Chapter 400: Money and Lies

“It’s you?!” Julian was somewhat surprised. He clearly had not forgotten Wu Qingsong.

But in contrast, his demeanor quickly turned cold, and he prepared to leave.

“Your Highness Julian!” Wu Qingsong called out hastily. “Please wait a moment.”

Julian looked at the attendant beside him. The half-elf stepped forward and asked in an arrogant tone, “What do you want? Speak.”

Red Moon gave Wu Qingsong a slight nod, signaling that this was the breakthrough they had prepared. 

“Back then, I received great kindness from Your Highness and Marquis Osaga. Deep down, I have always hoped to repay that favor, but I never had the chance and could only bury that regret in my heart. It was only recently that I learned Marquis Osaga had been framed by villains and imprisoned under false charges. I immediately returned from the northern lands. But I am of humble status, my words carry no weight. I had no way to offer even the slightest help. After many turns and delays, I finally had the opportunity to meet Your Highness today,” Wu Qingsong said earnestly.

“Your Highness, I heard you’ve always wanted to clear the Marquis’s name. Though my status is low and my abilities limited, I still hope I can offer some help to Your Highness.”

“Just you?” Julian said disdainfully before the attendant could speak.

From his expression, this matter had indeed become a thorn in his heart. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he immediately sprang up.

“I’ve brought one hundred thousand renals,” Wu Qingsong said. “Your Highness, I’m willing to give all of this to you to help rescue Marquis Osaga.”

“One hundred thousand renals?” Julian’s expression finally changed. 

It could even be described as shock.

Anywhere, one hundred thousand renals was not a small sum—especially now, with the Grand Duchy of Fantali mired in crisis. For someone like Julian, a sub-noble without land, this was equivalent to several years’ worth of allowance from his father.

“How do you have that much money?” he asked immediately.

Although he quickly realized the question was inappropriate, he still stared at Wu Qingsong with eager eyes, desperately wanting to know the answer.

“Would Your Highness happen to know what happened later in the Esola Hills?” Wu Qingsong said, now deliberately withholding the full story.

“How could I have the mind to care about what happened in a place like that?” Julian said impatiently.

“Then I’ll keep it short,” Wu Qingsong said unhurriedly. “In the Esola Hills, I managed to achieve a little success. I even received undue favor from Marquis Osaga and Marquis Riniconia and was granted the rank of knight in recognition.”

Julian’s gaze became a bit less contemptuous. After all, to be awarded a knightly title—even the lowest-ranking one—still made someone part of the empire’s nobility.

These matters didn’t need to be concealed. With Julian’s status, he could easily investigate them. What’s more, he might even get the details directly from Marquis Osaga.

“But not long after I was ennobled, I accidentally stepped into an ancient magic formation and was teleported to the mountains in the far south of the continent. I had nothing. No money, no proof of my identity,” Wu Qingsong continued. “By the time I overcame countless hardships and finally made my way back to Esola, I discovered my fief had already been reclaimed, and everything I had was taken.”

His expression turned angry. Julian didn’t care in the slightest and couldn’t relate, but in light of the one hundred thousand renals, he endured and kept listening.

“Fortunately, Marquis Osaga stepped in and preserved the structure of my corps, giving me a chance to start over,” Wu Qingsong said. “So when I say I owe him a great debt, I truly mean it from the heart.”

“And after that?”

“I ask Your Highness’s forgiveness for I failed to live up to the Marquis’s kindness and did something wrong.”

“Forgiveness for what?” Julian shook his head. “Go on, as long as it’s nothing major, I can handle it.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Wu Qingsong said, and his expression suddenly twisted. “I killed the one who took over my land,” he said through clenched teeth.

“What?!” Julian was shocked.

“I beg Your Highness’s pardon!” Wu Qingsong repeated.

Julian hesitated. “Who exactly did you kill?”

“A half-elf. I don’t know his identity, but he was likely a steward sent by Marquis Riniconia. Your Highness, not only did he occupy my fief while I was gone, he also slaughtered my people and seized my property. Although… although I know what I did was wrong, at that moment, I had just returned after eight grueling months of travel, only to see such a scene… I simply couldn’t endure it. So… so I…” 

He wiped his eyes with his hand and spoke with a choked voice.

Under Red Moon’s subtle influence, Julian finally felt a bit of sympathy for Wu Qingsong. “He was only a steward. You could have gone directly to the Marquis; wouldn’t he have ensured justice for you?”

“I acted in a moment of rage, lost my reason,” Wu Qingsong said in a remorseful tone. “By the time I came to my senses, the man was already dead. I feared the consequences, but more than that, I feared bringing trouble upon the Marquis. After much agonizing, I fled with my people and headed north into the lands of the beastkin.”

“Consider yourself lucky,” Julian said with a shake of his head. “If you’d stayed there, you’d likely be dead by now.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Wu Qingsong agreed, then continued. “We fought many battles with the beastkin and eventually managed to gain a foothold on that wasteland and built a small city. After five or six years of hardship, we finally attracted a few merchants to trade there, and some beastkin began farming nearby. Things began to stabilize. But after all, the city stands on beastkin territory with no support. At any time, we could face their attacks, there isn’t a single day we can rest easy.”

As he spoke, he watched Julian’s expression. The young elf appeared not to notice any inconsistencies in the story.

“Every day, we think: if only this place could receive recognition from the Empire, if only we could get support, perhaps that would scare the beastkin into behaving, and then we could live in peace. But the lord and constable of nearby Red Plateau City are far too greedy. We gave them bribes, yet not only did they refuse to protect us, but they even wanted to swallow us up entirely. They threatened us, saying they would report us to the Duke of Lapusia, even to the Grand Duke of Fantali, claiming we harbored ill intentions and calling for an army to flatten us. We truly had no other choice. In the end, everyone pooled some money and sent me to Fantali City to try my luck to see if I could find an upright and just figure of influence who could stand up for us poor souls exiled beyond the borders.”