"Cheers for the Ainsworth's Family's good fortune!"
""Cheers!""
James drank the wine in his glass with a happy expression.
Right now, he was in one of the residences of the Ex-Ruling Families and they were having a feast in his honor.
The Patriarchs of the different families all looked at James with smiles on their faces. Right now, they were sneering in their hearts because William's grandfather was a gullible person. As long as they sang his grandson praises, the old man would grin like he was on top of the world.
What the Patriarchs' didn't know was that James was also sneering inside his heart. While he was keeping the idiots company, Ezio was already busy emptying the coffers of their treasuries.
James' faithful subordinate had completed his investigation a day before the old coot had made his announcement at the Plaza. Their plan was to bring out those who had evil intentions towards William by using James as bait.
"Lord James, once you are reunited with your grandson, your prestige will definitely soar towards the sky like a dragon in flight," Waltier, the Patriarch of the Agnis Family, said with a smile.
"Well, my boy, William has always been filial," James replied with a smug expression on his face. "I'm sure that he'll allow me to manage a floor or two if I ask him nicely."
"Such a filial grandson, you're very lucky to have him, Lord James."
"Indeed. I wish I also have a grandson like William. He will bring good luck to the family."
"With Sir James' majestic presence, I'm sure that his grandson is definitely a good looking person. I can tell with just a glance that you were a lady killer, Lord James, when you were still in your young years."
James laughed and nodded his head in agreement. Right now, he found the Patriarchs' very cute, and decided to humor them a bit.
"Hahaha! Indeed. I was a lady's man back then." James nodded his head. "My grandson managed to inherit my genes, I feel sorry for him because he will be a lady magnet just like me."
The Patriarchs looked at James with fawning gazes. However, deep inside, they wanted to drown him in spit. If not for the fact that they needed him to use against William, they wouldn't waste their time in buttering him up like a VIP guest.
The feast lasted for three hours, and James had his fill of eating and drinking. It was also at that moment when he received a telepathic message from Ezio.
"Sir, everything has been settled," Ezio said.
"Did you take everything?" James inquired.
"Yes. the only thing I didn't take were their clothes."
"Excellent!"
James grinned like a wolf as he stared at the Patriarchs who were fawning at him. He didn't plan to show any mercy to those that had evil intentions towards his family. Regardless of who they are, as long as they targeted his family, they would all meet a miserable end in his hands.
—-
The next day…
Several men holding weapons barged inside James' room.
After the feast ended, James returned to the inn where he and Vlad were staying. Although the Patriarchs had invited him to stay with them for the night, he politely declined their offer with the excuse that he would be climbing the tower the next day to meet with William.
"Who are you people?" James asked as he stifled a yawn. "Don't you know that it's rude to barge into someone else's room while they are sleeping?"
"Shut up, Old Man! You're coming with us!" the leader of the men answered.
James scratched his head as he stared at the leader.
"Why are you shouting? I'm not deaf. I can hear you perfectly."
"Come with us and do not resist if you know what is good for you. Of course, if you want to get hurt, we are more than willing to oblige."
James laughed because it had been a while since someone had dared to threaten him. No one in the Southern Continent had the guts to do it, but as soon as he entered the Central Continent, someone actually dared to bully him.
"What will you guys do if I refuse?" James asked. He was looking at the armed warriors with an amused expression on his face.
The leader snorted as he raised his hand. "Since you refuse to cooperate then we won't hold back and make you understand what it's like to cross the ruling families of the Tower of Babylon!"
Two minutes later…
Cries of pain could be heard on the streets in front of the inn. The men who had threatened James earlier were now writhing in pain because their arms and legs were broken. The leader of the group had it worse because James had broken all of his limbs.
Ever since James had made his announcement in the Plaza, it was not only the Ex-Ruling Families that had been keeping an eye on his movements.
Adventurers, bounty hunters, mercenaries, and several other elite warriors that had been hired by influential people were keeping tabs in everything he did. The envoys of the different Empires of the Central Continent that had been dispatched towards the Tower had also caught wind of James' name.
Since these people wanted to curry favor with William, they intended to form good relationships with any member of his immediate family.
They had already known that a group of armed men, who belonged to the former ruling families, were planning to capture James. Their plan was to come to his rescue at the right moment, in order to gain his good graces and gratitude.
Unfortunately, they were not aware of James' true identity. They thought that he was only an old man that was lured by his grandson's success, and intended to profit from William's accomplishments.
The scene in front of the inn made them re-evaluate James and their impression of him changed completely.
"We should have known that you were not an ordinary old man," Janos, the Patriarch of the Moreau Family, said with his arms crossed over his chest. "However, your futile attempt ends here."
James glanced in the direction of the Patriarchs, who had prepared a feast for him several hours ago. All of them looked back at James with angry expressions on their faces. If not for the fact that one of the sons of the Agnis Family visited their treasury to get some gold, they would have never discovered that their coffers had been emptied.
Waltier immediately felt that something was fishy, so he immediately contacted his compatriots. It didn't take long for all of them to discover that they had been robbed clean.
Their first suspect was James. But, since the old man had been with them for the entirety of the night this suspicion didn't last long. They had sent men to monitor him, and of them reported that the old man had left the inn since he returned last night.
Without any leads on the thief that had ransacked their treasuries, the Patriarchs' decided to push through with their plan earlier than previously discussed. They unanimously agreed to kidnap James and send a messenger to the Tower to tell William that they were holding his grandpa hostage.
James placed his hands behind his back as he stared at the encirclement that was slowly forming around him.
The Ruling Families had called up their big guns, which were High-Rankers that were equivalent to a Saint Class Warrior in their initial stages.
Vlad stood beside James with his arms crossed over his chest. Deep inside he was sighing because his companion had once again poked the hornet's nest and was using him to clean up the old man's mess.
"Surrender peacefully and you will not be hurt," Waltier said with an arrogant tone. "This is your last warning."
James started picking his nose with his finger as he scanned the High-Rankers that surrounded him.
"Forty Pseudo-Saints, not bad." James said as he rubbed his right index finger and thumb together.
Without warning, he flicked the small ball of mucus towards one of the High-Rankers which hit the latter directly on his forehead, sending him flying a few meters from where he originally stood.
"One down," James announced before laughing out loud.
The expression of the Patriarchs' as well as the spectators watching the scene immediately changed. However, it didn't end there.
Vlad finally unleashed a terrorizing aura that announced his identity as a Demigod.
It was at that exact moment, when the Patriarchs' of the once glorious families in the Tower of Babylon, knew that they F*cked up.
