The most shameless alchemist in history

But since Dure had just stopped him from revealing his identity, he couldn't act on his own initiative anymore.

“It’s just a misunderstanding. Nobody wants this to happen. How about we each take a step back, the adults can attend the party, and we’ll leave?” Du Lei suggested.

"Let you go like this? That's too easy on you. We have to arrest you all and teach you a lesson!" Machiru was unhappy and would not agree to such a solution.

“But Machiru, Messiah’s party is about to begin, and it’s really not good for us to waste time here,” Halden said after thinking for a moment.

“It seems that’s true. I was really looking forward to this party. I also heard that Sister Messiah brought someone back, and I wanted to meet her properly. So, Brother Halden, what do you think we should do?” Machiru asked Halden for his opinion.

“In that case… let’s arrest them first, and punish them after the party,” Halden said softly.

“Oh, is that so? By the way, after we finish the party, we’ll deal with them. You guys must keep a close eye on them and make sure they don’t get away, understand?” Maggie Lu wholeheartedly agreed with Halden’s suggestion.

At the same time, she earnestly instructed the captain of the guard.

"This..." The captain of the guard looked at Zelen again, not knowing what to do.

Because he was genuinely confused.

Zelen is a Messiah, and Machiru and Halden are actually asking me to arrest my own friend in front of the Duke's mansion. Is this a joke?

“Alright, they’ll definitely do their job responsibly. Let’s go in first,” Halden advised Machiru.

Soon the two of them walked into the Duke's mansion.

"Zelen, what exactly happened, and who is this...?" After Machiru and Halden had walked away, the captain of the guard turned back and asked Zeren about the situation. He was completely confused.

“How would I know what happened? I just ran into a crazy woman as soon as I got back. Oh, by the way, this is Mr. Dure,” Zelen introduced.

"Ah? You must be Mr. Du Lei!" The captain of the guard exclaimed excitedly.

Although this was his first time meeting Du Lei, he had already heard about Du Lei over the past two days!

865 Taking advantage of someone's misfortune

Since the party was about to begin, Dure and Zelen did not exchange pleasantries with the captain of the guard at the gate for long. They hurried into the Duke's mansion. Of course, the captain of the guard did not arrest them, since one of them was one of their own and the other was a distinguished guest.

As for Halden and Machiru, their problems with Dure are beyond the Captain of the Guard's jurisdiction. It's far beyond his responsibilities, and asking him to handle it would be asking too much of him.

At the same time that Dure and Zelen entered the Duke's mansion, Halden and Machiru walked into the party hall.

By this time, many dignitaries had already arrived at the party hall. Upon seeing Halden and Maggie, they all smiled and raised their glasses in greeting. After all, both Halden and Maggie were currently very popular figures.

To be precise, the families behind them hold a pivotal position in the current situation.

The Octopus Clan needs no introduction. It can be said that the Octopus Clan is currently the second largest clan in the River Bend region, and it is also one of the top five powerful clans in the entire Swamp Kingdom, possessing formidable strength. While the Osprey Clan's reputation is not as resounding as that of the Octopus Clan.

However, as the owner of Osprey Port, one of the eight most prosperous ports in the Land of Swamps, the Osprey family possesses an advantage that the other seven ports do not have: Osprey Port controls the passage from the Land of Swamps to the Land of the Sea, the Thumb Strait.

As its name suggests, the Thumb Strait is a strait that is only the size of a thumb. Of course, this "thumb size" is not just in reality. If it were really only that big, it wouldn't be called a strait. The "thumb" refers to its shape on the map. The Thumb Strait is very narrow and shaped like a thumb.

However, this is also the vital passage to the Sea Kingdom. If one does not go through the Thumb Strait and instead detours from other places, it will take at least half a month longer. It is precisely because of this unique geographical advantage that the Osprey family has countless friends and very few enemies.

"Thanks to you, Brother Halden, just now. If you hadn't shown up, I might have been bullied by someone else," Machiru said with a smile, blinking her eyes.

