Having a powerful lord as a father figure, what's wrong with just wanting to draw cards?

It was as if everything had been taken away in the face of death.

He only regained some consciousness when the maids ran over with terrified expressions. He stood up, only to hear an unusual fountain sound behind him.

He turned his head and looked.

As expected, he was about to witness a scene that would haunt his entire adolescence—

The magnificent fountain collapsed with a crash, a crack appeared in the floor tiles, and even the garden plants behind the fountain had holes in them...

This shows just how terrifying Domi's punch, which wasn't even fully delivered, was.

If you hit him in the face, his skull would probably fly ten miles away.

Alger seemed stunned, his arms hanging limply at his sides, the wooden sword falling to the ground with a clatter, muttering to himself:

"What... kind of monster are you...?"

Chapter 117, Section 116: The Cyclops come and go, but the Little Sword Saint remains constant.

Alger spread his hands, his face full of helplessness:

"That's how it is. Otherwise, do you think I, a princess's personal guard, would be reduced to being your henchman?"

In the office on the second floor of the Nightwish Tavern, Morey smirked after listening, while Mei, very considerately, served them tea and water.

"But wasn't your princess's personal bodyguard defeated by young master Dominic, and then he came over as a bettor..."

"Can you please stop reopening old wounds?" Alger sighed. "Young Master Dominic's strength far exceeds his sheep-like appearance. I can't even see the full extent of his power. It's unbelievable... What kind of parents could give birth to such a monster?"

"If you say that, Duke Carlos and Duchess Greta will be angry," Morey thought to himself.

"Never mind..." He picked up the cup and drank the tea in one gulp, quite like a soldier: "Let bygones be bygones. I've realized the difference between myself and him, and I still have a long way to go to catch up."

"Young master told me to follow your instructions. Tell me what I need to do so that I can return to the princess's side."

When it came to serious matters, Morey didn't mince words. He stood up, took a document from the filing cabinet next to him, and handed it to Alger.

As he looked, Morey verbally explained:

"Here's what happened: after Mr. Dominic instructed me to launch 'Hearth Cards,' this new game was indeed welcomed by the public, with audiences including men, women, and children of all ages, and the resulting profits were unbelievable."

"With this money, I opened several Hearthstone taverns in the city center, which served as both legitimate places to play Hearthstone and official sales points for card packs and card-drawing boxes."

"With the presence of physical industries, its popularity has increased even more, with monthly net profits reaching tens of thousands of yuan."

"Take the young master?!"

Alger was shocked. His annual salary was only eight hundred gold dragons. If he were to save up tens of thousands of gold dragons on his own, it would take him several years.

One year, two years, three years... Ah, never mind! The more I calculate, the more confused I get! Even working without eating or drinking until retirement would barely be enough, right?

Such astronomical figures were actually orchestrated by Domi alone? And all he had to do was lie in his mountaintop castle and count the money.

Under the pressure of reality, Alger was defeated by him once again, and utterly defeated.

"To be precise, it's 15,000 gold dragons. After the limited card packs are released, the monthly profit can reach over 30,000. And that's just the revenue from those three Hearthstone taverns. I'm currently planning to open taverns on the outskirts of the city and in the surrounding towns."

"But problems arose as well. Some people had their eyes on the Hearthstone Tavern's card pack sales business, and they wanted to take over and franchise it."

"The word 'franchising' means that others spend their own money to open a store and ride on our popularity, and then share a portion of the profits with them. In theory, franchising is actually a good thing. We can promote Lupai faster without spending a penny of our own money."

“But things like revenue transparency, management, and reputation are difficult to manage. If someone interferes, our Hearthstone Tavern could very well become their cash cow and money pit.”

“The young master’s property is sacred and inviolable. Doing this is undoubtedly not allowed, but we cannot supervise every aspect.”

"Look, the biggest underworld organization in the city has connections with various nobles and has a large number of members. They want a franchise license, but I didn't allow it."

"After that, countless heads of noble families, big and small, came to me to negotiate, hoping that I could grant permission. How could I refuse? They didn't know that these were all Young Master Domi's properties, and that he didn't want his secret plans to be known. If I didn't grant permission, they had the ability to make the Hearth Brand business plummet."

"On one hand, the business failed; on the other hand, my property was infringed upon and a malignant tumor was growing on it; and on yet another hand, the young master's plans were disrupted. I couldn't manage all three aspects at the same time. At this point, I needed a game-changer."

Morey looked directly at Alger and said in a deep voice:

"A person with a powerful background but not important, a person whose every move makes all nobles and powers wary and unable to figure out who authorized them."

Alger wasn't stupid; he naturally understood the underlying meaning and said coldly:

"You... or rather, young master, mean to bring Princess Shia onto the stage and use her as a shield?"

“I am Princess Shia’s knight, and I will not allow anything to violate the princess’s reputation or interests! I will talk to the young master about this matter and ask him to make other plans.”

"I don't think so~" Morey said mysteriously after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain. First of all, my goal is to ensure that the young master's business is preserved and carried forward. All my actions are for the young master's benefit, and this matter is no exception."

"And Princess Shia, whom you serve and protect... no, she should be called the young mistress, is definitely going to marry Young Master Domi in the future, as you and I have both witnessed."

"After marriage, a couple's assets and reputations are intertwined, so they should help each other, right? What you're doing now doesn't necessarily mean that the young mistress's reputation will be damaged. They can't figure out who's behind it all. And by doing this, you can protect the young master's business, which is equivalent to indirectly protecting the young mistress's business!"

