Chapter 78: The Humiliating Agreement

Simon was a clever man.

Among the three slave mercenaries, he was the smartest. Although initially his mind was disturbed by the Crow Lord and the large bird on the lord's shoulder, after quietly observing for a while, he understood Crow Lord's intention.

Clearly, Crow Lord was humiliating them.

Although Simon could not figure out the reason, when Crow Lord had the high-nosed and goat-bearded smack Nos and used the public's anger to attack the slow-witted Gruk, Simon felt beneath the dark lord's robe was a heart cold and cruel.

Where there is a will to condemn, there is always an excuse.

Obviously, everything was orchestrated by Crow Lord himself. Trying to wash away the "injustice" in such an overwhelmingly adverse situation and escape from the council chamber unscathed was simply impossible.

Even if the strong adhesive in the bathtub lost its effect, the three of them couldn't possibly escape from a thousand people wanting to devour them using Battle Qi. Moreover, among these thousand, there were many traveling merchants. If Simon and his companions resorted to force, these merchants would surely spread their "deeds" to every corner of the Auroria Continent.

Such consequences for the already notorious Righteous Blood Group would be adding frost to snow, and even more deadly was that Simon's own mysterious identity would be exposed, and then his master would be...

Simon dared not think further.

Now, the only way was to "confess." Admitting to a relatively minor crime would spare them from the threat of being "boiled alive." Then, promising some suitable benefits to Crow Lord could minimize the major issue and dissolve the minor ones, thus allowing them to leave this place of dispute as soon as possible.

As for what to do later, the master certainly had plans.

Simon sneered inwardly, but his face showed a sincerely repentant expression, "Lord Your Excellency, we confess, and please consider the reputation of Righteous Blood Group and punish us lightly." He deliberately shifted the focus to "Righteous Blood Group" to mask his own mysterious identity.

Gruk blinked confusedly, then quickly understood Simon's meaning of "confession." He hastily agreed, "Right, right, right, the words I said earlier don't count, we only admit to the crime of bathing in the council chamber, please, Lord Your Excellency, consider our Righteous Blood Group and punish us lightly."

He thought Simon mentioned "Righteous Blood Group" to increase their bargaining chips, completely unaware that he had been used. After speaking, he angrily shouted at Nos, "Hurry up and confess! Tell Lord that we all belong to Righteous Blood Group!"

Nos mumbled a few words, his teeth falling out like beans. His face was slapped red and swollen, looking like a pig's head scalded by boiling water.

"We can't let them off that easily!"

The people in the council chamber shouted loudly, "Let them feel the wrath of Shadowcrest Ridge!"

The Black-armored guard struck the ground with the butt of his spear, but it was ineffective; the crowd's emotions were nearly volcanic.

Crow Lord personally tapped the floor with his Crow Sword, finally restoring quiet to the nearly uncontrollable scene.

"Confess?"

Crow Lord frowned, his gaze filled with icy suspicion. "Are you sure you want to admit your disrespect towards Shadowcrest Ridge?"

Simon hesitated slightly, suddenly feeling that this was the trap Crow Lord had set, and all previous actions were just a preamble for them to admit this potentially significant or insignificant crime.

"Wu ah!"

The crow on Crow Lord's shoulder cried out, making Simon shiver uncontrollably, he blurted out, "Certain! We are certain!"

"Very well."

A barely detectable smile appeared between Crow Lord's brows, "We always need to give those who confess willingly a chance."

The people in the council chamber were reluctant, but since it was Crow Lord who spoke, they dared not say anything against it.

Olivia was the first to breathe a sigh of relief; she had been worried that Rayan might actually boil those three slave mercenaries, but it seemed it was just a scare and humiliation.

Crow Lord continued, "Since you all willingly confessed, let's see your sincerity in confession."

This statement was like blatant extortion. As the team leader of Righteous Blood Group, Gruk cautiously exchanged glances with Simon, then spoke, "Lord Your Excellency, as you know, our Righteous Blood Group controls one of the nine major territories of the barbarian tribes as a slave mercenary group. Our team has contributed countless slave resources to the four great kingdoms—"

"Your contributed resources?"

Crow Lord coldly asked, "Did you plant these slaves or did you give birth to them?"

"This…"

Gruk licked his lips, boastfully said, "Slaves, they breed themselves; we just teach them how to abide by the rules of the civilized world." The crowd again became uproariously angry.

Crow Lord made no comment, merely gesturing for Gruk to continue.

