Starting Today, I’ll Work as a City Lord

Chapter 184: Investigating Omar’s Disappearance

In Omar’s study in Blazing Horse City…

Tap, tap, tap…

Omar’s confidant knelt in front of the desk, his head bowed, sweat trickling down his face as he listened to the sound of fingers tapping on the desk.

He was now teetering between life and death, half of his body already having crossed to the other side. He was merely waiting for his fate to be decided.

“It seems my brother’s people aren’t very good, not even the knights. They don’t even know how their master disappeared from the study, from right under their noses, hahaha…”

The maniacal laughter made the knight sweat even more. The owner of the laughter was Adam, Omar’s elder brother. The knight hadn’t expected Adam to arrive so quickly.

The knight had hoped to search for a few more days for Omar and was prepared to secretly return home and flee with his family if he couldn’t find Omar.

Unfortunately for him, Adam arrived ahead of schedule. Escape was impossible now, and he could only resign himself to his fate.

Tap. Tap. Tap…

Adam didn’t even care about whether or not to kill the knight. He was currently thinking about the mission his father had given him- to pull the nobles to their side.

However, he hadn’t expected his brother Omar to go missing. This immediately ruined Adam’s good mood.

Adam had intended to use Omar. He understood that his domineering younger brother would definitely try to rule others using Count Pulley’s name.

By using Omar’s relationship with the nobles, Adam could easily win them over and pretty much guarantee his success. With that, he would become the heir to the Count title and would be able to save a bunch of gold coins. But now, with Omar missing, his plan was gone.

Adam even considered that Omar might have received some sort of warning and deliberately avoided him to sabotage his mission.

“You were really outside the study that night? Was my brother still in the study at that time?” Adam asked again.

“Yes, Lord Omar was definitely still in the study that night. I even heard him talking from outside the door,” the knight affirmed. He hadn’t expected Omar to be nowhere to be found the next day. He had then noticed signs of a rope being rubbed against the window.

He had considered that Omar might have been kidnapped, but that seemed impossible given the castle’s tight security. Besides, he hadn’t heard anything weird when he was guarding the door…

“Could it be…” The knight suddenly recalled the last sound Omar made, which now seemed rather strange.

“What are you thinking?” Adam leaned slightly forward and said coldly. “Speak up, or you’ll be sent to the gallows.”

“Yes!” The knight quickly voiced his suspicion, “I suspect that Lord Omar was kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?” Adam’s eyes narrowed. He had also considered this possibility, but he dismissed it as he thought it was unlikely. Is he trying to deceive me? Adam quickly dismissed that possibility. While Omar was indeed foolish, he wasn’t foolish enough to abandon the territory, as it was crucial for the competition to be the heir to the count title.

So, was Omar really kidnapped? Since he has been missing for several days, is he dead already? Revenge? Or are the kidnappers asking for ransom?

“Does Omar have any enemies in the western lands?” Adam asked casually.

“No!” The knight immediately replied. He did not dare to mention the matter of the bandits.

As of now, the bandits have not returned. He received news that North Wind City had been attacked by bandits, but thanks to the help from West Sun City, North Wind City’s City Lord was still alive, and the bandits had either been captured or killed.

The knight suspected that Omar’s disappearance was related to North Wind City and West Sun City since these two cities were involved in the bandit attack on North Wind City.

“What are you thinking?” Adam leaned slightly forward, his voice cold. “Are you hiding something?”

“No, absolutely not,” the knight said. He did not dare to reveal anything about the bandits as he would be silenced.

“Is that so? I’ll give you three more days. If you still can’t find my brother Omar, then you can leave the castle,” Adam said, waving his hand coldly.

“Yes!” The knight immediately scrambled to his feet, staggering a bit as he had been kneeling for too long. He was relieved to have escaped this time.

Bang!

The study door slammed shut. Adam stared at the door and said coldly, “Investigate what Omar has been up to and if he has any enemies.”

“Understood!”

A figure in a black robe emerged silently from the shadowy corner of the room and quietly left the study.

“How troublesome. That fool Omar is utterly useless. You disappeared to who knows where when I need to use you,” Adam said, wiping his brow, his face darkened with anger.

His family and his father, Earl Pulley, had managed to connect with the Fourth Prince with great difficulty. If he failed the task in the western lands, then this barren region, or rather, this Blazing Horse City, would likely end up being his retirement home.

With the king’s health deteriorating every day, he likely wouldn’t last for many more years. The princes were fiercely competing, and the major nobles had already chosen a side privately.

Earl Pulley had pinned his hopes on the Fourth Prince, and the nobles in the western lands were seen as a bit of a supportive force. Though it was only a little better than nothing, it was still Earl Pulley’s token of allegiance.

“I’ll wait three more days. If there’s still no news, I’ll have to visit each city one by one,” Adam sighed. In order to persuade the nobles in this barren land, he would need to spend heavily, including a lot of gold and gems.

“Fortunately Lord Father gave me some gold and gems. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to persuade these country bumpkins.”

He understood that the affairs of the capital were too far from the western lands, and trying to convince the nobles here to join their side with the incentive of being backed by the prince was basically playing the piano to cattle¹.

“So, the first target is…” Adam flipped through the sheepskin rolls on his desk, noting that North Wind City appeared the most frequently.

“Then, I’ll visit North Wind City in three days!”

Translator’s Notes:

¹ 对牛弹琴. Playing the piano to cattle is an idiom that basically means that you are explaining something to someone who doesn’t understand it, like a pianist playing a piano masterpiece to a cattle but they won’t understand it or know to appreciate it.