10 – Black Cottage
Giant-Stone City is one of Fernandro Principality's 16 largest cities, the population within the city numbers up to 600000.
Within Giant-Stone City's center, inside a palace, five men are seated in a bright conference hall. Seated on on the throne is a male with short golden hair, blue eyes, hook nosed, caucasian, tall and sturdy, and emitting a whiff of tyrannical breath. This man is Giant-Stone City's aristocrat Viscount Harley.
Apart from Viscount Harley, the remaining four men are Giant-Stone City's four Great Clans' Patriarchs – Portman Clan, Panchette Clan, Manny Clan, Luger Clan. Viscount Harley and the four Great Clans jointly control Giant-Stone City.
Viscount Harley slowly said: "Black-Rock Town's Baron Kirov was murdered by somebody."
The four Great Clans' Patriarchs glanced silently at each other.
After Baron Kirov was killed by Yang Feng, the news quickly spread to their ears. However the person involved in the affair was someone with a Warlock's power, this made them completely afraid.
Each of the four Great Clans make offerings to some Apprentice Warlocks, as they are completely aware of how strange and powerful a Warlock's methods are. If they ever provoked a powerful Official Warlock, their whole clan would be effortlessly destroyed. As long as Yang Feng doesn't encroach on their core interests, then their able to keep quiet about it.
Viscount Harley's eyebrows slightly creased as he said in a deep voice: "I intend to ask for Black Cottage's assistance. And ask them to exterminate that wicked Apprentice Warlock."
Portman Clan's Patriarch asked: "Apprentice Warlock? Daren, you're able to tell that he's an Apprentice Warlock?"
Apprentice Warlock and Official Warlock, the difference between the strength of the two is like the difference between heaven and earth. An Apprentice Warlock's may still be surrounded and killed by a mortal army. But an Official Warlock, if he's not stupid and fights a mortal army in a conventional way, can absolutely behead the mortal army's General and then leave effortlessly. Some powerful Warlock's can even defeat a ten thousand strong mortal army.
Giant-Stone City has a five thousand strong regular army, adding on all of the Apprentice Warlocks, they still would be more likely defeated against a level-1 Warlock. After all as long as the level-1 Warlock acts in secret, then he can easily butcher all the Apprentice Warlocks. Unless the level-1 Warlock is foolish enough to battle directly against the troops and Apprentice Warlocks gathered by power on Giant-Stone City's level.
Viscount Harley said in a deep voice: "If that was a level-1 Warlock, then he alone could capture Black-Rock Town. Based on our intelligence, close to hundred warriors were used to capture Black-Rock Town. In addition, if it was an Official Warlock, then he absolutely wouldn't kill an aristocrat without a reason, as that's equivalent to issuing a challenge to Black Cottage's Daren. Only those that recently obtained power, those thoughtless upstarts, would unbridledly kill an aristocrat.1
In Turandot Subcontinent, an Official Warlock also would not easily kill an aristocrat, if it is not necessary, because those aristocrats are quite possibly backed by a level-1 Warlock. Only if the aristocrat offended an Official Warlock, would that Official Warlock raise his hand to kill the aristocrat, without attracting any pushback from other Warlocks.2
This is Turandot Subcontinent's unspoken rule. To aloof Warlocks, their dignity doesn't allow them to violate that unspoken rule. However, at the same time, an Official Warlock also needs to respect other Official Warlocks, otherwise a conflict between Warlocks can arise.3
Giant-Stone City's backer is the Warlock Group Black Cottage. In battles between ordinary people, Black Cottage's Warlocks basically will not interfere in. But if there is an Apprentice Warlock threatening Giant-Stone City or its affiliations without a particular cause, then the Black Cottage's Warlocks will definitely dispatch an expert, to kill the ignorant Apprentice Warlock.4
Panchette Clan's Patriarch slowly said: "To Invite Black Cottage to take care of it will be costly!"
Warlock are no otherworldly existences. On the contrary, Warlocks also have a need to deplete huge amounts of money. Every Official Warlock possesses enormous riches, at the same time, their expenses are also quite frightening. A Warlock casually refining pills, can sell them for hundreds if not for thousands of Gold Coins. Even tens of thousand or hundreds of thousand of Gold Coins, for a bottle of pills, is not uncommon.5
Black Cottage, while acting as Giant-Stone City backing, annually collects a large amount of Gold Coins. At the same time for them to casually make a move once, costs fifty thousand Gold Coins or more. This kind of huge sum, even for Giant-Stone City's four Great Clans to take out, also will be extremely painful. Precisely because of this, if there's no major event, Giant-Stone City basically won't request Black Cottage's help.
The three remaining Great Clans' Patriarchs are also focused on Viscount Harley.
Viscount Harley spoke in a deep voice: "This year's taxes amount to 30000 Gold Coins, I'll put forth 10000 Gold Coins, and each one of your four clans will put forth 2500 Gold Coins. Afterwards we'll get rid of that thoughtless fool, and divide the spoils according to the contributed money.6
"Excellent!" The four Great Clans' Patriarchs satisfiedly nod their heads.
After persuading the four Great Clans' Patriarchs, Viscount Harley went to the rear garden.
In the rear garden, there is a white oak tree with a black raven's nest.
A strange white raven saw Viscount Harley walk into the rear flower garden, then directly flew to Viscount Harley, set on top of his arm, and spit out in a human voice: "Viscount Harley, you come here to bring me food? I want to eat wild boar, a thigh to be more specific, properly roasted with flowing fat. Your cooks culinary proves actually are quite awful, I suggest you directly hang him, and switch to a new one."
Viscount Harley, somewhat respectfully, said towards the white raven: "Daren, I ask You to greet the mighty Black Cottage's Master for me and inform him that I need his aid. Black-Rock Town is under a wicked Warlock's control, which is a blatant provocation to the mighty Black Cottage's Master. We already prepared 50000 Gold Coins to serve as our offering, we ask mighty Black Cottage's Master to aid us in driving out that evil."
The white raven flapped its wings as it said in a loud voice: "Alright, Daren will convey your words to the mighty Black Cottage's Master. However, after returning, Daren wants to eat a plump wild boar's thigh, must be properly roasted with flowing fat!
Viscount Harley smiled and said: "As You desire. After returning, You'll receive a wild boar's thigh, properly roasted with flowing fat!"
The White Raven contentedly nodded its head, flapped its wings and directly flew out of the palace.
Black Cottage doesn't resemble people’s imagination, that is, hidden, lonely, deep in the mountains, and deep in a pristine forest. On the contrary, Black Cottage lies in the Black City, one of the 16 Base City's of Fernandro Principality.7
Black City is located 100Km to the north of Giant-Rock City, its population amounts up to 200000. Black City is the second largest in Fernandro Principality, only inferior to the capital, Dragon-Mountain City. It's twice as large as Giant-Stone City.
The Black City possesses in its center a huge forested tract of land with a lake, a stream, a hill and all kinds of landscape, it's a huge dream-like manor. That whole manor practically occupies one third of Black City's surface.
This huge a beautiful manor is Black Cottage's headquarters.
1 – Idiom: 无缘无故 – no cause, no reason
2 – Dulanduo (Subcontinent) was changed to Turandot (Subcontinent)
3 – Idiom: 高高在上 – set up on high
4 – Idiom: 不知天高地厚 – don’t know how high the sky is nor how deep the ground is
5 – Idiom: 不食人间烟火 – not eat anything cooked by people
6 – 30000 + (10000 + 4 * 2500 = 20000) = 50000
7 – Idiom: men's footprints are rare