CHAPTER 98: RESOUNDING SLAP

Shortly after Leonard and Caroline were seated, Wesley signaled for Ethan to close the meeting door.

"Hmm, what about the merchants lining up outside?" Mirelle asked curiously.

As soon as she raised the question, nearly all eyes were on her. Some were confused, whereas the majority were dissatisfied that the opening speech was taken over by someone ineligible.

"When did a bodyguard become eligible to speak at the Round Table?" An elderly man with the silver ranked medal attached to their clothes questioned in a snide tone.

Although their remark was directed at Mirelle’s action, their eyes were on Leonard himself.

Needless to say, the elderly man was using Mirelle as a pretext to question his qualifications.

Meanwhile, Wesley remained silent despite the tension rising at the round table. Unlike the silver ranked elderly man’s ignorance, he knew that the one who had just spoken was a sixth circle mage.

That kind of status was sufficient to qualify her to speak! However, he didn’t feel it was right for him to reveal the information personally, granted that she was merely a hired bodyguard in the eyes of many.

’If you don’t want to expose it, then allow me to give you a hand.’ Wesley mused inwardly. He didn’t even need to plant any person to question Leonard’s authority when there were many sly merchants sitting at the round table.

All he needed to do was give preferential treatment to Leonard, and that would be enough to make them challenge the latter. The job was even easier when Leonard didn’t simply bring along his bodyguard, but a slave as well.

Keep in mind that both women were quite charming.

This was a key factor!

While Wesley anticipated Leonard might reveal Mirelle’s status or throw his status to deflect, the situation took a sharp turn.

"Ehm, when did a silver ranked merchant become qualified to be the first to do the questioning?" Leonard raised an eyebrow.

"Or are we using age to determine seniority in the round table and not the merchant’s rank?"

"What are you trying to say?" Instantly, the elderly man was enraged.

"Are you trying to call me old and that I should retire?"

"Phew, so you’re not admitting to being old?" Leonard was relieved and wiped his forehead of the nonexistent sweat. "You’ve scared me for a second there! I thought you were going to use age to throw your fit around."

"..."

Silenced, the round table was perplexed by the response that went against the norm.

However, their confusion would only further increase as the conversation between the two continued.

"Why would I, Alger Baldwin, need to use my age to throw a fit?" The elderly man harrumphed and took the chance to declare his name.

Almost immediately, the other merchants cursed at Alger silently in their minds.

Who didn’t know that he spoke of his name not for the youngster, but for Lord Wesley?

Alger was clearly trying to make an impression in hopes of pleasing Wesley by antagonizing Leonard.

After all, he probably figured out Wesley’s intention with all these setups.

However, what Alger failed to realize was that every other merchant here had also figured it out, with some even faster than others.

’As if I will become a vanguard and die early!’

’Since Alger wants to capitalize his Baldwin family, then let’s see if it will fall or rise.’

While the merchants were secretly sneering inwardly, Leonard gasped.

"Bald Wig? You’ve already lost all your hair, Alger?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

"It’s Baldwin, not Bald Wig!" Alger shouted. His face nearly turned purple from the blatant smear of his family name.

"Ah, Baldwin and not Bald Wig." Leonard nodded in understanding.

"Do pardon my mistake since I noticed you’re losing some strands of hair on the side and thought you were wearing a wig." He promptly apologized.

"..."

Knowing that it was done on purpose, Alger swallowed the grudge and resumed the topic of discussion. He cannot afford to let Leonard derail him from the original goal.

"Forget it!" He snorted and pointed at Mirelle.

"Are you trying to defend your bodyguard by insulting me?"

"Oh, no! How can that be?" Leonard shook his head innocently.

At this moment, Wesley finally intervened. "Hmm, Mr. Vincent. If you weren’t trying to insult Mr. Alger over here, then what did you mean by your earlier statement?"

Having said so, Wesley’s eyes narrowed slightly as he shifted his attention to Mirelle.

"It couldn’t be that your bodyguard has some special status, right?" He pressed on.

If Mirelle’s identity were exposed and revealed to be in connection with the Mage Association, then things would turn disastrous for Leonard.

After all, the Mage Association was a neutral force all across the 5 continents.

Although they don’t restrict their mages from working with nobles or other aspects, it was heavily frowned upon for a mage to intervene in the matters of another organization. This was especially true if the other organization was a major force in their respective land.

’How amateurish!’ Leonard sneered inwardly. He was wondering how a clown like Alger could be of use to Wesley.

Apparently, all of that was just to cripple him of a capable bodyguard and create conflict between him and the Mage Association.

You want me to expose my own bodyguard’s status?

Joke’s on you, Wesley!

He had something even better and unconventional!

"Why does everyone believe I’m trying to defend her?" Leonard suddenly laughed amusingly.

A few seconds later, he slammed his palm on the round table, causing the nearby merchants to jolt suddenly from the impact.

Those affected all looked at him with a displeased expression.

Meanwhile, Wesley was starting to become confused by his actions.

’What is he trying to pull?’ He couldn’t understand the question or the reason behind it.

His confusion was soon answered when Leonard stood up and sneered, "All I’ve been trying to do is to question why Mr. Alger is trying to take over my job in scolding?"

Shortly after, he turned around and gave a resounding, crisp slap on Mirelle’s right cheek.

Shocked! Stunned! Bewildered!

All sorts of emotions appeared from the people present at the round table, including Wesley.

’He actually slapped a sixth circle mage connected with the Mage Association??!’ Wesley’s pupils constricted.