"Are you sure this is something you want? You can ask for anything…all the riches and power. Do you need to head out and meet Duke Lockhart and his maid? How about you ask for the betterment of this place if you cannot think of anything?

With the resources we can ask for, we can make this town even better and much grander…"

Layla's glare made Leader John fall quiet.

He tried to influence Layla's thoughts to give himself some boost, but he soon realized that it was a foolish idea. A mere look from Layla made this man cringe and look away.

The more Rosette saw of Layla, the more she liked him. However, the fact that she did not know that the person she was starting to admire was Layla made things a bit awkward.

In the end, Adam is the one who steps forward and clears the air.

"Tsk, well, a promise is a promise, and I told you I would help you with anything you asked. If you want to meet the Duke and his maid, then I will make that happen. Pack your bags and come with me. We will leave tomorrow."

Adam's good mood had evaporated at the thought of asking Mary a favor like this. He would rather eat sour food and ruin his day than ask her for anything.

But a promise was a promise, and he needed to keep it up.

Layla was well aware of the sudden tension in the air, but she could not bring herself to care about it. She just gave the duo in front of her an amused look before she left without any final greeting.

It was official - she was going to leave tomorrow. But before she did that, there was a lot she needed to do. The first thing on that list was to clear out her inn room of residual magic to ensure no one else died in her traps.

______

"That stupid bastard! How dare he make fun of me like this and then ask to meet the Duke of all people? Does he realize what kind of opportunity he is missing by doing this? If I were in his place, then I-"

"C-Calm down, Leader John. I know you are disappointed after seeing what happened, but you should try calming your temper down. Destroying your stuff won't help you out."

The secretary watches his leader, throwing things around with a scared face. He looks ready to jump in and save this stuff, but he is also afraid that he might end up in the gutter if he interferes with his boss's mood.

Leader John did not care whether he scared his staff. All he was concerned about was whether the Dukedom duo saw him in a good light.

"B-Boss, if you really want this to work out, how about you approach that warrior again and persuade him to leave this town before the appointed time? I am sure the warrior would listen to you if you gave him enough incentive to do so."

The secretary was pulling this all out of his ass. He knew very well that his leader had no chance of being heard by that armed man.

Not only was his boss a brute, but he also had no respect for the people around him. He was just someone who liked to use his strength forcefully to get what he wanted from people.

"Do you think I did not try? I told that man I would give him what he wanted if he let me have this opportunity. I even sent a letter but did not get a reply. Do you think I have enough patience to keep doing this?"

Leader John asked while gritting his teeth in anger.

His secretary let out a yelp before he decided to suggest something he knew could backfire.

"T-Then, how about we go and 'persuade' that man? He might be powerful, but resting in a familiar environment would make that man let his guard down. And if we use magic beforehand, I am sure we can catch that man off-guard and make him hear us."

Leader John paused. He was about to tell the secretary what a stupid idea this was when he froze and thought about what his secretary had just told him.

Suddenly, this idea did not sound as bad as he initially thought it to be…

Not the part where he went after the warrior to persuade, but the part where he threatened the man to give up the space for him in the Duke's party.

"Sometimes, your ideas are far more useful than yours. Get me some people who can intimidate people quickly. We shall go and pay our dear friend a visit. I assume that you already know where our friend is staying if you are coming here to suggest this idea."

Leader John asked in an amused voice, and his secretary looked startled before he sighed in relief. Finally, his boss seemed to be listening to him and not trying to do anything stupid.

"I-I asked someone to track him down, and we found him entering the XXX inn on the outer side of the town. I am sure we can take over from here since only one or two people are staying in that inn…. boss, are you alright?"

As soon as Leader John heard where that man was staying, his heart skipped a beat and he felt like crying and laughing at the same time.

He could not believe how twisted the fate was to make that man and the Duke's people stay in the same inn and not even know about it.

"Shit! This is so much worse than I initially thought. Listen, we no longer have time to waste by sitting around. We must persuade that man to come to our side as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Layla, struggling to get out of the heavy armor she had worn for this battle, let out a frustrated sigh.