Chapter 301

Chapter 301

Under the watchful, silent eyes of the crowd, Richard's servants shuddered as they carefully lowered their master from the stone pillar.

They then bound him to the same rope that had dragged him there.

Seeing his master barely clinging to life, the old butler felt a cold dread wash over him.

Although Richard was indeed not favored by the Steel Mountain Duke—otherwise, he wouldn't have been casually given the title of viscount and a remote fief to live independently—he was still the son of the Steel Mountain Duke.

The Steel Mountain Duke wouldn't let those from the Beast Pet Shop get away with treating him like this.

But first, it would be Richard's servants who would pay the price.

The old butler stumbled behind his master, dragging like a dead dog, increasingly regretting not stopping his master’s foolish plan.

If only...

“Hang him up,” came a cold voice from above, snapping the old butler out of his daze.

He numbly looked up, confusion setting in when he saw the jewelry store's sign.

The old butler was not unfamiliar with this store, as it was also part of the Steel Mountain family's assets. However, a year ago, it had been gifted to the beloved fifth young master when he came of age.

He couldn't understand why the Blue Star people had chosen this store as their destination, especially when his master's only restaurant was at the other end of the commercial street. Surely the Blue Star people knew about it.

Maybe they intended to humiliate the entire Steel Mountain family by displaying the broken Richard here? The old butler shook his head.

Or maybe there were other reasons, but these were not things he could consider right now.

At the urging of the Beast Pet Shop's servants, the old butler and a few others, like zombies, lifted their master and looped the rope around Richard, whose body was covered in wounds.

Richard let out a low moan, his voice already completely hoarse, barely able to make a sound.

Soon, the Beast Pet Shop's servants hoisted him up to hang beneath the jewelry store’s sign.

The store's customers had fled the moment the crowd gathered, leaving the panicked jeweler to rush out and bow before Silem's horse.

“Young masters! Though we belong to the Steel Mountain family, Third Master has already left the family, and we now answer to Fifth Master!” The somewhat fat store owner smiled obsequiously at Silem. “To put it bluntly, we really have no connection with this viscount anymore. Please don't take it out on my shop!”

“Why don’t you both come inside for some water and a break?”

“Oh, no, don't pull the rope!”

The store owner's outstretched arms obviously failed to stop the actions of the Beast Pet Shop's servants.

Until Silem and Mo'er gave the order, these servants had only one task: to complete the commands given earlier.

Under Joe's training, the servants of the Beast Pet Shop had already become highly competent.

With a look of desperation, the fat store owner watched as a lifeless figure was hung from the beam at the entrance of his jewelry store.

Blood flowed down from Richard's body, and even though healing potions were slowly mending his wounds, they showed no signs of closing.

Instead, under the effects of various potions, Richard felt the excruciating pain of his flesh tearing open every minute.

“Are you all intending to go against Young Master Pete?” The fat store owner, realizing the situation, retreated into his shop and confronted these fierce-looking individuals, blustering. “I will report all of this to Young Master Pete!”

Silem lowered his eyes coldly and glanced at the disheveled shop owner, then immediately looked away.

"The Beast Tamer Shop has its reasons for what it does. As for the reasons, you might want to have your young master think about them carefully."

After speaking, he turned his horse and said, "Let's go! We're heading back!"

The people from the Beast Tamer Shop arrived and departed swiftly, like a whirlwind that swept through Holland, leaving the town in shambles.

At the same time, it caused quite a stir.

……

Pete Steelridge sat in the jewelry shop, his face grim. After the Beast Tamer Shop left, they left behind a few people who strictly forbade anyone from taking Richard down.

Anyone who tried to approach and free him was immediately stopped.

Several people stood guard over Richard, who looked like a bloody mess, keeping him suspended in the heart of Holland’s busiest district for an entire day.

The jewelry shop had considered forcibly taking Richard down, as these three didn’t seem to have any means to stop them. They hadn’t even brought any beast tamers with them, and a single practitioner could easily overpower them.

However, seeing Richard, beaten to a bloody pulp and emasculated, sent a chill down their spines. They allowed the three ordinary men to flaunt their power at the shop entrance for an entire day before retreating safely.

The people at the jewelry shop couldn’t shake the feeling that these three were a trap left by the Beast Tamer Shop.

If they had made a move, the next day there might have been another group hanging there instead.

With the Beast Tamer Shop showing its teeth, everyone grew more cautious.

"Young Master, I had no way to stop them!" The fat shop owner knelt in front of Pete, wailing with tears and snot: "Those people from the Beast Tamer Shop, they... they don’t respect you or the Steelridge family at all!"

Pete stood up coldly, silent rage burning fiercely in his eyes, a rage that anyone could see.

The fat shop owner secretly rejoiced. Today’s humiliation had cost him all his standing among those around him. Decades of running the shop and the pride of being a respected figure had been crushed in a single day.

The fat shop owner knew that if this matter wasn’t handled properly, not only he but all the merchants associated with the Steelridge family would be looked down upon.

In the business world, raising someone high only to crush them later was the most unconcealed practice.

