Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Beating some sense
"Lily, could you leave us alone for a bit?" Bennett said, crossing her legs and tossing the file onto the table. "So, tell me, how long has this corruption been going on?"
Marcus narrowed his eyes. ’Does he not know about this?’
"Lord, this started even before the previous lord arrived. Because of the nobles’ pressure, all the previous lords had to become their allies."
"Knock, knock."
"Lord, you have a guest outside," Marcus heard Stephen’s voice from the other side of the door.
His fist clenched. ’Did those bastards come again?’
"Come in," Bennett said, watching Stephen enter and bow in greeting.
"Lord, the head of the Bobble Company has requested a meeting with you."
She raised her brow hearing him.
’Bobble Company? Don’t they operate in the empire? How can the head come here?’
Bennett stood up. "We’ll talk again, General," she said. Then she looked at Stephen. "Let’s go."
---
In the guest room, a stout man in luxurious clothes sat arrogantly on a sofa, meticulously combing his brown mustache.
Click.
He turned his head at the sound of the door opening, then rose with his arms outstretched.
"Ah, welcome, my lord! I’ve heard stories about you, and I must say I’m impressed. Please, sit, sit. I never imagined the cold prince would become the lord of this place one day."
Bennett narrowed her eyes at his rudeness but said nothing, instead taking a seat across from him.
"I was also shocked to hear the head of the Bobble Company had come," she said, watching his smile grow. "But... who are you?"
The man’s smile vanished. He stared at her, his face turning dark.
Forcing himself to calm down, the man said with a stiff smile, "My lord, I’m the head of the Bobble Company branch. You can call me Lehan."
"Hmm, Lehan," she replied. "Doesn’t that name mean strength? Well, you can’t trust anything these days, can you, Mr. Lehan?"
Lehan ground his teeth, his face growing darker. "Lord, are you sure you want to play like this? I am trying to show you respect."
"Sigh." Bennett sighed, leaning back against the cushions with her chin resting in her hand. "Mr. Lehan, I have one rule: I give respect to people who deserve it, not to every stray dog on the street."
"Bang!" Lehan slammed his fist on the table between them and stood up. "You will regret this, my lord. Even if you were a famous cold prince in the empire, you are nothing here."
Bennett raised an eyebrow, a cold smile gracing her lips. "I don’t know about regret, but you’d better get ready, Mr. Lehan. I’ll be visiting your branch soon. Stephan, show our guest to the door."
Lehan narrowed his eyes and huffed, straightening his fancy coat as he walked away.
Once he was gone, Bennett stood and went to her office. She sat at her desk and picked up the file Marcus had given her.
"Hoh, hiding the money meant for the commoners and selling the supplies the empire provides at high prices instead... Interesting."
She jumped onto the desk, then into the lord’s chair and rang the golden bell.
"Young Master, you called?" Lily asked.
Bennett nodded. "Lily, send a message to the butler. Tell him to summon Marcus."
---
Sitting across from Bennett, Marcus said with his arms crossed,
"We can’t provide any knights. We only have two thousand, and they’re stationed at the border. We don’t know when those savages will attack."
Bennett smirked coldly, gracefully resting her chin in her hand.
"Don’t worry, I don’t need knights for these people. And the knights who came with me, station them on the border as well."
Marcus closed his eyes, his hands trembling slightly. ’Will this lord really take care of those bastards? Hah. If he does, he has my loyalty.’
"I will come with you, my lord. It could be dangerous if you go alone," he said, meeting her cold gray eyes.
"Alright, we’ll leave after I finish this file. I don’t want to miss a single one of their crimes." She opened the file again and began to read, her mind focused.
"My lord, we have urgent news," Stephan announced as he entered, his face flushed as if he had run the entire way.
"What happened?" Bennett asked curiously, looking at Stephan.
"Hah," Stephan panted, "Lord, there’s news that Lehan has gone straight to the Dark Guild to hire mercenaries."
"Mercenaries, huh..." Bennett stroked her chin and then stood up. "Okay, let’s go, Marcus, to visit the Bobble Company."
"Yes, my lord," Marcus replied with a dark smile, cracking his knuckles.
