Book 8, The Ten Thousand Kilometer Journey – Chapter 29, Investigation

The Northwest Administrative Province, one of the seven major provinces of the O’Brien Empire, was a vast place, with tens of millions of citizens living in it. The Northwest Administrative Province’s provincial capital, Basil, was the most developed of the province’s cities. Within the walls of Basil alone were over a million people.

Within Basil, there were many ancient clans as well.

Count Perry [Pi’li] was a relatively unassuming noble within Basil City. But amongst the ancient clans, he had quite a bit of influence. In addition, he was an extremely amiable person who never fought with others or struggled for influence. Virtually all of the nobles of the city were on good terms with him.

“Milord Count, you’ve returned.” The guard outside the gate to his mansion smiled and bowed.

Count Perry was two hundred years old, and all his hair had turned silvery-white. But his long beard was as resplendent as it had been when he was young. Count Perry nodded slightly towards the guard, laughing warmly, “Oh, you’ve gotten a haircut. This haircut suits you. Did you get it done at old Locke’s [Luo’ke] place?”

Hearing the words of praise, the guard was immediately all smiles. “Right. Mr. Locke is really quite skilled.”

Beaming, Count Perry entered his mansion.

“Count Perry really is a nice man.” The guard sighed to himself.

Count Perry really was a very kind person. This was the opinion of virtually everyone in the city of Basil. Count Perry didn’t like to kill people and didn’t like...