asked.
Ruth turned toward the man Crowne did not know earlier. The man stood and moved to the center of the room. He would be the one to explain what had happened.
Crowne observed the man from top to bottom repeatedly. The man was wearing simple clothing with a long sword at his waist. From his face, Crowne could guess that he was in his early fifties.
He looked older than Ruth, but Crowne was not sure whether that was true or not. It was only his guess.
"Let me introduce myself, my name is Benson Robert. I am an S rank adventurer," the man said.
Benson looked at Crowne for a moment before continuing. His voice was calm, but there was heavy pressure in every word that left his lips. Crowne could feel that this man in front of him was a wise and calm person. Someone who would not do anything foolish.
"I was asked by Ruth to retrieve Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya from the slave trader's place," he said while glancing at Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya. The three of them bowed even deeper.
Crowne looked briefly at Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya, but then immediately looked back at Benson. He was curious about what Benson had done that endangered Ruth's life. Benson looked calm and wise, so it did not make sense for him to act recklessly. This made Crowne even more curious.
"I tried negotiating with them. I even offered a high price," Benson continued. "But it did not accomplish anything. They had no intention of releasing Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya at all. Of course this was not good."
At the same time, Gorhan clenched his fists. Lyrica bit her lip. Meya looked like she was starting to feel guilty. All of this was because of them. Naturally they blamed themselves for what had happened. If they had not ended up at the slave trader, none of this would have happened.
"Not only did they reject my offer, but they also threatened to kill Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya." His voice became deeper. Benson looked angry. "That was too much. Because of that I forced my way inside."
Crowne felt the atmosphere in the room grow more tense. Benson had not explained everything yet, but Crowne could understand the situation. He understood why things had become troublesome.
"I went inside and was immediately attacked by them. At first I tried to avoid as many fights as possible, but the place was tight and they were far too many. There was not much I could do."
Crowne furrowed his brows. He could feel that the situation was getting worse. His heartbeat rose significantly. It made his face tense even though he was not the one who experienced it.
"I really did not have many choices. If I kept avoiding them without fighting back, then I would have died there. Of course I fought and brought them down one by one, but without realizing it my sword cut off the head of someone I should not have killed," Benson said.
Crowne's eyes widened. "Who?"
"A distant cousin of the Duke of the Everon Kingdom. That young man had actually been cast out by his own family, but he still carried the Berren name. This is not good if the Berren family decides to act directly," Benson replied.
The room became completely silent. Even breathing seemed to stop. Everyone understood that the situation was truly bad. Even Crowne could feel it. He knew very well that nobles had very high egos.
Especially when one of their family members was killed by an outsider. That would injure their pride. The only way they would think to restore that pride was by killing the person who had hurt it.
"This is bad," Crowne said.
Ruth and Benson nodded. "Of course. This is extremely bad."
"Sorry," Lyrica said with a small and trembling voice.
Crowne turned. He patted Lyrica's head. Crowne did not want to deal with nobles because it was troublesome, but this time he had to help Ruth. Especially since the one who asked Ruth to look for Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya was himself.
If only he had not asked, Ruth and Benson would not be involved in this. Crowne leaned his body against the back of the chair and let out a long breath.
"I can handle this," Crowne said.
Ruth and Benson were shocked to hear Crowne's words. They did want to ask Crowne for help, but the words "can handle this" were different. Crowne should have said "I can help". That was what he should have said.
"What do you mean?" Ruth asked.
"I will meet the Berren family and ask them to forget what happened today," Crowne said.
Ruth and Benson became even more confused. Crowne's words should not be taken lightly. He said it as if he could solve this problem alone just by talking. When in reality, it was nowhere near that simple.
"It seems you do not understand the situation," Ruth said.
"No. I understand it very well," Crowne replied firmly.
Ruth frowned. "No, it seems you do not understand. If you understood this situation, you would not think this is easy. The guild even refused to help me. How can you say that you can handle this? That makes no sense at all."
Crowne exhaled. He did not want to reveal this, but he felt he had to because things were getting strange.
"My name is Crowne Valden," Crowne said.
At that moment, Ruth and Benson's eyes widened. Lyrica, Gorhan, and Meya even immediately looked up with shocked expressions.
"Impossible," they all said together.
**
Crowne then explained a little about himself. Only then did they begin to believe what Crowne said. It was difficult for them to accept, but after they looked again, Crowne's face indeed resembled Sorbet Valden.
That made them believe, but they still did not expect Crowne to be the child of a noble. And not just any noble, but the son of a duke. That was a high ranked noble, only below the king.
"But I cannot go to the Berren residence alone. I could be attacked first by them, so I need a guard," Crowne said.
Benson raised his hand. "I will do it."
Crowne immediately nodded. "Thank you." After that he continued, "since I already have a guard, tomorrow I will go to the Berren residence."
Ruth stayed silent for quite a while. He leaned back. He stared at the ceiling of the room. He released a long breath. He still did not agree with this idea. And like Crowne said earlier, if he could not go to the Berren residence alone, then it was still risky.
Benson was strong and had a vast amount of experience as an S rank adventurer, but the Berren family had family members with similar strength. Not to mention that it was their territory. That meant many people on their side.
No matter how strong Benson was, he would not be able to fight hundreds of people. Of course it was risky.
"Do not worry. I am the son of Sorbet Valden. They will not do something foolish to me," Crowne said. He was quite confident about that. "And I will not do anything unnecessary there."
Ruth still looked worried. Benson even helped calm him down and tried to persuade Ruth to trust Crowne. After almost half an hour, Ruth finally exhaled deeply and nodded afterward.
"Alright, but I want all of you to stay cautious. Do not do anything strange there. And also..." Ruth looked at Crowne. "You will soon rise to S rank, but before that you must complete five A rank missions to be officially recognized as an S rank adventurer. For now, you will be at A rank. I have great expectations for you because you have great potential. The guild does not want to lose someone like you because of my foolish decision," Ruth explained.
Crowne nodded. "Of course. I also do not want to die. There are things I must do."
Ruth nodded. "Alright. In that case I allow all of you to leave," he said.