164 Morion must be a blood prince in any case.
This extremely terrifying feeling made the mayor tense all over, with occasional chills running up his spine.
Even if the mayor, out of private interests, did not want the city-state and the Holy Ritual Church to send a large number of personnel for investigation, he now had to prioritize saving his life.
“No problem, but you need to have the engineer fix the bridge first, otherwise reinforcements from the city-state can’t reach us smoothly.”
Dekan said solemnly.
He looked exceptionally professional.
“But what if the bridge is destroyed again?”
The mayor asked worriedly.
He was very concerned that the moment the bridge was repaired, in the blink of an eye, it would be broken again if he wasn’t paying attention.
At this time, Morion came to the mayor with a smile, handed him a document with a price list, and said:
“You can choose a warranty service. For an additional payment of 300 holy gold coins on top of the bridge repair costs, we guarantee to repair the bridge anytime within the year if it breaks.”
“Hmm…”
The mayor thought for a moment.
This time, he could manage to take another 500 holy gold coins from the town.
But if the bridge breaks again, even he would not dare to get more money like this again.
Not to mention whether the town’s reserve fund would suffice.
Repeatedly using the repair of the bridge as an excuse to withdraw funds from the town.
When the province reviews the accounts at year-end and sees several large “bridge repair” expenses, it could easily determine that the mayor has a suspicion of “irregular withdrawal of public funds”, leading to an investigation.
This was absolutely something the mayor did not want to happen.
“Alright, then let’s add the warranty service.”
The mayor reluctantly agreed with a face full of pain.
He would need to pay an extra 100 holy gold coins this time.
But as long as this ordeal could be overcome smoothly, he would consider it a disaster prevented by spending money.
Morion quickly pulled out a new contract for the mayor, and with a business-like smile, waited for the mayor to sign:
“After you make payment, our merchants will repair the bridge for you within two days.”
“Two days? No! That’s too slow!”
The mayor exclaimed urgently.
In two days, their small town might be completely finished.
“You can choose the express service.”
“Express?”
“That’s right. If you pay an additional 300 holy gold coins, we will repair the bridge by the end of today, and we will also use the merchant guild’s flying dragon to quickly send the priest back to the city-state, where he will bring reinforcements for you.”
“…”
The mayor was very hesitant; the express fee would also come out of his own pocket, undoubtedly meaning his life.
Just when the mayor was hesitating.
“Mayor, the bloodsuckers will act at night, you don’t want all the townspeople to turn into corpses tonight, do you?”
Dekan whispered, looking quite serious.
This immediately turned the mayor’s complexion several shades paler, and his fingers even twitched.
After gritting his teeth, the mayor said to Morion: “900 holy gold coins total, right? I will get the money right away.”
Then, he hurriedly walked out of the church.
…
“This old man has such a large stash of coins. I didn’t see any of them in cash last time when I was on his roof.”
Watching the mayor depart, Morion sneered.
This time the corrupt mayor would have to dip into 400 holy gold coins of his own.
To come up with so much money at once, the mayor must have a hidden treasury that no one else knows about.
“It looks like we can bleed him dry some more.”
Dekan also nodded, clearly satisfied with the mayor’s wealth.
“You two… meow…”
Teacher Cat felt today it had witnessed the false bloodsuckers and the real ones.
“Teacher Cat, you’ll have a bit of work ahead of you.”
Morion said with a smile.
Teacher Cat: “?!”
“What’s the matter?”
Seeing Teacher Cat so relaxed, Dekan squatted down and poked its head.
Teacher Cat: “Why are you poking me, meow!!”
Dekan: “Go follow the mayor now and look for his hidden stash of coins!”
If they only got 100 holy gold coins from the mayor this time, he would likely just take half of the 200 holy gold coins he embezzled last time.
But this time they had scammed 400 holy gold coins from the mayor, and he would surely have to take it from the location where he had hidden his stash.
“This… this is not a good thing to do, meow! I am a teacher, how can I do such a thing, meow!”
Teacher Cat tucked its tail behind, showing clear resistance towards Dekan.
“We’re not talking about the luxurious 7-day tour of the Holy Country, going to uncover where this corrupt mayor hides his ill-gotten wealth, how is that not a good idea? It’s my duty as a noble priest to investigate!”
Dekan delivered his words with a forceful tone, leaving Teacher Cat a bit stunned.
How did this guy’s speech come off as proper?
And his logic held up well.
Dekan then pushed the stunned Teacher Cat entirely out of the church and shouted,
“Teacher Cat, teach us the meaning of justice!”
“Meow!”
Teacher Cat twirled in place, apparently going through a rapid internal struggle, finally deciding to follow the mayor out of the church courtyard.
Dekan: “When we deal with the second target, we will tidy up the mayor’s attic, and restore his integrity.”
Morion: “But do you have a clue on the second target?”
The second target was still locked.
All the relevant clues might be in the city-state.
For the first three days of the task, Dekan and his two companions mainly stayed in the town.
They did not try to contact other Challengers, so they completely lacked intelligence.
“Made a bit of a guess. I think the second target should be to find the Vampire Count hiding in the city-state.”
Dekan said confidently.
After successfully verifying the third target, he drew a lot of conclusions.
Since the second target was hidden,
it likely wasn’t something like “explore x percentage of the map,” or “collect a certain number of clues,” which are progress-based tasks.
Because such tasks don’t need to be hidden.
Hiding is necessary when the target involves information not meant for public knowledge.
For example, the third target clearly names Marquis Roderick, revealing the existence of this hidden boss, hence it being hidden.
So the second target might also contain a vampire’s real name and could be the main boss of this Shadow World.
So Dekan boldly assumed the second target was probably to find an unidentified Vampire Count in the town!
Dekan smirked,
“This count is probably stupidly plotting to revive Marquis Roderick’s grand cause.”
Morion adjusted the glasses originally belonging to the engineer,
“Since this vampire count still has so much enthusiasm, shouldn’t we exploit his remaining value? Too bad if we don’t.”
Dekan: “Worthy of you, opening your mouth and mentioning the old streetlamp fixture directly.”
