"Smolly City …"
Looking at the city in front of him, Gray frowned. He didn't expect the herbs to enter Smolly City in the end.
Smolly City, in the Sidney territory, was one of the two Earl families, the Smolly family.
He didn't suspect that the Fergus family's herbs were robbed by the Smolly family.
As a big city with a population of more than 100,000, Smolly City was bustling with commerce and people. It was very suitable for dealing with large amounts of herbs.
It was normal for the robbers to transport them here and sell them through the channels here.
It might not be related to the Smolly family, or it might even be unrelated. No one would be stupid enough to bring back the things they robbed to their own territory to deal with.
"Young master Gray, what do we do now?"
Lord Harry looked at Gray awkwardly. Although he was good at tracking, it was only to a certain extent.
Now that the herbs had been transported into Smolly City, even he couldn't do anything. After all, there were so many carriages going in and out of Smolly City every day. Even if there were any clues, it would be suppressed.
"Let's settle down in the hotel in the city first, then you come with me to visit the Smolly family."
There was no good way, so Gray could only see if he could get some useful information from the Smolly family.
As the ruler of Smolly City, the Smolly family's information network was naturally very powerful. Perhaps he could get some information from them about which shops in the city had large amounts of herbs coming in and out in the past few days.
After settling down in the hotel in the city, Gray specially washed up. He put on his noble clothes and brought Lord Harry to Smolly Castle.
After showing his identity, Gray and Lord Harry were led to a living room.
Then.
After a full hour, other than the servants coming up to serve tea, there was no one else.
Gray and Lord Harry's face changed from the initial expectation to a strange expression, then to confusion, and finally to green.
If they still didn't understand that the Smolly family had put them on the "cold bench", then there was something wrong with their IQ.
Even if Count Smolly was delayed by something or was not here, there should be someone else coming to greet them right?
But after a full hour, there was not even a single person coming to greet them. No matter which family it was, this was definitely not right.
"What is going on?
What did the Fergus family do to offend the Smolly family? "
Gray was confused.
The Fergus family and Smolly family were too far apart. Their territories were not adjacent, so they rarely met each other. Although there was almost no interaction, it was impossible for them to become enemies.
But why was the Smolly family's family's?
Could it be because …?
The Smolly family's back garden.
Count Smalley and the next successor of the Smalley family, Winston Smalley, were seated in a pavilion, leisurely drinking tea.
A man dressed as a servant walked over. Winston Smalley, who had a head of slightly long brown hair and a handsome face, looked at the man and asked.
"How is it? Have they left?"
"Not yet."
The Smsmsmsmsmsmsmolly '
"Hmph, Fergus clan."
The corners of Winston Smalley's lips curled up into a cold smile.
What a joke. They're so close to the Ford family and now they dare to visit my Smolly family. "
The Smolly family naturally had their reasons for treating the Fergus family coldly. The reason was that the Fergus family and the Ford family had been too close in the past few months. There was even news of a marriage alliance.
The Ford family and the Smolly family were the two families second only to the Sidney family in the Marquis of Sidney's territory. There was no lack of conflict between the two families.
The Fergus family and the Ford family were too close. This naturally caused the Smolly family to be extremely displeased. As a descendant of the Fergus family, Gray came to visit the Smolly family. The Smolly family naturally wouldn't be nice to Gray.
Since the Fergus family and the Ford family were already together, they naturally wouldn't mind becoming enemies with the Fergus family.
Moreover, with the Smolly family's background, why would they care about becoming enemies with the Fergus family?
Not to mention that the Fergus family wasn't confirmed yet. Things that weren't confirmed could change at any time.
Even if the Fergus family became a count family, the Smalley family wouldn't be afraid of the Fergus family, given their many years of history as a count family.
"Whatever. Send them away. Just say that I'm outside patrolling the territory and not in the castle."
Count Smalley furrowed his brows and waved his hand to signal his servants.
If the Fergus family wasn't so close to the Ford family, he might be interested in meeting this "genius" whose name had spread throughout the Sidney territory. But now, he wasn't interested in meeting him at all.
He had heard about the Fergus family's herbs being robbed. According to his estimation, this Gray Fergus came to visit because he needed something from the Smolly family. That was even more reason to not meet him.
