The old knight suddenly smiled. "Since you seemed an upright person, I won't pursue the matter about you barging into a noble household under the Gloria Country authority."
Jonty and others have a massive sigh of relief, but the old knight wasn't done yet.
This time, there was a hint of chillness as he spoke. "But each of you three has to compensate with 1,000 Gold Coins annually to Gloria City for five years. If you missed even a year, heh, I'll report this incident to the higher-ups."
"What?!" they were all shocked and panicked.
1000 Gold wasn't a small amount even for them, especially for Hadi and Jett, who were only D Rank mercenaries. They might die in collecting this kind of wealth.
"What, are you unhappy? Then how about joining the knight order?" The old man's lips curled.
Jonty felt his misfortune was on a roll because first, he found the wolf king was already dead and didn't get the payment. Now, he was here to extort the town lord, but it was he who was getting extorted.
He couldn't help but clinched his fist, but he didn't retort. He knew if knight order acted, no one would save him, not even his backer.
Knight Order was infamous to be unreasonable when it came to mercenaries, so he didn't want to try his luck, nor did he want to join them since it was far more dangerous to be a mercenary.
At least he had freedom.
He gnashed his teeth and nodded, "Alright, we'll pay on time. You don't need to worry."
Hadi and Jett again cursed Jonty to decide for them, but they had no choice, so they agreed in silence.
The old knight nodded in satisfaction. "You may go, now. I'll be waiting for your report. I hate those who go back on their words." He chased them away with a stern warning.
Ciaran, Eoin, and the third Tarn brother couldn't help but admire the influence of this knight order.
They also felt quite refreshed when the arrogant Jonty, who was dancing on their heads for years, get taken care of with few sentences.
Now there were only the three Taran brothers, the old knight, the young man, and Jennifer left.
The atmosphere was again tense when the old man looked at Jennifer with a smile. "Little Miss, you don't seem happy to see me?"
Jennifer's expression changed ever so slightly, she knew this old knight was a watchdog of the knight order, and he monitored her father's every move.
As for the young man on the other side, he was this old knight's disciple, and he was also her suitor.
She would also feel uncomfortable in these two presences, but she knew she can't appear afraid, or they would notice something.
She was long ready if such a thing would ever happen, but she still thought it was too soon and those people might have lied to her.
Nonetheless, she won't be going down so easily. She smiled and said, "Grandpa Austin, please don't jest. I'm the happiest to see you and Kai."
Kai, who remain silent this whole time, spoke with a content smile, "Jennifer, when I heard you were almost got killed by that beast, I beg the teacher to come here and take you back safely."
'So, it was this brat who moved this old thing!' She couldn't help but get perplexed.
She knew Austin dotted on Kai the most and treated him like a son since he had no family.
Kai also had a crush on her from childhood, and Austin made sure he would get her in the future as well.
But she never liked Kai because he was too strange, and she felt uncomfortable around him when he saw her as if she was naked.
That was why she wanted to inherit the Baron's position to have a say in her marriage, or she would become a tool for her father to curry favor with Austin.
Austin chuckled, "Heh, this brat treated you well. He nearly cried with joy when he heard you were safe and sound."
Kai's face flashed as he lowered his head and mumbled, "I was just worried about you."
However, Jennifer didn't buy Kai's act and only pretend to be happy as well, "Really? Thank you, Kia. You are so good to me."
Austin looked at Ciaran impassively at this moment and said, "Do you find the whereabouts of the young Lord and who killed the wolf king?"
Ciaran quickly replied while sweating, "My Lord, according to the agency, there were some fresh human bones found on the dark wolf ridge, as well as the wolf king. We presumed they…"
He hesitated to speak as he looked at Jennifer. Her eyes started to get misty.
Austin got what he wanted to say and nodded, "What about the person who killed it and how it was killed? Did they find their belonging? They were carrying the latest firearms with them."
Ciaran's heart palpitated when he felt Austin's piercing gaze. He took a deep breath to calm himself before he said carefully, "The killer's identity is still unknown. As for how the wolf died, they said there were holes in its skull, made with bullets, but they didn't have the means to find out from which kind of gun they were shot.
"As for the belonging, I'm afraid nobody reported it. I think those mercenaries took them for themselves. They would never hand over anyone they found during the mission, nor would agency demand it."
Austin felt into deep thought before he said while glancing at Jennifer subtly, "I understand. But this wolf king's appearance is strange. I would meet with the agency leader here tomorrow. You did well on your part. I'll handle this case myself now."
Ciaran felt as if he was pardoned from a death sentence. He was afraid that his family would get slaughtered under the pretext of Gus's death, but it seemed he had dodged the bullet.
On the other hand, Jennifer's heart sank when she heard this, 'This is bad!'