Chapter 274: 59. Brags’ Last Night (Part 1)

Scene Fifty-Nine: The Last Night of Brags (Part One)

Anyhow.

The sunset of Erune has ultimately sown the seeds of its internal conflict. Oberg the Seventh gradually discovers himself aging, his strength waning, and desperately seeks to clear the path for the new king’s ascension, so he finally takes action—his ongoing trouble has always been the two defiant duchies in the southern part of the kingdom.

Brand especially knows that the current ruler, Oberg the Seventh, ascended the throne at the age of ninety-three. This ill-fated king had great ambitions in his youth, aspiring to emulate his grandfather Ansen XI—that was the period when the militia and guard team decrees were first being drafted, marking the peak strength of Erune’s central power in the mid to late stages.

Yet the course of events is beyond one’s control. Despite entering middle age, Oberg the Seventh witnessed firsthand the arrogance of local nobles—the young Duke Anliek even coerced his father Oberg VI to amend the defense decrees—these memories left a deep impression on this king.

However, he lacked the art of blending grace and might displayed by Ansen XI. Besides, during Ansen XI’s era, Erune had no internal hidden worries nor external major threats, the royal family could still control the local legions, which is far from comparable to the current turbulent times.

In the icy night outside Brags, the wind began to rise.

The wind blew from the direction of the sea, traversing the northern ridge of the Kalanja Mountain Range all the way through the hills and peaks of the Jandener Region, bringing the scent of forests and rivers from its long journey, deeply infusing into the lungs of everyone at the edge of these woods.

Romantic, barefoot and lifting her dress, stood in the water, couldn’t help but look up at this moment, squinting her eyes, letting the wind brush over her smooth jade-like forehead.

“The wind here tastes exactly like Buqi, Brand!” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and couldn’t help but exclaim with delight.

Antitina also took a breath but started coughing.

Brand glanced at her and then raised his head, catching sight of a dark cloud carried by the night wind from the west, obscuring a vast swath of stars.

As if forewarning the dark and bleak future of this country.

Brand did not feel heavy-hearted, but rather a surge of excitement flickered through every nerve ending in his body. For him, this impending turmoil was also an opportunity to partake in this historical change, relying on his modest strength to gradually alter the heavy, cold history as if etched in stone tablets.

This wasn’t a mere fancy, but a signal urging him to act. Brand seemed to sense a touch of alarm in the air, he turned back, his fair face still faintly flushed with excitement, and asked, “Did you get the money?”

The Limp Man, although he didn’t understand why a simple message could make Brand daze out, found himself increasingly unable to fathom this young man. At the auction, he personally witnessed Brand taking down that formidable spiritual servant, which was not an ordinary feat. Now thinking back, it could only be attributed to being the descendant of that old man.

He couldn’t help but glance at Brand again, then answered, “The money is already secured, Brand, I transferred it to a safe place as you instructed.”

“Any compensation from the auction?”

The Limp Man was startled and swiftly nodded.

Brand knew the underground trade fair in Brags had backstage support from locally prominent nobles; this was an open secret. Hence, he wasn’t worried about unnecessary losses; for these people, reputation and face were far more important than a bit of money.

“In total, how much money is there?” Brand asked.

The Limp Man raised his hand to show a number, excluding what they’d spent, there were still twenty-five million Thor left. Brand looked at it and then raised his head to see the Miss Merchant carrying her shoes walking over.

He glanced again at Batom and Antitina sitting aside, then said, “Well, this way, our affairs in Brags are almost wrapped up.” But in fact, there were still some details in Brand’s original plan that needed refining, such as acquiring a task that could get a low-level skill textbook from the nobles’ library, or a task from the “Cross Star” inn that could permanently increase Energy Level by one with Golden Wine.

Unfortunately, these tasks weren’t ones that could be completed overnight. Brand estimated the time he originally spent completing these tasks in the game, which took about a month or even longer, and it would only be slower here.