CHAPTER 475: CHAPTER 06: HIGH COURT (2)

"Where are we going now?" Belle hurriedly chased after them, lifting her long dress.

"’We’? You want to come with us?" Adelle looked over at Belle.

"Of course, I’ve already considered it a brotherhood event. You’re not welcoming me?" Belle looked at Adelle with wide eyes.

"No, no, no, of course, you’re welcome, very welcome. But let me think. The ball ended a bit too quickly. Hmm..." Looking at Jones, Adelle asked, "Jones, is there anywhere you’d like to go?"

"No idea," Jones shook his head, "after all, I haven’t been here before."

"Alright, then I’ll decide. Let’s first take a trip to the top of High Court Mountain. You haven’t been there yet."

"High Court Mountain top? Is it where our hearing will be held?"

"Yes, let’s go take a walk first."

"Why not go down the mountain first? We’ll go to the top eventually anyway." Saying this, Jones looked towards the endless city below.

"Uh... you’re interested in going down the mountain?" Adelle suddenly hesitated.

"Of course," Jones said firmly, "I’m a City Lord, of course, I’m interested in cities."

"Alright, fine." Saying so, Adelle made a show of giving a formal bow to Jones and said, "You are the most esteemed guest of High Court today, everything is up to you."

He then blew a loud whistle.

Very soon, the butler personally drove the carriage slowly over from a distance.

...

"What did you say? Jones Dracula, the City Lord of Giant Snake City, attended the ball you hosted?" Not far away in a castle, a Blood Clan man with long black hair, a burly figure, a handsome face, and wearing a black suit, slowly turned around.

The person standing behind him was the host of the ball that Jones and Adelle had just attended.

"Yes, silver short hair, about seventy-five years old," the ball’s host respectfully said, "most importantly, someone recognized Adelle of the Sambo Family beside him, and the daughter of the Rizzo Family was also with them. They belong to the same brotherhood."

"What were they doing at your ball?"

"I don’t know. I didn’t have time to talk to them. But, the daughter of the Rizzo Family was on my invitation list."

The black-haired Blood Clan man lightly raised an eyebrow, looking at the ball’s host.

"Prince Harries, the rapid development of Giant Snake City is putting pressure on all of us. I’ve heard that the people of the Ganggro Family are pushing for this hearing on one hand and trying to reach out to Giant Snake City on the other. Should we also..."

At this point, the host of the ball stopped speaking.

The Blood Clan man known as Prince Harries thought for a moment and then softly said, "Giant Snake City doesn’t count as the Blood Clan at all. Strictly speaking, they should belong to the forces of the Lich King. Unlike the guys from the Ganggro Family, the Nikolaus family will not be so eager to act. At most, we will observe and push when the time is right. The threat from Giant Snake City is significant, but the Nikolaus family has a thousand years of foundation. Even if we have no gains for a hundred years, it wouldn’t be a big problem. After all, it’s only been a year. If someone wants to rush in, let them. I heard the Lich King Gray is a man with no tolerance for sand in his eyes. Going against such an opponent is quite risky."

"Yes, you’re right, we don’t need to rush," the ball’s host hurriedly said with respect.

"However."

With this "however," the ball’s host immediately perked up and looked at Prince Harries.

After a pause, Prince Harries continued, "However, if he actively contacts you, you might as well interact with him."

Saying this, he gave the ball’s host a meaningful glance and lowered his voice, "Check where they went after leaving the ball and what they are doing."

"Alright, I understand." The ball’s host hurriedly bowed and left.

After the ball’s host left, Harries picked up the scissors in his hand and, while carefully trimming his flowers, muttered to himself, "Sambo, Ganggro, neither can be taken lightly. Sambo inexplicably entangled with the forces of the Lich King. On the surface, Ganggro is at odds with Giant Snake City, but they probably just resent not getting a share of the pie. And this Lich King... what is he up to? Why, despite being at odds with Heaven, does he have the energy to build a Giant Snake City on the Kolin Peninsula? Does he want to defeat Heaven with gold coins?"

He lightly raised an eyebrow and slowly laughed.

A Blood Clan servant approached him from behind and softly said, "Your Highness Prince, our surplus for last year has been calculated."

"How much?"

"Two million five hundred thousand gold coins."

"What about the year before?"

"Twenty-five million."

"A drop of ninety percent?" After a long pause, Harries gently muttered to himself, "No loss, it’s good news."

...