Gruk quickly got to the point: "Honorable Lord Your Excellency, the full name of our Righteous Blood Group is the 'Justice Blood Slave Mercenary Group.' Our philosophy is to serve distinguished guests like yourself. If you have any needs, please speak freely, Righteous Blood Group will certainly meet your requirements."

A mercenary group drenched in slave blood shamelessly calling itself "Justice Blood"? Olivia couldn't help frowning. She stealthily glanced at Rayan and noticed that the expression above the black facecloth remained unchanged.

Crow Lord said calmly, "Can you satisfy any of my requests?"

"Certainly!"

Gruk hurriedly said, "As long as Lord Your Excellency can overlook our disrespectful actions."

"You have the authority to decide?" Crow Lord asked.

"I am the team leader of Righteous Blood Group. Righteous Blood Group has over a hundred members, and I personally manage more than thirty," Gruk said, his face, filled with stout muscles, seemed to gain some momentum as he spoke of his position, "Normally, a mercenary with Sixth Tier Battle Qi like me would not personally escort goods, but this was a request from our employer, so I am here."

"So you are someone of status?"

"Not at all."

Gruk, thinking of his current predicament, replied respectfully, "I just want to clarify that I can try to fulfill any request from Lord."

"Good."

The fine lines on Crow Lord's forehead relaxed, "I want your Righteous Blood Group to pay fifty percent tax every time you pass through."

"What!?"

Gruk couldn't help but widen his eyes. He, a mere team leader, couldn't make such decisions, especially since the normal slave trade tax was only five percent, and Crow Lord was demanding ten times that! This wasn't just making conditions; it was an attempt to crush them!

Simon quickly gave him a look, and Gruk recovered from his shock, his mouth dry, he said, "Lord Your Excellency, could we discuss this again? Fifty percent is really—"

"Wu ah!"

The crow cried out again, scaring Gruk's remaining words back into his stomach.

Crow Lord frowned again, ominously said, "Do you think this is a marketplace?"

"No, no, no!"

Gruk dared not speak further, turning his head to Simon for help.

Simon, though gaunt, had a much calmer expression than Gruk. "Lord Your Excellency, as you wish, our Righteous Blood Group is willing to pay fifty percent tax every time we pass through Shadowcrest Ridge."

For him, being a slave mercenary was just a cover; as long as he could leave Shadowcrest Ridge smoothly, he didn't care what would happen to Righteous Blood Group in the future.

Gruk looked painfully at Simon, his mouth full of sour plums, hard to speak.

Simon whispered to Gruk, "Just agree for now, deny it later. A small Shadowcrest Ridge can't do anything to your powerful Righteous Blood Group."

Gruk thought about it and then sighed, saying to Crow Lord, "Lord Your Excellency, we accept your terms."

"Words are wind, put it in writing."

Crow Lord waved to the crowd below, "Is there any traveling merchant willing to witness?"

Immediately, several white-haired, prestigious merchants stood up, helped Gruk and others draft the document for raising the tax, then the Black-armored guard brought it to Gruk to sign.

Gruk trembled as he signed his name under Simon's urging gaze.

The Black-armored guard immediately handed the document back to Crow Lord, Crow Lord reviewed it, then passed it to Olivia.

"Miss Olivia, since the illustrious Righteous Blood Group has taken the lead in paying fifty percent tax, then from now on, every slave mercenary passing through Shadowcrest Ridge must follow their example. If anyone disagrees, show them this document."

In this way, those slave mercenaries would direct their complaints towards Righteous Blood Group, truly killing two birds with one stone! Olivia understood and smiled, "As you command, my lord."

Crow Lord shifted his gaze from Olivia's smile, turned his head to the few prestigious traveling merchants and said, "Thank you for your efforts. In the name of Crow Lord, I exempt you from all taxes here."

The merchants were overjoyed, each promising to greatly promote the benefits of Shadowcrest Ridge in the future.

Gruk completely collapsed in the bathtub, Crow Lord made things so absolute that he saw no way out, even if he could leave Shadowcrest Ridge smoothly, he probably couldn't face the reproach of the Righteous Blood Group's leader anymore.

"Simon, it's all because of your bad idea! Now I'm definitely dead!"

You were dead anyway. Simon coldly smiled, "Don't worry, once we get to Stonerock City, my master will compensate you. The priority now is to leave here quickly."

"Okay, okay then."

Gruk gathered his spirits again, turned to Crow Lord and said, "Lord Your Excellency, can we go now?"

"Not yet."

Through the pitch-black facecloth, Crow Lord cruelly chuckled, "You've only signed the agreement, but you haven't paid the money yet…"