Super Righteous Player
Chapter 74 - 73 Viscount Barber’s Response_1

Chapter 74: Chapter 73 Viscount Barber’s Response_1

The rain was now a gentle drizzle.

But the wind suddenly picked up—

After Gerald’s corpse transformed into a nightmare, an inexplicable gust swept by, disheveling Annan’s rain-soaked hair.

He squinted his eyes and slowly pressed his hair back down with his hand.

Although Annan felt that slicking his hair back into a pompadour at this moment might be cool... clearly, now was not the time for "me to stand at the pinnacle."

"What’s going on?"

His actions paused as he faintly heard a clamor from beyond the wall of people.

Annan raised his voice and asked, "With such heavy rain...who has come?"

At the same time, he gently patted Salvatore on the shoulder, signaling him with a look.

Salvatore was obviously no fool either.

The young wizard, with his brown short hair and heavy eye bags, quickly picked up the seemingly plain hammer from the ground and stealthily tucked it into his pocket.

Noises from the crowd soon escalated along with disordered footsteps and yellow lamplight converging from all directions.

"Is Lord Geraint inside?"

Someone outside shouted, "Is he trapped?"

The man was clad in leather armor, standing tall with various medals on his chest. He looked to be in his forties, his temples slightly graying, and wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, yet his spirit seemed vigorous.

A massive pistol was strapped to his waist, and on the other side hung a steel longsword—the odd choice of weapons clearly caught the players’ attention.

Behind him was a line of young men dressed as City Guards. They carried peculiar oil lamps that looked like vertical lanterns but with green flames inside, and when the light passed through the thin oil paper, it turned into a warm yellow hue.

"No, we are..."

"Yes, we..."

"Hello, here..."

Players unsure of how to respond began talking to the man all at once, creating more confusion. However, many instinctively did not want to open the door, standing their ground as he pushed through, resulting in a messy struggle at the cramped entrance.

It was then that Annan’s voice came from inside, clear, youthful, yet undiminished in authority:

"I am Tan Juan Geraint. Who are you?"

Annan added, "Let them in."

Only then did the wall of players built by the crowd obediently and without hesitation disperse to either side, and the few players who had been talking to the middle-aged man also promptly moved away from him.

Such clear and decisive obedience momentarily stunned both the middle-aged men and the officers following him.

And the moment he saw Annan’s face, he was also struck by it for an instant—

It was because Annan’s rain-soaked lashes, along with his ice-blue pupils, made him seem more inanimate. He was like a doll with gem-like eyes... giving off a mistaken impression of being cold, distant, and indifferent.

But this was obviously a misconception.

The middle-aged man could tell, just by Annan’s subtle expressions, gaze, and body language, that this was a person who was strong yet gentle, adherent to order yet not timid or afraid to face issues.

This was the result of his many years of experience in solving cases.

He quickly recovered, saluted Annan with perfect formality and said respectfully:

"Good day, honored Lord. My name is Ferdinand, Deputy Chief of the Roth Fort Police Station."

"So now you know I’m your lord?"

Annan chuckled softly, "But when I entered the city earlier, that’s not what you were saying."

When he had entered Roth Fort before, he had also tried to present his noble token, to prove it was the Lord’s convoy. But the young guards at the city gates only recognized the first part—they indeed escorted Annan and his companions to the main street with the courtesy due to nobility, but refused to acknowledge Annan as their Lord.

They wouldn’t answer any questions about the internal situation within Roth Fort and even went so far as to impose an entry fee on Annan, as they would for ordinary nobility.

When Salvatore questioned them, the guard, both puzzled and certain, said such things as, "I’ve never heard of any Lord coming," and "Nobody knows about this."

Afterward, Annan quickly stopped Salvatore, who wanted to flare up, and gently paid the fee to enter the city.

Of course, the fact that Annan, with his denied identity, was graceful... and Salvatore’s seeming irrelevance to the incident, yet his desire to explode in anger, did not conflict.

After all, it was Kaisar Sasha who paid the entry fee.

Moreover, Annan could tell that the man indeed did not know about this situation.

He must’ve been a target put forward by the Viscount. If Annan had lashed out at him, he would have fallen into their trap.

And Vice Chief of Police Ferdinand, faced with such accountability from Annan, showed no surprise.

Clearly, he too had come prepared.

As soon as Annan’s words fell, Chief Ferdinand promptly responded, "I am terribly sorry, The Lord Viscount. The person guarding the gate today is a newcomer..."

For some reason, hearing these words made several players nearby unable to contain their laughter. This caused a sinking feeling in Chief Ferdinand’s heart.

But he quickly recovered, adding without changing his expression:

"...The child’s father fell in the war, so everyone has been overly indulgent with him, leading to some slothful habits. But my lord, I assure you, his heart is in the right place... he didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. And I have brought the entry fee you paid. If you want it back now, we can return it to you right away—"

Quite interesting.

Annan arched an eyebrow slightly.

If this uncle had started by blaming the young gatekeeper, Annan would have had the chance to get angry and shift the blame onto them. But Ferdinand, leading with an emotional appeal and subtly implying the Viscount Barber’s military background, Roth Fort’s internal unity, stability, and harmony, instead left Annan momentarily without an angle of attack.

However, if this was a plan set by Viscount Barber, then he did not underestimate Annan. At the very least, he treated him as an adult noble capable of understanding human speech... Considering his level of pride, this was already showing a lot of respect for Annan.

So Annan shrewdly did not take the bait.

He just asked with a smile that was not quite a smile, "I suppose you all are here to put out a fire?

"I didn’t expect that the City Guard of Roth Fort’s firefighting efficiency would be so timely—then hurry inside and put out the fire, lest it spreads too far."

Annan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his voice clear and melodious.

Seeing Annan so composed, Ferdinand felt a headache coming on.

Wasn’t it supposed to be Salvatore who was the more troublesome one...?

This young Lord is already so difficult, how shrewd must Salvatore be... Should he say as expected of the Tower’s Child?

Ferdinand pondered for a long time and decided to be safe rather than sorry. He chose not to follow Annan’s lead but to act out the script he received initially:

"You, go inside and help with the fire!"

Vice Chief Ferdinand ordered loudly.

The officers behind him responded and rushed in... starting to attempt putting out the fire tentatively.

How could black fire be extinguished with water? But having come here, they couldn’t just do nothing.

Even if they were just busy being part of the backdrop, it was better than standing behind Ferdinand like lampposts...

After the officers left, the lighting near the door quickly dimmed.

In the darkness, the middle-aged Vice Chief of Police leaned close to Annan’s ear and whispered, "The Lord Viscount, I owe you thanks."

"He said... Thanks to you, he was able to break free from that despicable Wizard’s mental control."

Ferdinand said with an unchanged expression.