Make The Rat Crawl Out
Early in the morning, as the warm sun of a soon-to-arrive summer peeled over the horizon, a large, luxurious carriage pulled by horses with the maws of wolves and impressively long manes arrived at its destination. A great red wolf who had been running alongside the carriage sat down near the door moments before a crimson-eyed woman dressed like a butler stepped out, holding the door open for her master and two more of his canine companions.
Edrick stepped forward, looking up at the gorgeous Oie residence while Xiaolie closed the door of the carriage and directed the two ferocious-looking horses to settle down.
The noble scion had received and read the letter Jania had sent him. Not only did the individual she described sound a whole lot like a script’s protagonist, but the guy had also had the audacity to claim that he would marry Jania.
This was a high provocation for any husband, but when made by someone so much lesser? It was like a peasant puking on the shoes of their lord. Regardless of whether or not the fool was of actual relevance to Edrick’s quest of shattering scripts, a punishment was required.
Thus, here he was.
Jania and Tylia were already standing outside to greet him. They were just as pretty as when he had last seen the two of them… Though it seemed like both of them had made some good progress in cultivation, he could feel it through their wife crests.
Edrick also met up with Galdon and Milerva. The mature redhead was very noticeably pregnant right now, and also seemed to be very displeased to have to even see Anoteros at all.
The city lord and his wife didn’t linger around for long, however. They left the husband and wives to discuss amongst themselves.
“So, if I understand correctly, this man made a brazen claim and then proceeded to disappear, presumably off to cultivate in seclusion for a while. Have you been able to confirm if he truly spoke these words?”
“After a little bit of digging around, it wasn’t complicated to find several unrelated eyewitnesses to the event. He proclaimed it in public to some young masters of the other lesser clans after publicly beating one of them up. It wasn’t just a rumour propagated to get him in trouble–He truly is that stupid on his own”
“I think he should at least lose a few fingers over this, personally”
Edrick smiled. The smaller ones were always the more openly vicious, it seemed... But he agreed with Tylia’s assessment. When it came to corporal punishment. The law was already heavy-handed, and when it came to a high-noble taking care of some business? Things could get brutal for the smallest of offences…
Of course, this wasn’t a small offence. The idiot had publicly claimed that he was going to marry a woman who was already married to a man of a far higher status than he was, someone whom he should make an offering to even say hello to.
‘If he is the lead of a script, then dealing with him head-on might be difficult... Especially if his script is a major one like Xiaolie’s was. If that is the case, then he might be immune even to being captured’
Before doing anything drastic to a protected protagonist, Edrick would need to erode their script. The only way he could bypass this was if the script in question was a lesser one to begin with, as Jingyi’s had been.
To know for sure, Anoteros would need to see this protagonist face-to-face. The system wouldn’t confirm it otherwise, and Edrick had an idea that might work to bring this foolish idiot out of hiding.
“Rest assured, I will make sure that he receives punishment for this offence he made toward you, Jania”
Although it was also an offence against Anoteros, the scion felt that it was a greater slight against his noble wife. After all, a lesser cultivator who was probably illiterate had casually claimed that he could make her his wife. This was beyond degrading. It was as if a pig covered in its own faeces started talking and did the same thing.
Beyond embarrassing.
As such, Edrick and his entourage soon left the city and headed toward the small mountainous area a distance from Oie. This was where the lesser clans were gathered into one big nest of untalented bloodlines that weren’t even good enough to be servants to the great clans.
The various families had organised themselves into a structure oddly similar to that of a sect. The place had a gate, and each family owned one peak… Though it was a bit humorous to call these things peaks, considering how small these so-called mountains actually were.
In any case, the noble’s bestial companions stayed hidden a distance away for now. He only approached in the company of his bodyguard. It looked a bit ridiculous to call Xiaolie his bodyguard when she looked so small next to his wide frame, but she could do the job just fine.
“Hoi, who the hell are you, big guy? What is your business here?”
“I am looking for a certain ‘Linfeng’. May I get in?”
“Linfeng? That bastard isn’t anywhere to be found. Screw off!”
“Pardon me, but although I phrased it nicely, when I asked to get in, it wasn’t a suggestion”
“Do you think you scare me, big guy? I am not afraid of you or your little maid dressed like a man!”
“Xiaolie”
“Yes, Master?”
“Break his left leg”
“Understood”
“Wha-”
Before the gate guardian could even make use of his limited brain power, Xiaolie had already stomped down on his left knee, bending it inward with a sickly crunch. The man screamed louder than he had ever screamed before, attracting the attention of many others.
“What the hell is happening here?”
An elder asked.
“Hello there. I am Edrick Lucien Anoteros, also known as Zixuan Elt”
He brought out the pendant bearing the symbol of his clan and of his residence, making the elder go from angry to scared in a fraction of a second.
“...P-Pleasure to meet you! Do come in!”
He completely ignored the younger man howling in agony on the ground. All he did was address some other youths on the way through the gate.
“You, take the idiot over there away!”
Before long, Edrick and Xiaolie were invited inside a piece of architecture built with dubious skill.
“...How may I help you, Sir?”
“I am looking for Linfeng”
“Linfeng? I am afraid no one knows where he is at the moment… May I ask why you are looking for him? Did he cause trouble?”
“He is indeed in trouble. He dared to covet my wife, Jania Oie”
The elder swallowed his saliva.
“Anyway… He is the descendant of a clan here, right? Which clan is it?”
“They reside in the place directly opposite to this one…”
“Good. I would recommend that you don’t step outside for a little while, old man”
“Thank you for the advice, Sir”
‘Alright then… This should make him show up, right?’