"What did Ivan say so far?" Franklin asked Beorn.
The 1-Star Knight shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing we didn't already know from our own investigations throughout the night. I don't think he can give us anything we haven't already acquired from their secret documents that our men secured before the city guards searched the place."
"You're half right. Ivan still has a use."
Beorn lifted an eyebrow.
"Hm?"
"The fact that we have him as our prisoner and witness to all of Greydell's crimes gives us leverage over them. We can use him to get them off our backs."
A playful smirk appeared on Beorn's face.
"Haha. You never cease to amaze me, Franklin!"
"Leak the information that we have Ivan to the castle, but make sure he stays well secured and no one gets anywhere near our basement."
"Of course."
—
The Greydell castle felt unusually quiet.
Reginald hated it.
As he walked through the corridors, servants immediately lowered their heads while others stepped aside faster than normal. Nobody spoke, smiled or greeted him. The atmosphere alone told him everything he needed to know.
The rumors had already arrived.
His boots echoed against the stone floor as he walked beside Max. Neither man looked particularly pleased. They had returned from Lowbrook shortly before dawn and neither had slept.
A servant eventually appeared at the end of the hallway and bowed deeply.
"The Baron is waiting for you, Third Young Master."
Reginald swallowed.
For a brief moment, he considered delaying the meeting. Just for an hour. Maybe two. Enough time to think. Enough time to prepare an explanation.
Then he remembered who his father was.
Running away would only make things worse.
"Understood."
The servant led them through the castle until they arrived outside a large wooden door guarded by two soldiers. Both looked straight ahead and neither acknowledged Reginald's presence.
The servant knocked once.
"Enter."
The voice from inside was calm.
Far too calm.
The servant opened the door.
Reginald stepped inside while Max remained outside. The door closed behind him.
Baron Alric Greydell sat behind his desk with several reports stacked neatly before him. A single oil lamp illuminated the room.
The Baron didn't look angry.
That frightened Reginald more than shouting ever could.
For several long seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Alric picked up one of the reports lying on his desk.
"Do you know what this is?"
Reginald remained standing.
"No, Father."
"A report from the city guard."
The Baron placed it aside before lifting another.
"This one came from one of my officials."
Then another.
"And this one from a city administrator."
He dropped the final report onto the pile and finally looked up.
His cold eyes settled on his third son.
"Tell me, Reginald."
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
"How did recruiting one adventurer and giving those thugs a simple order turn into this?"
Reginald's hands trembled. Max was just as nervous because he didn't know what awaited him.
The baron looked at the head butler. "Call Commander Hale."
Reginald and Max both looked terrified. The commander of the entire Greydell military and a 2-Star Knight was someone all soldiers respected and feared.
Vincent Hale. A powerful knight in his 60s. He was the current head of the Hale family. A small Knight household that served the Greydell family for generations.
'Shit. Why is he calling that man here? Commander Hale isn't someone he gets involved in minor punishments.' Reginald thought.
'We're screwed.' Max believed.
"Creak."
The door opened.
"I have received your summons, Lord Greydell." Vincent Hale said as soon as he entered.
"Good. I have a couple of small tasks for you. First, the six soldiers that failed to capture that thug rebel—
Have them executed."
"Understood."
Reginald and Max started sweating.
"Next, Max here. Reassign him wherever you see fit, but without a leadership position."
"Yes."
Max just stared at the floor. 'I guess it could've been worse.'
He was fortunate to be an apprentice knight, which was rare.
"As for the six other soldiers under Reginald, reassign them too. Just make sure it's the lowest paying job and rank possible."
"Yes."
"Now as for my foolish third son—
Have him move into the mansion's smaller quarters and assign two guards to him to monitor and restrict all his movements."
"Understood."
The baron then turned to his head butler.
"Ferdinand. Cut off Reginald's access to any money. He will only be provided with basic needs and food."
"Yes, my lord."
"Fath-"
He couldn't finish the word, as he sensed the intense stare coming from Vincent behind him.
"Reginald. Your actions have consequences. I don't care what you do, as long as it doesn't come back to bite me or our family. Be glad this is all for your punishment."
"Yes father."
"Just stay low and behave until I can put you to use again. I have a lot of crap to clean up because of you."
Alric Greydell then gestured for Commander Hale to escort them out before Reginald could say anything more.
Samuel, formerly Reginald's retainer had also been reassigned shortly before. Just like Franklin predicted, Samuel was given a low ranking city official position.
Baron Greydell also made a public announcement right after punishing Reginald.
He made sure to separate the Greydell castle from Reginald's actions and put all the blame on him.
The small protests quickly died down, even though many didn't believe the Baron's statements.
Shortly after, he received the report about the adventurers guild having Ivan.
'Fuck. I'm surrounded by incompetent idiots!'
The public already knew of Reginald and the Stoneclaw Gang's assassination attempts on the guild members. So along with punishing Reginald for his criminal activities, the baron also paid a small compensation to the guild.
But now that Franklin had Ivan, who could start talking and saying that the whole of House Greydell was involved—
Baron Alric Greydell had no choice but to completely back off from Franklin and the guild and not even think of retaliation.
Franklin also soon sent a letter that demanded for official funds from the castle to the guild to increase.
He didn't push it too much since he didn't want incur too much of Greydell's wrath already.
Things slowly started to settle down after that.
—
Later that same day, Osric and his party met up at the guild once more.