CHAPTER 64: BOND, VINCENT BOND

The guard’s eyes beamed in delight after receiving the gold coin. This was considered his yearly salary.

’Hehe, now I can go have some fun in the brothel with those gorgeous women and still have enough to buy a gift for my wife.’ The guard’s mouth was practically drooling.

The brothel he planned to go to was naturally not some lowly establishment. But one that was extremely high class with trained courtesans who mesmerize and charm you in an instant.

Why go for a lowly establishment when you have the money to go for the luxury one?

"May I know how to address you, Sir?" The guard’s attitude changed completely as he rubbed his hands in a somewhat submissive manner.

"The name’s Bond. Vincent Bond." Leonard said calmly, his hand faking an action of whisking some wine.

"Sir Vincent Bond?" Confused, the guard had never heard of such a last name before.

Leonard faked a cough and corrected him.

"Just call me Merchant Vincent." He tried to use a famous reference to check if the people in this world understood him. After all, there could be a possibility that the current world was a parallel to his original world.

Unfortunately, the guard’s reaction and response made him quite disappointed.

"So it’s Merchant Vincent. Allow me to guide you inside. I’m Jeffrey, but most people just call me Jeff." The guard said fawningly. To cozy up with a wealthy merchant certified by the Merchant Guild was a common scene in Velastra.

After all, they were even more influential than nobles who couldn’t enforce much of the law.

Nodding, Leonard agreed to let Jeffrey be his guide. That was his plan all along anyway. By utilizing the carrot and the stick method, he successfully made Jeffrey willing to share multiple trade secrets.

The price might seem a bit absurd for some, but he was never someone lacking money.

"I still have a few people with me." Right when Jeffrey was about to enter the city, Leonard suddenly said and gestured for Mirelle and Claudia to come over.

A few seconds later, Jeffrey became stunned when he spotted two beautiful women rushing to Leonard’s side.

His eyes gave him a meaningful gaze, almost as if he was silently approving of Leonard’s way of enjoying life.

"A slave and a..." Jeffrey noticed the slave collar on Claudia’s neck, but none on Mirelle’s neck.

"Don’t mistake her." Leonard chuckled amusingly and said, "She’s Relle, a bodyguard I’ve hired for protection. She’s very expensive, and aside from my safety, I can’t even order her around."

"A hired bodyguard?" A bit taken aback, Jeffrey didn’t expect a slander, yet, somewhat fragile, was capable of being a bodyguard.

’Is this one of those fetish roleplays?’ As a guard who was also experienced in some extreme roleplay from the wealthy, he thought Leonard was doing the same.

Meanwhile, Mirelle’s eyes flared up when she could tell what kind of nasty thoughts were cooking up in Jeffrey’s mind. Without hesitation, she condensed the surrounding mana and shot a warning spell at him.

Alarmed, Jeffrey reacted almost instantaneously. He retrieved his sword and poured his mana into it to deflect the spell in one smooth manner.

Seeing that her attack was useless, Mirelle was about to launch another one.

"Enough of the farce!" Shouted Leonard.

"Hmph," Mirelle snorted and glared at Jeffrey one last time.

"Try to use those dirty looks at me again and see if you can deflect the next shot." She threatened and retreated to Leonard’s side.

Although the skirmish lasted very briefly, it made Jeffrey understand that Leonard was serious in his remarks earlier.

"Pardon my behavior, Miss Relle." Since she wasn’t a slave but a hired bodyguard, Jeffrey naturally needed to apologize for his behavior.

Velastra was a free trade city, and its utmost priority was to never create enemies.

Slaves were lowlifes, so Jeffrey could naturally disregard them, but Mirelle wasn’t.

"Do excuse my bodyguard’s behavior." Leonard sighed and lamented, "She’s so impulsive but qualified. If not, then I would have dumped her on the spot instead of being kicked out of a carrier company."

"You meant you were kicked out of the carriage, Merchant Vincent?" Dumbfounded, Jeffrey was visibly startled by the subtle information dropped.

"Mhmm, you have no idea how embarrassing that was. But that’s not even the worst part. It’s the fact that I was forced to walk for so long. My legs are now sore." Leonard complained and glared at Mirelle occasionally.

His microexpression and emotional outburst were vivid.

’No wonder he approached me on foot. So there was a backstory to it.’ Jeffrey thought. Nevertheless, he would still investigate Leonard’s claim later on to verify.

Besides the backstory, he must also confirm that there was a Vincent Bond in the certified merchant list of the Merchant Guild.

If everything checked out, then all was well. He still managed to establish a good relationship.

However, if even one detail was fake or inaccurate, then his fawning earlier would enable him to investigate deeper.

Best of all, he still gets to keep the gold coin for his enjoyment. There was no transaction record whatsoever.

So even if he were assigned to capture and detain Leonard afterward, the latter couldn’t cry foul or anything. He had nothing to prove it.

While Jeffrey held such a thought, Leonard was also laughing in his mind.

The story was indeed made up, but was backed with concrete evidence constructed by the Crimson Guards. This was the power of a Crown Prince.

Something that was impossible for others to complete, he could do it with a few simple commands.

’This should resolve some of the doubts.’ Leonard thought. There were still quite a few flaws, but not alarming enough to warrant much suspicion.

Sometime later, the trio officially re-entered the city of Velastra under Jeffrey’s guidance.

"Our city is really the life of luxury," Jeffrey exclaimed and pointed at many buildings and vendors. "As long as you can think of something you want, our city will definitely have it. Of course, one must carry a lot of money in their pockets to truly enjoy the blissful life."