Werewolf Hunting Rules.

Chapter 583 A Battle of Wits
“I’m sure Mr. Truby has made some effort; he has quite a bit of land in St. Benedic,” Sir Callahan said, glancing towards the pool table area where the most people were. “I think he should be here today.”

But he didn't see Truby, so he had to turn back dejectedly.

"Okay, he's not here now, maybe we'll see him in a bit."

Kules was not satisfied: "Besides him, has no one thought of talking to Kunti?"

“I would like to talk to Kunti more, but who knows who he is? And what kind of world is this?” Callahan raised his index finger and pointed upwards. “Clumsy commoners will be forgiven for whatever they do, but we are different. For the sake of the Almighty Father, this world is too chaotic right now, and I don’t want to say anything wrong that might cause misunderstandings, so let’s just wait and see.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an option other than ‘waiting’,” Kules scoffed.

Sir Callahan shook his head affectionately in denial:

“Caroline, that’s not surprising. You were busy dealing with the church’s questions in preparation for Faslag’s funeral, so you naturally neglected to keep an eye on the current situation.”

“The city government is short of money right now, a lot of money, but Kunti doesn’t want our money or anyone else’s money. Isn’t that strange? I used to think he was with us, but now I’m not sure.”

"Because of the Dark Moon, many relationships need to be re-examined. Now, if I were to rent out my surname to a university, I would have to be extremely careful. The renter must have never studied demonology and must have a guarantor of sufficient stature."

"But is this amount of money really indispensable? Is it a necessary source of income for me?"

“No, Carolingian, that’s not how it is. I could easily refuse those requests, not lend out my sacred name, and abandon all similar business.”

"Our real estate is in Sasha, but that doesn't mean we will necessarily develop in Sasha. People always want to go to a wider world to improve themselves. It's best to go abroad, or at least to other cities. Staying confined to one's own territory is a limitation and can easily turn one into a domestic chicken that can only see the scattered grains in front of it."

Although Sir Callahan's eyes were fixed on Courles, his words were not meant for him alone.

The other gentlemen wore thoughtful expressions, though it remains to be seen whether this was out of complete agreement.

But in Courles' ears, Sir Callahan meant something else entirely.

"He's accusing me," Kules thought to himself.

Faslag's death caused quite a stir here. Even though he claimed that the Kules family were completely victims, his cooperation with the Holy Grail Society could be kept secret from those who were not involved, but it could not be kept secret from the Karahan family who were close to Kules.

He cannot accept this accusation.

He just lost a bet; it wasn't even a mistake he made.

He went to great lengths to facilitate the cooperation, even committing crimes that the church could not tolerate. It was Athena Berlusconi who ran off on her own and was killed by an assassin from who-knows-where. How could it be his fault?
Thinking of this, Caroline Courles stood up, his face ashen: "I've had enough, Callahan. Do you think other cities are any different? Without our own land, without prestige in our hometown, do we expect to receive the same treatment in other cities?"

“I spent four years in the north and three years in Setun. I didn’t return to this city until I was twenty-five. I’ve come to realize that no place in this world is different. If you want to be respected elsewhere, you must first be respected on your own land. Only then can you be called an aristocrat.”

“I’m not afraid anyone will hear what I’m about to say. I’m going to say that our country is in grave danger because it has lost respect for the nobility and doesn’t know who it serves. Even a great nobleman like Des Joanrad is an accomplice to its perverse actions.”

His words left the audience speechless.

Although Des Joan Lard was secretly ridiculed by many for his lack of offspring, his own strength and reputation were undeniable.

Perhaps one day the Queen will need him back in his important position, and at that time, what Kules said today will be rewarded.

“I will not take back what I said,” Kules said coldly.

“Don’t be angry.” Sir Callahan rolled his eyes, then suddenly raised his right hand and called out to those behind Courles, “Ah, Mr. Truby is here.”

"I don't know what use he is."

"Don't say such harsh things. We don't talk about profits in the club; we just need to have fun," Sir Callahan whispered, his hand still raised.

Mr. Truby arrived at them quickly, looking sweaty and out of breath.

Callahan lowered his hand.

