Chapter 174: [174] Appreciation

Eliron let out a tired sigh as he stared at the newcomers in the hallway.

The powerful knights that had been used to make a show of the Baron’s authority were now standing at the entrance to the room, and in front of them was…

Eliron sighed again. In front of them was the Baron himself and his butler, who was the one that had spoken.

They both wore shocked expressions on their faces, a look of disbelief in their eyes. Who wouldn’t? When they had just stumbled upon a pile of corpses?

The butler, an old man with greying hair, stood defensively in front of the Baron, his eyes filled with rage.

’What are they doing here?’ Eliron thought.

The catacombs were too deep underground for anyone to have realistically heard what was going on down here.

There was also a ball going on, meaning it would normally be foolish for the Baron to come here at such a time, especially at the risk of being discovered exposing his wife’s state.

’It must be the mole…’ After waiting for so long without any signs of Marcus, they must have gotten impatient and acted recklessly.

The Baron was more shocked than everyone else. He swallowed, his face covered in sweat as he stared at the corpses.

“D-Duke…?” he muttered.

The fear was evident in the way his voice trembled; the Baron was not primarily concerned about the massacre in front of him.

Right now, all he cared about was whether his son was alive. He must have noticed Duke was missing from the ball.

“I’m here, dad.” The person standing beside Eliron spoke.

The Baron could hardly believe his ears. His son, who he had known for many years, was now very much different.

He had a solemn look on his face, like someone who had been to hell and back, and worst of all…

The Baron gasped when he saw the rag tied around his eye. He was about to rush forward when the butler held him back.

“Please, my lord, be reasonable! That man is clearly responsible for all the death you see here, we cannot be brash!”

“Let go of me, I need to see that my son is alright!” the Duke growled.

While the butler was struggling to keep him at bay, Duke walked up to his father. He was unable to meet his eyes, expecting sharp reproof.

But instead, his father pulled him closer and hugged him. “Damn it, Duke! Don’t ever scare me like that again!”

“Are you okay, son? What the hell happened here?!”

Duke’s eyes widened, then a small smile appeared on his face. “I’m fine.”

The Baron stared at the eyepatch that was now soaked in blood, his expression faltering. His hands balled into a fist.

The knights still had their swords out, pointing them forward at Eliron, who stood there looking bored out of his mind.

The Baron did not even get to have a moment with his son, because soon, the butler’s voice rang out.

“Gods! I-is that?” he stammered, his eyes never leaving a particular corpse.

“Lord M-Marcus…” he breathed out in disbelief. His eyes then moved to another. “Lady Doris…”

The Baron straightened and looked in the direction his butler was looking.

“It can’t be… my brother… is dead?” The Baron’s face twisted with grief, shock, and fear, a lot of questions running through his mind.

Although his brother was a greedy and ambitious man, there was one thing about him that even Pieter couldn’t help but praise.

And that was his skill as a mage.

Marcus was not a man to be taken lightly, neither was he someone who could be defeated so easily.

And yet, not just him, but his entire party and daughter had been murdered?

Baron Pieter stared at Eliron, his expression dark as he pulled Duke behind him.

“Knights, protect your Baron, exterminate that elf for murdering a noble in the Baron’s estate!” Cornelius, the butler, commanded.

Eliron frowned.

“Really? Not even a ’oh, what happened here?’ Just straight-up murder?” He asked in a playful tone, not at all bothered by the butler’s command.

That was because he was of no consequence; the only person Eliron had to focus on was the Baron.

And currently, he could already see how this was going to go.

“I have no reason to speak with a murderous psychopath such as yourself! Is this how all wood elves are? No wonder you were all banished to that crevice you call a home.”

The normally composed butler cursed, losing his composure. To him, there was no greater disrespect than what Eliron had done here.

A vein ticked on Eliron’s jaw.

“Dad. He was the one who saved me, someone else did this, it’s a long story actually.” Duke said.

Pieter nodded. He figured out as much.

“Calm down, Cornelius.”

He tried to act calm, but there was still a nervous undertone in his voice.

“I apologize. My butler gets a little overzealous at times…”

“You are Lord Eliron, are you not? The person my daughter told me about.”

Eliron smiled. “In the flesh, my lord.”

He paid the Baron the same courtesy as he had paid him by referring to him as lord.

The Baron cleared his throat, clearly still shocked by what was going on. “Would you care to explain what happened here?”

Eliron nodded. “Gladly, but I’m sure your son would have a better explanation for this…”

<•••>

Duke went on to explain everything that had happened over the past hour to his father, who listened attentively, never interrupting him as he spoke.

When he was done, the Baron nodded in understanding and sighed. “I see. So the day finally came.”

He had always expected his brother to betray him. But not like this; never would he think he would bring his wife and son into the messy relationship they had.

From the moment he identified his brother, he already knew something was wrong, as this location was too secret.

As to how he found out, Baron Pieter had no idea. But there would be time to pick out the details later. For now, there were more important things to be done—

He sucked in a breath and bowed his head low.

“Lord Eliron, allow me to offer my sincere thanks. Not only have you saved my son and wife, you may have as well saved the entire kingdom.”

The butler stared at the Baron in shock, then, in a voice as low as a whisper, he said:

“My lord, this man committed murder in the estate. He killed your brother and his daughter; will you really bow before such a man—”

The Baron shot Cornelius a glare, silencing him on the spot.

“Did you not hear the same story I just heard? Are you saying he should have stood by and watched my son get killed?!”

The butler gritted his teeth, his shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry. I overstepped, my lord.”

Baron Pieter was about to speak when his son suddenly bowed as well.

“Thank you for saving my life, my lord! I’ll hold on to the lessons you taught me all the days of my life!”

Pieter stared at him in shock. ’Duke, thanking someone else? Just what happened to him??’

“Don’t sweat it.” Eliron gave him a light nod.

He was mostly working towards his own goals after all.

Then he paused, realisation suddenly hitting him. The death of the Baron’s brother, no matter how much they hated each other, wasn’t it a valid reason to call off the ball?

“By the way, Baron Pieter,” he quickly said. “Can I have your word that you will not cancel the ball? I know this is messy, but it is really important to me.”

The Baron was surprised by the odd request but still nodded. “I’ll keep it running as long as you would like.”

Eliron nodded. “Thanks.”

A portal tore open in front of him, and he was about to step in when Pieter suddenly called out.

“Please wait,” he quickly added. “Can you and your party stay here tonight? It is the least I can do after what you’ve done for me. We can discuss appropriate compensation after this is all settled.”

Eliron smiled. ’Meeting with the Baron secured!’

“Alright, it would be rude to turn you down after all.”

He was about to step in again when he paused, this time of his own volition.

Eliron stared at his clothes and winced. Dust had painted the black suit brown, it was torn in several places, and worst of all, it stank of sweat.

“By the way…” he cleared his throat.

“Any chance you have a spare suit I can borrow?”

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