Chapter 142: Trouble on the Golden Trade Route

Over the next few days, Jean did not cause any further trouble. Passus was inherently a tranquil town, somewhat desolate compared to bustling cities, but its advantage lay in its plain serenity. Ordinarily, the locals worked from sunrise to sunset. Their daily topics of conversation, aside from some gossip heard from passing merchants, were trivial, meddlesome matters. The arrival of Jean and Patricia, however, had caused quite a sensation in Passus, and all the recent news centered around them. The militiamen would gesture wildly and speak with flying spittle as they recounted how Patricia, a little girl, had sent such a burly fellow flying with a single slap. The young village maidens, on the other hand, talked much more about the handsome young aristocrat. As a high-ranking demon, if nothing else, his charm stat was surely maxed out.

Meanwhile, Jean did not do anything extra during these days. Every day, he simply took Patricia along under the guise of enjoying the scenery to check on the construction progress with Vex. Fortunately, everything was proceeding smoothly. After all, this place was close to the surface and not as dangerous as the true Underdark; even Iris did not encounter any decent enemies. She took the Xenomorphs and swept through the entire underground, only managing to find some kobonds—naturally, for such low-intelligence fools, Jean lacked even the interest to keep them as lackeys and threw them directly to the Xenomorphs as a snack.

Vex did not have any trouble over there either; the only issue was the shortage of manpower, as she ordered the five goblins around until they were hopping frantically. Jean could do nothing about this and had to let Vex suffer a bit for the time being. After all, Iris could not return to the Great Library right now. Only after the dungeon construction was completed and Jean's manpower became relatively abundant would he be able to let Iris go back to research the fourth spell—of course, that also required him to have sufficient luck.

Aside from the dungeon construction, Jean spent his time peacefully at the Black Estate, chatting with Ligeia to relieve her boredom. The era was not that open yet, and a married aristocrat like Ligeia naturally found it improper to show her face too much before commoners; after all, nobles were inherently supposed to be superior. Thus, they could not go out casually and had no choice but to stay indoors, listening to Jean tell various interesting anecdotes and stories. As a high-ranking demon who had browsed the library of Pandemonium for so many years, what had he not seen? Simply uttering a few secrets was enough to leave Ligeia and the others utterly enthralled.

As fallen nobles, Ligeia and the others originally lacked good entertainment to pass the time, and no one would invite such individuals to banquets or evening parties. They could only stay day after day in a deserted house; anyone would feel depressed under those circumstances. Jean's arrival, however, made the somewhat dreary lives of Ligeia and the two maids suddenly much more colorful. In fact, what they looked forward to most every day was the interesting stories Jean told them after returning and finishing dinner.

This was truly no different from modern housewives hugging the television to watch the prime-time soap operas after dinner...

No response came from the Pawude family side, contrary to what Daily had said. However, Jean was not surprised; these local nobles individually held low positions but possessed grand tempers. If he had not displayed legendary-tier pressure, even Daily probably would have found it difficult to agree to his demands, let alone those individuals who had not experienced it firsthand. Daily was undoubtedly racking her brains right now to persuade the other members of the Pawude family to agree to Jean's request, but this was clearly no easy task. In Jean's view, it would probably take ten days to half a month to settle. Still, this was fine; by the time things were finished over there, the dungeon construction here would also be wrapping up.

Yet, this time, Jean guessed wrong.

Scarcely five days had passed when Daily returned to Passus once more. To Jean's surprise, accompanying Daily this time, apart from the black-clad swordsman from before, was a full hundred fully armed private soldiers.

"Mr. Jean, the Pawude family has agreed to your request."

Standing before Jean once again, Daily appeared increasingly cautious, though one could tell from her slightly emaciated face that this young lady had probably not spent the last few days living a worry-free life. Even so, she forced a smile and handed over the document in her hand. It bore the seals of both the Pawude family and the Federation. Clearly, starting from this moment, the land of Starfall Fang belonged entirely as private property to Jean.

"It seems the Pawude family is quite worth associating with."

Since he had already obtained the benefits, Jean no longer put on a cold face and instead spoke with a smile. Afterward, he curiously gazed at the private soldiers behind Daily. He had to admit that while these private soldiers might not look like regular troops, working under the nobility meant they possessed at least some competence. Yet, Jean could not quite figure out what these private soldiers had come here to do. He had originally thought the Pawude family intended to tear off the mask and have a showdown with him; now it seemed things were not quite like that?

"What is the meaning of these soldiers?"

It was no wonder Jean asked this question, because these private soldiers were not the sort of worthless thugs who bullied others based on borrowed power, but proper, legitimate private troops. Even if local nobles had some military force on hand, they could not just casually parade them about. Therefore, Jean had initially assumed this was a signal that the Pawude family intended to move against him, but now that he had even obtained the documents, these soldiers surely were not here to cause him trouble again.

