Sir Fux didn't know how he made it to the study on the second floor. He didn't expect there to be so many people in Claude's house. The dining room on the first floor was filled to the brim with people of high standing in town.
None of them greeted him. Even those who were chatting stopped talking and only looked at him silently. The silent stares made him feel like he was covered in thorns and it was rather uncomfortable.
After going up the stairs, he entered a small sitting room with about a dozen people standing there.
What made Sir Fux feel a little better was that Bidlir Blanche was there as well. He wore the uniform of a garrison officer and hurriedly went up to him. "Sir, over here."
He pointed at a tightly shut door. That should be the study where the agreement was signed.
Sir Fux looked around the room and saw quite a few people he recognized. He wanted to greet them with a smile, but he didn't expect the people he was looking at to suddenly turn their heads to the side and pretend to be whispering to the people beside them.
They clearly didn't want to talk to him and didn't even want to greet him.
His smile was replaced by awkwardness. Sir Fux turned around numbly and said to Bidlir Blanche, "Let's go in."
There weren't many people in the study. Apart from Kauf of the town hall's justice department and two of his subordinates, there were also four good friends of Sir Fux, the investors in the new trade route and the investors in the merchant fleet. They were also witnesses to the loan Sir Fux had signed.
Apart from Borkal's father, the great merchant of Whitestag, Rubwill, who had gone to Syromikk, all the witnesses who signed the loan were present.
Claude held his younger brother's hand and stood beside the study table.
His mother had collapsed from grief and his younger sister was taking care of her. Even the snowhound was quietly keeping them company by the bed.
As for the eldest, Arbeit, he didn't go home. He wrote a declaration to renounce his inheritance and had a woman deliver it to him, asking for two crowns.
That infuriated Claude so much that he wanted nothing more than to beat him up to vent his frustration.
Therefore, he was the only one in charge of the family now. He brought his younger brother to deal with these people who came to pay their respects.
If Welikro hadn't rushed over with his father and sister to help him deal with the trivial matters, he wouldn't have known what else he could have done. He didn't know how to deal with the affairs of this world.
Early in the morning, he was woken up by his sister, who stumbled into the lumberyard in tears. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard the bad news that his father had committed suicide by jumping off a building.
It was like a thunderbolt had struck him on the head.
It had been two years since he transmigrated to this world and he had always lived under his father's protection. His position as the administrative supervisor of the town hall made him feel like a minor official. Compared to the bitter transmigrating protagonists in web novels, his starting point was much higher.
At the very least, most people in Whitestag would give his father some face.
So, in the two years he spent in this world, life was rather smooth and carefree.
He was not like Long Aotian, a main character who transmigrated to another world and fought against the heavens and earth, killing gods and slaying demons.
He was also not a Son of Destiny like Zhao Ritian, slapping faces all the way up.
He had always believed that he was just a normal person who could live a peaceful life for the rest of his life.
From a certain point of view, he believed that he was more suited to be a hermit who hid himself in the crowd.
So, learning magic and robbing Blacksnake didn't burden him in the slightest. The only requirement was that no one found out about his identity.
Li Bai's poem: When the deed is done, one brushes away one's robes. Hiding one's identity and name was what transmigrators loved the most. Perhaps every Chinese man dreamed of being a hero, so Claude was very satisfied with his current life and didn't want to change anything.
However, he didn't expect that the father of this body, the administrative supervisor Morssen, would encounter so many twists and turns to open a new route to Nubissia for the sake of improving himself and his friends. It was so much so that the blissful life of the family was ruined.
And now, his sister came to tell him that the father of this body, Morssen, had chosen to commit suicide by jumping off a building to end his life.
It was too late for regrets. His crying sister pulled on his arm, jolting Claude out of his reverie. He didn't even bother to wash his face before he put on his clothes, grabbed his money pouch, and rushed home in a carriage.
When he got home, his mother collapsed from grief and Claude was left in a state of disarray.
After helping his mother settle down, he asked a neighbor to drive his carriage to fetch a herbalist. Only then did he have the time to see the scene of his father's suicide.
Morssen was still lying on the ground, but his mother and a few neighbors had covered him with a bedsheet. The dark red blood spread across the ground in a startling manner.
A few police officers were already there to maintain order and prevent the crowd from getting too close.
Claude knelt in front of the corpse, filled with regret. It had only been two to three days since the incident happened. Things happened too quickly and he didn't manage to react in time.
Otherwise, he would've killed Sir Fux earlier and nothing would've happened.
As for whether killing Sir Fux would cause a huge uproar, Claude couldn't care less.
Back in Whitestag, no one would care if he killed a few Blacksnake thugs no matter how big the commotion was. They didn't care about the lives and deaths of trash like them.
But if any of them were to be touched, such as Claude killing Sir Fux, not only would the three southwestern prefectures be shaken, even the royal capital would send people to apprehend the murderer.
