AWB Chapter 225 News from Barton City
Chapter 225 News from Barton City
Aldo gripped the reins tightly, urging the horse to quicken its pace and head towards the bustling seafood market.
Inside the carriage, Leon and Asha sat side by side, the swaying of the carriage causing them to lean forward slightly.
The giant octopus lay quietly in the carriage beside them, its tentacles still trembling slightly. To keep it alive, Leon had used water elemental magic to maintain its vitality.
It must be said that octopuses are very resilient; even after losing several tentacles, they can still move.
Several buckets nearby creaked and groaned as the carriage jolted, with drops of water occasionally splashing from the seafood inside.
Asha's gaze wandered among the various novel buildings; this place was completely different from where she lived.
Where she lived was a dilapidated house with rudimentary facilities, and leaky roofs were a common occurrence on rainy days. Here, however, skyscrapers had sprung up, and the bustling streets overwhelmed her.
Leon was used to all this; the place felt similar to Patton, though more bustling than Nova.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The slight fishy smell told him that they had arrived at their destination.
After the carriage came to a stop, Leon and Aldo quickly got out and began unloading the cargo from the carriage.
They carefully lifted the giant octopus onto the stall, drawing gasps of amazement from the surrounding vendors and customers.
Aldo then went to negotiate the price with others, since he wasn't familiar with this area.
After a series of bargaining negotiations, he finally sold all the goods and held a 25-ruble profit in his hand.
The half of the giant octopus, due to its rare size and freshness, became the focus of the market and was eventually sold for a high price of 20 rubles, while the remaining seafood was exchanged for 5 rubles, which, although not much, was enough to satisfy Aldo.
As per their previous agreement, Aldo took 10 rubles from the money and handed it to Leon.
Leon accepted the money without any affectation or hesitation. He had already discussed this with Aldo, although Aldo felt the distribution was unfair since Leon had caught the octopus alone.
However, Leon had his own principles and opinions. He believed that although he had solved the octopus problem on his own, Aldo had also played a crucial role in the deal.
He not only helped Leon transport the goods to the market, but also took charge of all the sales and paid for the carriages.
Therefore, Leon insisted on splitting the money equally, believing it to be the fairest approach.
Leon held the newly received 10 rubles tightly in his hand, feeling a sense of warmth and reassurance.
For him, this money was more than just income; it was a sense of security. After all, having enough money in his pocket meant he wouldn't feel helpless when facing unexpected situations in life.
Furthermore, he had some plans during his visit to Klind, and this money would bring him great convenience and make many things easier.
"It's only a little past three o'clock. Shall we stay and wander around?" Aldo suggested as he tidied up the money bag he had just put away.
"Yay!" Asha jumped up excitedly, her face beaming with anticipation.
“I can go around, but I need to take care of something. We can agree on a time to meet here again,” Leon said apologetically.
"Then let's meet at 5 o'clock," Aldo said, glancing at the sky and suggesting a specific time.
“Okay.” Leon nodded in agreement.
After saying goodbye to Aldo and Asha, Leon began wandering the streets and alleys of Klind alone.
His steps were steady, and his eyes keenly observed everything around him. He wanted to familiarize himself with the environment first and see if there was any work he could do; after all, a stable income was what he needed most at the moment.
Besides looking for job opportunities, Leon had another purpose—to gather information.
He wanted to know all sorts of news, especially about Patton.
Ever since he left Patton, he had been worried about the situation there, wondering if things had changed since he left.
Leon wandered the streets of Klind, his gaze sweeping over the various stalls and shops, until he finally spotted a newsstand on a bustling street corner.
He stepped forward, a glimmer of hope in his heart, and asked the stall owner if they sold newspapers from Barton.
"Paper from Barton? I'm sorry, we don't have any here." The stall owner shook his head, his tone revealing regret.
A hint of disappointment flashed across Leon's face, but he did not give up. His eyes scanned the pile of newspapers in the newsstand, hoping to find some clues about Barton.
Just then, his eyes fell on a newspaper called "Kingdom Weekly".
He picked up the newspaper, flipped through a few pages, and sure enough, he saw a report about Barton City on one of the pages.
