48: Identify the murderer and seek revenge.

Thus, Arthur distributed ten million catties of wheat flour as compensation.

This number seemed huge, but buying it in Arthur's Portable Shop only cost twenty thousand gold coins.

It was nothing to Arthur!

Furthermore, since Arthur's Earth Elementalist had not yet arrived, even though the compensation was distributed, the expansion had not truly begun and would have to wait until next month.

Just as Arthur was busy preparing for the city expansion, Petro, who had been sent to the Thorn Flower Count's Fief, finally made a major discovery.

Petro had stayed in the Thorn Flower Count's castle for two days, watching the Thorn Flower Count day and night to see if he would reveal any flaws.

But perhaps due to Petro's bad luck, the Thorn Flower Count had only conducted normal official business these two days, without mentioning anything secretive.

But everything took a turn this morning when a man who appeared to be the Thorn Flower Count's Intelligence Captain hurriedly sought out the Thorn Flower Count.

"My Lord, according to reports from the scouts, Marquis of Roses seems to still intend to form a marriage alliance with Arthur. They are even preparing a convoy these two days to visit Arthur."

"Damn it, how could this happen!"

Upon hearing this news, the Thorn Flower Count's originally calm face instantly twisted into a ferocious expression.

It must be known that the Thorn Flower Count's mood had been fluctuating wildly over the past few months.

First, the failed assassination of Arthur made him furious.

But then the news that Arthur was going to start an expansion excited him, as the death rate for expansions was relatively high. At that time, he thought Arthur was just a reckless brat.

However, after the news arrived that Arthur had conquered the Mountain Giants and defeated the Gnoll army, the Thorn Flower Count felt that things were slipping out of his control.

Immediately after, when Arthur announced Karona as his woman, the Thorn Flower Count finally felt a trace of relief.

Because he believed that, with this news, the marriage alliance between Arthur and Olivia was definitely ruined, which indirectly weakened the strength of Kuangshiling.

But now that the marriage alliance between the two could actually continue, the Thorn Flower Count, who had previously felt a little relieved, could not accept this and immediately flew into a rage.

Seeing this, the Intelligence Captain quickly tried to comfort him:

"My Lord, although that brat Arthur has explosive luck, his own strength is still too low, only at the Bronze level.

Those two giants, due to their size, cannot constantly guard him.

A few months ago, we managed to leave him gravely wounded and near death. Now, as long as we are willing to send out a Gold Knight level expert to assassinate Arthur, I believe that brat will surely die, thus resolving our deeply troubling problem.

Otherwise, if his strength increases further, the chance of assassination will be slim!"

Hearing this, the Thorn Flower Count nodded heavily and said helplessly:

"It seems this is the only way now!"

As soon as these two sentences were spoken, Petro, who was hidden in the shadows, understood immediately: the assassination attempt against Arthur months ago was orchestrated by the Thorn Flower Count.

Therefore, Petro did not wait for the two to discuss the details of the next assassination attempt. He revealed himself and casually split the Intelligence Captain in half with a single sword strike.

The splattered blood immediately stained the Thorn Flower Count beside him. Feeling the warmth of the blood on his face, the Thorn Flower Count finally realized there was an assassin.

Just based on that single strike, the Thorn Flower Count knew this person was beyond his ability to fight. He was about to call for reinforcements.

Petro stepped forward directly and gripped the Thorn Flower Count's neck with one hand, turning him into a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, unable to make any sound.

Facing the Thorn Flower Count, the mastermind who wanted to harm Arthur—whom Petro regarded as a god—how could Petro tolerate this?

Therefore, he could not let him die easily. Under the Thorn Flower Count's terrified gaze, Petro began crushing every bone in his body, inch by inch.

In just a moment, the Thorn Flower Count became like a pile of mud, his whole body limp.

At this moment, the veins on his face were bulging, and the cold sweat soaked his entire body. It was clear he was enduring unimaginable pain.

The Thorn Flower Count was indeed on the verge of collapse. He didn't understand when he had offended a Sky Knight expert, causing them to hold such great hatred for him that they would lower themselves to torture him, an Earth Knight.

He even suspected the person in front of him had the wrong target, but he couldn't speak now. He couldn't even offer a single word of defense, only feeling his life gradually draining away amid immense frustration and pain.

A few minutes later, Petro sensed that the Thorn Flower Count was close to death, and only then did he speak his first words in this place:

"You shouldn't have offended Lord Arthur. Don't worry, I will send your entire family to accompany you."

Then, under the Thorn Flower Count's disbelieving gaze, a single palm strike turned him into fragments.

Thus, the Thorn Flower Count's castle was destined for a bloody night... That same night, as Arthur was alone in his study contemplating future development directions, a somewhat unexpected person appeared before him.

It was Petro, whom Arthur had sent to the Thorn Flower Count's place to investigate the truth about the assassination, who had returned.

Arthur looked closely and noticed a faint trace of Killing Intent emanating from Petro. He seemed to have anticipated something and asked:

"What is the result?"

Hearing this, Petro knelt on one knee:

"My Lord is truly prescient. The Thorn Flower Count was indeed the true mastermind behind your assassination. I have executed everyone in his Fief who was related to him by blood, and I have specially returned to report back to you.

Detailed news should arrive within a few days!"

Petro spoke of those related by blood within the Fief, meaning he not only killed the relatives inside the Thorn Flower Count's castle but also those who had been enfeoffed!

He was more thorough than Arthur had previously instructed (which was only to kill the people inside the castle)!

Hearing this, Arthur looked at Petro with increasing satisfaction. As expected of a Sky Knight expert, he handled things swiftly and decisively, investigating the matter and wiping out all the culprits in less than three days!

He quickly stepped forward, placed a hand on Petro's shoulder, and helped him up:

"You worked hard, Petro. You truly solved a major problem for me!"

Receiving Arthur's praise, a smile spread across Petro's face. It was impossible to tell that he was a murderer who had killed hundreds of people in just one day.

"Thank you for the praise, My Lord. This is what I should do!"

The Thorn Flower Count was an old noble; he was already a Viscount before the Mondo Province campaign, so he had quite a few relatives.

Afterward, Petro detailed his specific methods of action. Nearly twenty minutes later, Petro, remembering something, grabbed dozens of space rings from his person:

"My Lord, these are the spoils I obtained in the Thorn Flower Count's Fief. The preliminary estimate is close to thirty million gold coins."