---
"Is this the bar of the Bobble Company?" Bennett asked, looking at the bar filled with burly men drinking heavily.
"Yes, my lord."
"Hmm." Bennett tilted her head, trying to process the scene.
’Weren’t they famous for their clean and professional services? Is this what they call security and clean people? All the customers look like they’ve committed some crimes.’
"Ah, my lord, please come in. We can’t welcome a guest like you in this place, right?" Lehan said, walking downstairs with a forced smile.
Bennett narrowed her eyes at him but remained expressionless. "Okay, let’s go," she said.
"My lord," Marcus whispered, on alert.
She shook her head, calming him, and followed Lehan down towards the basement.
As they reached the last step, Lehan’s forced smile became arrogant.
He turned and said, "I told you that you would regret this. I came to your place to be friends, but now I’ll make you a slave, my lord."
Marcus put his hand on his sword, his face darkening with rage.
"Boys, capture them and make them kneel. If they resist, beat them to death..." He looked at Bennett one last time.
"Wait, my lord, let me go and get the slave contract where I need your signature. Ha ha ha!"
Bennett smirked coldly, clutching Marcus’s arm to stop him from lashing out. She watched as the men who had been pretending to be customers stood up.
"I’m giving all of you one chance," Bennett said, her voice low and calm, despite the situation. "Go capture your client and do to him exactly what he just told you to do to us."
"Ha ha ha! Do you think we care about your threats, kid?" one of the mercenaries laughed.
"Well, doesn’t this kid have a loose mouth? Can’t he see how many of us there are?" another scoffed.
Marcus unsheathed his sword. "You bastards look like you don’t want to live, huh?"
The mercenaries drew their knives and swords in response.
---
Before anyone could react, a blue aura enveloped Bennett’s body. Her figure blurred, and she appeared next to one of the mercenaries.
"Wha—" the man gasped as she grabbed his head. "AHHHH!"
Bang! Bennett slammed his head onto the table, her face cold and impassive.
"You bastard!" another man yelled, slashing his knife at her. Bennett’s lips curled into a smirk.
She sidestepped to dodge the blade, then kicked his knee, making him kneel before her. She finished by kicking him in the nose.
"Hah, is this the level of mercenaries here? I don’t even need to draw my sword for them," Bennett scoffed.
The remaining men exchanged hesitant glances, their eyes falling on the bloody figures on the floor.
"You... you bastard," one of them cursed, swinging his sword.
"Hoh, you have some skill," Bennett said, her figure blurring as she appeared behind him.
"Enough to be a guard, perhaps, but your mind doesn’t deserve it." She grabbed his arm and dislocated it. Crack.
"AHHHHHHHHHH."
Before he could react, she lifted him into the air by his arm and hurled him against the wall.
Marcus watched, stunned but with eyes alight with hope. ’The Emperor really sent a capable lord this time,’ he thought.
After a short while, all the mercenaries were either on their knees, surrendering, or lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
"Haha, now you can sigh he—" Lehan entered the hall with a smile, but stopped dead when he saw the scene.
His gaze fell on Bennett, who was calmly stomping on a man’s arm before dislocating it.
"HEEE...." Lehan shuddered as Bennett tilted her head, looking at him.
"Ah... where do I need to sign, Mr. Lehan?" she asked, dragging a chair over, crossing her legs, and calmly wiping the blood from her hand with a handkerchief.
"Ah, wo... eh," Lehan stammered, his face pale and his legs trembling in fear.
"I said, show me the magic paper," she said coldly, freezing Lehan to his core.
Marcus walked over, snatched the paper from Lehan’s hand, and gave it to Bennett.
"No, this isn’t meant for you, my lord," Lehan stammered.
She ignored him and read the content, a growing smile on her lips.
"A slave contract, huh? A puppet." She placed the contract on the table, picked up a quill, and began changing the names on it.
"Now, come here and sign it," she said, tapping a finger on the contract.
"No, my lord, you..."
"Didn’t you hear what I said? Marcus, if he doesn’t sign in the next ten seconds, break his hand. And if he still doesn’t sign, break his other hand."