128: Maurice Joseph

Hearing Lister's words, Glaisdon cried out in surprise, even rubbing his ears as if he had misheard.

Earl Elsid at the head of the table, as well as Thebesa and Philomina at the side, could not help but show looks of astonishment.

Only Daisna, sitting next to Lister, showed no surprise at all, and there was even a hint of small pride in her beautiful eyes.

Glaisdon, unable to contain his curiosity, was the first to ask, "Lister, tell us quickly, how did you do it?"

"That heavy rain was a once-in-a-decade event; even in our Tulip Territory, many people died, and the surrounding territories suffered even more casualties."

Seeing this, Lister gave a gentle smile and explained, "Actually, my approach was the same as most lords—I immediately arranged for house inspections, personnel evacuations, and other measures."

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"Since I had previously arranged for all the Serfs living in the wild within the Ironthorn Territory to move to Ironthorn Town, all the Serfs of the entire Ironthorn Territory live in Ironthorn Town."

"This way, when a major disaster strikes, it's easier to unify dispatching and management."

"Besides that, if there's anything different about Ironthorn Town compared to other territories, it might be that the Drainage System is better designed."

"Drainage System?" Everyone looked surprised.

Lister nodded and began to explain in detail.

Soon, after listening to the explanation, everyone couldn't help but show expressions of sudden enlightenment.

In fact, drainage tools did exist in the cities of the Pedan Kingdom, but they were relatively crude and did not form a unified large system.

Therefore, when hit by heavy rain, although they had a drainage function, the effect was not very good, or the water drained was not as much as the rainfall.

With one side failing to keep up with the other, rainwater would continuously accumulate on houses and in the streets, naturally forming a great hidden danger.

At this point, Daisna added, "The Drainage System in Ironthorn Town was designed by Lister himself."

"Correspondingly, there are also new job positions he established: Cleaners. They are specifically responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the houses and streets in Ironthorn Town."

"If you go there, you will absolutely fall in love with Ironthorn Town; its level of cleanliness is unmatched by any place in the entire kingdom."

Hearing this, Elsid praised, "It seems, Lister, your governance ability is much better than I thought."

"This is the first time I've seen Daisna hold someone in such high esteem."

Thebesa and Philomina at the side nodded in agreement simultaneously.

"The Earl overpraises me," Lister said modestly. "I just research some small inventions; the main governance of the Ironthorn Territory still relies on my magistrate and the heads of the various positions."

Glaisdon said with a laugh, "Haha, Lister, don't be modest. Since Ironthorn Territory is described so well by Daisna, I must find time to visit your Ironthorn Territory."

"The Ironthorn Territory welcomes everyone at any time."

Everyone smiled and did not continue further on this topic.

Soon, a sumptuous banquet ended amidst everyone's pleasant voices... After dinner, in the central open space of the manor's guest quarters.

Although they had come to the Tulip Territory, Lister, Red, and the others did not slacken in their cultivation at all.

At this time, everyone was in their own small area of the open space, practicing their Breathing Technique.

After practicing for a while, the figures of Daisna and her little maid appeared in Lister's line of sight.

Seeing her come here so late at night, Lister asked in surprise, "It's so late, why aren't you resting early?"

"I couldn't really sleep, so I happened to bring you some fruit to eat," Daisna said with a soft smile, smoothing a strand of hair by her ear.

As her voice fell, the little maid Norse immediately handed the large plate of fruit she was holding to Red, who was beside Lister.

Lister was somewhat skeptical of Daisna's explanation, but he didn't say much.

As they chatted, a richly dressed young man walked over from the long corridor not far away, followed by a knight in armor.

Seeing Daisna there, the young man's eyes lit up, and he greeted her with a somewhat narcissistic tone, "Daisna, why are you here? Could it be that you came to see me?"

"Morris, what nonsense are you talking!" Daisna scolded softly, then looked at Lister and explained in a low voice, "Lister, don't listen to his nonsense; he is Earl Joseph's illegitimate son."