“It’s nothing, Maggie, you don’t need to worry about it. Besides, I’m happy to help lovely Maggie,” Halden said with a smile. He was about ten years older than Maggie, and the two looked like siblings.

"People these days are getting more and more annoying. They have absolutely no manners. If only they were half as well-mannered as you, Brother Halden, no, even a tenth as well-mannered." Recalling her experience just now, Maggie was still feeling resentful.

"Alright, Maggie, don't worry about those little things. By the way, why didn't your brother come?" Halden asked curiously. Maggie has an older brother who is about the same age as her, and they are very good friends.

“You mean my brother? He went to the Sea Kingdom,” Machiru explained.

"The Kingdom of the Sea? What is Ottesen going to the Kingdom of the Sea for?" Halden asked in surprise.

“How would I know about him? After he met that sea princess once, he was completely bewitched by her. Now he’s gone to the Sea Kingdom to pursue her relentlessly and hasn’t even come home. My father is furious about it,” Machiru said sullenly.

“The Princess of the Sea? I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard she’s a very beautiful and gentle woman,” Halden said after thinking for a moment.

"What beauty and gentleness? I think she's just a vixen," Maggie said with a snort.

Clearly, she didn't have a good impression of that sea princess.

“Alright, Maggie, if I see your brother, I’ll definitely give him a good talking to,” Halden said with a smile.

“Brother Halden, you’re the best! By the way, Brother Halden, I heard that you came here this time to talk to Sister Messiah…” Machiru suddenly remembered something and asked curiously.

“Yes, I was planning to propose to Messiah,” Halden nodded in affirmation.

“So it really is true. I thought it was just a rumor.” Maggie suddenly grinned.

"I just don't know if Messiah will agree," Halden said uncertainly.

“How could Sister Messiah refuse? Brother Halden, you are such a kind person, and the River Reach region is not very stable right now. Sister Messiah needs your support to stabilize the River Reach region. So, whether it is for the public good or for private reasons, Sister Messiah will definitely agree!”

"If only it could really be like that..." Halden wanted to say something more.

But at that moment, he suddenly noticed someone not far away, someone who made Tan feel very uncomfortable, and someone who shouldn't be there.

"Brother Halden, what's wrong? Who are you looking at?" Maggie followed Halden's gaze.

She was a little curious as to why Halden's expression had suddenly turned sour.

But when she saw two people walking by in the distance, her face instantly turned icy.

"These two people...aren't they the same two we met at the gate? How did they get in? Shouldn't they have been arrested? What's going on? Hey, you two, stop right there! Stop right there!" Machiru was so angry that she didn't care about her image and stepped forward to shout at them.

“Mr. Dure, please come this way. Lady Messiah is here… oh?” Zelen was leading Dure to see Messiah.

Just then, he heard someone shouting at them, and he looked over in surprise.

Soon they also saw Maggie and Halden.

"What, it's you again? Are you calling us?" Zelen was already furious.

He had just calmed down a little, but now that he saw Machiru and the other two, he was furious again.

"I was wondering why it's you again. How did you get in?" Machiru shouted.

“That’s a rather perplexing question… As you can see, we walked in.” Zelen was somewhat baffled.

"Walked in? I mean, shouldn't you have been arrested? Who allowed you to come in?" Machiru questioned again.

In her opinion, these two guys, whom she found utterly repulsive, should have been locked up and dealt with after she finished attending the party. But she hadn't expected to see them now, which made her especially angry.

“You can come in, so of course we can come in too, this is really…” Zelen originally wanted to argue with her.

“We’re here to see a friend,” Dure waved his hand, indicating that Zelen didn’t need to continue, and stepped forward to speak.

Seeing that even Dure had stepped forward, Zelen had no choice but to step aside.

"Looking for friends? In a place like this, you actually have friends? Tell me, who are your friends?" Machiru said with a mocking laugh.

“Magical, let me do it.” Hale stepped forward and stood opposite Dure.

“Brother Halden, look at them…” Maggie was getting anxious.

"It's alright, where are the guards? Guards?" Halden looked around and asked loudly.

Soon, at his command, a squad of guards rushed forward.

