Rogham was very thoughtful in choosing the inn in Hela City that belonged to the owner's property for his guests, and after settling in Mephistopheles, Androni, Larry and his little nephew, and two orc girls, he hurried back to the Bruce family's territory, a town named after the Bruce family. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

It's a small town, but in fact Brucetown isn't even as big as the town that thrived and fell because of the slave trade. However, when it comes to the comfort, facilities and sense of security of the town, Bruce Town is much better than the former.

Especially its seemingly simple but enough to make most of the rogue bandits feel extremely headaches, and the sense of belonging and security they give to the townspeople can even be said to be the foundation of Bruce Town's life!

To the southeast of Bruce is a vast expanse of mangrove forests and swamps that are unsuitable for human habitation. This area that neither humans nor orcs would easily set foot in is inhabited by innumerable tribes of slime and scale, and these terrifying alien races have constantly competed, annexed, and merged in this land for thousands of years, but also rarely set foot in the wilderness and plains to which they cannot adapt.

Although their civilization and way of life were closed, they did not completely exclude the unsolicited overtures from the outside world and other races, so the bazaar of communication persisted for many years as a phenomenon peculiar to the edge of the swamp. Before humans established a union of city-states, there may have been no shortage of orcs, dwarves, halflings, and even elves in the fairs along the swamps. However, since the formation of interdependent and interdependent human city-states, dwarves and halflings have almost all migrated to the eastern part of the continent, elven rangers and druids who set foot in the wasteland are no longer as common as they were five hundred years ago, and there is not much left of orcs who have been robbed of their homes to exchange with the swamp dwellers.

As a result, the human traders, who were most keenly aware of the smell of profit, monopolized more than eighty percent of the foreign production of the swamp aliens. Along with the profits, there are bandits from all walks of life who are very skilled in buying and selling. Among them are orc warriors and human outlaws, and even in some of the appalling rumors of obscure origins, the private armies of certain lords and even the swamp aliens will occasionally make a cameo appearance as a temporary bandit.

In order to curb this irrational madness, the aliens of the swamp have come together to establish a rule that all pillage within a radius of thirty miles of the market will be regarded as a provocation to all the inhabitants of the swamp! Any individual or group that has committed looting in this area will be regarded as persona non grata in the market, and once the identity and crime of the bandits have been established, they will be permanently rotted in the land by public execution.

At this point, the once rampant bandits began to rein in, which gave the small caravan that was the easiest to be selected as the target a little opportunity and living space. It wasn't until twenty years ago, when Viscount Bruce, who had been honored for his military exploits, established a new town more than seventy miles north of the bazaar, that the relatively stable order was re-established on this small stretch of the once bloody trade route.

As the closest human settlement connecting the swamp bazaar to Hella City, Bruce Town was of irreplaceable significance to the merchants. At the same time, due to the fact that the production of the swamp was less profitable than the goods sought after by the upper echelons of the city-state and the trade with the orcs of the wasteland, it was somewhat difficult to satisfy the appetite of large caravans. Gradually, small caravans and individual traders eventually became the mainstream of the swamp bazaars, and the swamp dwellers were more benefited by the competition and involvement of the traders. Out of a private understanding among many parties, Bruce Town, a relatively barren town with no special production, has established itself on the edge of the city-state.

As the residence of the lord Bruce's family here, the building in the center of the town is mainly composed of brick and stone, which is still a long way from the impression of the lord's castle. The two-storey house with a cellar has only twenty rooms in total, and the relatively modest garden and walls make the estate less than half an acre. Such a house would not be decent for a viscount to be the main house, and the reason it existed was simply because the sparsely populated Bruce family did not need such a spacious and luxurious house. At the same time, Viscount Bruce invested as much money as possible in city defense and public facilities.

"Lord Rogham, it's great to see that you're all right!" Hearing the news of the orc raid in the east, everyone was all worried...... "As soon as they entered the garden, the few servants of the manor leaned over to the fat man Rogham and greeted their master.

"Before I sent someone back to report the news, everyone already knew the news of the attack on the east side, and the mother ...... her" At the mention of his mother, the fat man's face suddenly became nervous.

