Chapter 125: The Older, the Wiser
The return of the mayor sent a ripple through the entire city.
Many nobles took comfort in this. In the days since the Delpon knights left, many things happened in the city that bewildered them.
1In particular, the powerful Golden Sons, whose “love and protection” for the common people made all the nobles feel uncomfortable.
2This was why they desperately needed a bellwether to stabilize their morale and keep them together.
John Junior may be the future mayor of the city, but his popularity and personal charm were nothing compared to John Senior’s.
From the tall Magic Tower, Roland watched the cavalry’s stately return to the castle and the beaming nobles greeting John Senior along the streets at a distance.
1He turned back to the desk to sit down. Vivian hadn’t left yet.
Roland asked, “What kind of man is John Senior, the mayor of the city?”
Vivian was glad to chat with Roland. She sat down and told him what she knew about John Senior.
1John Senior was now about forty-seven years old, a professional Lancer, and since he was a professional, although he was nearly fifty, he looked as though he were in his early thirties.
1His personality was unyielding, and he rarely backed down in a conflict.
In addition, because of his profession, John Senior believed in cavalry above all else.
In his opinion, cavalrymen were the strongest branch of soldiers, so he made supreme efforts to train cavalrymen. However, he was different from other lords who preferred heavy cavalry—he took the path of light cavalry. Apart from being equipped with a lance, some light cavalrymen were equipped with either a one-handed sword or a crossbow and some arrows as secondary weapons.
2As for infantry and bowmen, they were, in his opinion, the ones who were more useful in guarding the city, and came in handy in defending from sieges and other outside threats.
As for how the cavalry would siege a city… Taking advantage of the mobility of the light cavalry, when the enemy advanced against them, they would retreat, and when the enemy retreated, they would harass. They strategically encircled the city, cutting off water and food supplies—within three months, any city would fall without being attacked.
1This was John Senior’s method of war.
Because John Senior was one step ahead in the arts of war compared to the other lords, he was undefeated in foreign conquests. This was why he was very renowned in Hollevin.
And in Delpon, his will would be executed to a T.
Hm… Sounds like a troublesome man.
1Roland thought that they—the four players—who were still in Delpon might encounter some trouble when John Senior returned.
In fact, Roland’s intuition was quite right.
It was late at night after the triumphal banquet.
However, the castle was still brightly lit.
This time, John Senior had prevailed against foreign forces once again and brought back plenty of spoils of war. In other words, Delpon had become richer.
In the bedroom on the second floor, John Senior was sitting on a chair in his loose pajamas. John Junior was about eighty percent similar in appearance, except John Senior seemed more mature.
John Junior sat across from him, looking a little ill at ease.
“I’ve heard about the specifics.” John Senior took a sip of fruit wine and said with a smile, “You did a good job. You kept your temper and didn’t act recklessly toward four undying professionals.”
John Junior, who had been worried that his father would blame him for not being tough enough, was relieved to be praised unexpectedly.
“So, how much do you know about the personalities of the four Golden Sons?”
“Betta has already left Delpon, so I won’t mention him for now. Roland is a spellcaster—a typical spellcaster. He studies magic all day long, seldomly comes out, and his personality leans toward kind.” After a brief pause, John Junior also drank some wine to moisten his mouth, and then continued, “As for Hawk and Link, their personalities are rather savage and impulsive, and I suspect that they are of the lower class among the Golden Sons. And, the last time I invited them, they were obviously following Roland’s lead.”
2John Senior nodded.
John Junior continued, “As for Jett, the priest, who, like Roland, spends his days in the Church of Life praying and occasionally giving alms with other priests of the Church of Life—he’s also a man whose course of action can be predicted. But the four of them are so united that it’s hard to take them down one by one.”
John Senior took his wine cup, looked up at the ceiling, thought for a moment, and then asked, “Have you ever seen a female Golden Son?”
1“Not yet.”
John Senior said slowly, “I wonder, if we make love to female Golden Sons, will our offspring be undying as well?”
5John Junior looked stunned for a moment, then stared in admiration. His father thought of problems from quite a different and unique perspective, unlike young men such as himself.
Nobles attached great importance to the inheritance of bloodlines and liked to optimize their family bloodline. This was why elves, vulperas1, and succubi were of interest.
“If there are male Golden Sons, there must also be female Golden Sons. Tomorrow, you’ll take a small cavalry squad and roam around some other cities. Try to bring back one or two female Golden Sons, by any means necessary.”
2John Junior felt this somewhat difficult. “They never die. It’s hard to catch them.”
“Then lie, or lure them with gold coins. Women are different from men. They are sensitive and like shiny things. As long as you diligently put in some effort, you’ll eventually dupe one or two.”
4John Junior stood up and expressed his gratitude for the advice.
When his son had left the bedroom, John Senior stood up. He opened the drawer of his desk and took out a piece of parchment he had just received.
A sentence was written on it: After testing, the news that eating the flesh of Golden Sons can prolong life is a rumor.
1John Senior sighed softly. “Surely, eternal life can’t be that easy.”
Although John Senior had constantly been campaigning abroad, he had heard a lot about the Golden Sons in the army.
He also dispatched people to look into it.
He also pondered over what effects the arrival of the Golden Sons would have on the world.
But judging from the way of things now, the impact was small.
This was because the Golden Sons hadn’t yet fully permeated through the world. After they stayed a little longer and became more connected to the world, and after they became stronger, they would be a force powerful, enough to destroy a country.
So before that happened, they had to be divided.
Gender differentiation could be carried out as the first step.
According to intelligence, most of these female Golden Sons were quite interested in the life of nobles and wanted to be part of it.
The male Golden Sons were generally interested in female elves, beautiful female orcs, succubi, and other races.
This was an area that could be exploited.
John Senior thought for a moment, took out a blank piece of parchment, and wrote down his thoughts. Then, he shook the bell and said to the butler who came in, “Take this scroll to the capital, to His Majesty—it’s of the utmost priority.”
The butler took the parchment and left the room. He went to the workshop on the ground floor, carefully rolled it up, stuffed it into a cylinder, and sealed it carefully with black paint.
Finally, the cylinder went to a family messenger.
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