The Nais Clan maintained an underground base in North Port, located within the tavern of the Outer Island Zone.
Count Yulster sat quietly at the bar, leisurely sipping honey wine made at Moon God Island.
Beside him, other members of the envoy group from Falling Star Kingdom, also of the Nais Bloodline, held their weapons and looked around with vigilant expressions, as guards surrounded them tightly.
The tavern was in disarray, radiating chaos from where the Nais envoy was centered, obviously a recent battle had taken place, but there was no blood left behind.
Further away, fully armed Castel Guards, led by a Transcendent Knight, formed tight ranks inside and outside the tavern, even completely blocking off the entire street.
Inside and outside the tavern, the atmosphere was tense and silent, every guard clenching their swords stiffly, their eyes heavy and watchful of the Bloodline members at the center.
"There’s no need to be so tense, we’re here with good intentions, and we really don’t want to start a conflict with the people of Castel,"
Count Yulster looked at the mortals around him, who seemed even more tense than his Bloodline, and said as gently as possible.
He had made his demeanor as gentle as he could.
The Bloodline were innately proud, including those of Nais.
Their disdain for mortals was even greater than that of Elves; for traditional Bloodline to sit here peacefully and talk to these average soldiers who weren’t even Transcendents was truly a miracle.
However, no matter how mild or friendly his attitude, as a representative of the Nais clan, a Blood Count of Blazing Sun strength, he couldn’t really allow the mortals to just arrest them.
This was a matter of the Nais clan’s pride and dignity.
Thus, such a tense standoff had formed.
However, Yulster remained cautious and had harmed none of the Castel Guards who tried to capture them.
Only the tavern owner looked disheartened at the mess within his tavern, calculating how much gold tana it would cost to repair everything after this incident.
But he soon realized that whether his tavern would still exist after today, or whether he himself would remain in the Northern Land was uncertain.
Thinking about the cost of repairs now was completely meaningless.
Inside the tavern, the atmosphere remained oppressively heavy, and everyone felt quite tense except for the supremely powerful Count Yulster.
Especially as time passed, more and more guards and Transcendents were summoned by Castel, and the Nais Bloodline increasingly looked towards their Count.
Eventually, when the City Guard Team started bringing the legendary, magically enhanced Magic Crystal Cannons that were used for coastal defense, even Count Yulster became restless.
He set down his cup, which had long been empty, twitched his eyes towards those devastating weapons that had easily shredded the vanguard fleet of Falling Star Kingdom during the Star Moon War, cleared his throat, and said a bit unnaturally,
"Gentlemen, we mean no harm. We are here merely as representatives of the Nais clan to talk with Count Castel."
The Castel Guards looked at each other, and finally, a Transcendent Knight in the attire of a squad leader stepped forward, speaking cautiously and vigilantly,
"Captain Chatam has already gone to inform the Count Mansion. Without orders from Count, you must not act rashly!"
Are you going to bring all the Magic Crystal Cannons from North Port if we continue this?
Count Yulster cursed inwardly, feeling helpless.
Though he was a Blazing Sun, and these heavy Magic Crystal Cannons would find it hard to kill him head-on, it was different for other Bloodline members.
And even for him, at such close distances and with so many Magic Crystal Cannons, he might not die but would surely be injured.
Do the humans of New Moon Kingdom all hold such hostility towards the Bloodline?
It’s all the crazy deeds caused by those members of the Blood Demon Church!
Count Yulster internally swore at those sect members, momentarily forgetting that the hostility between Castel and the Bloodline actually started from their own infiltration and orders from Count Castel.
Just as Count Yulster was contemplating whether he should quietly tear open a Teleportation Scroll to temporarily retreat with his envoy members, a series of rapid horse hooves finally approached from outside the tavern.
Count Yulster looked out and saw a weather-beaten messenger dismount his horse, running breathlessly towards the Transcendent Knight commanding the Castel Guards:
"Captain Chatam! Captain Chatam! The Count has issued an order! Bring the Nais envoy to the Count Mansion for an audience!"
As he spoke, the messenger pulled a parchment from his chest and presented it with both hands.
The Transcendent Knight took the parchment, glanced at the order and his distinctively flamboyant "wild" signature, nodding slightly,
"It is indeed an order from the Count."
After speaking, he gestured for the soldiers to lower their weapons, bowed slightly to Yulster, and said,
"Bloodline from Falling Star, the Count wishes to meet with you."
With that, he signaled the guards to clear a path.
Count Yulster breathed a sigh of relief, stuffing back the Teleportation Scroll he had almost taken out.
He gave a look to the other Bloodline members and then led them out of the tavern.
"Hold on, the Count may be willing to meet, but... only the principal is to be seen."