Werewolf Hunting Rules.

Chapter 573 Anger Rises
The capture was a perfect operation; the cursed stone horse was confined to the street and tackled.

Clayton beckoned Julius over and let him touch the magnificent fellow.

In areas where animal husbandry is thriving, there is always a coming-of-age ceremony where a boy must prove his ability to tame large, unruly livestock before he is considered a man.

This is because these large animals are always much stronger than humans. Being able to tame them proves that one either has extraordinary strength or the wisdom and skills to survive in this line of work.

The stone horse they were dealing with today was far superior to any ordinary livestock.

It was stronger than most superhumans, a complete monster, but they still managed to take it down.

Seeing Julius hesitate as he placed his hand on the stone horse's neck from the side, Clayton reached out and stroked its mane with satisfaction. As the stone horse turned to bite him, Clayton slapped it again: "A man's first lesson—know how great he is."

As Julius's fingers, still trembling with exhaustion, touched the stone horse's cold yet supple skin, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

Although he had always disagreed with Clayton's lifestyle, he has now changed his mind.

Riding on horseback, Clayton grew to love the horse more and more. Charlotte had originally planned to advertise its existence in the newspaper first, hoping to gain fame and attract wealthy buyers, or ask Clayton to contact his rich friends in Asia New Zealand. But now he wanted to keep it for himself.

This horse is strong.

"Charlotte, make an offer," he called out, turning his head.

Charlotte dared to walk over slowly at this moment. She had seen everything that had just happened, and now she looked at the horse with a mixture of awe and curiosity.

"To be honest, this is my first time dealing with this kind of transaction."

She was only thinking about getting her hands on the item first, without considering anything else, very much like Clayton Bello himself.

"The money you borrowed from me before is now wiped clean. I'll give you another five hundred pounds, and news of a rare item."

Bruno's will mentioned that a strange object was kept by his sister in Mona, and he intended to give it to Clayton, but Clayton had not yet retrieved it. Now, he planned to use this information as part of the reward. If Charlotte brought back the strange object and he felt that it was suitable for him, then a direct transaction like today would not be out of the question.

Clayton was not only a friend, but also offered a generous price, and Charlotte immediately agreed.

With the matter settled, Clayton invited the helpers who had caught the horse with him to accompany him back to his manor in St. Bernide, so that it would not struggle and run away again on the way.

Once home, he managed to control it.

As long as there's money to be made, the workers are happy to do anything. Moreover, after Charlotte's selection process, almost everyone here is an amateur rider who knows about horses. They are very interested in this supernatural horse and wish they could spend more time with it.

Clayton grabbed the reins and pulled the horse up, but it was still very reluctant and needed a lot of pulling to move a few steps.

Just then, another group of people came over. They were also a group of burly men, each holding a rope noose. When they saw Clayton leading the stone horse, they were all very surprised.

"Hey, that's our horse!" the leader shouted, pointing at it.

Clayton glanced at them and, realizing he didn't recognize any of them, gave a simple answer:
"roll!"

This group of people were clearly also there to cause trouble, but they were too late.

When prey is targeted by two hunters, the order of arrival must be followed. This horse now belongs to Clayton. Apart from the sculptor who made it and has some justification for claiming sovereignty, he has nothing to say to anyone else.

Upon hearing his reply, the leader of the horse-catching team flew into a rage: "Do you know who I serve?!"

Clayton didn't answer. He was busy bending down to pick up stones. He swung his arm and threw a stone the size of an egg. The trajectory of the stone was almost a straight line, and it was frighteningly fast.

It didn't hit anyone, but instead swept over the group's heads and struck the black iron anti-theft spikes on the nearby wall. With a loud bang, the thumb-thick iron bar was bent. Even though it was made of inferior iron, the power of this blow was terrifying.

The newly arrived horse-catching team took a step back in unison, watching helplessly as Clayton and his men took the horses away.

Clayton didn't care about this group of people, nor did he realize what his actions had changed.

When the failed horse-catching team brought back the story, it reached their master, Caroline Curles, two hours later. He immediately drew his sword and chopped a mythological painting in front of him to pieces—even though he had spent a considerable amount of time acquiring it the previous summer.

This is the second piece of bad news today.

Those tomb raiders were useless, and so were these horse-catching teams.