“Hey, Truby, don’t tell me you just got beaten by Mrs. Sura.”

"Tennis? No, I'd rather be beaten by her on the court."

Truby sat down between them and fanned himself with his hat. The sensible bystanders got up and left, allowing the air to circulate more freely.

Although Mr. Truby was an ordinary citizen, he worked in the government and was involved in all underground projects. Although it may sound insignificant, he could, to some extent, determine the price of many houses.

"You must know Sir Franklin, right? He really gave me a hard time. Yesterday was Sunday, and he still summoned me for questioning, saying he wanted to block the illegal tunnels the dwarves were building in St. Alvin. I really don't know how he came up with this bad idea. Dwarf holes are almost the same as rabbit holes; no one but themselves can tell the difference. I was on site myself and busy all day, and I didn't sleep well last night."

He complained, making no mention of the fact that it was a workday, yet he still came to the club to have fun.

His personal involvement in the part seems questionable as well.

"Today, he sent someone to question me again about why the sewage tower at St. Alvin is broken. What can I say? Money is needed everywhere, and repairing these unused facilities is obviously not comparable to other projects."

Sewage towers are unique functional structures in the Kingdom of Dorne. Their primary purpose is to seal off sewers and collect sewage samples during outbreaks, allowing experts to determine the area of ​​infection, direction of spread, and origin of the plague. Data from sewage towers in different areas, cross-validated with resident registration forms from surface cemeteries, yields highly reliable results.

Spreading plagues has always been a favorite means of revenge for dark wizards and cultists, and the Kingdom of Dorne has suffered greatly from it.

Although Franklin was a knight of the North, the knightly orders from other regions were still knightly orders, and the knights in those orders were on the front lines fighting against traitors, so they were naturally qualified to oversee this matter.

However, Mr. Truby clearly doesn't think so.

"Although he is also a nobleman, he is not as kind and respectable as you."

He praised Sir Courles and Sir Callahan, then couldn't help but burp.

Unlike Cules, Sir Callahan maintained his charming smile: "Young noble children become like this when they go to the Knights. They receive a full military education and are therefore not used to worldly affairs. We should be more understanding of these knights who dedicate their lives to the country."

Mr. Truby finally realized that what he had just said might have been inappropriate, and he slowed down his hand shaking his hat. "Yes, yes, we are all serving the country, and I really shouldn't have said those things."

“I think Sir Franklin would forgive you if he knew,” Callahan said casually, glossing over the subject. “To be honest, Truby, we were just thinking about you.”

“I’d like to know what Mayor Kunti thinks about the issues we discussed last winter,” Koules said, staring intently at Mr. Truby.

"Ah~ Ah—"

Truby rolled his eyes, his tone shifting from surprise to hesitation.

"Not good, I can only say not good."

"I won't get angry."

"Regarding the planning of suburban land, although he somewhat agrees with our views, he cannot make a decision immediately. Considering that the funding for this quarter has been reduced by half, I think he must have other important plans and does not want to be tied up in this matter."

“It seems the situation is quite clear now.” Callahan looked at Kules.

Kules responded with a cold snort.

But he wasn't surprised; it was something he had expected.

"What are your plans now?" Callahan asked.

Kulez replied, "I would like to invite Sir Franklin to my home for a chat."

After appearing in the newspapers for two consecutive days, Clayton Bello's name became known to more and more people.

However, so far, not everyone who recognizes the name has completely sided with the opposing side because of the controversy in the newspapers. The werewolf's counterattack has been effective. When he dragged in the well-known Caroline Cures, people immediately became skeptical of his negative reputation.

The city's living committee did not send any message to ban him, and it seems that Des Joanrard is really starting to demonstrate his influence.

Clayton's servants had also heard the malicious reports. They were always afraid of Clayton, but they didn't think he was as bad as the newspapers made him out to be. He spent most of his time on exercise and play that they couldn't understand, and he didn't have much free time to do bad things. They couldn't believe what the newspapers said, so his mansion remained peaceful and tranquil.

Donna, needless to say, wrote to Clayton that she was currently campaigning all over the school, determined to convince everyone there, no matter what others said.