"He used to live in Aetheria, but not long ago, Earl Joseph publicly acknowledged his identity."

"After this Aetheria Grand Birthday Celebration, he will return to his territory."

As she finished speaking, Morris and his attendant knight walked up close to Lister and the others.

Morris pretended to look heartbroken and said, "Daisna, we grew up playing together; what you just said really makes me sad."

"It's your own fault for talking nonsense."

After a chuckle, Morris looked at Lister on the side and asked curiously, "And this is?"

"He is the Lord of Ironthorn Territory, Lister Howard, a distinguished guest of our Flanders Family, and also my good friend," Daisna said, emphasizing her tone intentionally.

Hearing this, Morris bowed and introduced himself, "Hello, Lord Howard, I am the illegitimate son of Earl Joseph, Morris Joseph."

"Hello, Lord Morris," Lister returned the greeting with a calm expression.

But in his heart, he felt quite surprised; he hadn't expected Morris to make no secret of his status as an illegitimate son.

One must know that nobles value face above all else, and the reputation of an illegitimate son was always unpleasant; who would admit it themselves?

Not only that, from Lister's perception just now, he could tell that when Morris said the words 'illegitimate son', his tone was very flat and casual.

In his heart, Lister couldn't help but label him as 'interesting'.

At this time, Morris, who had also sized up Lister, looked at Daisna with an ambiguous expression and teased, "Daisna, I see that Lord Howard is not just your good friend, but surely some kind of 'close' friend."

Daisna's face immediately turned Red, and she said, "Morris, if you talk nonsense again, watch out or I'll have my third brother come teach you a lesson."

Morris laughed and pretended to look afraid, saying, "Alright, alright, I'm scared, I'll stop talking, I'll stop talking."

"Fine, after playing outside all day, I'm tired too; I'm going back to rest."

Saying that, he nodded to Lister and then turned to leave.

Watching his back disappear, Lister turned to Daisna and asked, "Daisna, what kind of person is Morris?"

"Ah, what do you mean?" Daisna was stunned, then thinking Lister had some misunderstanding, she quickly explained, "Lister, don't misunderstand, he and I are just friends."

Lister gave a gentle smile and said, "I know, I'm asking you what his character is like?"

Realizing she had misunderstood again, Daisna's cheeks became as Red as dragon blood fruit, and it took a while for her to recover.

She spoke up, "Although Morris is Earl Joseph's illegitimate son, because Earl Joseph and my father are very close, he was arranged to live in Aetheria from a young age."

"His identity was never hidden from us; as children, he, I, and other peers of the Flanders Family all played and grew up together."

"Aside from being a bit narcissistic, he is actually a very good person and takes good care of me."

"But it's only that kind of sibling affection, and he already has a girl he likes now, right here in Aetheria."

While explaining, she specifically added the information that Morris had a girl he liked.

Earl Joseph and Earl Elsid are very close?

Capturing the key information, Lister asked again, "Do you know why he hadn't made his identity public before?"

"I'm not clear on that; Father has never said, and is unwilling to mention it," Daisna said, shaking her head.

Nodding, Lister thought for a moment and spoke up, "Do you know if he has offended anyone?"

"Offended someone?"

Daisna was startled and asked in confusion, "Lister, why do you ask?"

Looking around and seeing no outsiders, Lister whispered, "Some time ago, a group of people broke into the Ironthorn Territory and were captured by Red and the others."

"Through their words, I learned that someone intends to cause some 'accidents' during this Aetheria Grand Birthday Celebration."

"The target one group of them is to assassinate is named Morris."

"At the time I didn't know who he was, but now I can be certain that the target is Morris Joseph."

"Assassinate!" Daisna's expression was shocked, but she didn't have any thought of doubting Lister, and said with an anxious tone of concern, "Then during this Grand Birthday Celebration, won't Morris be in great danger?"

Seeing this, Lister comforted her, "Don't be anxious yet; since it's basically confirmed, as long as we take precautions in advance, it should be fine."

Hearing this, Daisna nodded and quickly calmed down, then continued, "How much more of the information do you know? How about you come with me to see Father and tell him?"

