Chapter 149: Chapter 143: Framing and the “Butler” Consecution (Vote for Monthly Ticket!)

The goods were temporarily left in a nearby village, and Moore immediately hurried back to Nasir Town, arriving at Fischer Manor to report.

The family steward, Theo, came to the hall and saw the anxious look in Moore’s eyes.

Theo nodded calmly to his old friend, who also served the family, and continued, “The head of the household has gone to Black Mountain Town for a banquet hosted by the Arwen family, whose new head, Baron Adrian Arwen, has just achieved mid-level Transmutation. As for Madam Irene, she is at the orphanage in the town. You should wait a bit, Moore,” he said.

Moore sighed, took off his hat, and said, “This is a matter that can’t wait. Other families might just find it a nuisance, but the Fischer family can’t afford a thorough investigation by the Church.”

Theo frowned slightly, sensing that the issue seemed more serious than he thought.

Over the years, he too had successfully reached the 2nd Rank “Steward” on the Path of Authority.

The Consecution Power of “Steward,” in the constellation, takes the image of a polite elderly man in a black tailcoat amidst a burst of white light.

It possesses just one Extraordinary trait, “household management.”

And a “Steward” with the Extraordinary trait of “household management” can select no more than ten people as “family members” ahead of time, constantly aware of and in control of the members’ current physical and Spiritual Power states, without any distance limitations.

Should a family member encounter an issue, the “Steward” can even remotely transfer his own life force and Spiritual Power to them.

To advance further on the Path of Authority, Theo handed over his position as Guards Captain to Archibald and truly became the old steward of the Fischer family.

Archibald no longer held the position of Guards Captain; he was now the Fischer family’s Soldier Leader, with the private military forcefully expanded to over five hundred.

The Hovern family’s viscount originally set for Nasir Town stayed back home due to a mole incident within the family, fully committing to protect the breakthrough of Earl Hovern to Monarch and did not come to the East Coast Province.

Nasir Town was still firmly in the hands of the Fischer family.

The town’s third and fourth factories were built one after another, still chemical and food processing plants, where the Fischer family held a huge advantage. They sold their products across the whole East Coast Province through the Lion clan’s business channels.

Due to the factories, the population of Nasir Town increased rapidly, gradually reaching over twenty thousand, and it was only a matter of time before the town’s population exceeded thirty thousand.

Theo, knowing Moore to be a serious person who would not exaggerate matters, immediately asked, “What exactly is the matter?”

Upon learning that contraband from a heretical cult was found in the medications intended for Fein City, Theo;s complexion changed, and he sent Moore straight to the orphanage in town to find Madam Irene.

Moore put on his hat, left the manor with gravity, rode to the Daybreak Orphanage in town, and saw over a hundred neatly dressed orphans in the yard.

Most of them came from the years following the maritime wars, many bearing grudges, all adopted by the Fischer family, and each child received a certain level of education.

Moore noticed the workers strictly ordering the orphans to line up as Madam Irene, dressed in black, calmly walked out of a room, her presence weaving through the children’s gazes.

In the eyes of the children, Madam Irene was like a Proxy of the divine, born into the world to save them.

Knowing the importance of protocol, Moore did not rudely approach her.

In recent years, the Fischer family learned to emulate the Lion clan by formulating a complete set of family rules, while Madam Irene’s management of the orphanage became stricter and more formal.

He waited until Irene had checked on all the children, then approached her steadily, took off his hat, and said:

“Madam Irene, I have something very important to tell you!”

Irene looked at Moore calmly, nodded, and led him to a room alone.

“Explain,” she said.

“Yes, Madam Irene,” replied Moore.

Moore respectfully bowed and, with furrowed brows, whispered:

“Here’s the situation. In a batch of medicine to be sent to Fein City, we found forbidden items from a heretical cult, the kind used by members of the Stars Embrace Order for rituals. I suspect someone is trying to frame us,” he explained, presenting the bag used to plant the evidence.

“I was not in charge of the previous shipment; it was Archibald. And it’s very likely that it had problems, even possibly already delivered to Fein City.”

Although he didn’t spell it out, Moore felt what he could detect, the careless Archibald might have overlooked.

Irene stared at the items in the bag calmly, nodded slowly, and said, “I am aware of the situation now, thank you, Moore. But there’s no need for you to worry about this matter anymore.”

Moore was momentarily startled, then nodded, “I see, I understand.”

In fact, Moore was not the first to bring the news.

Yeager had already found the issue with the first batch of medicine and dealt with it promptly.

He then located Inna at the newspaper office and used his Bard ability “Bardic Narrative” to convey the message remotely, informing Irene of the detailed situation at the Fischer family side instantly.

Upon receiving the news, Irene immediately sent Vanessa from Nasir Town to Black Mountain Town to inform Byrne about the entire incident.

Suddenly, she asked, “By the way, Moore, I hear your wife is about to give birth, is that right?”

Moore nodded respectfully and said, “Yes, it’s true. She is a very honest and kind woman who knows nothing about the matters concerning the Dawn Church.”

