Chương 88: The True Master of Phoenix City

"Damn it, I hate this face—" Beside them, the three members of the Forest Arrow Squad and the halfling Amy, though lacking the Eye of Insight, quickly recognized Oliver's identity as native Phoenix City residents.

Oliver noticed their gazes, and after questioning his guards, he rode closer, making no attempt to hide his disgust. Looking down at them, he asked, "Are you the adventurers who ruined my business with the church?"

Richard and the others did not speak, but responded with the same unfriendly expressions.

Oliver frowned, then looked at Richard, who was carrying a lute: "And you, are you the poet who stole from my vault and killed my steward?"

Richard gave a cold laugh.

"Mr. Phoenix, you can't slander me! It was Robin Hood who stole the vault, what does that have to do with me, Richard? As for your steward—yes, I killed him, so what?"

Oliver's face darkened.

But given the current situation, there's really nothing he can do about Richard.

After holding back for almost ten seconds, he could only say fiercely, "My advisors suggested that I offer an apology to ease tensions, but I couldn't do it, and now it seems that you can't either—" Richard shrugged.

It's normal not to be able to do it; that's just human nature.

If you can do that, I might actually think more highly of you.

Oliver continued, "In that case, we'll see! I'm the master of Phoenix, not you! You'll soon realize that you're no longer welcome here—" Before the words were finished, a melody of a piano came from the embankment near the port.

The person playing the piano was none other than the poet Richard had met before, the one who followed Ignatius.

He didn't attend the victory celebration, so he returned to Phoenix City earlier than the adventurers. He had already taken out his lyre, put his hat upside down on the ground, and started his old job of busking.

And the song he sang was Richard's story.

"Wherever Robin Hood goes, even the most foolish nobles tremble in fear —" The singing echoed, and passersby clapped and cheered.

Oliver's face had turned as black as an Oreo cookie. He waved his hand impatiently, ordering the guards to go and arrest the man.

The passersby immediately dispersed in a commotion.

The poet raised an eyebrow and smiled at the crowd, sang "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" to Oliver's horse, then picked up his hat, which was full of copper coins, and disappeared into the alley in a flash.

At first, no one understood what the poet was singing about.

"Ouch!"

—It wasn't until the horse suddenly reared up and threw Oliver off the saddle that he realized the poet had just used harsh words against the horse!

"Hahaha!"

When they saw Oliver land on his butt, the passersby who had just dispersed couldn't help but burst into laughter again.

As expected of a poet who can follow the Holy Knight Master, he's got some skills.

Richard sighed inwardly, then turned and looked down at Oliver, who had fallen to the ground, saying, "Clearly, you are not the master of this city, and who this city welcomes is not up to you or me to decide."

Oliver stared wide-eyed, speechless, and could only be half-dragged, half-pulled to another horse by his men before slinking away.

The farce at the port came to an end, and everyone successfully entered the city.

On the way, Levin said to Richard with some concern, "With the Church of Radiance and other nobles around, the Phoenix family won't dare to do anything in the short term, but it's hard to say what will happen in the long run. Richard, Grace, you still need to be careful. This is not cowardice, but necessary caution."

Richard nodded and replied, "You're the same, especially you, Levin. Your identity as a harpist has been exposed, and you don't have the same strength as Ignas. Who knows who might be targeting you."

Levin gave a wry smile: "Yes, that's why I'm considering whether to go to Red Mountain City to take refuge, since the Church of Radiance has more power there."

Iron Hammer rubbed his short, burly hands together: "I agree! I know Hongshan City like the back of my hand. There's lots of good food and fun things to do.

We've made a fortune this time, so we should go and have a good time for a few days, haha—" Mendel tilted his head back and began to daydream: "I've heard there's a very hot chili pepper over there; maybe we can cultivate some interesting variants—" The two groups walked and talked until they reached a crossroads, where they bid each other farewell and parted ways.

Richard then quickened his pace and returned to Cinderella's house.

His conversation with Levin had reminded him of something.

It would be inconvenient for the Phoenix family to retaliate against him, and it would be even more impossible to retaliate against his father, who had long since died in his lover's arms. However, if they were to be a little more unscrupulous, choosing to retaliate against Cinderella and her daughter, who had provided him with accommodation, would not be a problem at all!

This problem must be solved!

"Elsa, Mary, I have something to say to you."

As soon as Richard entered the house, he called the mother and daughter to the dinner table and told them about the events of the past two days, omitting some sensitive details.

"In conclusion, someone may want to retaliate against me in the future, which could implicate you all."

After recounting the previous events, Richard said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have put you in danger."

"Fortunately, I also made some friends from the Church of Radiance on this trip, who may be able to provide some protection."

"Of course, you can also leave Phoenix City directly. If you choose that, I'd be happy to act as your bodyguard and pay three times the cost of everything during the process—" Across from her, Mary's mouth gaped open so wide after hearing Richard's words that an apple could almost fit inside.

What does it mean that David's real name is Richard?

What do you mean that he caused such a mess to the Church of the Goddess of Wealth and the Phoenix family in just three days?

If he goes out for thirty days in the future, won't he be able to pin down even the Red Dragon?

Although he knew beforehand that he and Grace weren't ordinary adventurers, this was still too much—

"Um, are you guys serious? Really serious? Sorry, I might need a little time to process this."

After a long while, Mary rubbed her temples, indicating that she could not answer at the moment.

Elsa, standing to the side, stared wide-eyed.

Unlike her mother, who was somewhat hesitant to believe it, she had no doubts about Richard's words—in her opinion, what her older brother said must be true!

But on the other hand, as a clever child, she also connected Richard's words to other things.

For example, the gap between myself and Richard is widening.

For example, Richard seems to want to leave their house, or something like that.

This made her feel down, and she lowered her head.

Richard assumed it was just the little girl worrying and didn't think much of it. He continued to tell Mary, "It's alright, madam. You have plenty of time to consider. If you don't believe me, you can wait two more days. By then, the news will have spread."

After Richard finished speaking, he took out a stack of gold coins from his dimensional bag and placed them on the table. Then, without disturbing the mother and daughter any longer, he went upstairs with Grace and returned to their respective rooms.

Once he was finally alone, he placed the Huawu Flying Knife and the Harpist Badge in front of him, and first used the Charm spell on the former.

[Hua Wu Fei Dao (left): A poet? You've come at the right time, come and judge this for us!] [Hua Wu Fei Dao (right): So you're going to go find outsiders if you can't win an argument? Go ahead, whoever comes, it's all your fault!] Huh?

Wait, how come there are two more personalities?!

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