Final Lord

Chapter 161 The Fat Sheep and the Hyena

"Rotten Sausage" Rothgen squatted in the shadow of the broken wall in Rotten Finger Alley, tearing at dried rat meat he had bought on the black market with his chipped, yellowed teeth. These scraps of meat, mixed with maggots, could fill his stomach, but they had a salty taste from the shrouds discarded by necromancers, and even dogs wouldn't eat them.

He would never have eaten this stuff if that damn casino hadn't emptied Rotten Sausage's wallet.

Two-meter-tall vampire vines were climbing down the blacksmith's chimney, and the sticky sap dripping from the dark purple tendrils accumulated into small puddles at the feet of the rotten sausage, reflecting the undead merchant circling and shouting under the claws of the bronze giant eagle statue.

"Don't miss out! Top-quality goods on sale. Only for three days."

The rotten sausage put down the dried rat meat and raised its head from under the statue's paws to look ahead.

On the street, a necromancer wielding a scepter of white bones is chaining a stunningly beautiful ghostly songstress with rusty iron chains.

Rotten Sausage licked his lips. He'd seen this beauty last week when he was keeping watch at the "Bloodbeak" tavern; she was floating around singing "Moonlight Sonnets" while a large group of customers drooled over the hem of her skirt.

But now she has six bloody slave codes branded on her neck, and her semi-transparent spider silk dress is so torn that you can clearly see the nice things in front of her ribcage.

"Heh heh, this slut's become a slave so quickly. I wonder how much she lost at the casino... Tsk tsk tsk, she's got guts. Is our Night Mountain City a place for a little ghost like you to come to?"

The rotten sausage took a bite of the dried rat in his hand, fantasizing that he was a wealthy nobleman who would pull out a handful of gold coins and stuff them into the necromancer's crotch, buy the ghostly songstress, and make her eternally cold body as warm and comfortable as his own.

Thinking of the wonderful idea, the rotten sausage couldn't help but let out heavy breathing. Just then, a patrolling guard overheard it!
"You rat from the stinking ditch! So you were hiding here. I've finally caught you!" The guard wearing an eagle helmet kicked away a rat skull at his feet, and the spell pouch at his waist clinked with gold coins with the movement.

"Pay taxes or your life?" the guard asked menacingly, tossing the spell bag in front of the rotten sausage.

"Pay taxes! Pay taxes!"

Rotten Sausage grinned obsequiously and pulled out three grayish gold coins. In Night Mountain City, you can offend the city lord, but you can't offend the tax collector.

Rotten Sausage was so engrossed in gambling yesterday that he was practically delirious, yet he still remembered to leave behind three gold coins for this month.

"You're smart enough to know your place. Be more considerate next time." The guard kicked the rotten sausage and used his spell pouch to collect the gold coins from the sausage's hand.

"Boom!"

The moment the gold coin disappeared into the spell pocket, a thunderous explosion erupted on the east side of the plaza, causing the iron cage to topple over.

Rotten Sausage and the guard turned around and saw several necromancers casting spells to unlock the iron cage containing the skeleton soldiers.

The buyers of those skeleton soldiers were a group of outsiders wearing snow fox cloaks!

The young girl in the lead raised the ice crystal ornament in her hand, and the refracted eerie blue light made the rotten sausage squint.

He recognized the object! It was an ice ornament blessed by the Ice God, which would never melt and would always emit a chilling aura.

Yesterday, even a defective item the size of a fingernail fetched two hundred gold coins in the cemetery's black market, but the one in this girl's hand was as big as a baby's fist.

"Ice God's Blessing ornament, in exchange for twenty skeleton miners and three ghouls. Deal?" The girl's clear voice made the vampire vines around the necromancer shrink back respectfully.

"Of course! No one in Night Mountain City would refuse such a good deal. My dear messenger of the Ice God, please give my most respectful greetings to the Ice God and the God of Commerce." The necromancer's glib praise made even a rotten sausage's stomach churn.

"Tsk tsk tsk. These merchants are too arrogant." The guard clicked his tongue in amazement: "Letting a little girl carry such good things around is practically like inviting me to rob you."

Rotten Sausage's eyes lit up, and he immediately approached, asking, "Sir, is someone planning to make a move on these fat sheep?" The guard turned around, kicked Rotten Sausage, and cursed, "Open your eyes and take a good look! Those are followers of the Goddess of Commerce. In our Night Mountain City, who dares to touch the Goddess of Commerce's people?"

Rotten Sausage clutched his stomach and shrank into a crack in the wall, catching a glimpse of the girl's cuffs embroidered with gold thread with runes of the Commercial Church's trade routes.

He suddenly understood why these outsiders dared to be so arrogant.

The mountain city at night, the marketplace at night. The most powerful forces in this city are all subordinate to the Commercial Church. Even the tax office, which the city lord's mansion dares not offend, is one of the organizations managed by the Commercial Church.

It is precisely because of the existence of the Commercial Church that the Eagle Kingdom turns a blind eye to the city's shady dealings.

But Rotten Sausage wasn't intimidated. Having lived in Night Mountain City for so many years, he knew very well that it was full of desperate people who would rather die than give up money.

Even with the protection of the commercial church, they still have to get through this.

Rotten Sausage's eyes darted around, and it quietly slipped away from the alleyway at the street corner. It circled around to the side of the necromancer who was making a transaction.

A group of pale, skeletal soldiers were carrying a huge iron cage onto a carriage. Once the cage was in place, they jumped inside, closed it, and locked it themselves.

"Twenty skeleton miners and three ghouls, all ready. What do you think..." The necromancer stood in front of Mair with a grin, his two bony fingers rubbing together beneath his black robe.

“Hmm.” Mair glanced at the carriage and nodded in satisfaction. “The god of commerce will witness our transaction.”

She placed the ice crystal ornament, carved into the shape of a skull, into the necromancer's hand. The necromancer examined it with his staff and sensed the surging icy element within the crystal.

A skeletal phantom with a rapidly opening and closing jaw emerged from its skull, clearly satisfied with the deal.

"Gagaga, esteemed guest, please take care and come again when you have time."

Seeing the two separate, Rotten Sausage immediately crept up to Meyer and whispered, "Honorable guest, I've received word that someone wants to harm you!"

Meyer paused. She smelled the stench emanating from the rotten sausage and took a step back in disgust.

"This is the third person I've heard say this since I came to this city."

"Leave without solid evidence. I don't have the reward you're asking for."

Damn it! Those bastards were quick to strike!
The rotten sausage cursed inwardly.

He knew that it must have been a hyena like himself using the same method to inform this fat sheep.

Rotten Sausage certainly had no evidence; he was just trying his luck based on his own guess. But he didn't want to miss such a good opportunity, so he firmly replied:

“Guest, I have evidence! I even know who is trying to harm you.”

"Hmm?" Meyer glanced at him, asking with suspicion, "Who?"

“This…” Rotten Sausage rubbed his fingers together, giving a frantic hint.

"Get out." Mair ignored him and stepped onto the carriage.

(End of this chapter)