49: The news spread, and a new Sky Knight appeared.

“To prevent others from guessing that we were the culprits based on the items, I only confiscated the copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins from the Thorn Flower Count's Fief.”

Although only confiscating money meant losing many valuable items, Petro did nothing wrong, because Arthur cannot yet reveal his true strength.

He suffers from a slight fear of insufficient strength; as long as he cannot completely crush his opponent, he feels unsafe.

Therefore, without several Legendary Experts backing him, he would not dare oppose the Kate Kingdom.

Killing hundreds of nobles in a single day this time was an immense provocation to the kingdom, so Arthur cannot expose his identity.

Moreover, thirty million gold coins is no small sum; it's enough to buy three Sky Knights. It would take three months just to earn that much selling gold knight armor. Arthur was already very satisfied!

He couldn't help but pat Petro on the shoulder and say:

“Haha, you did very well. If the opportunity arises in the future, I will certainly prioritize equipping you with armor and weapons commensurate with your strength.”

As a warrior, he naturally cared deeply about his weapons and equipment, so Petro quickly replied:

“Thank you, Milord. I am willing to serve Milord until death!”

Then, seeing Petro looking somewhat travel-worn, Arthur said:

“You worked hard this time. Rest for two days, and then go guard my family in the Fierce Lion Territory!”

“Understood, subordinate!”

After that, Petro withdrew!

Arthur looked at the dozens of space rings he now held, wasted no time, and excitedly took out the thirty million gold coins worth of wealth, stored it in the Portable Shop, and destroyed the evidence.

With his assets suddenly increasing by thirty million gold coins, Arthur's desire to purchase things began to stir again!

Then, considering that Victor alone guarding him left no free time, he stopped hesitating and purchased another Sky Knight.

This way, someone could rotate shifts with Victor, making the arrangement much more reasonable.

The newly summoned Sky Knight was named Wilson. Arthur, as usual, gave him one hundred thousand gold coins to prepare his own clothes, weapons, and equipment.

Having spent ten million gold coins in one go, Arthur's purchasing desire was satisfied, so he didn't linger in the Portable Shop.

He went straight to sleep with a satisfied smile. Karona, who was already in bed, was happy to see Arthur happy. She couldn't help but hug Arthur and show a sweet smile.

Seeing Karona's considerate demeanor made Arthur even happier, causing him to lie in bed for quite a while before finally suppressing his inner excitement and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Time came to the afternoon of the next day. Arthur was originally handling official business in his room.

Chris and Charles unexpectedly came to find Arthur at the same time, both looking excited.

Arthur guessed their purpose—the matter concerning the Thorn Flower Count had likely spread.

Sure enough, Chris excitedly said:

“Milord, news has arrived! The Thorn Flower Count, who has always been at odds with our Fierce Lion Territory, was assassinated inside his castle!

And it wasn't just him; everyone in the Thorn Flower Count's Fief related to him by Bloodline died, except for those women who had married out and were not within the Thorn Flower territory, who luckily escaped.

It can be said that the Thorn Flower Count's Fief now exists only in name!”

Seeing Chris's excitement, Arthur, for the sake of secrecy, could only display a similarly excited expression:

“Really? That's wonderful!”

Seeing that Arthur still seemed somewhat unconvinced, Charles quickly added:

“It's true, Milord!

This news spread throughout the Kate Kingdom this morning. Since we are located in the Barren Plains, the news travels a bit slower, and we are only just finding out now.

The Thorn Flower Count always opposed our territory. His demise truly brings great satisfaction, though it is a pity that his prosperous Counts Fief has no heir and must be reclaimed by the Royal Family.

Charles truly lives up to his title as Magistrate; managing finances and affairs means he is sensitive to matters concerning land and property.

The rules for noble inheritance within the Kate Kingdom dictate that when there is a direct heir, the inheritance passes to the corresponding direct Bloodline.

Only the direct line is allowed; collateral lines are not.

Additionally, the noble's wife also has inheritance rights.

Of course, this only applies if the noble has no son, or if the son has not yet reached adulthood.

Generally, the order of succession is son, then mother, and finally daughter, provided the daughter has not married out.

If all persons with inheritance rights perish, the Royal Family will reclaim the land for the state; neighboring nobles are not permitted to seize it.

Because if seizing land were permitted, the nobles within the kingdom would constantly be fighting each other for territory.

In that case, the kingdom could not be maintained. Therefore, for the stability of the kingdom, expanding territory must be done by pioneering abroad, not by creating internal disputes.

This is also why Arthur knew the Thorn Flower Count's Fief would descend into chaos but did not have his father send troops to attack it.

Afterwards, Charles and Chris began recounting how great a shock this incident had caused the kingdom.

Since the culprit was able to silently kill a powerful Earth Knight like the Thorn Flower Count, the culprit must be at least several Earth Knight Experts or Sky Knight Experts.

Either way, it means the culprit possesses extremely formidable strength.

If the culprit intends to kill other nobles, then ninety-nine percent of the nobles in the kingdom would be incapable of resistance.

This has led to a sense of panic spreading throughout the kingdom.

Under such immense pressure, the Royal Family has even dispatched a special investigation team, which will arrive at the Thorn Flower Count's Fief within days.

Arthur was not worried about this. Given Petro's Peak Sky Knight strength, unless the Royal Family's Stabilizing Force Legendary Knight came personally, no one else would find any clues.

But an incident like this could not possibly alarm a Legendary Expert, so Arthur was not concerned.

Furthermore, there was a rumor circulating within the kingdom that the Thorn Flower Tragedy was likely orchestrated jointly by the Fierce Lion Territory and the Raging Bear Territory.

After all, the three Counts Fiefs are adjacent, and they often clash and harbor deep grudges.

Moreover, Art, the successor of the Fierce Lion Territory, is engaged to the legitimate daughter of the Raging Bear Territory. It is not impossible that the two parties cooperated to strike this deadly blow.

However, this was merely a rumor, and aside from causing some trouble for the Fierce Lion Territory and the Raging Bear Territory, it was useless.

Since the destruction of the Thorn Flower Count's Fief was truly a cause for celebration.

After Arthur spoke with Chris and Charles for a long time, he rarely held a dinner party, gathering the high-ranking officials of Initial City for a good meal and drinks... Just like that, another day passed, and the Royal Family's investigators finally arrived at the Thorn Flower Count's Fief.

However, this had nothing to do with Arthur. He was merely thinking that there were less than two days left until the one-week deadline he promised for sending supplies to his parents.

Deciding not to delay, he immediately spent over three million gold coins to exchange for the corresponding gale repeating crossbows, obsidian, and wheat flour.

Finally, he arranged for Sky Knight Victor to deliver the space rings containing the items to his parents.

Because the volume of the supplies this time was too large, he even had to use two large space rings to fit everything inside.