It wasn't until Welikro rushed over after hearing the news that Claude realized he had been kneeling in front of his father's corpse for nearly half an hour.
A police officer came over and pitifully asked Claude to make way for the ministry of justice.
Fortunately, Morssen had written his will before committing suicide and the cause of death was clear, so the examination was completed quickly.
Before he left, the official told Claude to buy a coffin at the shrine to bury Morssen before setting up a place of mourning. Claude didn't know what to make of it.
In the end, Welikro drove his carriage home and fetched his sister and father to take care of those trivial matters. Only then did Claude have the time to look at his father's will.
Morssen's will was written for Claude to read. He knew very well who his family could rely on after he passed away.
In his will, he told Claude of his intention to let Bouvik inherit the family business. He pointed out that with the debt of five hundred crowns on his head, Arbeit would definitely give up his right as the eldest son to inherit the family business.
That was why he told Claude not to let his emotions get the better of him and take over the family business without permission, lest his suicide was in vain.
That was something Claude didn't expect. Even though he had been taught the kingdom's laws during his three years in middle school, nobody was willing to memorize such complicated things. It was fine as long as they could pass exams.
He didn't think that there would be such a Debt Act that would allow Morssen to use his life to foil Sir Fux's plans.
Waiting for twenty years to collect the debt would become a huge joke in Sir Fux's eyes.
However, the price was too high, so high that it would cost Morssen's life.
Claude finally understood why his father chose to commit suicide. Apart from that, he had no other way to fight back against Sir Fux's greed for the family business.
Twenty years was a long time. As long as the debt was held up, who knew what would happen in the future?
With the help of Welikro's family of three, Morssen's funeral was quickly settled.
Welikro drove the carriage all over the town, either to deliver letters to Morssen's friends or to buy what he needed.
Under Welikro's sister's guidance, Kubrik and a few neighbors set up the empty space in front of the red-brick house as a place of mourning. Morssen's coffin was placed in the middle and an artist was hired to paint a portrait of him.
Claude stayed at home to receive the condolences of his father's friends. They were all people of status in Whitestag and those who could enter the house were citizens at the very least.
As for those whose status was not high enough, they were all stopped by Kubrik. They only needed to place a paper flower on Mr. Morssen's coffin in the mourning hall outside, then take a small white silk flower bought from the War God Temple and insert it in front of their chest as a sign of mourning.
Soon, Morssen's coffin was surrounded by countless white paper flowers. The empty space in the mourning hall became a sea of white flowers.
Welikro had already made three trips to the wargod's shrine. He said that all the clerics there were busy making silk flowers and that a single flower cost three crowns.
At noon, Bloweyk complained to Claude that he was hungry.
It was only then that Claude realized that he hadn't eaten or drunk a single drop of water since morning.
He hurriedly looked for something to fill his and his brother's stomachs before sending food to his sister and mother.
Fortunately, today was the busiest day. Once the inheritance and debts were settled, the next two days would be a lot easier.
The custom of this world was to send the coffin to the temple cemetery for burial after three days of mourning. At that time, a priest would be invited to pray so that the souls of the deceased could be sent to the kingdom of God for eternal rest.
Claude watched coldly as Sir Fux entered the study with Bidlir Blanche without any expression on his face. It was as if he was looking at a lifeless object.
Sir Fux wanted to nod at the people in the study, but he realized that nobody was paying attention to him. So, he had no choice but to greet Kauf.
Kauf pointed at the loan agreement on the table and said expressionlessly, "Sign your name here, Sir Fux.
Time is tight and we have to return to the town hall to prepare the documents. "
Sir Fux had no choice but to walk forward with a sheepish smile. But just as he was about to sign his name, he felt four disdainful gazes from behind him. The pen in his hand felt so heavy that he couldn't even write his name.
He knew that the four witnesses in the study knew what was going on with the loan agreement. But since they had signed their names, they had no choice but to make it real.
Or rather, they had become accomplices in Sir Fux's scheme to kill Morssen.
After signing his name as a witness, he turned around and spat at Sir Fux. "If I'd known that this would happen, I wouldn't have been a witness even if you beat me to death. I would've even advised my brother not to write that promissory note …"
Four copies of the loan agreement were signed and stamped. One copy belonged to the debtor, one to the creditor, and the other two were brought back to the town hall for filing.
Holding the agreement, Sir Fux turned to Claude with an amiable smile. "You must be Claude. I'm sorry. I didn't know that something like this would happen. Had I known, I would've rushed back from the prefectural capital to meet your father.
To show my apologies, how about this? If you're willing to mortgage this house to me, the rest of the debt will be written off. What do you think? "
Even though the new loan agreement had been signed, nobody could object if the debtor was willing to repay the debt ahead of time.
It was voluntary, not forced, and not illegal.