So, he hoped his young master would take revenge, subtly goading Pete into confronting the Beast Tamer Shop.

However, when Pete stood up, he walked up to him and kicked the fat shop owner flying: "Damned old servant! Trying to deceive me, do you even know what you are?"

His anger seemed to flare up unexpectedly, tinged with a hint of panic.

"Get out! All of you, get out!" Pete roared like an enraged lion at the servants nearby.

Everyone quickly ran away from the ill-tempered master, except for the young butler standing behind him, to avoid becoming Pete’s next target like the fat shop owner.

"Carbon, tell me, does the Beast Tamer Shop know something? Is that why they deliberately strung up that loser in front of my shop?" Pete sat down, but his hand trembled slightly as he accepted the hot tea the butler handed him.

"That woman is still in the mansion! She escaped in the chaos this morning from Richard’s place!" Pete suddenly remembered something and said excitedly: "Maybe it’s because of her that we got involved!"

He was referring to a spy he had trained, who had been monitoring Richard’s every move as his eyes and ears in Richard’s mansion.

"Young Master, perhaps they did discover something, but since Blue Star only targeted Richard, doesn’t that mean even if they knew something, they chose not to act rashly?" The house steward stepped forward respectfully: "You are different from Richard. You are one of the most promising heirs of the Steelridge family and the Duke’s favorite son."

"As long as Blue Star hasn't lost their minds, they won't easily make an enemy out of you."

His confident tone brought a bit of comfort to the flustered Peter.

"You're right! But we can't just wait here. Come, let's go back to Steel Mountain Ridge, and bring this waste with us!" Peter quickly calmed down and made a decision.

When he initially planned to use Richard to test Blue Star, Peter indeed hadn't expected such a swift and direct retaliation from them.

According to his research, Blue Star had never been this brutal in the past.

This was completely off from his plan.

By using his foolish brother to provoke Blue Star, and then stepping in as the more outstanding heir of the Steel Mountain Ridge family to apologize to the frustrated Blue Star, Peter had thought he might be able to secure an engagement with Doris if luck was on his side, or at least gain some favor.

He had even prepared an excuse: if his brother had already ruined Blue Star’s reputation, it was only right for him, as the younger brother, to try to mend the situation.

If the news had already spread, Peter was ready to claim he had already made a marriage agreement with Doris, thus Richard was merely inviting his fiancée, which wouldn't harm Doris's reputation.

With Blue Star, he could propose a delaying tactic, but during that time, he would inevitably have to interact with that naive girl. Peter was quite confident in his abilities; he believed he could easily handle a young girl who hadn't seen much of the world.

Only his dim-witted brother would think of forcing someone into marriage. Real success lay in winning her heart, thus reaping all the benefits of her status.

Peter was very confident that anyone with a clear head would know to choose him over Richard.

Who would have thought Blue Star wouldn’t play along and instead went straight for the jugular?

Now, to avoid getting caught up in it, Peter decided to return to Steel Mountain Ridge to lie low for a while.

Even as a third-level knight, Peter had no desire to test whether he could confront Blue Star head-on.

But with his father, a tenth-level warrior, around, Peter felt much more secure.

……

Upon returning to the Steel Mountain Ridge castle, Peter noticed an unusual atmosphere in the castle.

All the servants were holding their breath, moving quickly and quietly, then shrinking into the corners of the walls, trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, as if afraid of causing any trouble.

It was as if a cloud of gloom had settled over the castle.

"Father." Peter entered the castle hall just as his father and his advisors were gathered around a long table discussing something. Upon seeing him, the advisors exchanged glances and lowered their heads, silently returning to their own business.

"I have something important to tell you!"

"Father, you must save me!" Sensing the tense atmosphere, Peter immediately dropped to his knees beside the Duke of Steel Mountain’s imposing chair: "The people from Blue Star publicly beat Richard into a cripple and hung him outside my shop."

"I'm afraid they might come after me, so..."

"Enough." The Steel Mountain Duke interrupted Peter's emotionally charged performance with a low voice: "Enough, Peter."

"You've always been my proudest son, and you've never caused trouble like your brothers. I've never even had to lay a hand on you." He spoke slowly, sounding extremely tired: "This makes me regret my leniency."

Peter stood frozen, his mouth slightly agape, a look of shock on his face. He suddenly realized and exclaimed in surprise: "Father, what do you mean by that! I'm innocent too!"

The Steel Mountain Duke looked deeply into Peter's eyes, a flicker of anger passing through his own before being replaced by an overwhelming sense of helplessness: "You schemed to marry into Blue Star, and for that, you were willing to sacrifice your own brother."

"I didn't!"

The Duke of Steel Mountain Ridge looked at his son's agitated state and waved his hand tiredly, "These things, I don't care about."

"Richard is an idiot, and it doesn't surprise me that he was misled by you."

"If you had really succeeded, I wouldn't care how you achieved it." Here, he suddenly looked up at his son, who was gradually becoming dazed, "But you didn't succeed!"

