Verse 77: Temptation

Ashrufat sat in his study, writing hard.

He is not writing a letter, but an analysis book, or paraphrasing a military term, or writing a strategic plan.

If the goal is to seize the estate, then there are no more than three means used, violence, debt or case.

Violence is the simplest and most dangerous. Hire a bunch of bandits, assassins, or whatever. As long as the two sisters can be killed, the estate will immediately become ownerless, and will be managed by the government until the heir appears. Griffin is a large family, and it is not particularly difficult to find a member of the Griffin family who has the right to inherit but is down. In fact, there is no need for such a member at all, just do it during the government trusteeship period.

But this simple and crude approach is bound to cause sequelae. The first is that the murder is not necessarily successful, and the murderer who carried out the mission is likely to be arrested. In addition, the enemy already knew the true strength of the two sisters—maybe not very well, but at least they already knew that the Dao Star Moment could easily defeat Io. In addition to this, the most crucial thing is that this operation must be a secret, and the seizure of the manor is not the ultimate goal, but to serve the greater good, so it must not attract unnecessary attention. The most ideal situation is the kind of "wandering robber night attack" situation, killing all the people without doing anything, destroying the corpses and destroying the traces, and then pretending that the robbers will hurt people when they see the wealth.

But now, the two sisters have lived in a castle. Admittedly, this is a livable castle, not a military building. But a castle is a castle after all. Without the help of siege equipment, it is difficult for attackers to storm the castle, especially to ensure that the people inside do not escape. If you can't succeed, it's tantamount to startling the snake.

The second option is debt. Let the two sisters pay off the debts they can't pay, and then go to the door to collect the debts in a straightforward and open manner, so as to make the manor their legitimate income. But to put it mildly, this method is difficult to get started, because the two sisters are not destitute paupers, but squire aristocrats with a lot of wealth. To get them into debt, either to lure them into gambling and thus to incur loan shark gambling debts, or to get them to vouch for a doomed or hopeless prodigal deal. But the sisters don't gamble (after all, gambling is always a taboo for women), and they don't have the kind of relatives who drag their feet – in fact, they have an aunt who is quite strong in both wealth and politics, and has a lot of energy.

The last option is a legal dispute, and the previous Io incident is the best illustration of this approach. It's also an optimal choice. It's a pity that they miscalculated the situation before, thinking that they could solve this matter by offering a price of 10,000 gold Oli. If they had come up with a quick cut and asked Io instead of the two sisters to pay for it, maybe things wouldn't have developed like this at all.

Ashruphat put down his pen and read carefully what had been written in his hand. Maybe the lord of the capital named Byron is indeed in power and hot. But he will definitely not be without enemies. His secret plan itself is destined not to be exposed - it is actually ruining the country's economic lifeline and enriching itself. If this kind of thing is exposed, then the consequences can be imagined. Doing everything in a secretive, safe, and untroubled way is the right way to do things.

But it must also be taken into account that the specific person responsible for those things jumps over the wall. The castle can effectively stop those "impromptu bandits", but it is also very dangerous to find some professional assassins to carry out assassinations or something.

Ashrufat picked up the agreement from the table. It was a guarantee document signed by Xingke to take effect, which was guaranteed for the Orok Chamber of Commerce.

A small chamber of commerce that is in good business conditions, a chamber of commerce that provides shareholders with large profits every year, will be withdrawn by major shareholders. If it is one of them, it can naturally be interpreted as an urgent need for money. However, there were many people who withdrew their shares...... It's suspicious no matter how you look at it.

Is this the battlefield chosen by the other side? It is just a fluttering guarantee in hand, but in fact it is a silent battlefield that determines the outcome of this battle.

Giggle...... I really don't know what kind of formation it will be.

Although he figured it out, Ashrufat felt that he didn't have any worries in his heart, only the eagerness to take on the challenge.

He folded the few things in his hand and hid them in a thick book, which he placed on the upper level of the bookshelf next to his desk. When he bought the castle of the Knight of Dale, he also bought almost everything left in the castle, such as the wine in the cellar, and the so many books in this study. Like most of the squires and nobles, Dale Knight did not seem like a man of reading, but he still had a considerable collection of books. For some time now, Ashrufat had been sitting there reading at his leisure.

