Wizard Earl

Chapter 259 Letters from the Ferguson Family

Just as Connor was in his apartment, working with his auxiliary chip and all the alchemy data he had on hand to figure out how to solve the three major problems he would have to face in creating an alchemical golem to mine magic stones, a letter that surprised Connor was dropped into the mailbox in front of his apartment by the postman of Rune City.

Looking at the ornately decorated letter on the desk, addressed to Connor Ferguson, a complex expression appeared in Connor's eyes. When he was first reborn here, his inbox would receive more than a dozen emails every month, most of which were invitations from nobles to attend balls and social events. However, after Connor came into contact with the wizarding world, he rarely participated in these noble social gatherings, and naturally, he received far fewer such invitations.

Upon noticing the message, Connor, who was in his apartment researching how to create alchemical golems, was immediately startled. He instinctively thought it was Margaret contacting him, as she had used this method to contact him before. His alarm stemmed from the fact that he and Margaret had just met, and for her to contact him again after only a few days was clearly not a good thing!

When Connor took the letter out of his mailbox, he realized he was completely wrong. It wasn't a letter from Margaret at all; it was a letter from his family.

Indeed, this letter is from the Ferguson family to Connor. The unique Ferguson family crest on the letter and the sender's name, Martinez, prove this. Martinez is the Ferguson family's head butler. According to Connor's memory, when he was young, old Ferguson spent his days indulging in debauchery. The Ferguson family's hereditary knightly breathing technique was taught to him by Martinez, the old butler who had served the Ferguson family for decades, on behalf of old Ferguson.

After a moment's thought, Connor opened the letter. He had been in this world for almost two years, but because of the awkwardness between the original owner and old Ferguson, he had never had any contact with the Ferguson family. Today, the Ferguson family took the initiative to contact him, and he was a little curious about what the Ferguson family's purpose was.

Connor opened the letter and saw that the handwriting on the paper was exactly the same as the butler Martinez in his memory.

At the beginning of the letter, the butler Martinez expressed his concern about whether Connor had enough money and what level he had reached in his Knight Breathing Technique. Then, the old butler changed the subject and said that old Ferguson missed him very much, implying that after Connor graduated from Green University next year, he should immediately return to Frosinone, a major town in the northeastern part of the empire where his family was located.

Seeing this, Connor couldn't help but ponder deeply. In his memory, although old Ferguson had indulged in a life of pleasure, his strength had steadily reached the level of a Grand Knight, and his life level had been greatly enhanced. Normally, a Grand Knight might be a hundred years old, but he would definitely be at least seventy. Just like Martinez, the old butler of the Ferguson family, who was also a Grand Knight, he was already over eighty years old and still very healthy!

Although the old butler's letter was written in a very subtle and veiled manner, without explicitly stating it, the implication of his exceptional seniority was quite clear: the original owner's father, the Earl of Ferguson and head of the Ferguson family, was in increasingly poor health... Realizing this, Connor's eyes immediately narrowed. If he remembered correctly, old Ferguson was only fifty years old this year. Even if his body had been weakened by years of drinking and womanizing, with his foundation as a great knight, he could easily live to sixty. Fifty and sixty are a full ten years apart!

Given the level of a Great Knight's cultivation and the resulting improvement in their lifespan, it's practically impossible for a Great Knight to fall ill under normal circumstances. The reduction in a Great Knight's lifespan is mainly due to severe injuries sustained in battles, which damage their very foundation and thus shorten their lifespan!

Given Martinez's decades of dedication to the Ferguson family, Connor didn't believe the old man would joke about something like this, so there must be more to this story about old Ferguson! Connor's further speculation about old Ferguson's health deepened when he recalled his conversations with Lindelof, a senior apprentice wizard of the Celtic Church.

As Connor continued reading, he discovered the direct reason why Martinez's old butler had sent him the letter: a week later, Descilio Ranieri, an important figure in the New World East Hoy Company, would return from the New World to the Imperial Capital Bernabéu to present a financial report to the East Hoy Company's shareholders' meeting on behalf of the East Hoy management! His first stop upon returning from the New World would be Rune. Mr. Descilio Ranieri would land in Rune, rest briefly, and then travel by train to the Imperial Capital Bernabéu.

What does this have to do with Connor and the Ferguson family? And why did the old butler send a letter to Connor specifically about this matter? The reason is simple: this Mr. Descilio Ranieri comes from another great earldom of the Empire, the Ranieri family. Descilio is the younger brother of the current head of the Ranieri family, Earl John Ranieri.

The Ranieri and Ferguson families have a long-standing tradition of friendship, both belonging to the hereditary aristocracy. The two families have intermarried for generations. For example, the wife of Paul Ranieri, the younger brother of John Ranieri, the current head of the Ranieri family and the head of the Ranieri family's Knights, is Ferguson's cousin. If you really want to count, Connor himself theoretically has Ranieri family blood.

Getting back to the main point, even if you were on the fastest ship sailing day and night at full speed from the New World back to Rune, and the Storm Goddess were kind enough to let you sail without any storms, it would still take at least a month and a half. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to get from the New World to Rune in less than three months. Therefore, after months of sailing at sea, unless there are special reasons, very few people would choose to leave Rune immediately after returning from the New World. They would all choose to stay in the bustling and lively Rune for a while to relieve the fatigue of the journey.

This was no exception for Mr. Descioli Ranieri. He planned to land in Rune in five days, and as a high-ranking executive of the East Hoy Company in the New World, he could not possibly leave Rune immediately. He needed to build relationships and socialize with the capitalists, factory owners, and nobles in Rune.

(End of this chapter)