Lord of Mysteries: The New Black Emperor

Chapter 109: The Rebellious Wild Boars

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The fate of the mysterious world works in such strange ways. Yesterday, Hobert was just thinking about rescuing Dunn, but after considering the terror of "0-08," he hesitated.

Hobert had also thought about reporting the situation, but how could he explain it? "Ince Zangwill is in Tingen?"

Unless the Goddess intervened personally, no matter what actions the Nighthawks took, they might alert "0-08." That would only delay events, without truly solving the problem.

By then, the Evil God's spawn would have matured further, causing even greater harm.

Fortunately, the range of "0-08's" story-writing ability was confined to a single city. Otherwise, Hobert wouldn't even dare to think about it.

Unexpectedly, this morning Hobert received the "Spoon of the Mind," which gave him a way to rescue people in Tingen.

He could use the "Spoon of the Mind" to seal off his memories of "0-08" and head blindly to Tingen. Once a certain event occurred, it would trigger his memories of "0-08."

This way, "0-08" might notice Hobert's presence, but the odds of writing him into the story would be very low.

Using the abilities of the "Spectator" Pathway to deal with the Sealed Artifact of the same Pathway—it was a decent strategy.

As Hobert pondered, the carriage continued heading east.

After nearly two hours, and asking for directions a few times, they finally reached the client's residence.

They had entered the mountainous region in the eastern part of Backlund, giving Hobert the illusion that he had left Backlund altogether.

At the foot of a hill stood a farmhouse—this was the home of the client, Mr. Stan.

Mr. Stan managed a woodland here. The place was far from the city, the air was fresh, like a paradise removed from the world.

Beyond the hill in front, there was another woodland belonging to Mr. Jamie's family.

Stan and Jamie weren't close, but they didn't have any significant conflicts either.

About a month ago, they began to argue over the ownership of a small patch of forest between their woodlands, as a herd of wild boars had suddenly settled there.

Both Stan and Jamie, who also worked part-time as hunters, naturally wanted this fortune for themselves. This led to quarrels between the two families, and they nearly resorted to violence.

Since that time, both families had remained in a "state of readiness," always leaving someone to guard the small patch of forest, preventing the other from hunting the boars.

Mr. Stan had written to urge Hobert because he noticed that the boar piglets had grown significantly. The herd might soon migrate again.

Hobert reviewed Mr. Stan's land deed. The description of the woodland boundaries was vague. He believed Jamie's deed would have similarly ambiguous descriptions, which gave both families room to argue.

After a brief moment of thought, Hobert said, "I have a simple way to resolve this, but it requires your cooperation and trust."

Stan was a white-haired, rough-handed but still energetic old man. He quickly said, "Lawyer, our family will follow your lead."

Hobert first had Mr. Stan sign a power of attorney, then instructed him to bring his hunting rifle and gather his family to head for the disputed forest. He also asked him to invite Mr. Jamie over.

Stan's youngest son excitedly said, "Lawyer, are you going to lead us to beat up the Jamie family?"

"We are civilized people," Hobert laughed. "We can't always solve problems with violence. We should try reasoning with them first."

Mr. Stan was just about to agree when Hobert added, "If they don't listen to reason, then we can consider beating them into submission."

The family was stunned for a moment before Mr. Stan laughed, "The lawyer is indeed well-educated. Makes perfect sense!"

Arriving at the disputed patch of woodland, they waited another half an hour before Jamie's family showed up.

Jamie was about the same age as Stan. Upon seeing Stan with a hunting rifle and an unfamiliar young man by his side, Jamie quickly removed the rifle from his back and held it in his hands.

Seeing the tension between the two families the moment they met, Hobert quickly stepped between them. "I'm the lawyer here to mediate your dispute."

He continued, "I don't need to explain why this woodland is contested. There's no point in continuing this standoff. Here's a suggestion: in a moment, you'll fire a shot near the wild boar herd. Whichever direction the boars run toward—whichever woodland they flee into—that's who the disputed patch belongs to. What do you think?"

Jamie sneered, "We thought of that solution long ago, but where should the shot be fired? No matter where it's fired, each of us will feel the position is more favorable to the other."

Hobert responded, "Naturally, the shot should be fired closer to Mr. Stan's side of the woodland, and the closer to the boar herd, the better."

At those words, both families were stunned.

Jamie quickly retorted, "Can you make that decision for Stan? Don't back out later."

"I'll write up an agreement for you both," Hobert said. "Once you've signed it, then we'll proceed with the shot."

"Wait a moment, lawyer!" Stan hurriedly said. "Are—are you sure you want to do this?"

Is this really the lawyer I paid for, or did Jamie hire him behind my back?

Hobert smiled and asked in return, "Mr. Stan, please trust my professionalism. Didn't you just say you'd follow my plan?"

Seeing Hobert's confidence, Stan finally stomped his foot and said, "Alright, I'll trust you!"

Hobert placed his briefcase on the ground and handwrote an agreement. After both parties confirmed the terms were correct, they each signed.

Each side received a copy of the agreement, and Hobert said, "With your signatures on it, the agreement is binding, and you'll need to follow the terms."

After receiving firm confirmations from both men, Hobert, Stan, and Jamie approached the wild boar herd, while their families waited anxiously—one side worried, the other side excited.

Once they were close enough to see the boars' shadows, Hobert, who was concealed behind some bushes, instructed Stan to fire a shot into the sky.

Stan sighed. At such close range, the boars were sure to run toward Jamie's woodland.

But at this point, he had no choice and fired a shot into the air.

Just as Stan had predicted, the boar herd was startled. The three sows led their piglets toward Jamie's woodland. But just after taking a few steps, a miracle happened: the three sows, one after another, changed direction and started running toward Stan's woodland instead.

Seeing things go awry, Jamie hurried to shoo the boars back toward his land, but it was useless. The three sows were determined to charge into Stan's woodland.

Stan burst out laughing. When he turned to look at Hobert, he found the lawyer staring intently at the herd of boars.

Stan didn't think much of it and began waving the freshly signed agreement in front of Jamie, proudly declaring his victory.

Jamie wanted to argue, but after seeing the lawyer standing nearby, it was as though the fight went out of him. He had no choice but to comply with the agreement's terms.

Yet, he couldn't figure out why the boars had acted so strangely.

~~~

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