This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 40

A Warning

"Hmm? Whether it is against the family rules, do I need you to teach me?" Steven was also getting heated. As the family head, he had gone so far as to explain himself, but the other party still wouldn’t accept it. Was this just looking for trouble?

"My lord, I am merely curious. Moreover, I fully believe that you must have a reason for this. Who else but you would adhere most to the family’s rules? With all due respect...therefore, I ask you to clarify, hoping you won’t get upset."

The other party’s words seemed reasonable, but they were actually full of arrogance and self-righteousness, claiming that Steven was the most rule-abiding person when it came to the auction prices of the equipment—100 gold coins. The value wasn’t significant enough to trouble the family head.

Steven just chuckled. He knew what the other party was thinking. If it weren’t for the fact that the other party was a capable person and managed a branch of the Setter family well, he wouldn’t have let him show off like this!

"Uncle, don’t take it too seriously. In fact, my father giving Ellie the rake was also in keeping with the rules."

"Keeping the rules?" The burly middle-aged man looked skeptically at cunning Aman. If he fully disliked Steven, he would dislike his son even a thousand times more!

Especially this cunning Aman, he had been outmaneuvered by Aman’s survival skills countless times. Seeing that he wanted to interfere while the elders were talking, he made his displeasure visible on his face.

"Uncle understands correctly. My father truly kept the rules because Ellie had already paid for this 100-gold-coin worth equipment. Thus...she rightfully owns the equipment," Aman stated, and the middle-aged man just scoffed.

"Paying for the equipment? That’s truly laughable! Do you think I don’t know that she’s a scholarship student? If she really had more than 100 gold coins to pay, she’d be called a noble or a merchant, perhaps?"

"What, uncle, do you not believe?"

"How can I believe that? You want to protect your father by saying she paid such money? Hah! Even a 5-year-old wouldn’t believe your words!"

"Uncle...you are..." Aman sighed and shook his head, looking at the middle-aged man as if he were deeply disappointed.

"I am what?!" which only angered the man before him even more. From the look on Aman’s face, it seemed as if he pitied him greatly! With such a pompous child, how could he not retort?

"Uncle...you might not be very aware of the main branch of our family, possibly because you’re always involved with the branch family and only know about that. However, in the main branch, everyone knows that our Setter family owes a debt of gratitude for her assistance. My father has shown what it means to adhere to the family rules."

"To ensure that the younger generations of the Setter family understand, the family’s records instruct everyone in the Setter family to be grateful. After Ellie helped save Koross, thus preventing a loss of family property, my father went to the institution to find her. If you think this isn’t true, you could inquire with your descendants at the institution to see if this really happened." Aman smiled as he said this.

However, his expression starkly contrasts with that of the middle-aged man. Aman’s intent wasn’t just to defend Ellie; his words sounded like insults, implying that the middle-aged man should know only about his own branch family and not about the main family’s affairs.

It’s like a slap to his face, especially since he dared to lecture the family head. If others heard this, they would surely laugh.

He’s just a man who must follow the rules but then went to question and seek justifications from those who make the rules. Aman has made him feel humiliated again!

"You’re saying that just because this girl helped Koross, we had to give her a gift that is a family treasure? I think that’s going a bit too far."

"Oh, that’s definitely not the case. How could we possibly give away the “rake” that was treated like trash?" Aman chuckled after seeing the embarrassed face of the man, enjoying his discomfort even more.

".............." The big man didn’t get a chance to retort. How many times had he been verbally smacked down now? Aman didn’t wait for him to respond; the young man immediately continued his point.

"We gave money as compensation, which is about the same amount you gave your son after he trashed the tavern in our branch family, 200 gold coins." As Aman mentioned this, the expressions of several others become uncontrollable.

People in the branch family feel their displeasure stirred again. Compared to the incident of their branch leader having to cover various debts for his son, giving Ellie the rake which they didn’t know how to use didn’t even count for a fraction.

The issue of the branch family paying 200 gold coins because the branch leader’s son lost control while drinking had already caused dissatisfaction when it happened. Who would have thought Aman would bring it up again today?

"Of course, the main branch of the Setter family wasn’t complicit in the mistakes of the main family, so the 200 gold coins didn’t come from the family’s funds but were deducted from Koross’ monthly expenses instead."

Aman didn’t stop there; he further accused that the methods of the branch and the main family differ while the branch family had used funds from the family’s central coffers to bail out the other party’s son several times, the main family would not do such a thing.

