Chapter 11: Attempting to Establish New Rules

Chapter 11: Attempting to Establish New Rules

On the morning of Sunday, March 11th, Hastur woke up, had breakfast, and did not go to Beckland University to study law with Professor Wayne.

He would take one or two days off each week to deal with other matters.

At present, the most pressing matters he needed to address were: familiarizing himself with Beckland, memorizing the legal articles of Rune and other kingdoms, finding a way to quickly assimilate the lawyer's potion, and purchasing the extraordinary materials required by barbarians.

Earning money was not among these four tasks.

Making money is something that always needs to be done.

He returned to his study, took out a blank piece of paper, and wrote down the barbarian potion formula from memory.

Extraordinary ingredients: A stalk of Frenzyweed, a solid horn crystal from an Earth Rhino.

Auxiliary materials: One Deep-patterned Walnut, a stalk of Fragrant Bee Herb, 10 milliliters of pure dew extracted from poplar bark, and 100 milliliters of strong liquor.

As for whether there were any omissions in this potion formula, Hastur was not sure. He had only copied it onto a blank piece of paper, preparing to have it appraised for authenticity by the Eye of Wisdom at the next extraordinary gathering.

The best course of action would be to sell this potion formula to the lady who was also in dire need of it.

If the transaction succeeded, it would prove that the barbarian potion formula was correct; if it failed, he would have to find another method.

At times like this, he envied the diviners' extraordinary abilities, which could not only predict fortune and misfortune but also authenticate the truth of potion formulas. They were incredibly useful.

Just then, a series of knocks came from the front door downstairs.

Hastur frowned slightly, stood up, opened the window, and glanced down. There were three people: a composed middle-aged man and two sturdy men accompanying him.

These three were strangers to him; he searched his memory and found no impression of them.

Moreover, their approach did not seem like a normal visit between nobles.

Typically, nobles would not visit each other directly. They would send an invitation card first, asking if the host was available.

If the host was available, they would bring a gift for the visit; if not, they would choose another time.

This was typical of Mr. Glairent and Lady Gemanie.

Were the visitors ill-intentioned?

Hastur closed the window, thought for a moment, and decided to meet them.

After all, this was his home, and there was no reason for the host to be afraid of meeting outsiders.

He put on his coat, took a sufficiently heavy cane, swung it a few times to make sure it could knock a large bump on someone's head, then walked downstairs, passed through the living room, and opened the front door as if he were about to leave on a long journey.

The leading middle-aged man, seeing Hastur appear, took off his hat and said, "Good morning, Baron Campbell, please forgive our presumptuous disturbance."

"You are indeed very rude, especially since I am not at all familiar with you," Hastur did not give the middle-aged man a warm reception.

The man gave an awkward smile and said, "I forgot to introduce myself, Andrew Wilson, a good friend of Voltaire."

"Oh, a gambling buddy who gets along well?"

Hastur 's tone became even less polite. Voltaire Campbell had been dead for several years, and yet people were still looking for him.

A cold glint flashed in Andrew's eyes as he chuckled, "That's one way to put it. We know Baron Voltaire has sadly passed away, and we shouldn't disturb you, but there's a gambling debt that we haven't settled."

Now, Hastur was sure that these three men had come to extort money from his family.

They probably thought his family had fallen on hard times and rushed to extort the last bit of money.

Or perhaps they had heard that he had recently borrowed 2,000 pounds from Glairent.

Hastur also chuckled, "Mr. Andrew, you must not be familiar with Rune's laws, are you?"

Andrew's face turned sour, "We have here a promissory note handwritten by Baron Voltaire!"

With that, he had one of the strong men behind him take out a promissory note written in black ink on white paper.

It clearly stated that Voltaire Campbell, having lost a bet, borrowed 2,000 pounds from Mr. Andrew Wilson, with the name of a notary at the bottom.

"Haha, regardless of whether this promissory note is real or fake, even if it's real, according to the laws of Rune, 'a debt dies with the person,' and a promissory note arising from gambling does not have legal significance," Hastur said dismissively.

Andrew's smile faded, and he said sternly, "This promissory note is real. As the heir of Baron Voltaire, shouldn't you repay your father's debt?"