"What can I do for you?" The head guard was a different man, not the one we had seen at the main gate. He inquired about the situation.

“Two suspicious men have infiltrated this place. They should have been arrested outside. Although I’m not entirely sure what happened, take them down immediately and make sure nothing goes wrong here,” Halden said grimly.

The commotion attracted the attention of many nobles in the vicinity.

"Hey, what's going on over there? Why are so many guards coming in?"

"It seems to be guards summoned by young master Halden. I'm not quite sure what's going on."

"What? Halden summoned him? He really thinks this place is his old port, issuing orders like this. Although there are rumors that he wants to propose to Miss Messiah, it hasn't happened yet, has it? Does he already consider himself the master of River Bend?"

"The marriage proposal is a done deal, isn't it? Putting aside the Octopus family's wealth and power, given the current situation in the River Bend region, which has been targeted by the capital, the only way to fight against the capital is to win over the major families. The Octopus family has seized on this point, which is why they dare to propose at this time, right? It's almost like they're taking advantage of someone's misfortune."

"Shh, keep your voice down. The Octopus family is at its peak right now, so we dare not offend them, especially that young master Halden. If we provoke him, who knows what serious consequences might follow."

The nearby dignitaries were gossiping amongst themselves. While they were all very polite to Halden, their opinions of him were not very high in private.

While the nobles were gossiping, Halden was staring intently at the two men in front of him.

He had always been a domineering person who never dared to disobey anyone. These two people should have been dealt with, but they actually appeared in front of him again, which made him feel extremely embarrassed.

He also felt that the other party was provoking him, which made him feel furious.

“Suspicious people? But…” The captain of the guard looked at Dure and Zelen, and hesitated for a moment.

"But what? Are you going to ignore our safety and not arrest any suspicious people loitering around in front of you?" Halden really couldn't understand why these guards were being so hesitant. Even if this wasn't his territory, and these guards weren't his subordinates.

But normally they shouldn't react this way, which made Halden very strange.

“But they’re not suspicious people…” the guard captain said anxiously.

“What did you say? Aren’t they suspicious?” Maggie Lu was displeased and questioned the captain of the guard.

“They’re right. We’re not suspicious people. Let me introduce myself. My name is Zelen, and I’m a coachman… just for Mr. Dure, of course, to show my respect for him. But I’m actually the captain of the patrol team in charge of the defense of River Bend City. In other words, they’re all my colleagues, and I have an official position.” Zelen stated his identity.

"What? The patrol captain? Even if you have an official position, you're just a lowly captain. What does that matter? We are nobles. Convicting you is just a matter of a word!" Machiru said with a gloomy face.

She only relaxed a little after learning that the two guys would be punished accordingly, and her expression softened slightly.

But not long after that, they were seen again, which explains why Maggie was so unhappy.

“Yes, you are high and mighty nobles who can condemn me at will, but the problem is I have not committed any crime,” Zelen said dismissively.

"You're innocent? You brought a suspicious person into the Duke's mansion without permission. What are you trying to do? Or are you plotting something?" Halden said with a grim face.

Just then, footsteps sounded from not far away, and the nobles who had been watching the commotion quickly made way for them.

Because the owner of this place has arrived.

"What's going on here?" Messiah, dressed in a black evening gown, was undoubtedly the focus of the party.

She was beautiful and elegant, and she quickly stepped forward to inquire about the situation.

“Sister Messiah, you’ve come at the right time! There’s a suspicious person here who’s up to no good. Sister Messiah, he’s bullied me! You have to stand up for me!” Machiru immediately stepped forward and said.

"Suspicious person? Who is it?" Messiah asked curiously.

“This is the guy. I don’t know where he came from, and your captain is even colluding with him.” Halden immediately stepped forward to explain as he saw Messiah approaching.

"This...is there some misunderstanding?" Messiah followed the gazes of Machiru and Halden.

She realized that they were all criticizing Du Lei, and she said hesitantly.

"It's a misunderstanding, there's no misunderstanding at all, Sister Messiah, arrest him right now!" Machiru said resentfully.