"Them?"

Seeming to have anticipated that Jean would have this question, Daily quickly provided an answer.

"These soldiers are heading to the Golden Trade Route to deal with the trouble there, Mr. Jean. However, because your matter was far more important, we came to Passus first..."

"Trouble? What trouble?"

"It's like this..."

Saying this, Daily sighed again. Looking at her crestfallen expression despite having completed her mission, Jean suddenly felt that perhaps the matter causing her the greatest headache during this period was actually this one.

Since he intended to invade the surface, Jean naturally possessed a detailed understanding of the geographic information of the Klein Continent. The Golden Trade Route was regarded as the most famous trade route on the Eagle Plateau, connecting the Hundred Blossoms Port to the west and Boulder City to the east. It could be said to be the passage connecting the eastern and western ends of the entire Klein Continent, and its significance was by no means inferior to the Silk Road on Earth. The nobles along the route naturally profited greatly from it. While they could not be bothered to care about a border town like Passus, it was a different story if something went wrong with the Golden Trade Route—to the nobles, this trade route was a god of wealth. Hence, they went all out to maintain the safety of travel along this route.

"According to reports from passing merchants, ogres have recently appeared on the Golden Trade Route, causing massive turmoil and bringing disaster to quite a few merchant caravans. That is why my father sent us to investigate the situation."

"Ogres?"

Hearing this, Jean reached out and adjusted his glasses.

Ogres could be considered the surface equivalent of goblins. Their characteristics were similar to goblins: they loved plunder and slaughter, and reproduced in massive hordes. However, unlike cowardly goblins, ogres were naturally cruel and feared no death. Relying on their vast numbers, they frequently launched attacks on other races. As the most powerful human faction on the continent, humanity naturally bore the brunt of the suffering. If that was the case, it was not difficult to understand why the Pawude family would dispatch elite private soldiers to handle this issue. But...

"How many are there?"

"I heard there are two to three hundred, perhaps more, and some merchants even say there are cultists..."

Faced with Daily's reply, Jean found it even more absurd.

"You are only taking these hundred soldiers?"

It was no wonder Jean found it strange. He had already checked the strength of these soldiers; they were at the level of one to one and a half stars, at most reaching the tier of elites. Yet ogres were a naturally mutated race, and the collective strength of their entire group reached a two-star standard, capable of rivaling a nation's regular military force. If their numbers were even larger, with cultists involved as well, then even ordinary border garrison troops might not be able to handle them. Daily herself was only a mid-tier mage; did she expect to deal with those ogres while leading a hundred private soldiers who were merely slightly stronger than ordinary people? Had she been drinking, or had she been drinking?

"We are only going to investigate the situation..."

Daily naturally understood Jean's meaning; in fact, she had been burning with anxiety over this very matter during this period. As a mage, she certainly knew how formidable ogres were. Yet the common flaw of nobles was that unless the enemy was slaughtering their way to the doorstep, they treated matters like petty thieves. They did not even clearly know what an ogre was, still mistaking them for mere mountain bandits and highwaymen!

According to Daily's ideal plan, it would be best to mobilize the elite troops of the Pawude family in full force and directly wipe out those ogres. However, this proposal of hers met with opposition from quite a few people within the family, and Daily was ultimately forced to compromise, taking a hundred soldiers under the guise of a reconnaissance mission to inspect the situation along the trade route first. In truth, her heart was pounding with dread; according to those merchants, if there really were that many ogres, Daily estimated she would be going on a one-way trip...

As she spoke, Daily cast a hesitant and hopeful glance toward Jean. She had to admit that deep down, the reason she mentioned this matter to Jean was, to a greater or lesser degree, driven by a sliver of expectation.

Naturally, Jean did not miss the trace of emotion hidden within Daily's eyes.

"This is far too dangerous."

Thinking of this, Jean immediately spoke in a deep voice. He acutely sensed that this was a prime opportunity to bring his "disguised identity" formally onto the stage.

"Miss Daily, ogres are extremely dangerous. If you rely solely on these hundred private soldiers, not only will you fail to complete your mission, but I fear you will also put your lives in grave danger."

"Then does Mr. Jean have any good solutions?"

Hearing this, Daily's eyes instantly lit up—was she not waiting precisely for Jean to say these words?

Faced with Daily's inquiry, Jean smiled and nodded.

"Of course, Miss Daily. If you are willing, Patricia and I can join this troop... Oh, right." Saying this, Jean seemed to suddenly recall something. "...In fact, my subordinates will be arriving shortly as well. I believe that combined, both our forces should be more than enough to deal with that pack of ogres."

"Subordinates?"

Hearing this, Daily could not help but be stunned.

According to the intelligence the Pawude family had obtained previously, this Mr. Jean should not have had many people by his side at all. Where on earth would subordinates come from?