"Respected lord Punk, It is my great honor to meet you. My master, Lord Hutt, is the patriarch of our Vimy family, and he had admired you for a long time, so after finding out about your arrival, he decided to hold a banquet to welcome you."

A young girl in a gorgeous dress walked up to Punk, then with a very deep bow that was in a manner that clearly expressed her lower status than Punk, conveyed the invitation. 

"The Vimy family? Hutt? Isn't he the Minister of internal affairs in Dolez city!"

Punk didn't even glance at the girl's obvious provoking appearance. Punk was a little surprised by the name Hutt at this time. He clearly remembered that this guy was the Minister of internal affairs who had monopolized Dolez city's entire political power. 

Punk was somewhat curious about this shrewd noble's intention, and as it was still not the time when his arrangements would take effect, he decided to check out what this old noble who was in conflict with knight Casser had to say. 

Thinking of this, Punk lightly glanced at the girl who was still bowing her head to maintain etiquette and then whispered three words:

"Lead the way." 

-------------- 

Unlike Punk's casual attitude, at this time, in the luxurious masonry house of the Vimy family, minister Hutt only felt that his head was about to explode.

The reason for minister Hutt's headache was the behavior of the Ti Xiaer Church, which now even exceeded the limit of madness and became a pure death wish. They actually dared to stretch their hand, the plague, to the city of Dolez, and this poisonous hand was still extending. 

Minister Hutt was sure that if things went like this, then within three months, the Dylan Kingdom would definitely send troops to control the situation. And even if he didn't care about the future, at present, public anger was constantly growing against the Ti Xiaer Church. The spread of the plague inside Dolez has also exceeded the tolerance of the nobles. After all, the plague didn't care about whether one was a noble or not. So, the nobles were already planning to attack the Ti Xiaer Church, which was inseparable from the plague.

The most difficult thing for minister Hutt was that the leader of the attacking force they recommended was actually he himself.

So now he had fallen into the dilemma of the double agent, and if any evidence of his relationship with the Ti Xiaer Church was found, it might cause his Vimy family to become alienated.

Although Hutt was unable to understand why the previously wise and calm Ti Xiaer Church had become so outrageous and unreasonable recently, none of this affected his determination to leave the magnificent but actually sinking ship. 

He secretly helped Zweig sell a number of slaves obtained from the refugee camp to the Ti Xiaer Church as "believers." Which now could easily link him to  Ti Xiaer church, so he had to find a way to explain the whereabouts of those missing slaves.

Then when he was thinking about a way out, he learned about Punk's arrival and knowing Punk's reputation as a powerful official mage who liked to conduct human experimentation on slaves, without thinking too much, minister Hutt decided to establish a cooperative relationship with Punk in order to get rid of those slaves "bought" from the refugees as early as possible, and at the same time planned to quietly link the fate of the last group of slaves with Punk. Although the Vimy family would lose a lot of money by doing this, minister Hutt didn't care about money at this time. After all, now, the most important thing for him was to get rid of all suspicion and find a strong backer if possible.

This was minister Hutt's thinking at this moment. 

Although this old minister faintly felt that it might not be a wise move to invite Punk as if he was even a little bit inattentive while dealing with an official-level powerhouse, then it would be the end for him and his Vimy family.

But minister Hutt didn't have any other choice.

He always cared very much about his family, so he simply couldn't let the Vimy family decline under his leadership.

Although at this moment, minister Hutt's heart was filled with worries, he still arranged a luxurious banquet, then put on a hospitable front and stood in the hall while waiting for Punk's arrival. 

Although minister Hutt was quite worried, he was not without confidence. The Vimy family secretly investigated the number of slaves purchased by Punk's collaborator, the Minohorn Chamber of Commerce, so he was pretty sure that this young official mage, who for some reason maintained an outward image of a neutral camp, would not refuse an offer where he could get a large number of cheap test subjects. 

---------------- 

"Please, Lord Saian."

The beautiful girl led Punk to the Vimy family's mansion gate, and a rigidly dressed old housekeeper opened the gate. The whole mansion was luxuriously decorated. A huge crystal chandelier was hanging on the central dome, and all kinds of beautiful jewels embellish the strokes on the wall. Beautiful porcelain pots were all over the corridor, and dozens of young girls in maid costumes lined up neatly in the hall to welcome them.

Punk didn't look at the glamorously decorated mansion at all. He walked silently over the luxurious carpet made of bearskin and walked into the banquet hall, with No. 1 following behind. 

"This should be lord Saian. I'm sorry I couldn't personally welcome you."

Minister Hutt, seeing Punk's arrival, put on a flattering smile and greeted from afar.

"Hello, Minister Hutt."

Punk responded with a bland greeting, and then, without waiting for minister Hutt's response, he pulled out a finely carved chair and sat down.

"Lord Saian..."

Punk raised his hand to stop minister Hutt and said:

"Well, Minister Hutt, my time is very limited. If you have anything to say, you should hurry."

When minister Hutt heard Punk's belittling reply, his first reaction was to get angry. After all, he was almost the actual authority of Dolez city, and he had almost never been insulted in such a way.

But remembering the young man's identity in front of him, minister Hutt immediately lost his anger. What else could he do? The other party was a mighty official-level powerhouse, and on top of that, he was the one who needed help and not the other way around. 

"As you wish, Lord Saian."

The luxuriously prepared banquet and the beauties were utterly useless. Hutt could only sigh and order everyone to leave, including the girl who escorted Punk. Now only the old minister and Punk were left in the hall. Minister Hutt put on a sorrowful look and then said in a sad tone:

"Lord Saian, the Vimy family is in a desperate situation. So we have decided to stop our cooperation with the Ti Xiaer church and serve you with all our capability. 

Minister Hutt put himself in a lower position. He knew that it was impossible to ask for a fair cooperation, and also, things could not be hidden from a mage. After all, the prophecy spell of an official-level mage was not a joke, so he disclosed everything in the very beginning to create an image of a trustable party.

But what minister Hutt did not know was that Punk was not interested in the so-called cooperation at all and only cared most about the information in his words. 

"Just now... you said that you had cooperated with Ti Xiaer Church?"

Punk asked Hutt somewhat excitedly. He was just thinking about how to find the traces of Ti Xiaer Church, but now a "spy" was sent to his door; how could he not be excited. 

"It really feels great when you feel sleepy, and someone delivers a pillow."

Punk thought in his mind.

Minister Hutt was a little stunt. According to his calculation, Punk should have asked one of two questions, which were either "What kind of cooperation?" or "What kind of benefit there is?". After all, the other party was obviously a pure mage who only recognized interests, but now Punk suddenly showed interest in the Ti Xiaer Church.

Strictly speaking, all the nobles of Dolez had cooperated with the Ti Xiaer Church in the beginning, so Minister Hutt could not help but wonder if the official mage in front of him had some problem with it. 

Although minister Hutt was puzzled and a little bit afraid, he still replied with a denying tone:

"Yes...Yes, I was ignorant before, but now I have completely cut off contact with those lunatics." 

"Oh? This is really interesting. Tell me all the details." 

Seeing the blue brilliance flashing in Punk's eyes, minister Hutt couldn't help but shiver. He suddenly felt that he had done something stupid, very, very stupid...