The Herb King

"Let me introduce you to my old friends. This man right here is Leopold Ballard. The person sitting next to him is Julianne Cromwell. That baldy over there is Omar Bridgeman and that kind-looking guy is Bran Worthy."

"Everyone this is Aethelwolf Lassiter. He is the new owner of the Golden Lake Manor."

The family heads greeted him with a nod. Aethelwolf also nodded at them politely.

"Let's drop the formalities, Arnold. I still have a lot of things to take care of." Julianne Cromwell muttered with his arms crossed. The power of the Cromwell Family wasn't any weaker compared to the Suliman Family. They also had three Nascent Soul Espers and numerous powerful experts.

Arnold chuckled upon hearing this. "In that case, I will skip the introductions." He cleared his throat before he continued. "I believe you guys have already heard about the situation in Warmridge."

The four family heads nodded. They all had their own information network so they already knew about the turmoil in the neighboring city.

"Warmridge is facing two serious challenges at this moment. The first one is the gathering of beasts and the second one is the rebellion of its residents. Because of this, the city is in chaos and it is only a matter of time before it falls. Once that happens, the residents who had lost their homes would find their way here in Northern Trance since this is the closest city to Warmridge.

Housing them wouldn't be a problem, but what if the members of the rebel force would sneak along with them?"

The faces of the family heads turned serious at his words. If the rebel force grows strong enough to contend against a noble family, they would have some serious trouble.

"There's also the gathering of beasts. If those creatures are not dealt with, they might attack Northern Trance next. We must prevent all these things from happening so I suggest that we send an army to help Warmridge deal with their problems. If we do this, Northern Trance will be safe and Warmridge will owe us a favor."

Julianne Cromwell narrowed his eyes. This plan was well-crafted. He couldn't even come up with a better idea. Meanwhile, Leopold Ballard and the other two were also deep in thought.

"This plan is flawless. I can't believe you came up with such an incredible idea, Arnold." Julianne muttered while staring at Arnold.

Sensing his suspicious gaze, Arnold chuckled in amusement. "I don't dare claim that I came up with that idea. It was Aethelwolf who suggested this."

Aethelwolf merely smiled in response to this. He didn't want to explain himself. 'That's already a genius idea for them? Are they all idiots?'

"I agree with the plan. Send me a document of the whole process. I will do the best that I can to make this successful." Bran Worthy smiled kindly. He would have looked like a smiling Buddha if it weren't for his hair.

"My Bridgeman Family will also help."

"I will send the best warriors of our Ballard Family."

"It seems like we are all in agreement."

Surprisingly, the meeting of the five family heads ended up without any conflict. Aethelwolf wasn't sure if it was because of him or if it was because of the urgency of the situation.

After the meeting, Arnold invited him to the Suliman Family estate. Aethelwolf didn't reject him since his family was there right now.

Inside the horse carriage.

"Aethelwolf, thank you for suggesting the meeting. Those stubborn old men wouldn't have listened if you weren't there. All we did was argue in the past few decades." Arnold shook his head with a bitter smile.

"I'm only doing what's best for my family. Now that we live here, I can't let anything happen to Northern Trance." Aethelwolf responded in a calm voice. He promised his family that he would never be involved in another war, but if their safety was threatened, he wouldn't hesitate to kill!

Sensing the killing intent in his eyes, Arnold was momentarily taken aback. It was only for an instant, but he felt like there was a mountain of corpses beneath Aethelwolf. He couldn't imagine how many people he had killed to have that kind of aura. 'This man…just what is he?'

Soon, they arrived at the estate. He found his daughters playing with Emerson and Michelle. As for Samira and Julie, they were chatting with the lady of the house.

"Husband!"

"Papa!

Aethelwolf smiled upon seeing them. He then gave them a warm hug.

"Thank you for keeping them safe." Aethelwolf nodded to Tyrone gratefully.

Tyrone smiled without saying anything.

"What did you guys do?" Aethelwolf asked his daughters.

He chatted with his daughters and wives. He had even forgotten that Arnold was still there behind him.

"My apologies, Sir Arnold." He scratched his head awkwardly.

Seeing this, Arnold shook his head and smiled. "It's fine. Why don't we play chess in my study?" He wanted to get closer to this man. Aethelwolf was a business genius and he also displayed his brilliant mind after coming up with the plan to help Warmridge. Keeping someone like him as a friend would be beneficial for the Suliman Family.

"Sure! That would be nice!" Aethelwolf could already guess his intentions, but he didn't reject the invitation. Deepening their relationship with the Suliman Family would strengthen their foothold in Northern Trance.

"Michelle, bring us some refreshments. Tell the servants to hurry up." Arnold said before leaving with Aethelwolf.

Michelle stared at her father. She noticed that he was smiling more often now. "I hope Dad will always be this happy." She muttered before heading to the kitchen.

***

Inside the study, Arnold grabbed the chessboard hidden inside his cabinet. The material of the chessboard was made from a rare type of wood that could even withstand the power of a Core Formation expert. Using it as a mere material for a chessboard was too extravagant.

"That's a nice chessboard, Sir Arnold." Aethelwolf praised after seeing it.

"Oh? Do you like it? I'll give it to you later." Arnold grinned at him. He had many chessboards like this so he didn't mind giving one to him.

"Well, I won't reject that." Aethelwolf chuckled.