101 Flor

When the three guards were bound by the black vines, Flor, who had been kneeling on the ground and trembling, rose to his feet. In his right hand, he let go of the magic scroll that had been capable of bringing down all three third-rank guards in an instant, and from within his coat he slowly drew a black dagger.

With that dagger in hand, Flor strode toward the three guards. Amid their cries for mercy, he thrust the blade without hesitation into the eyes of two of them, blinding them, and then sliced the tendons in their arms and legs.

Throughout it all, a gentle smile never left Flor’s lips.

Only after those two had been reduced to something scarcely human did he finally stop. Then, in a courteous tone touched with request, he asked the one remaining intact guard, “May I ask you a question? Who was the one who ordered you to move against me?”

“It was the butler! The butler told us to do it! He promised each of us five gold coins if we succeeded!”

The guard, already shaking all over from terror, did not dare conceal anything and confessed the truth honestly.

Flor did not seem surprised by the answer. “So it was him after all? Then it seems I made the right choice in not telling him about my baiting plan.”

In truth, everyone had underestimated Flor. He was not foolish; in fact, he was smarter than most.

Ever since his father had died so suddenly, he had suspected that things were not as simple as they seemed.

The following days only made it clearer to him that he had fallen into a vast quagmire. In the darkness, a hidden hand was devouring his property. If Flor did not resist, before long he would be left with nothing at all, and perhaps even lose his life.

Yet even knowing all this was useless. He had no cards in hand; even if he wanted to fight back, he did not know where to begin.

That was precisely why, when Wenger proposed selling him Goblin Forest, Flor had so decisively completed the deal.

In truth, all he wanted was to borrow Wenger’s strength and break the deadlock.

He understood very well that after he handed over the assets to Wenger, the one lurking behind the scenes, in order to minimize losses, would certainly rush to move his wealth before Wenger had fully taken over. That would buy Flor breathing room, and if fortune favored him, perhaps even allow him to uncover the mastermind.

In a word, Flor’s judgment had not been wrong. Though there had been some twists and turns, he had indeed found the one pulling the strings. But that did not mean everything had been under his control.

Take, for instance, the mastermind’s identity. In truth, when Flor learned who it was, he had not remained calm. After all, that had been his final source of power.

What he had failed to foresee, however, was not only the mastermind’s identity, but also the fact that Deathwing was perched above his head.

Almost the instant Flor obtained the information he wanted and was about to raise his hand to kill the three guards, a fierce gust flashed past. The three men in front of him were already dead.

And after killing them, Deathwing lunged straight for Flor, its talons spreading wide as though it meant to tear him to pieces.

Seeing this, Flor hurriedly shouted, “I’m here to see your master! Take me to him!”

His words seemed to work. Deathwing did not kill him. Instead, it seized him at once and flew toward Karen’s territory, which finally let Flor breathe again.

Being carried through the air by Deathwing was hardly a pleasant experience, but at any rate, his life had been spared.

More than ten minutes later, Karen met Flor inside the Tower of Bones.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, great Lord Necromancer!”

The moment Flor saw Karen, he gave him a goblin salute.

Looking at the impeccably polite goblin before him, Karen narrowed his eyes. “Who are you? What business do you have in Goblin Forest?”

“I am one of the council members of the Silver Hand in Sandsilver City, the president of the Silver Coin Merchant Guild. I was originally responsible for the goblin mineral trade!”

Flor spoke with considerable finesse, and he knew very well what position he was in, so he did not dare claim to be the owner of Goblin Forest’s mineral resources or anything of the sort.

Even so, Karen’s gaze still brimmed with scrutiny.

And Flor was far smarter than Karen had expected. The moment he saw that look of scrutiny, even suspicion, he let out a helpless sigh.

“As you can see, I’ve run into a very big problem. In fact, I only recently began taking over the Silver Coin Merchant Guild...”

In a way, goblins seemed born with a talent for negotiation.

Though Flor was only a sixteen-year-old goblin, his gift for parley was astonishing.

Standing before Karen, he began by speaking of his recent miserable experiences and gave a rough account of his situation.

Of course, very few on this continent dared believe a goblin easily. They were exceptionally skilled at conversation and even better at deception. They could turn the false into the true if they wished, and in any case, more than ninety percent of what Flor said was true.

Still, whether a statement is ninety percent true or not, if it is not one hundred percent true, if it is even slightly embellished, the same event can become two entirely different stories.

Flor was no different. Right now, he could plainly have said he was already cornered and driven to desperation.

But when he spoke, that was not how it sounded. He told Karen that this had happened only because of a moment’s carelessness, that he controlled vast resources, and that as long as Karen could protect him on his return to Sandsilver City, he could easily crush his opponents.

Well, up to this point, Flor was not exactly lying. If Karen truly sent people to escort him back and gave him some support, he might indeed be able to seize control of the butler and take back his family’s holdings.

But what came after that was pure bait, empty promises used to tempt Karen.

To lure Karen in, Flor was willing to promise almost anything.

He opened with a thousand gold coins.

A thousand gold coins meant a staggering fortune. One gold coin was worth one hundred silver coins, roughly the purchasing power of a vast modern sum; a thousand gold coins was an unimaginable amount by any standard.

And throughout Flor’s string of empty promises, Karen merely smiled and said nothing.

He waited until Flor had finished all his promises before speaking at last. “I can help you, but I don’t need gold coins. I’m a necromancer, and I don’t have much need for money.”

At those words, delight flashed across Flor’s face. He was not excited because Karen did not want gold; rather, he understood very well that Karen saying this meant he was essentially agreeing to help. So Flor pressed the advantage while it was hot.

“Name anything you want, and I, Flor, will make it happen!”

“Is that so?”

Karen smiled when he heard this, then opened his right hand. A Death Mark appeared in his palm...