There are many types of books, and not all of them are written in the lingua franca. Ashrufat found that he must have read a lot, or at least was fluent in many languages and languages. Of course, this is not surprising, for a magician, language and writing can only be said to be the foundation of the foundation.

"Ashrufat, are you ready? "There was Hoshimi's voice outside. Seconds later, she was in her study. At this time, she was already dressed to go out. She was dressed in a mix of white and pink, and her slightly blue silver hair was combed into a long braid.

"It's still early, isn't it?" Ashrufat looked up at the window. "But I'm ready. ”

"For the afternoon dance, it's time to go. Hoshimi said. "It's time for us to go. ”

There is no definite time mark for the Summer Dance. There is no particular day before which everyone is preparing for the ball, and after this day, the balls of the various squires are opened. In fact, as the temperature rises, the dance party naturally begins.

This was the first time the two sisters had been invited to the ball this year. The invitation was actually forwarded by the "rumor-monger", Ace, a well-known long-tongued widow in the area. Although men may look down on such noisy women, in fact, she is not a bad person, at least among women. Then again, "rumor-mongers" like her are always popular among women because they hear a lot of new news. After all, in this world, most of the news is passed on by word of mouth.

"This inviter is the female president! She built this chamber of commerce on her own. She's a girl with great ability," Ace said. Among the squire aristocracy, the theory of descent was not popular (mainly because a large part of them had no particular blood). So a young woman who became the head of the Chamber of Commerce - it should be said that this gimmick alone is very attractive. This time, she also wants to enter the social circle of the city and expand the market for her business. That being said, it's not easy to get this invitation, and it's all celebrities from the city. ”

Ace was bragging vigorously about the mysterious hostess.

"How's going on in the basement?" asked Ashrufat, putting on his coat.

"Not yet, it's too dangerous. Hoshimi hesitated, "The maid who came to clean today almost approached the basement...... I think it's still dangerous. Although it is possible to lock the basement door, there is no way to prevent others from approaching the basement. Some people are naturally sensitive to magical energy, and it is possible to perceive the dark magic energy that is gathered within. ”

"So, we have to do everything ourselves?" asked Ashrufat. "The owner's living area of the castle is separate from the servant's living area, so as long as the servants don't enter this area, there should be no problem. If you invite guests to arrive, you can release the accumulated dark magic energy in advance. ”

"That's all there is to it......" Hoshimi hesitated for a moment and replied. "But I'm afraid it will cause ......"

"It's better to suspect that we have quirks than to be discovered. Ashrufat replied. He never proposed that the two sisters give up the study of black magic, because he knew that the study of magic was already an important part of the two sisters' lives, and it could even be said that the meaning of their existence.

They walked out the door, and outside, the carriage was ready, and Xingke was already sitting in the carriage waiting impatiently. Ashrufat's horse was also waiting.

The ball, one of the city's first balls of the year, took place in a mansion in the city, which had once been the residence of an official, but had somehow turned into a rented house. By the standards of Brasía, the mansion was already quite large and luxurious. There is a large living room and a nice garden – there is even a glass greenhouse with all kinds of fruits.

Hoshimi was right, they were almost the last to arrive. As soon as they arrived, before they got off the carriage, they could hear the band playing—the music was no longer a welcome song, but a formal dance music. On the dance floor, there are already a few male and female guests who like to show off or look at each other.

Ace was already there, and she was surrounded by a group of women who were listening to the news. This woman will always have endless topics to talk about. According to the custom at the ball, men and women get along separately, so soon both Hoshiki and Hoshimi join Ace's circle.

Ashrufat soon discovered that there weren't many faces he knew at the ball. At this moment, most of the guests were still watching the dancers' performances, so he was happy to enjoy this short leisure. Just as he was trying to find a pastime for himself, a voice sounded from behind him.

"Hey, isn't this Sir Aerufat?"

Ashrufat turned his head and saw a strange but very beautiful woman. He was sure that he had never seen each other, so he bowed politely.

"This lady, may I ask who you are ......?"

"My name is Ann. The strange woman hid her hands and smiled. "Mr. Horse Champion, you may not have noticed me, but you were so eye-catching that people didn't know you that you couldn't do it. ”

She moved softly as she approached Ashrufat. Silky black hair spilled down her shoulders, accentuating the fairness and smoothness of the skin on her neck and shoulders. Her collar was low, revealing a small half-full breasts that seemed to break free from her clothes.