In addition, she asked Clayton to write some words of encouragement for Clara's studies in his reply, which Clayton gladly did.

Many friends who knew about this came to offer their condolences to Clayton, and even those who couldn't visit in person sent letters to express their opinions.

Charlotte, who had worked for Clayton for several years, didn't believe anything in the newspapers. She advised Clayton that if he wanted to retaliate, he should only target the leader of the horse-catching team and avoid conflict with the nobles. Once things escalated to the point of going to court with the nobles, the situation would turn against him.

Joe Manny believes that the current conflict is not important; instead, they should dig up old newspapers and reiterate Caroline Courles' past misdeeds to make people hate Courles even more. And since it's all true, this tactic doesn't constitute defamation.

Gayleid, whom Clayton met last winter, also offered help, writing in a letter, "The mistake from last winter has been covered up, and there is no need to worry about others verifying it." However, this only made Clayton feel uneasy.

In the letter, Galid also requested Mr. Melcher's contact information for academic discussions—specifically in the field of biology.

Although Clayton was grateful for the ghost's help, he had no right to make a decision for Melcher, so he told him the truth in the letter.

The old friends at the Big Treehouse Bar unanimously supported Clayton. They weren't afraid of Curles, who was a local, and they were locals too. They lived honest lives and had no ambition to climb the social ladder, so they weren't afraid of anything. If things got out of hand, they could just go to the suburbs to farm and raise sheep, where their living conditions wouldn't be much worse than they were now.

Two of the people Clayton knew through Melcher wrote to him, trusting Melcher's judgment but advising Clayton to hand over Alexandra. Although it was amazing that a stone horse could move, they felt it wasn't worth it for Clayton to offend a local nobleman since he still intended to live in Sasha.

Clayton neither agreed nor disagreed with their suggestion, but thanked them for the reminder.

In any case, it's a good thing that these newly acquainted friends can trust him.

And Des Joanrad was also paying attention to this matter.

In his letter, the old knight suggested that Clayton break an arm or a leg first, so that he could recruit dueling assistants as a commoner on an exception.

Clayton no longer needed to prove anything, and Jonard hoped he would give up the opportunity to fight, because several promising young men needed a chance to test their skills, and Jonard assured them that their martial arts were superior to those that Kules could find, and they would definitely win the duel.

This sounds like a good deal, but Clayton doesn't like it.

In his reply, he declined Jonrad's offer of help but suggested that he could train the soldiers himself, which would be beneficial to both sides.

Besides people Clayton knew, some people he didn't know also wrote to him, eager to know his skill level, as it would affect how much they would bet.

Clayton instructed his butler, Harrington, to throw the letters away.

After writing one reply after another, it was already evening.

The fresh newspapers were out, and so was Cules's counterattack against Clayton.

However, the outcome was unexpected for Clayton. Curles avoided the duel, dismissing Clayton's previous rebuttal as mere delusion and refusing to acknowledge having agreed to a duel. The first aggressive report in the newspapers was described by him as a result of a personal feud between the gentleman and Clayton Bellow, not as an act he had instructed.

Clayton was a little confused about whether it was true or false, after all, he hadn't seen Caroline Cules all year and had never had any interaction with the man.

It would be plausible to say that Cures's men were acting recklessly under their lord's name.

However, turning to the next page, the same guy who wrote the defamatory article reappeared, this time even more outrageous. After a day of preparation, he uncovered other information about Clayton and directly denounced him as "just a counterfeiter." The pharmaceutical factory that cooperated with Clayton also suffered an undeserved disaster. This person claimed that because Clayton was a counterfeiter, most of the atropine he endorsed was also counterfeit or inferior, urging readers not to buy it.

There was even a space on the page for Clayton's image on the poster.

Previously, the people of Sasha only knew that someone was cursing a man named Clayton Bello, but they didn't know what he looked like. Now they do.

Finally, the writer of the article praised Sir Courles, saying that the article was entirely his own heartfelt opinion, and that the upright Sir Courles had no need to condescend to give any orders, and was fortunate enough to have never met the despicable Clayton Bello.

Clayton himself was furious after reading the new article, and he was finally certain that Caroline Courles was the one who was working against him.