The title was in bold, eye-catching lettering: "Shocking! Barton City has lost two dukes in a single month. This is a major loss for the kingdom. Upon receiving the news, the king was furious and ordered the Knights to investigate the matter. And the culprit is none other than him?"
After reading the title, Leon couldn't help but mentally complain. He had to admit, the title was quite catchy.
Leon's eyes scanned the words in the newspaper, his shock and anger growing stronger.
Every line in the report was like a sharp knife, aimed straight at his heart.
The newspapers not only accused him of murdering Chloe and the Duke of Adams, but also claimed that he had ulterior motives when he entered St. Peter's College.
The report quoted so-called "insiders" and "college students" who accused Leon of being unusually harsh in class, even violent, and of frequently physically assaulting students.
These remarks were utterly absurd to Leon, who had never acted in such a manner.
What Leon found even more unbelievable was that the report also blamed him for a series of acts of vandalism in Barton and the disappearance of children from orphanages.
He clearly remembered assisting law enforcement in fighting the monster that was ravaging Barton City, but his efforts and sacrifices were completely ignored and instead portrayed as a demonic figure.
Ultimately, under pressure from public opinion, St. Peter's College revoked his teaching qualifications, and the Knights of St. Peter's printed his portrait on a wanted poster, launching a nationwide manhunt for him.
After reading the report, Leon shook his head repeatedly. The report was complete nonsense. Although he had indeed killed Duke Chloe, the other matters had nothing to do with him.
He even helped law enforcement deal with the monster that had appeared and wreaked havoc in Barton City.
As a result, he ended up being accused of being the instigator, and even had students testify that he had beaten up other students. It was as if he had been unfairly blamed.
He didn't believe that no one knew the truth. Those in the Knights must know, even Raphael knew, but they chose to report it this way.
Leon could also imagine the reason for such reports: they simply couldn't find any results, or they didn't want to investigate, so they just took all the blame upon themselves.
Leon sneered, saying, "Well done. This frame-up is really clever."
Fortunately, I had disguised myself before coming here; otherwise, if I had been discovered and reported, I might have had to run away again.
It seems that the name Leon Guern is truly unusable. Not only that, he doesn't even dare to show his real face easily, for who knows if someone might see it and report him.
He put down the newspaper, turned and left the newsstand, his heart heavy.
Leon knew that this matter required careful consideration and could not be rushed.
If he relied solely on his own strength, he might never be able to escape his fate of being a fugitive.
He didn't want his life to be filled with endless escapes; he needed a new beginning, a new identity—Adam Black.
Through this incident, Leon deeply realized a truth: in this world, if you want to live a peaceful life and protect the people you cherish, you must have great power; otherwise, you can't even protect the people around you.
This power is not just personal strength, but also a deterrent force that makes others dare not easily provoke it.
Going it alone won't work, because no matter how powerful you are, it's difficult to fight against the centuries-old foundation and power network of a kingdom.
If this kingdom harbors ancient monsters that have lived for hundreds of years, or long-lived beings who existed since the origin of magic, their power would be unimaginable.
After all, magic is so powerful that it can grant some people lifespans and strength beyond that of ordinary people.
He himself was already struggling against the Grand Master of the Knights, let alone the even more powerful enemies lurking in the shadows.
He is now alone, while his opponent has the support of the entire army and law enforcement. Even if he uses his numerical advantage to wear him down, he will find it difficult to escape his ultimate fate.
Thinking about this, he felt somewhat lost, unsure of how to begin accumulating his own strength or how to cultivate his own power.
He needs a plan, he needs a direction, but right now, he doesn't even seem to have the most basic ideas.
Just as Leon was feeling troubled and his thoughts were in turmoil, suddenly, someone pushed him hard from behind.
Caught off guard, Leon lunged forward, nearly falling to the ground. A surge of anger welled up within him, and he was about to turn around and unleash a torrent of curses when he suddenly felt something missing from his pocket.
His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly reached into his pocket to check. Sure enough, his only 10 rubles were gone.
Those few precious banknotes, which might have been the key to his survival, have now been stolen without his knowledge.
Leon quickly turned around, looking around for the figure that had bumped into him, but the street was bustling with people, and the thief had already blended into the crowd and disappeared without a trace.