Sir Courles needed the horse race results to reflect his own desires, and the Stone Horse was a perfect tool for that. Indeed, it was he who was attempting to manipulate the races to amass wealth and achieve other objectives.

He doesn't need banned substances or bribes; his methods leave few traces. With the help of the Book of the Earth, he can see the state of every natural creature on this land and subtly influence the target's state by touching them, casting curses or blessings.

This ability to cast curses or blessings with a touch is called the King's Touch, and its power increases the more land a noble owns.

In the past, it was common for the sick to travel great distances to worship the king, hoping that the king would bestow his grace and heal their illness with his blessing.

Caroline Cures needs more noble hearts to strengthen the Book of the Lands and control more land so that the power of the King's Touch can eliminate more uncertainty. As for the stone horse—he has limited time between obtaining the book and the start of the competition, and he certainly won't be able to gather enough power. He needs this guy with the best physique to assist him in interfering with the competition.

The moment he learned of the horse's existence from the newspaper, it was already part of his plans.

As the stone horse was once part of a public space, the Book of the Land had a certain suppressive effect on it, and Kules was confident that his secret powers were enough to tame this living wonder and make it work for him.

The list of participating riders and horses has been submitted. They are not only competing for glory, but also for the racecourse's advertising. Riders will not easily agree to change horses.

In order to find a way to fit the living stone horse into the race, Kules had already made arrangements before he even got the horse. He sent Melcher, who had served the Kules family for generations, to the city's life committee as a veterinarian. Before the race, Kules would ask him to injure one of the racehorses and then give it to the rider as a backup horse for the organizers.

It could be said that Caroline Curles was all set except for the lack of a horse, but the most crucial horse had been stolen.

He suppressed his anger and asked his men who had taken his horse, but all his men could tell him was the man's appearance, not his name.

Kules wanted to curse again, but after thinking about his subordinates' description of the man's appearance, he realized that finding the man with this information wouldn't be too difficult.

“Sir.” Derren, another subordinate standing beside him, seemed to have something to say.

Kules waved at him impatiently.

Derren stepped forward, tilting his head back to make himself appear shorter than Sir Culles: “I’ve seen this man before, at Melcher’s house. His name is Clayton Bello, and he’s the judge for this horse race.”

Upon hearing his words, Kules frowned: "I've never seen this man before. How can he hold such an important position?"

“I’ve investigated him. He used to be a cavalry officer in the army, participated in the War of Loren, has an impressive resume, and even attended Sir Jonard’s banquet.”

Upon hearing that he had attended Sir Jonard's banquet, Kulez's brow relaxed.
"That's quite a character. You've met him, what do you think of him?"

“We didn’t say anything, Sir,” Derren replied cautiously, making no mention of the near-conflict between them.

He didn't mention this little incident when reporting on Melcher's work before in order to make himself seem competent, and now he's not mentioning it to cover up his mistake of not reporting it last time.

“Maybe we can persuade him to join us,” Kules said on a whim.

Delren felt a chill run down his spine; he knew the truth and didn't want to be sent to deal with that big bastard.

However, Kules did not continue the topic. He seemed to have thought of something, and his expression changed.

“Wait, Clayton Bello, Fassa (a nickname for Faslag) mentioned this name before. He escorted Lieutenant Charles's body, and so did that woman. She seemed to have mentioned some tall guy who was an obstacle.”

The woman he was talking about was named Athena Berlusconi, and Delren also remembered her, but Faslag Kules?
Delren lowered his gaze and quickly dismissed his doubts. Faced with such inconsistencies in memories, he trusted his master more. Nobles were connected to the land, and the land itself held memories of the things upon it; therefore, magic that altered memories was ineffective against nobles.

Such a noble and venerable lineage!

“What did those twin brothers say earlier? Goodman, remind me.” Caroline Cules clapped his hands, and the light in the air distorted, revealing a guard in gray clothes.

The guard bowed slightly and then said, "They said that a family named Bello took their man away, Sir."

"So that's how it is, it's Bello again."

Kules licked his lips, once again revealing that tyrannical look familiar to his subordinates: "Let's verify if it's the same person who's against me. Don't tell me it really is."

"Sir, the horse races are about to begin, and the church takes this event very seriously," Derren reminded him anxiously.

Kules did not answer, but simply waved his hand, shooing him away like a dog.

My lower back is a bit injured, and I'm not feeling very well.