"You also know that this Grand Birthday Celebration is very important to the Tulip Territory; if a problem occurs in the middle, the impact will definitely not be small."

"Of course, no problem, let's go," Lister said without hesitation.

He had originally wanted to tell Elsid about this matter, but he just hadn't thought of a good time or way to say it.

After all, he didn't know the relationship between Elsid and Joseph before, and telling this matter abruptly, Elsid would find it hard to believe.

But now it was different; not only did he know that Morris was living in the manor, but he also had a good relationship with Daisna.

And because of his performance during the day, Elsid and the others already had a much better impression of him, so saying this matter now would be relatively much easier.

Having finally come to the Tulip Territory, he couldn't just spend it amidst various troubles and crises.

Of course, the most important thing was that he didn't want to make Daisna sad, and he had already reached a cooperation with Elsid.

If a problem occurred during the Grand Birthday Celebration, it would definitely cause a significant negative impact on Aetheria.

While this likely wouldn't affect his cooperation with Elsid, as long as there was even a sliver of possibility, he didn't want to see it happen.

Moreover, according to the divination, the incident of Morris being assassinated might just be one of them.

In case there were any other larger plots, if precautions weren't taken early, who knows if the celebration might turn into a funeral.

Seeing Lister agree without hesitation, Daisna said gratefully, "Thank you, Lister."

Softening a bit, Lister didn't say more; everything was understood without words... The Earl's room.

Hearing Lister's information, Elsid sitting at the head of the table and Brood standing as a guard in the room, their expressions slightly tightened.

Elsid crossed his hands and placed them on the table, saying, "Lister, I didn't expect your Ironthorn Territory to also be attacked by those people."

"It seems they are truly becoming more and more rampant now."

Lister heard this and said in a surprised tone, "Earl, you know their identity?"

"Hehe, of course; if I didn't know their identity, then wouldn't my position as the Earl of this Tulip Territory be for nothing?"

Elsid gave a faint smile and then said in a deep voice, "I presume you already know their identity, Lister. Yes, they are the wizards that the kingdom has been suppressing for hundreds of years."

"According to the unified statement released by the royal family, the wizards have been completely wiped out."

"In fact, that's just a way to appease the people; the wizard community back then was very large, with countless powerful individuals among them; how could they be so easily wiped out?"

"Furthermore, not everyone among the wizards went towards the darkness; half of the wizards still maintained their cultivation on the righteous path."

"Reasonably speaking, they shouldn't have been suppressed, but the events of that year were too secretive; even I cannot know the hidden details."

"However, I am very clear about the wizard organizations causing trouble now; they are divided into two groups: one split from the righteous wizards of that time, and the other is what remains of those wizards who went towards the darkness."

"The former, due to resentment over the kingdom's heartless suppression, formed a group specifically to take revenge on the royal family and the church, with the Goddess of Revenge as their faith—the Church of the Goddess of Revenge."

"The latter are those who were already headed towards the darkness and remained after the suppression, forming an organization that wants to subvert the kingdom again—the Black Witch Church. As for what they believe in, I'm not very clear."

Church of the Goddess of Revenge?

Black Witch Church?

Lister felt like his head was about to explode again, especially this Black Witch Church—how was it different from the Dark Church in the divination?

Although it was only a difference of one word, the difference contained within was very large.

"Earl, I wonder if you have heard the name Dark Church?"

Elsid thought for a moment and denied it, "I haven't heard of it. Currently, the only ones I know of are those two, and they are the ones who have been plotting secretly within the kingdom."

"Is the name Dark Church something you learned from the people who invaded Ironthorn Territory before?"

Lister nodded and said, "I'm not very certain either; I just happened to hear them mention it once, so that's why I have this question."

"Since these churches have been plotting in the shadows of the kingdom for a long time, they might have some fake names; I expect 'Dark Church' is just like that," Elsid said calmly.

A fake name?

Lister's sixth sense told him it probably wasn't that simple—unless the divination was acting up again.