"No one dared to tell the old lady about this, her old man was still enjoying afternoon tea just now, and Young Master Xiu'en was accompanying the old lady. ”

Hearing the servant's answer, Rogham walked briskly into the main house at a pace not fitting his obese size, and rushed up the stairs in three steps and two steps. When the door to his lunch break came into view, Rogham slowed his pace, slowing down his breath that had become rapid with excitement.

It wasn't until he felt that he had almost calmed down that Rogham slowly knocked on the door.

In a few moments, the door to the lunch break opened from the inside. Appearing at the doorway was a handsome young man with a vibrant smile, dressed in dark trousers and a white shirt that had become obsolete in Hella City.

"Oh...... My dear uncle, you can come back! Grandmother was still talking to you! I wonder if you have brought us any interesting little gifts for this trip?" opened the door by Rogham's little nephew, Seon, the second son of the Bruce family. The fellow winked at his uncle with a smile when he saw Rogham's fat face, which he found very kind, indicating that he had helped him stabilize the old lady.

"Rogham is back?" said a slightly older female voice in the room, "Sit down and let me see." ”

Although there were no dangers along the way, Rogham couldn't help but feel a little emotional when he looked at his mother's wrinkled face, which was getting deeper and deeper...... I don't know how long the peaceful days of being able to be by my mother's side like this will last.

"Yes, Mother...... I am back. Even if she confided in her mother, who was deteriorating in her health, she could only increase her worries, so a little emotion and melancholy were finally hidden in a simple greeting from the fat man who was a son of man.

The old woman in the plain dress gently patted the chair beside her and motioned for her son to sit down next to her, "I heard that the east side has been attacked by those orc barbarians again?......? Why are you looking at me like that, kid? You didn't run into those unreasonable beasts on this trip, did you?"

"How so? Those orcs are waging war to recapture their captured compatriots, and your son and I have gone out this time to buy weapons and equipment for our family. Rogham smiled a little forcefully.

"I know how to run around all day long, as if you can't turn around without this family! When will you bring me a good girl? Although Joe and Xiuen are very obedient, I still want to hold another grandson......

For some reason, the old woman's babbling suddenly shifted in the direction that Rogham found overwhelming. He found it difficult for him to be idle in the past, and his sudden decision to participate in the slave auction on a whim may have been influenced by his mother.

"Uncle, I heard that the equipment you brought back this time is a rare and high-quality product, so I'll go and open my eyes first!" Since the topic entered the part that made Xiuen, a junior, feel a little embarrassed, Rogham's nephew was very clever to find an excuse to study those weapons and equipment that did not exist.

Before closing the door, Seun grimaced at Rogham's hidden grin. The fat man who was sitting on the rattan chair with his head bowed and pretending to be filial to his son suddenly felt that the pressure on his body had increased invisibly......

Due to the orc's movements, the only people who could sit at the Bruce family table for dinner were the old lady, the wife of the housekeeper, Lady Peggy, Rogham, and Shern. The head of the house, Viscount Taylor Bruce, arrived at Hella in the morning with his eldest son, Joe, who was also a knight-trainee. As the knights of Hela City, Taylor and the Bruce family must participate in the city lord's military meeting regarding the orc invasion. Not only the town of Bruce, which is located on the southeastern border of Hela City, depending on the movement of the orc army, it is also possible that the lords and knights to the west of Hela City will also participate in the defense against the alien invasion.

Rogham hurriedly stuffed the seemingly tasteless dinner into his bulging belly, and after much thought, he knocked on the door of the study.

"Please come in. As Rogham expected, Peggy's calm voice came from the room.

To be honest, Rogham felt that his sister-in-law's appearance was better among the ladies and ladies of Hella City, but he inherited the tradition of the Bruce family, and this unwell-dressed lady naturally did not look as glamorous as those women who were keen on balls. Peggy, who comes from a declining family, is not very good at dressing up and socializing, but on the other hand, she never lags behind. This shrewd and capable woman had never even touched the amount of more than ten gold coins before marrying into the Bruce family, but she seemed to be very comfortable in handling the internal affairs and construction of the manor and even the town.

Rogham's mother, who was still alive in the previous generation of the Bruce family, was originally an orphaned maid. The master that the old lady served when she was young was the wife of the first head of the Bruce family, and the youngest daughter of the previous generation of Hella city lords. As the jewel of the lord of Hela, the late First Lady of the Bruce family was notoriously frail, but condescension to marry a new knight who had been knighted for his military exploits didn't sound like a wise choice. Especially when the blues knight is in his thirties and has just come out of the obscure ranks.