"Your stupidity has brought disaster to the entire Steel Mountain Ridge family!" He suddenly flared up, kicking his son onto his back with a forceful blow.

Pitt tumbled onto the plush, long-haired beast fur carpet, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

"Now, all the industries of the Steel Mountain Ridge family outside are facing massive restrictions!" the Duke roared, "In just one day, we've lost over a hundred gold coins!"

"And that's not all!" Seeing his son's eyes light up as if he was about to say something, the Duke continued angrily, "Now, people from the Steel Mountain Ridge family outside are constantly being ambushed!"

"The Beast Pet Shop?!" Pitt gasped, his eyes wide with fear, "Do they really want to start a full-scale war with us?"

Hearing this, the Duke of Steel Mountain Ridge threw the glass in his hand at his beloved son, "Beast Pet Shop? How foolish!"

"Out of every ten attacks, maybe one is from the Beast Pet Shop! Most of them are by others who have been eyeing us for a long time!"

"And without the Beast Pet Shop's signal, those people would tear the isolated Steel Mountain Ridge into pieces!"

"Full-scale war?"

"What makes you think we're even capable of going to war with the Beast Pet Shop?"

His anger was beyond words. Ever since learning about this and its consequences, the Duke of Steel Mountain Ridge had been oscillating between fear and rage.

As a level ten practitioner, his understanding of the Beast Pet Shop wasn't limited to mere rumors.

On the contrary, he clearly recognized that this organization, which had risen in less than a year, had now become an undisputed behemoth.

Even without counting the formidable allies they have, just the Beast Pet Shop's own strength was not something Steel Mountain Ridge could handle.

On the surface, the Beast Pet Shop indeed didn't have high-level combat power, but well-informed insiders knew that not long ago, an astonishing energy fluctuation had occurred within the shop.

By noon today, the Duke of Steel Mountain Ridge had already asked his contacts in the Knights' group.

The answer was that the fluctuation in the Beast Pet Shop was at least close to legendary power, and considering that their beast pets are on par with actual beasts, in the worst-case scenario, no force below legendary level could threaten it!

And he was only a level ten practitioner! Where did he get the ability to resist such power?

They couldn't compete in high-end combat, let alone low-end skirmishes. The Steel Mountain Ridge had only a handful of high-level practitioners above level six, not enough to compare with a Beast Pet Shop that could mass-produce Glassy Ice Flame Dogs and Furious Ragdoll Bears.

Especially when he reached out to former allies to broker peace with the Beast Pet Shop, he was consistently turned down...

In that moment, the Duke felt utterly alone and helpless.

At that instant, he realized that Blue Star had become a colossal entity that people were unwilling to provoke casually.

When it lay low, people might overlook its presence.

But when it chose to stand up and roar, everyone would be astounded by its enormity and terror.

This was precisely what Lorant had intended.

At that moment, he sat in the Beast Pet Shop's private reception hall with Diana and others, laughing and chatting while enjoying a sumptuous dinner.

The day's events had no impact whatsoever on the Beast Pet Shop.

It only slightly dampened Doris' appetite, but after Anne handed her a small glass of iced hawthorn juice, the problem was quickly resolved.

"Honestly, Lorant, you should've been this confident ages ago," Diana said with a smile, her happiness impossible to contain.

Although Doris was Lorant's sister, she was also his apprentice. Previously, Richard's provocation had taken place right at the church's gates.

This incident had infuriated the cardinal, who felt that the church's dignity had been insulted.

If it weren't for the need to consult family members about marriage matters, and the fact that, as a teacher, Diana couldn't make the decision herself, she would have sent their army to storm the place.

After letting off some steam, she was understandably thrilled.

"Silem and Mo'er have already taken the baby to Steel Mountain Ridge. We should hear some good news by tomorrow morning," Lorant said calmly, giving no hint that he was in the midst of organizing a duke's downfall.

His principle had always been: either don't do it, or finish it completely.

Taking down someone like Richard wasn’t enough for Lorant. He absolutely didn’t want to show mercy only to have the threat come back to haunt him later.

When he acted, he did so with an iron fist.

Leaving enemies alive to cause trouble later was something only villains in stories did.

Lorant was clear that he didn’t want to become the villain who would be revenged upon by the protagonist, so he decided to nip any potential 'protagonist' in the bud.

His friends and colleagues were clearly backing him up.

Hadn’t Robert just stopped by from the Beast Tower to offer assistance?

If Lorant needed help, Robert was sure that even Jacqueline would pitch in, especially since the Beast Pet Shop was finally showing its teeth.

After declining the Beast Tower's offer and receiving some materials from Robert, Lorant decided to hand the matter entirely over to Lancelot.

Being a seasoned noble, Lancelot was far more experienced in handling such situations than Lorant.

Lancelot thought Lorant was too soft-hearted. No matter what he said, his true nature wouldn't change.

Lancelot didn’t want Lorant to change either. If he did, then he wouldn’t be Lorant, would he?

With the matter settled, Lorant stayed focused on breeding his beast pets at the shop.

There was no way he could take a break from his work!