Wizard: I brought the wrong system.

Chapter 552 Trouble in the Earl's Territory

Claire, what is your choice?

"My purpose in being is to protect the Earl!"

Baron Claire's tone was slow and resonant.

"Ha! That sounds nice!"

At the very top of the conference table, a burly, middle-aged man in full armor stood behind the Countess, his large, bell-like eyes glaring as he reprimanded her:

"But your actions don't reflect the loyalty you claim!"

“Professor Wilfrid,” Baron Claire said instead of directly refuting, “please point out my mistake.”

The burly man took a step forward, his tone aggressive:

"Why did you reveal the matter of transporting the grain to the wizard in Lix through your son, Bevan Perrin? If we hadn't discovered your son was missing, were you planning to continue hiding it?"

“I never intended to hide it from the beginning, just like Miss Milina, who didn’t intend to hide it from Wizard Yaro either,” Baron Claire retorted calmly.

The burly man's eyes widened, and he roared, "The reason we only transported half the value of the gift of grain is because that's all we needed. It was also to test whether he would discover our true allegiance and to find out which side he was on!"

"If he doesn't find out, and if needed, we'll ship half again, double it, or keep shipping!"

"But now, you've cut that path off!"

"What should we do next time we need food? Send him gold coins at double the price of the food? That's three times the price of a single unit of food! It's a bottomless pit that can never be filled!"

Upon hearing this, Baron Claire frowned slightly, then said slowly:
"So why can't we just be honest with him?"

"Frankly, oh, how ironic!"

The young nobleman sitting opposite him said coldly, "Baron Claire, you said your son was straightforward, but I didn't expect you to be so naive!"

"To be frank? How do you want to be frank? To frankly tell him that we, the nobles of the Kingdom of Lanelli, are actually unwilling to see the Earl's territory invaded, so we are supporting your food supply, so we infiltrated to help you defend the Earl's territory?"

He slammed his hand on the table, stood up abruptly, pointed to his face, and said sternly:

“Claire, can’t you see the veils on our faces? We’ve come here incognito, risking our lives to support you, and you’re taking our lives, all our noble titles, and putting them on the shoulders of a strange wizard?”

Indeed, most of the nobles sitting there were masked, but their method of covering only the area around their eyes was more like a decoration, as anyone could clearly distinguish their identities.

Perhaps this is the tacit understanding among the nobles?
I'm wearing a mask, so I'm an 'unknown person'. Even if you see me, you have to pretend you don't know me.
Baron Claire remained unhurried, saying methodically, "Isn't it enough to just tell Wizard Yarrow that we need to pass through to transport grain? Why all the explanation?"

"Ah!"

The masked nobleman seemed furious, turning his head and casting a seemingly casual glance at the old woman sitting at the head of the table.

"Baron Claire, your stupidity is so ridiculous it makes me laugh..."

The masked nobleman chuckled a few times, then suddenly roared, "Tell me, what if he doesn't agree!"

"Without this batch of grain, if the city falls, how many lives do you have to pay for it?"

"Since you trust him so much, why don't you just go and join him?"

"Weren't you living quite well at Perrin Manor in the Viscount's territory? Who asked you to come back? Who welcomed you back!"

"Or do you think that the disaster that has broken out in your territory, the deaths of your wife and your people, are related to us?"

"You came back to kill us..."

Bang Bang Bang!
Three mallet strikes interrupted the increasingly offensive words of the masked nobleman.

"Alright, Mr. Lucifer, please refrain from making unfounded accusations against Baron Claire."

“As you command, Countess Ilinda.”

The masked nobleman's attitude changed abruptly, and he bowed his head respectfully.

The Countess then looked at Claire, her weathered voice slowly saying:

"'Wizard' is not a good title, let alone 'wandering wizard'." "After all, the Kingdom of Lanelli is right next to the Death Swamp, and even before the war broke out, wandering wizards would often wander in by mistake."

"Those people do have some strange witchcraft, but in reality they can only bully ordinary people. And once they appear, it is usually accompanied by vicious incidents such as burning, killing, and looting."

"Baron Claire..."

"exist!"

Claire sat up straight.

The countess nodded slightly and continued:
"The reputation of wandering wizards is already bad, so it is normal for Mr. Lucius and others to be wary of the wizard Yarrow."

"Moreover, Mr. Lucius and his men are fighting here against the knights of the Saint Fernando Empire for the sake of our Earl's territory."

"We must take their feelings into account in everything we do."

"Could you explain why you believe that Wizard Yarrow is trustworthy?"

Baron Claire stood up, bowed respectfully to the Countess, and then looked around.

Why is the wizard Yarrow considered trustworthy?

Claire isn't the type of person who unconditionally trusts others the moment they meet them.

Of course, it was because of Yarrow's attitude towards the servants at Perrin Castle in the preceding months.

That kind of subconscious reaction cannot be hidden.

But how can this be explained?

Suspecting your neighbor of stealing your axe—looking at things with a prejudiced perspective—will only lead to prejudiced conclusions.

Even if they took out the letters that Dylan's assistant butler had sent over, they would only say that it was "just for show" or "treating servants with courtesy will surely lead to something big."

Claire pondered for a moment and said:
"Because of the power of Wizard Yarrow. He alone has the strength to destroy our Scalo Fortress, so he is trustworthy, and we have no choice but to trust him!"

An uproar erupted around them.

It was all harsh, mocking laughter!

Claire remained expressionless until the laughter around her subsided slightly before continuing:
“I recently received news… I can hardly believe it, but the offensive of the San Fernando Empire has indeed slowed down recently.”

With that, Baron Claire took a letter from his pocket and handed it to the burly middle-aged man, who then passed it on to the Countess.

The Countess had actually read the contents of this document immediately, but even now, she remained skeptical.

He looked through it again, then handed the envelope back to the burly man beside him.

"You should take a look too."

Envelopes were passed among the masked nobles, and whispers gradually filled the council chamber.

Soon, the envelope reached Lu Xiufu's hands.

He only glanced at it a few times before his expression became extremely strange.

"Claire, do you think we're fools?"

"An explosion with an impact radius of five kilometers? Do you know what five kilometers means?"

"And your source of information is quite interesting..."

"Your servant heard this from the witcher? And the witcher's information came from other wizards?"

How many times was it relayed in the middle?

"Claire, don't you know that the more people a message passes through, the less reliable it becomes?"

(End of this chapter)