The muscles on John Junior’s face cramped. Staring at Roland, his eyes were bloodshot, and his body was shaking.

Eventually, he stood up furiously and threw the book in his hand to the desk with all his strength.

He panted heavily; the veins on his neck were bulging. He roared like a lion, his hair and his beard rising. “Roland, that’s outrageous! I’ve been at home every day. What do you want from me? You’re still blaming me when you’ve humiliated me like this? Are you not going to be satisfied until I’m dead?”

“I’ve never wanted you to die.” Roland smiled and said, “But it suddenly occured to me that it wouldn’t be bad if you were dead.”

John Junior’s hands were shaking and he was gnashing his teeth.

His wrath and his frustration seemed to be overflowing.

Seeing how the man was enraged but too scared to do anything, Roland sneered and said, “Don’t take others for fools. You want to instigate conflict among the Golden Sons so that you’ll have a chance to rise again. But don’t forget that other people are no more stupid than you.”

“I never did that!” John Junior finally couldn’t hold back anymore and roared in exasperation.

“I can forgive you this time. You should feel lucky that it was not my family and friends that you set up.” Roland stood straight, and his eyes turned cold. “But if it ever happens again, you should know the consequences.”

“Heh!”

Roland sneered and left.

The door closed, and darkness was restored in the study.

Inside the room, the muscles on John Junior’s face kept shivering, which made it look twisted and hideous.

The anger and hate on his face were gradually replaced by helplessness.

In the end, he fell back on his chair in frustration, all his spirit gone.

When Roland left the castle, he saw that the mayor’s wife and his daughter were still having afternoon tea.

They stood up again the moment they saw Roland.

Roland walked to them and said with a smile, “Sorry for the disturbance.”

They were rather anxious to see Roland, but the mayor’s wife managed to offer an invitation. “Mr. Roland, would you like to have afternoon tea with us?”

“Thank you.” Roland declined. “But there’s something I have to do. Maybe I can chat with you beautiful ladies next time.”

“What a shame.”

After turning them down, Roland left the courtyard.

The mayor’s wife sat down in relief. “He doesn’t have that ruthless vibe. He can’t be here for trouble.”

“As a matter of fact, he’s quite nice to us. At least, he didn’t kill us, and he has given us the money we deserve,” the young daughter of the John family said. “Also, didn’t his deputy stop Old Ford from seizing the remaining properties of our family? He said that he made the rule and whoever disagreed with it must crush the Magic Tower first.”

After a brief silence, the mayor’s wife said, “But I’m scared that your brother will do something! After all, men are not as easily content as women.”

The daughter heaved a long sigh. “I wish that my brother wouldn’t do anything, not after my father failed.”

Roland, walking on the street, wasn’t aware of their conversation.

Actually, he felt kind of guilty just now. He was not as calm as he seemed when he was faced with a widow that he made and the daughter of his victim.

He thought that those two women must loathe him as much as John Junior did.

What he didn’t know was that familial bonds were thin among the Johns. Also, the year of peaceful living had worn out the women’s hate.

More importantly, Roland still had the power.

While walking, Roland observed the streets.

The city was a lot cleaner than a year ago.

Ever since Roland, Hawk, and their crew dominated the city, they had been building some infrastructures, such as a sewer system and public toilets. They also advocated the importance of personal hygiene.

It was not very effective, but at least, the city was not as dirty as before.

Also, after the fallout with Silver Wings, the Magic Tower had claimed the position of sheriff, which became Vincent’s responsibility.

Vincent was a dutiful man. Though he disliked the job because it reduced his time learning magic, he had never slacked off. After a year, he had beheaded three small nobles for their wrongdoings, and imprisoned hundreds more thieves and robbers.

So the whole city was a lot safer, and the civilians were much more comfortable.

The sense of safety was intangible, but it was there, as could be seen in the smiles of the passersby.

Roland came to the base of Black Sand Gang[1] and walked straight in.

The gangsters were horrified to see him. They hurried to fetch Gru from upstairs.

“Mr. Roland, it’s been a while.” Gru was quite embarrassed to see Roland. Because they chose the wrong side last time, the Black Sand Gang hadn’t been favored by the Magic Tower, but since the Magic Tower never officially abandoned them, they managed to survive to this point.

However, life wasn’t easy for the Black Sand Gang because of Sheriff Vincent’s diligence.

Roland looked around and laid his eyes on Gru. He said, “I’m going to have a banquet in the square in front of my Magic Tower. You’ll inform all the celebrities in town for me, including the nobles, the scholars, the merchants, and the bosses of other gangs.

“Tell them that I want them all to be there if they have nothing important to do.

“No excuses!”

Looking at Roland’s calm face and hearing the last phrase, Gru nodded quickly and swallowed.

He had a feeling that something big was going to happen.

Roland then returned to the Magic Tower and asked everybody to prepare wine and food for the banquet.

Andonara was slightly confused. “After your travels, the local celebrities should be holding a dinner to welcome you back. But why are you entertaining them?”

“Because someone is going to be killed at this banquet.”

Andonara’s eyes immediately glittered. “Really? Great. I’m going to whet my sword. I’ll cut down whoever you want me to cut.”

At this point, Christina joined them and asked hopefully, “Master, if any noble girls are going to be killed, can you let me drink some of their blood before you kill them?”

“No!”

Roland turned her down without any hesitation.

Christina pouted so hard that a bottle could be hung from her lips.

[1] This is the same as Gray Sand Gang; the original author simply forgot what he wrote.