"You've really done Her Highness a favor by going back and forth like this!"

Gollum—

Alger swallowed hard as he listened, while the other sound came from Mei.

She never imagined that Morey, who was usually quite honest, could be so terrifying when he started to deceive people; it seemed like he had almost brainwashed Alger.

Morey, seizing the opportunity, walked behind Alger, placed his hands on Alger's shoulders, and whispered in his ear:

"Although the princess won't know it was you who did it after this succeeds, in the future, when the truth about the young masters' marriage comes out, you, Alger, will be a true hero! You protected this precious asset and safeguarded their future!"

"Ha~~"

“Go, you ‘Cyclops’ hiding in the underground casino, teach them a lesson.”

boom!

With the tavern door slammed shut, Alger immediately headed to the city's largest underground casino.

Looking at his upright yet innocently foolish back, Morey could only pray to God, hoping that Alger could forgive him.

"Where is the leader of the Cyclops?!"

The underground casino was still bustling, filled with scantily clad female dealers and gamblers with lewd expressions.

But after Alger chopped the door down and let out a roar, the scene fell silent instantly.

"I am Alger, a trainee knight of the Lion's Mouth Knights' youth training camp and Princess Rose's personal bodyguard! Tell the leader of the Cyclops to come out and see me immediately!"

"What, have you all become deaf?"

His sharp gaze swept over the crowd, and seeing that no one paid any attention to him, Alger finished speaking and headed towards the depths of the casino.

A group of men dressed as servants immediately came out and stopped him, speaking in a polite and apologetic tone:

“How could we ignore you, Lord Alger? It’s just that our leader is probably busy right now. How about we wait a bit? We’ll serve you the finest drinks and the most beautiful ladies…”

"Are you trying to buy him time so he can escape? Such petty tricks won't fool me. Get out of my way, or I'll kill you all on the spot!"

The cold longsword was drawn, and the servants immediately retreated, letting Alger walk deeper into the area.

However, before he could take more than a few steps, a very strong and muscular man with a mask covering his left eye, shirtless, walked out with two alluring women in his arms, a pipe dangling from his mouth, looking extremely arrogant.

"The man known as the Cyclops—Rakad, possesses formidable close-combat skills and is also a formal-level water-attribute mage..."

Alger had this information in his mind. Morey had organized it quite thoroughly, even comparing his chances of defeating Laqad—barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should be able to take down Laqad, but it wouldn't be an easy task.

"It is truly an honor to have Your Excellency Alger grace us with your presence. May I ask what brings you here today?"

Alger simply shook his head and said, "No reason, just to teach you a lesson."

Upon hearing this, Laqad burst into laughter.

With him backing him up, the casino's underlings burst into laughter, clearly not taking him seriously. After all, he was just a trainee knight from the youth training camp, a mere follower of the princess.

If they were truly knights of the Lion's Mouth, they would probably kneel on the ground upon meeting.

Now? Forget it, he's just a greenhorn.

"what's so funny?"

"Sir, you must have been sent by the owner of that forge, right? No, that owner is just a double agent; the real mastermind sent you, didn't he?"

"Let me guess... Could it be Princess Shia? Haha, that's impossible. Then who could it be~~"

"I advise you not to have any wild thoughts, otherwise, even those nobles who have had affairs with you won't be able to protect you," Alger said menacingly.

"Hehe, I'm really scared~" Lakad said coyly for a moment before turning serious, "So, Lord Alger, what do you intend to do?"

"Didn't I tell you? I'll teach you a lesson, and then I'll leave."

“Have you considered that fighting me is tantamount to fighting the entire ‘Cyclops’? Moreover, you struck first. According to the laws of the Bloomfield Territory, we have the right to retaliate.”

"It won't kill him, but he'll at least be seriously injured. And when that happens, the embarrassment and disgrace won't be our responsibility. Have you thought this through, sir?"

Alger pointed his longsword at Lacad's Adam's apple and lunged forward: "Enough with the nonsense! I also advise you to give up the struggle!"

"Haha, you really can't hold your temper," Lakad said calmly, casually pushing the two women aside and teasing them, "I'll come and favor you later."

Faced with Alger's charge, Laqad finally moved.

Water flowed from his palms, turning into a trickle that reflected the trajectory of his punches.

"I want to see just how sharp the sword of this legendary swordsmanship genius is! Whether it can cleave through my ten years of accumulated skill!"

In an instant, sword marks and fist shadows intertwined, and the two fought so fast that they were almost leaving afterimages. It was a battle that no normal person could possibly intervene in.

“Fists again…” Alger couldn’t help but recall the psychological trauma left from that day: “But your fists are nowhere near as good as his!”

Alger pressed his advantage, deflecting Raccard's fist with a single sword strike, exposing his entire front to his attack range.

His face lit up with joy, and he raised his sword, thrusting it at the man with a series of sharp, cracking motions. Just as it was about to strike, a slight, mocking smile appeared on Rajad's lips:

"Lord Alger, your sword has truly gone soft,"

"what?!"

Lakad, a man of such stature, bent low like flowing water, dodged Alger's sword as easily as putty, and finally slammed his iron fist, imbued with water magic, into Alger's abdomen!

"Ugh!!"

Alger was thrown several meters away, rolling and crouching low as he went.