"Yes, Master."
The servant obeyed and left.
"Young Master Gray, the Smolly family has gone too far!"
Lord Harry said with a pale face as he walked out of the Smolly castle.
Gray's face was also gloomy as he tried to suppress the anger in his heart.
Ever since he came to this world, this was the first time he was treated like a "cold bench".
"Let's go back first."
Gray said with a frown.
The Fergus family and the Smolly family didn't have any grudges, so the reason should be because of the Fergus family's recent interactions with the Ford family.
Before he came, it wasn't that he didn't think that this would cause waves, but he quickly dismissed this thought.
The Fergus family and the Ford family did have interactions, but that was only between nobles. They didn't have any intention of forming an alliance. At least, that was what he knew.
But obviously, the Smolly family didn't think so. They probably thought that the Fergus family had completely sided with the Ford family between the Smolly family and the Ford family.
However, he didn't have any intention of explaining this. His current strength wasn't any weaker than the Smolly family, so he couldn't lower himself to explain to the Smolly family.
Plus, the Smolly family didn't give him a chance to explain. From the beginning to the end, he didn't even see Count Smolly.
After returning to the hotel, Gray asked one of the guards to report the situation and called Lord Harry to the room for a discussion.
"We can't count on the Smolly family anymore. If we want to get information, we can only rely on ourselves. Lord Harry, do you have any good suggestions?"
Gray said with a frown.
Lord Harry frowned and said after thinking for a moment.
"Young master Gray, there's a method we can try."
"What method?"
"Ask the mercenaries in this city to help us investigate. They are the local tyrant of Smolly city, so they must be very well-informed. They must have a way to get information."
"Mercenaries?"
Gray's eyes were the same.
Indeed, mercenaries mixed in with the civilians, so they were very well-informed. Since the Smolly family didn't work, asking the local mercenaries to help was a good choice.
Thinking up to this point, Gray called the hotel clerk over and threw out a few silver coins. The clerk's eyes began to sparkle.
He led them out of the hotel and into the old area of the city. After a few turns, they arrived in front of a slightly old house.
"Who is it?"
Two men in leather armor were leaning against the door. When they saw Gray and the other two arrive, the two men lazily stood up and suspiciously sized up the three of them.
"I want to issue a mission …"
Gray waved his hand to signal the hotel clerk to leave and said.
The 2 of them scanned Gray and then looked at Lord Harry behind Gray. They looked at each other, and one of them waved his hand and said.
"You guys follow me!"
After entering the door, they entered a place that looked like a yard. In the yard, there were about 20 men dressed like mercenaries. They were carrying sandbags and a giant piece of wood to train their bodies.
Without the Blood Technique, the only way for ordinary people to become stronger was to temper their bodies through the process of being pressured to achieve their goal.
"Captain, they want to issue a mission."
The tall skinny man brought Gray and the other two to a man with bare arms and sweat all over his head.
The man wiped his sweat with a towel and led Gray and the other two into an extremely simple living room.
"What mission do you want to issue?"
The man with bare arms asked after asking someone to serve tea to Gray and the Lord Harry. He then looked at Gray.
Although Gray was the younger one between the 2, he could tell that Gray was the one in charge from the way they were dressed. As a leader of a mercenary team, he could tell that Gray was the one in charge.
"Just a few days ago, our merchant team's herbs were robbed. After tracking them, we found out that they were sent to Smolly City."
"I want to ask your mercenary team to investigate the whereabouts of these herbs and find out which force handled them."
Gray said.
"The whereabouts of a large amount of herbs, and the force that handled them …."
The man with bare arms frowned. After thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and said.
"Our mercenary team can accept this mission, but it's very difficult and dangerous to investigate the force that handled them."
"You might even lose your life at any time, so the price will be very high. You also need to pay half of the reward in advance."
"How much?"
Gray asked directly.
The difficulty of the investigation was high, and there was a chance of losing their life. After all, the other party was a force that could kill an upper level blood warrior.
"100 gold coins."
"Sure, but I hope it's as soon as possible."
Gray didn't bargain. To him, 100 gold coins was nothing. Plus, this mission was very dangerous.
"No problem."