"Hah, do I need to repeat myself, Mr. Andrew? This promissory note has no legal significance; I don't need to repay a debt that has come out of nowhere."

Andrew's face turned completely dark, and he said viciously, "Aren't you afraid that we might do something outrageous over this 2,000-pound debt?"

As he spoke, the two strong men stepped forward, cracking their knuckles, with cruel smiles on their lips.

Hastur remained unmoved and sighed, "Are you planning to threaten a noble in broad daylight?"

"Very well! Let's go!"

Andrew glared at Hastur a few times and then led the two strong men away.

This was the West District, where many nobles and wealthy merchants lived, and the security was very good.

If they caused a commotion here, whether successful or not, they would be held accountable and then sent to the gallows for extorting a noble, as no noble or merchant wanted security issues.

Hastur watched them leave, his lips curling slightly, murmuring, "Indeed, a bunch of legal illiterates."

What he had just said about the debt dying with the person was made up on the spot; he was not sure if such a legal article actually existed.

Bluffing had worked well; these people were clearly taking advantage of his solitude to try to swindle money.

Thinking that they could make him pay a fortune of 2,000 pounds with a promissory note from who knows where, did they think too highly of themselves or too beautifully?

If making money were so easy, why would anyone risk robbing a bank?

Hastur grumbled to himself, closed the front door, locked it, and then returned to the study on the second floor.

The recent incident made him even more eager to gain power.

That Mr. Andrew was clearly no good person, and they might even have a professional team or gang behind them.

With his current strength, if they hit him with a blunt object, it would be terrible.

Lawyers are too lacking in means of attack.

Perhaps he should also get a gun, but then he would need to practice his shooting accuracy.

That would be another significant expense.

"Let's see, as long as I don't leave the West District casually, they wouldn't dare to act rashly."

"Of course, I also need to be wary of them becoming desperate."

"Perhaps tonight, when I enter the Hall of Stars, I should write a rule that can ensure my safety."

Hastur pondered and took another blank piece of paper, trying to establish a rule that could protect himself.

He wrote directly: "Order is the collective consciousness of self-discipline, and rules are the mandatory domination of obedience.

A reasonable and effective new order, a new rule, should at least meet one of these points, or both."

At this point, Hastur paused, finding it difficult.

To protect himself, the best way would be to establish a rule that he would never be harmed.

But was such a description too vague?

In the legal articles representing rules, each law is very specific and clear, without any ambiguous or vague descriptions.

After much thought, Hastur picked up the pen again and wrote down a passage: "Define the subject of the rule, the purpose to be achieved, the affirmative tone that will surely take effect, and avoid words that reduce the occurrence of other accidents."

This simple template made Hastur 's thoughts much clearer.

For example, establishing a rule that he would never be harmed.

It could be described as follows: "Hastur Campbell, a traveler from another world, the last heir of the Campbell family, will never be harmed in any way that endangers his life, no matter when or where! This rule will take effect in a reasonable and correct manner!"

In this, "Hastur Campbell, a traveler from another world, the last heir of the Campbell family," are the directional descriptions that define the subject of the rule.

"Will never be harmed in any way that endangers his life, no matter when or where," are the affirmative tones that will surely take effect.

"Not being harmed in any way that endangers life" is the purpose of the rule.

"Reasonable and correct" are the words used to avoid other accidents.

Hastur read over the first rule he tried to write several times and found that there were still significant problems with its description.

Was the requirement of not being harmed too stringent?

What counts as life-threatening harm?

If you are imprisoned until you starve to death, does that not count as life-threatening harm?

Can a "reasonable and correct" method really avoid accidents?

"Would turning you directly into an evil god also be considered a reasonable and correct method?"

There were still many details to ponder and refine.

He also realized that if he did not make himself the subject of the rule, then establishing a rule would be much simpler.

For example, he could establish such a rule: "Under the starry sky, there shall be no more true gods or ancients!"

Such a rule suddenly became simple and clear.

However, this rule was obviously of no use to him at the moment.

Moreover, he was only a rank 9 at present, and this rule was doomed not to be realized unless he ascended to a true god or an ancient, which might make this rule come true.

(End of Chapter)