Irene said slowly, “Your child will descend from Blood Receivers and will be a natural-born Blood Receiver. If anything occurs, you must inform me, understand?”

Moore, fully aware of Madam Irene’s meaning, responded, “Yes, I understand.”

Irene paused, then with a smile added, “When the time comes, I will help with the delivery. There will be no accidents; rest assured, Moore.”

Joy instantly flooded Moore’s eyes; childbirth always carried a significant mortality risk for ordinary women, but with Madam Irene’s help, there would be no problem!

“Madam Irene, I am grateful for your continued help to the Shelby family, and thank you for your kindness!”

——

“Open the boxes! Inspect the cargo!”

In Fein City, a shipment from Nasir Town had been intercepted all night.

The Tempest Church and Salvation Church had formed a joint inspection team. They had solid and reliable intelligence indicating that this shipment contained heretical items needed by members of the Stars Embrace Order!

The merchant Colin’s expression was ugly as he said coldly, “Have you gone mad? This shipment belongs to the Fischer family. Don’t you know our relationship with the Lions?”

The expressionless inspection team captain said without any compassion, “So what if you are dogs of those Lions? We are the church’s people! We are not afraid of them at all!”

Colin continued coldly, “Very well, you’re the church’s people, but are you not afraid of Priest Zayne’s fury?”

Upon hearing the name of Zayne, the captain of the inspection team suddenly became furious and shouted,

“Get out of the way! We must inspect this shipment. You lot have delayed the inspection long enough! Move aside now, or we’ll take you all away!”

Colin could only silently step aside, as the inspection team captain revealed a smile.

However, after inspecting for a long time, scrutinizing every item closely, they found nothing amiss.

Not to mention contraband, the Fischer family hadn’t even failed to pay a penny of taxes over the years.

Looking at the disarrayed goods, Colin couldn’t help but sigh,

“Sigh, you’re really accusing the wrong people. Who in the world could be cleaner than the Fischer family?”

The face of the inspection team captain turned red with anger, like someone forced to swallow excrement, so furious that he couldn’t speak.

At this moment, one of his subordinates ran over to report.

“Something’s wrong, Captain. It seems the intelligence was inaccurate. It’s not the Fischer family’s fault. Instead, we found contraband in the goods belonging to the Arwen family!”

The Arwen family, like the Fischer family, was famous on the East Coast for manufacturing medicines.

However, their insistence on an outdated handmade workshop industry was far inferior to that of the modern-day Fischer family.

The inspection team captain was furious, bellowing, “What the hell is going on! Why is the intelligence inaccurate, damn it!”

Colin smiled and bowed slightly, saying cheerfully,

“Sorry about that, but we will definitely contact Priest Zayne, and by then, you must give an explanation to the Fischer family!”

The inspection team captain looked embarrassed and his hands trembled slightly, but he still didn’t want to concede and could only snort coldly as he led his team away.

Black Mountain Town, the racetrack.

Byrne, dressed in splendid black clothes, sat calmly in the VIP area, flanked by two young personal servants who were orphan brothers from the Daybreak Orphanage.

His demeanor was steady, his beard slightly grown in, making him look more mature and rational than before, and his deepest gaze held aggressiveness.

After attending a banquet hosted by the Arwen family, Byrne had accepted Baron Adrian Arwen’s invitation to come to the racetrack to watch the newest Shield Cup race and to participate in exciting horse betting.

“Start!”

The horses began to run, and the crowd cheered wildly!

A pure white dove flew in from the sky!

It had soared high above, then descended gradually, weaving freely among the many racehorses, zigzagging before swiftly gliding past the lead horse and soaring back into the sky.

Byrne raised his hand, and the obedient dove gently landed on his pale hand. He took a piece of paper from the pigeon’s claws, seemingly blank but actually containing neat writing by Vanessa, which would become visible when heated.

“It’s the Arwen family.”

The man was expressionless as the paper was ignited by a flame, the ashes scattering in the wind.

He stood up, gazing at the racetrack, nodding calmly, then turned to leave,

“We won.”

The horse betting was over, and the horse the Fischer family had bet on won first place.

Byrne left the VIP room with composure, only to see Baron Adrian Arwen coming out of another room, walking over with a smile.

His clothes were luxurious, his temples gray but his skin very delicate—a middle-aged man who took great care of himself, laughing as he stretched out his hands towards Byrne.

“Hahaha, I heard you won while I lost badly, Your Excellency Byrne! Now I might have to borrow money from you!”

The two men laughed as they embraced.

Byrne’s face was full of smiles as if embracing an old friend, with no trace of dissatisfaction.

Adrian sighed and said, “His Excellency Byrne Fischer, you are indeed lucky. It’s your first time at horse betting and you already won! Maybe it’s true what they say, that newcomers are always lucky.”

Byrne smiled and nodded calmly, his tone light as he said, “Perhaps, but it may be more than just luck.”

“It might be that the deities are protecting the destiny of the Fischer family.”