Jones hadn’t been to the top of the mountain, and the mountain waist and foot were like completely different worlds.

Winter had passed, and the ice and snow had melted.

However, despite no rain, the city below High Court Mountain was still wet. Every street was muddy. The air was filled with a decaying stench.

Jones had never seen any city like this.

The buildings here were very tall, at least three stories, with seven or eight-story buildings not being uncommon. Yet, they were not uniformly planned, orderly, or grand. They looked like haphazardly pieced together structures.

The streets were narrow and crowded, with free blood clansmen, goblin merchants, elves, dwarves, goblins, and occasionally a few well-dressed Blood Clan Lords... all different races, very crowded. Almost every corner was noisy.

On the mountain, although the mountain road wasn’t spacious, there were sections where unicorns could run. But here... as soon as they descended, the carriage was blocked on the street. The butler had to stand up on the carriage, constantly shouting to try to disperse the people in front, but it seemed to be useless. The carriage moved as slowly as a snail.

Adelle was a bit frustrated but also helpless. He could only spread his hands and say, "I haven’t been down the mountain much, but honestly, this is a bad idea. This place is pretty awful."

"It would be better a bit further from the foot of the mountain." Belle unconsciously covered her nose with her hand, "This place is crowded with people serving the castles on the mountain. With so many castles up there, the people providing services are even more numerous. Normally, I don’t like coming down. It’s a bit filthy and often gets crowded halfway."

Jones sat by the window, quietly watching without a word.

On either side of the street stood fire basins taller than the carriage. The firelight filtered through the window, illuminating Jones’s face.

After much difficulty, they finally passed the most crowded section and entered a new area, which soon became crowded again.

"What place is this?" Jones asked softly.

"The slave market," Belle answered softly, "the slaves you asked me to buy were purchased here. Now, I’m a major customer."

Rows of slaves were strung together, walking past Jones’s carriage.

On either side of the road were cage-like buildings, stacked layer upon layer. Each window had prison-like bars. Numerous ragged slaves squeezed into small spaces, eagerly peering out of the windows, like animals waiting to be slaughtered in a butchery.

Not far away, there was a stage-like building, seemingly holding a slave auction.

On the Kolin Peninsula, slave auctions were commonplace, a specialty of slave traders. It was like that in Hilde, no different in High Court.

Jones was fascinated by the sight.

Adelle, alarmed, quickly pulled the curtain shut.

"What’s wrong?" Jones asked.

"Uh..." Adelle hesitated and said, "I’m afraid your knightly spirit will flare up, wanting to save them. That would be disastrous."

"No, I won’t," Jones reopened the curtain and softly said, "I’m different from my father."

"You mean your foster father, the Lich King?" Belle whispered.

"Yes," Jones nodded and continued, "Saving them is my mission, but I won’t act rashly. Not until I’m sure I have enough power to confront them. I’m different from my father, though I also adhere to knightly spirit like him."

Adelle and Belle exchanged glances, then quietly asked, "So... shall we go in for a walk?"

At this moment, the carriage happened to be blocked in front of one of the slave market’s gates. A female human slave, her hair being pulled by a supervising Blood Clan, passed by, screaming all the way. The passersby, long used to the sight, didn’t even glance.

Jones watched silently until the Blood Clan and the woman disappeared into the gate. He then took a deep breath and softly said, "No, let’s go."

The carriage wheels rumbled, and they slowly moved forward.

After a long while, Jones softly said, "One of the key points of this hearing is their opposition to my emancipation of slaves. They believe my large-scale emancipation of slaves violates the traditions of the Blood Clan."

"So... what do you plan to do?" Belle quietly asked.

"There’s nothing to do, actually. According to Blood Clan law, there are no regulations against emancipating slaves," Jones softly replied, "Not only are there no regulations against it, the steps and procedures for emancipating slaves are explicitly listed. I’ve followed every one of them. They can’t find fault with me."

"Then why are they holding a hearing?"

"I think they’re just looking for trouble." Adelle spread his hands, "In trade, they have few areas to target. This is one of the few points they can criticize Giant Snake City for. Yet, even in this matter, they’ll have difficulty. We have no reason to fear them."

Sitting by the window, Jones slightly furrowed his brows, seemingly lost in thought.

On the street, the carriage moved slowly.

Faces passed by Jones’s eyes. Some were cunning, some were haggard, some were angry, some were dejected, some were desperate, some were tired... a mix of everything, like a big stew. It was exactly what Jones did not want the residents of Giant Snake City to become.