Regardless of what people said about the future Mrs. Bruce, the young lady eventually married her sweetheart, and gave birth to a son to her husband in the third year of their marriage. That is, the contemporary head of the Bruce family, Viscount Taylor Bruce. Although the couple lived happily ever after, Mrs. Bruce died at the age of eleven due to a chronic illness that Taylor could not get rid of.

As a newly born family, it is undoubtedly very inappropriate for Bruce Sr. to have only one son under his knees. Not to mention that this taciturn knight has long passed the age of flowers, even if he is still young, he is not the kind of person who can easily abandon the relationship between husband and wife for the sake of the prosperity of the family. What's more, although Old Bruce is not smiling, he understands that the son-in-law of the city lord should take care of the face of the old man.

So, five years after Mrs. Bruce's death, that is, the year when Taylor had just come of age to become a cadet knight. The previous head of the Bruce family finally chose the personal maid who had grown up with his late wife as a successor, and a year later he had a second son, who is now fat and obese. Because the second lady was originally only a maid, Rogham's mother was very self-aware and rarely interfered in the affairs of the territory. After Taylor got married, he handed over all the big and small affairs in the house to Peggy, and he was happy.

If you really want to discuss it, there is a little similarity between the origins of Rogham and Androni. It's just that the huge difference between the ruthless power dumping in the city lord family and the small family in the cold court has finally created diametrically opposite growth experiences and fates between them. Cold eyes and ridicule make a stunningly strong girl, but family affection and comfort make a smart and clever little boy grow into a big fat man with dirty eyeballs - the fate that is difficult for mortals to fathom is sometimes like this.

Nearly 30 years old, Rogham has his own unique understanding of the so-called fate, so he unreservedly recounts his unique experience to the true mistress of the Bruce family, Peggy.

"Over the years, the vast majority of the loans you have lent out have been objectively returned, and it is inevitable that there will be one or two losing deals once in a while, although this time there are more losses...... Let's just buy a lesson. Peggy comforted Rogham, who was a few years older than the fat man, and most of the time she seemed to be like his sister.

Rogham's more than four hundred gold coins had all come from his own savings over the course of several years, and it would have been worth it if he had obtained such a beautiful young fox girl, which might have made the fat man who was not as wealthy as he seemed to feel painful. But Rogham was ready to bleed before he decided to go to the slave market for extravagance. Although he was still annoyed by the direct economic loss, it was debatable whether the "cost" of the four hundred gold coins was worth it compared to the fact that the group was being held as captives by the orcs.

It's just that the fat man who looks obsessed, but is actually active, has already put the focus of his thinking and weighing in other places now.

"If Mr. Mephistopheles' appearance was just a coincidence or a fate arranged by the gods, then the man who handed over Yaojing to the orc chief is a bit unbelievable. Perhaps the fat man himself didn't notice that he had unconsciously used honorifics when he called the half-elf who made him feel a little frightened in front of others, "Please be sure to relay my worries to my brother, I am afraid that there are many unknown secrets hidden behind this raid of the orcs!"

"Shouldn't you, the person who has experienced this, tell him these words yourself?" Peggy brushed her sideburns a little strangely, although her face inevitably hung the traces of time, but the woman's charm became more and more pure due to the accumulation of time.

The fat man pursed his lips, which had become dry from talking for a long time, and his eyes seemed to flash with some kind of obsession, "There is a very rare opportunity in front of me, if you grasp it well...... I think it's likely to bring benefits that even I didn't expect!"

"If you're sure, just do it...... Just don't let those few hundred gold coin get in the way of your judgment. Mrs. Bruce instructed earnestly.

"You've learned a lesson!" said Rogham, who had a little less excitement on his face, but it was hard to hide the observation of those who were interested in it, a kind of fanaticism that a merchant often showed in his pursuit of profit. And the source of the fat man's inexplicable confidence that ignited the desire in the fat man's heart was actually just a simple and straightforward sentence. The undisguised words that would even make people feel empty and wishful because of the person who spoke seemed to contain some kind of wonderful magic, like the rumored evil whispers of the demons to lure mortals to fall-

"After a year, you will reap a return of at least double the amount invested......"