"This is madness..." Trevor muttered, clutching his head as horror and panic consumed his expression.
He was not the only one left speechless. The other men in the room stood frozen, their faces reflecting varying shades of shock and confusion.
Every single gold plate inside the goblin had vanished into thin air.
"But the sewers were guarded the entire time," the legion captain said with absolute certainty. "And those boys never slack off when the order comes directly from me."
Trevor clenched his fists and roared, "Fuck your orders and those boys who can’t even protect something for a single night!"
The legion commander’s eyes darkened, but he remained silent, concealing whatever emotions churned within his chest. Because right now it was his fault that has caused all this
George then spoke through gritted teeth. "I personally chose Dex for this job, knowing he’d rather have his head cleaved in two than accept a bribe. He’s the most earnest soldier I’ve ever met. If he says he saw no one, then he’s probably telling the truth."
Trevor suddenly broke into a bitter smile.
"Then perhaps you can tell me where all that gold vanished to, my son?" he asked. "Did another goblin magically spawn down there and gobble it all up? Or did the earth itself swallow every last plate, leaving us with nothing but that fucking smelly corpse?"
His voice thundered through the office, making an already suffocating atmosphere even heavier.
George had nothing more to say. According to everything Dex had reported, no one had entered or left the sewer since George abandoned the post. And with the other route still blocked, transporting that much gold without anyone noticing was simply impossible.
Trevor, however, was no longer thinking about any of that.
"I promised five thousand gold coins to the Count already..." he muttered, shaking his head. "If I don’t deliver them by the end of the month... No. No, no, no. I can’t let that happen."
His eyes widened with genuine horror.
He had already failed to pay the Count for two consecutive months. Finding the goblin had seemed like the fortune he had been desperately praying for, a way out of the pit he had dug for himself.
"Why did I even write that damned letter to him?" He slapped a palm against his forehead, the regret immediately washing over him. "I should have taken the goblin to the County myself instead of writing to the Count about it."
Now, he was royally fucked.
....
At the breakfast table, two people were conspicuously absent.
Venessa wore a worried expression, while Laura sat beside her looking completely listless, her food untouched despite having been served some time ago.
Bella and Bran were the only two eating normally, casually conversing about trivial matters as though nothing was amiss.
Unable to bear the uncertainty any longer, Venessa finally asked, "Do you know where the two of them have been since this morning?"
Her gaze shifted between Bella and Laura as she waited for an answer.
Bella outright ignored her, while Laura muttered, "They left because of some emergency. I didn’t hear it directly from George, but it appears to be something serious."
She barely restrained the urge to glare at Bran, knowing full well how closely he was tied to all of this. Just remembering how worried her husband had looked earlier made her chest tighten. Yet there was nothing she could do except sit there and remain ignorant of what was happening.
Her gaze shifted toward Bran, and her irritation only deepened when she saw how casually he chewed his bread, as though he hadn’t just stolen a staggering amount of gold.
’But how did he even do it? Hunting a demon and stealing that much gold are two entirely different things.’
Laura couldn’t decide whether she was more curious or wary of the young man. Somehow, Bran had suddenly acquired abilities that seemed to have come out of nowhere and are absurd to say the least. And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that sooner or later, his recklessness would catch up with him. The way he had been brazenly making enemies these past few days was bound to get him into trouble eventually.
’I will have the last laugh. Just watch.’
A quiet snicker formed within her mind, but before she could savor the thought, she sensed someone approaching.
Moments later, several people stormed into the house, bursting through the door with such urgency that everyone at the table immediately rose to their feet.
Everyone except Bran.
He continued eating.
Trevor’s gaze immediately settled on the youngest boy, his expression darkening with suspicion.
"Someone has stolen the treasury," he announced, his voice carrying through the room. "And I believe that person is here, in this house."
Bella frowned. "What treasury? And why are you saying that while looking at Bran?"
She was already prepared to defend her son, but before she could say anything further, Trevor issued his next order.
"Go and check his room."
Two men immediately moved toward the interior of the house, George leading them.
Laura couldn’t help but grin inwardly at the development. She had no idea how they had reached this conclusion so quickly, but somehow, this was for the best.
If suspicion had fallen on Bran, then the Governor would undoubtedly find some way to have him framed as well. And if Bran ended up behind bars, she would finally be rid of that infuriating face of his.
Bella panicked. "Wait, how can you just—"
She stopped abruptly when she felt her son’s hand close around hers.
She looked down, only to hear Bran say, "That’s fine. Let me handle this."
Bella wanted to protest, but Bran had already risen from his seat and begun walking toward the Governor.
Trevor didn’t take his eyes off him. His posture remained rigid, every line of his body tense with restrained anger.
Bran, on the other hand, wore nothing but a lazy grin.
"Quite desperate you are about this," he remarked. "But you’ve come knocking on the wrong door."
Trevor’s eyes narrowed.
"I hope you haven’t just given me an opportunity to make your life hell."
Bran chuckled, completely unfazed. "Best of luck with that."
With those words, he simply turned around and sauntered back to the table, settling into his seat and continuing his breakfast as though nothing had happened.
Oh, this was going to be interesting.