Chapter 269 - 115: Since You’ve Come! Black Jail Hospitality

Chapter 269: Chapter 115: Since You’ve Come! Black Jail Hospitality

Eleanor sat beside her grandfather, her expression cool. Her back was ramrod straight, and at first glance, she seemed to be silently listening to the two men’s conversation.

But her icy-blue eyes had been drifting over to Lynch ever since he entered the room, sizing him up from head to toe.

’So this is the Lynch Blackwood grandfather won’t stop praising?’

’He doesn’t seem... all that special. He’s tall, I guess. And his looks are... just okay.’

She subconsciously sensed Lynch’s aura, and her delicate brows furrowed.

’He’s not even at the Tier Two Middle Stage? That’s lower than me! I’m already about to touch the threshold of Tier Three!’

She pouted slightly, picked up her teacup, and took a small sip of the hot, floral-scented tea, feeling increasingly indignant.

When the Magic Staff was taken, a small knot of resentment had formed in her heart. Enough time had passed that she had mostly let it go, but now, that knot seemed to be tightening once again.

Meanwhile, Chief Mage Edmund Frost was having a very different set of thoughts.

While seemingly making casual small talk with Lynch about the livelihood of the people in Lakefront Town, its defenses, and its future development, he was also secretly observing the young man.

And the more he observed, the more he couldn’t help but feel a sense of amazement.

’This kid is remarkably composed, far more seasoned than anyone his age should be.’

He had been beating around the bush for nearly half an hour, his topics wandering from the fish catches in Mirror Lake to the mineral veins in the West Ridge, from militia training to the situation at the border.

Yet, this kid maintained a polite smile and answered appropriately the entire time, never once bringing up the people locked away in the dungeon, as if the matter didn’t even exist.

Such calmness and patience were truly rare in someone his age, and Edmund was beginning to find the situation a bit tricky.

’Compared to him, my own wonderfully talented yet simple-minded granddaughter... Alas, the difference is just too stark.’

However, as the Chief Magic Consultant for the North Wind Legion, Edmund was tasked with mediating this conflict. With numerous other duties weighing on him, he couldn’t afford to keep dancing around the issue with Lynch indefinitely.

Seeing that the atmosphere for small talk had been sufficiently established, Edmund set down his teacup. The amiable smile on his face faded slightly, replaced by a more serious expression.

"Camp Commander Lynch, we’ve been talking for some time now. I’m sure you’re aware that one of the reasons for my visit is to deal with the matter concerning Fritz of the House of Hohenzollern, as well as those few from the Tribunal and the Enforcement Squad. Their actions were indeed reckless and offensive; they were in the wrong first. I wonder if... for my sake, you might consider releasing them?"

"Any subsequent compensation, apologies, and even internal coordination within the military can all be discussed at length later."

As his words fell, the air in the main hall seemed to grow still.

Eleanor also put down her teacup, her icy-blue eyes turning to Lynch with curiosity, wanting to see how he would respond to her grandfather.

In her view, with her grandfather, the legion’s Chief Mage, personally pleading the case so politely, this Lynch fellow should, by all rights, take the olive branch offered to him.

But Lynch didn’t respond immediately. He took a slow sip of his floral tea, set the cup down, and said in a level tone, "I can’t."

What?!

Even with Edmund’s composure, his pupils contracted slightly at that moment.

He had anticipated that Lynch might make demands, air his grievances, or even tactfully suggest that he needed orders from a superior or more guarantees... But he had never imagined that Lynch would refuse so directly.

Beside him, Eleanor was so shocked she clapped a hand over her small mouth, her eyes wide with utter disbelief.

She could hardly believe her ears!

’This Lynch...’

’How dare he just reject my grandfather’s request like that?!’

...