Despite his lies, Aman managed to turn it into an issue. Moreover...given Aman’s personality and his displeasure at Koross being favored multiple times, so he made this small act of revenge.

Koross’s face showed signs of dissatisfaction. Imagine how substantial an amount 200 gold coins was! If it were deducted from his monthly income provided by the Setter family, he might face deductions of 10 gold coins over 2 years, or perhaps he’d need to allow deductions from his entire month’s salary to settle it quickly.

Ellie observed the expressions of both Aman and Koross, not naive enough to miss the underlying conflict between the two. Seeing how this hero behaved so vilely, deep inside her heart, Ellie disliked him even more.

"That’s all I need to explain, uncle. Do you still have doubts about Ellie receiving the rake?" Aman sneered maliciously, staring at the elder. If his father couldn’t act against the other due to it seeming like bullying, then Aman would take it upon himself.

Bullying others? ...He was indeed good at that.

By now, no one dared to question further about the rake that had become the property of someone outside the Setter family, even though they still wanted to witness its power. Because not only the family head defended Ellie, but even the devil of the Setter family advocated on her behalf. Though someone wanted to challenge the authority of the family head, no one dared to challenge the devil capable of destroying them with his cunning.

Indeed, with prominent members of the Setter family defending this scholarship student, people began to wonder. Was this student merely someone brought in to assist them? Why were both the family head and Aman so interested in this person?!

"Well, now that the monsters are gone, we might as well return to the city. Staying here at dusk is far too risky."

Seeing everyone defeated by his son again, Steven, the supreme individual, then intervened to defuse the situation. As the family head, he couldn’t bully the subordinates as Aman thought. Therefore, his son’s behavior had reasons stemming from him and his status as the son of the family head.

This child was different from his brother, having grown up constantly compared to others. Thus, he had faced more verbal battles and encountered the evils of human nature than Owen had as a child. Until Owen became severely ill, people began to neglect him and instead focused on Aman. Yet, during those times, Aman had gained invaluable experience, always carrying the moniker of the family’s villain wherever he went, which only augmented his fearsome reputation.

At first, Steven thought his actions were too harsh and unsuitable for a family head. However, over time, Steven came to appreciate that his methods often yielded better results than his own. Thus, entrusting him with the family’s leadership in the future wouldn’t be regrettable.

But Aman seemed uninterested in the position, striving like others for his elder brother to recover and become strong again. Aman always said that the leadership should belong to his brother Owen. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that when anything unusual and related to his brother occurred, Aman would devote his full effort.

Steven gently patted his son’s back, urging him to move forward. Aman approached Ellie, deeply shocked by the recent events. Considering Koross’ injuries, had Ellie not received the magic tool from his father, who knew what the vicious beast might have done to her?

Aman blamed himself a bit. He vowed that from now on, he would prioritize Ellie’s safety over his training. How heartbroken his brother would be if anything happened to this girl!?

"You’re useless," Aman whispered to Koross, looking at him with utter disdain. Not only that...he pushed Koross out of the way, as if from now on, he would be the one to protect Ellie himself.

Koross clenched his fist, clearly feeling guilty about the incident. If he had been strong enough, Ellie wouldn’t have had to risk herself. As someone aspiring to be Owen’s right-hand man, how could his current abilities be sufficient?

Indeed, the 200 gold coins served as a punishment for his incompetence. This incident ultimately motivated Koross to strive harder until he was worthy of the position of the next family head’s follower.

The Setter family made their way back. Along the route, they encountered a few more beasts, though not in large numbers, making them manageable. However, their return journey wasn’t as swift as the outward trip. Steven had always worried that slaughtering monsters along the way would attract predators by the scent of blood. If they weren’t thorough in their cleanup, it could certainly pose a danger to the camp.

Therefore, several had to undertake the task of cleaning up the battle scene before they could proceed, making the journey significantly longer. And this delay could have serious drawbacks, such as...the situation now unfolding.

"Lord Aman," Ellie called out to the young man beside her as a bodyguard with a serious tone.

Aman paused for a moment. Although Ellie had always seemed mature for her age, she now appeared even more so.

"What’s happened?"

"I think...the turtle that was injured earlier seems to be rampaging around, and it’s heading in our direction."

Hearing this, Aman froze. He wanted to ask how this young lady knew that the creature was coming their way, especially since even his family’s patrol units hadn’t spotted it. But Ellie had too many secrets. Ever since she effortlessly gave the Tezatrons plant to the Setter family without negotiating any benefits, Aman knew she was no ordinary person.

Her warning was something to be taken seriously!

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