Bankruptcy
I would’ve gone back even if Lucia didn’t tell me to. Leah and Ross were still there. The Elven Queen immediately hugged Leah to prevent her from seeing the corpse on the ground and Veirya.
I planned to leave Veirya with Lucia because I could trust Lucia. The elves, on the other hand, couldn’t be trusted. I was aware of the elves cruel and aggressive nature. Though Lucia could accept the current me, what if the elves couldn’t stand me? Veirya no longer had what it took to defend herself, so I had to protect her.
Lucia wrinkled her nose: “Her wound is bad. She needs a blood transplant. It’s easy to get our hands on medicines; however, our blood isn’t compatible. Mm… I need to check further. If we give her a different blood type, it’ll be fatal. Angelina, Travor, you two test yourselves. I’ll help her repair her organs and other damaged parts. Don’t worry. She’s severely injured, but it’s not fatal.”
Lucia filled two miniature cups with a bit of Veirya’s blood and then gave Angelina and me one each. She removed Veirya’s bandages and focused on using some modern medical instruments to treat Veirya’s wound. I didn’t know what Lucia’s clan’s occupation was, but she looked experienced and professional.
I sliced open a cut on my arm and dripped my blood into the cup. Lucia took our cups. She held them up to the flame to examine and reported, “Unfortunately, not even biological parents necessarily share the same blood as their children. Travor, your blood matches hers, luckily. Therefore, Travor, you can’t go back yet. I need you to leave some blood for Veirya first.”
I nodded. Lucia’s tube for blood collection looked frightening. It was just a tube and a pouch. She cut open a wound on a wound on my arm and stuck the tube in. I clenched my teeth to stifle my voice. Forget two hundred or four hundred. I’d give Veirya half of my blood if that was what it took to save her.
“Angelina, stay here and watch over Veirya for me. I need to head back. I need to make a trip to the imperial capital. I’ve noticed something odd. I feel that there’s something amiss somewhere; it’s suspicion. I just haven’t had the time to contemplate the matter. This attack was not a coincidence. It was most likely premeditated. That’s why I need to go. Whoever it was, I’ll make him pay!”
I went too wild, completely failing to weigh the consequences. I gradually noticed something, though. Why did the price of the coal mine not drop? Why did the merchants just loiter in the North instead of leaving? Why was I the only one to receive news first? Why did Achilles not come up? I felt that those questions were linked. The workers might not have just been aggravated. As a matter of fact, it might not even have to do with elves. It wasn’t just due to their anger. I was sure that there was a connection somewhere.
I swore to myself, “Whatever the connection is and no matter how powerful their backer is, I’m going to find the mastermind. I won’t give anyone for harming my wife, my Veirya. Forgiveness is not an option. My life and everything I have is for my family.
“No matter how many people are involved, no matter where you all run to, no matter how long it takes, even if I must use the remainder of my lifespan, I’ll hunt every single one of you down. You’re all finished. You’ve gone and angered me. You chose the wrong man to start with.”
“All right.”
Angelina nodded, albeit with a tinge of annoyance. Lucia pulled the tube out of my arm and then bandaged my arm with a bandage that had a drug to stop bleeding applied to it. The elves wanted to stop me leaving but Lucia, who had her head down to treat Veirya, shouted, “Don’t stop him.”
The rainfall had tapered. With that said, it was the darkest time of the night. An elf walked in front of me slowly with an oil lamp in hand. I couldn’t see below foot too clearly with it, unfortunately. The elf remained silent, not that I planned to say anything. The two of us silently walked to the border of the forest, where he then halted. He seemed to have something to say to me. Nevertheless, when I turned to look at him, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he handed me the oil lamp after a short pause.
“I shall not see you out of the forest, Mr. Travor.”
“All right,” I nodded. I didn’t ask much and just took the lamp.
Home was right where there were still bright flames.
“Lucia should be able to treat Veirya, so I can feel at ease for a while. Next, I need to take Leah and Ross to the capital with me. Toss coal mines and business. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, and some people are going to need some holes!” I told myself.
I walked through the muddy path to return to the town, only realise that something was wrong in the town. Everybody should’ve been asleep at home at this hour. For some reason, there was a group of townsfolk crowding around my house, each one of them holding an umbrella. They let me through without any questions.
I saw several men dressed in black with umbrellas. They silently stood at my door with a parchment in hand. Ciara stood at the door with her sword drawn. They turned around upon hearing my footsteps.
“Achilles?!”
Achilles took off his hat. He looked at me without a word and a neutral expression. However, he wasn’t puzzled or flustered. I grabbed one of his shoulders with one hand and shouted, “You know something, don’t you?! You definitely know something, don’t you?! Tell me! Tell me! What happened?! What in the world happened?!”
Achilles didn’t panic or show befuddlement, which meant that my reaction was within his predictions! He definitely knew something!
“Sorry.”
Achilles pressed a cold and heavy hand on the back of my hand; it felt as if I had a heavy gold coin placed on the back of my hand.
He solemnly conveyed, “Sorry, I do not know what you are talking about, Mr. Lin. However, I must solemnly inform you that Lord Veirya… Actually, I can just tell you outright. You used fake shares to defraud the banks of fifty thousand gold coins. The fifty thousand shares you purchased were fake and have no real value. As such, you now owe various banks a total of fifty thousand gold coins. The banks now wish to collect the sum from you. You, unfortunately, do not have that much. Consequently, you are declared bankrupt. Your territory, home, elves and daughter shall all be taken as solvency. Now, do you have any other questions?”
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