Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Himanshu02

The Grand Duke listened to the report in silence.

He had guessed it since he heard the news of victory from the north, but it was the worst outcome for him.

“I have no excuse.”

Dmitri also finished his report and bowed his head, speechless.

“Three shadow squads annihilated, and the remaining one barely survived with half of its members?”

“Yes, sir.”

He had lost two squads to Eurius, and in the second battle, he had to retreat with another squad while being chased by the Duke and Eurius.

He lost another half of a squad in the process.

Except for Dmitri, the leader who returned alive, he had wasted half of the shadows that he had nurtured for decades.

The Grand Duke thought for a while and opened his mouth again.

“I understand that Count Anderson was formidable, but what about the Superhuman who appeared from the barbarians? Was he that strong?”

“Of course, he was no match for Your Grace, but he seemed to be more than a newly ascended Superhuman.”

“What about the First Prince?”

He made an ambiguous expression here.

In fact, he thought he had almost caught the First Prince in a trap, but he missed him.

“I’m not sure about the First Prince.”

When he told him about the mysterious attacker and the reinforcements, the Grand Duke frowned.

‘Wallace, you did something unnecessary. If you had reported to me, I might have had a chance to take the First Prince’s life.’

He decided to reprimand him later and spoke to Dmitri again.

“It’s true that the First Prince was more skilled than expected, but you’re not blameless either. I’ll hold you accountable later.”

In fact, given the Grand Duke’s personality, he should have been prepared for immediate execution, but he surprisingly let him go lightly.

“I’m truly sorry.”

He sighed with relief and stepped back.

The Grand Duke sank into his thoughts again.

Dmitri was his own disciple, so he had a keen eye.

He probably didn’t see it wrong.

Besides, he had already lost many of his subordinates, so he didn’t want to lose a talented knight.

‘But this is too big of a blow. I’ve lost ten years of work in vain.’

The shadows that boasted of being equal to the royal guard were halved. Moreover, Eurius had built a solid foundation that even he couldn’t ignore and was returning to the capital.

‘But I still have some cards left.’

Even if the knights in the north sided with the First Prince, his overall power was still much lesser than the Grand Duke’s.

No matter how much potential the north had for development, it was still in the stage of development.

Compared to the rich lands of the central and southern parts of the empire that had prospered for over a hundred years, most of which were occupied by the nobles faction, it was insignificant.

Besides, he had Wallace, a spy who had infiltrated the emperor faction.

Although his credibility had dropped a bit lately, he was also one of the Grand Duke’s trump cards.

‘The problem is the position of Crown Prince.’

If Eurius used this merit as an excuse to demand the position of Crown Prince, it would be hard for him to oppose it as a member of the Grand Duke faction.

‘But I have to stop him somehow.’

If the succession structure of the next emperor was decided here, all his preparations would be in vain.

‘I’ll have to mobilize my minions and put some pressure on him.’

If all the nobles of his faction stood up, even the emperor wouldn’t be able to make a decision easily.

‘But if he insists on it, there’s only one answer.’

Until now, the Grand Duke had refrained from openly rebelling against the emperor for the sake of smooth progress.

But at this moment, he decided to start a civil war if necessary, just like he did in Eurius’s previous life.

‘You better choose wisely, Your Majesty, unless you want to see this country torn apart!’

***

“I’ve never been there myself, but I’ve heard some interesting stories about the desert.”

“Well, I have some opportunities to visit there for trade purposes, but it’s not really a comfortable place for Your Highness to travel.”

Meanwhile, Eurius was chatting with Wallace while thinking.

Of course, dealing with this old fox was also a problem, but his companion was an unexpected person.

‘He has quite a nerve?’He could guess who this Jamir was by looking at his stats.

Judging by his title as ‘Order’, he seemed to be one of those masked guys with some status, and he came to find him on his own.

‘And he said he was a priest?’

He had only sent nameless assassins until now, but if he had a job, it meant that he really had a god to worship.

‘Anyway, it’s very kind of him to come to me.’

His identity must be quite famous, since he contacted him through Wallace.

And behind his apparent identity, there must be the Order that he was hiding.

Eurius pretended to know nothing and acted as a friendly prince while talking to him.

Jamir was also observing him.

‘He doesn’t look that impressive?’

He was curious and wanted to finish Eurius for sure, so he came to observe him, but Eurius didn’t seem to have the skills to kill the top-class assassins he had sent.

‘Something is suspicious, but I can’t find anything wrong?’

Of course, there was also the possibility that he survived with the help of reinforcements and luck. According to the report of the survivor, they almost killed him, right?

‘I’ll have to watch him a little more.’

As they were watching each other, Wallace finally brought up his original purpose.

“By the way, I heard that you have established a merit for the Dite mine.”

“Oh, that? Did you hear about it too, Count?”

“Well, I’m originally a merchant, aren’t I?”

‘Tsk, his greed overcame his wariness of me?’

Eurius inwardly clicked his tongue.

While he and Jamir were eyeing each other, Wallace was also looking for a timing to bring up his words.

He had two intentions for coming to Eurius this time.

First of all, there was a possibility that he had tried to assassinate him, so he couldn’t be at ease even if the Order had been secretive until now.

The second was the Dite mine that he had discovered this time.

His Ryan Trading Company had lost a lot of shares in the north and couldn’t make much profit.

‘There are some risks, but he seems happy to meet a powerful person from the desert kingdom.’

In fact, he could rest assured that his assassination attempt was not exposed.

From the outside, his relationship with Eurius was as close as a guardian.

Even if Eurius had been away from the north for over a year, their friendship wouldn’t go away.

From his point of view, it would be strange if Eurius suspected him.

“I’ve tried to talk to Lord Marius about it.”

‘That’s entirely up to His Highness Eurius and His Majesty the Emperor. It’s not something I can say anything about.’

Marius had only rejected him harshly.

So naturally, he had no choice but to come directly to Eurius and plead with him.

“Ugh… So you’re not satisfied with your share of the Dite mine, is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s right. Our Ryan Trading Company is the largest in the empire, but we’re undervalued in the north.”

Wallace made a pitiful face and pleaded with Eurius.

“Hmm… But isn’t that a matter for the bureaucrats rather than me?”

“I only trust Your Highness. Won’t you give me a chance for this old man’s sake?”

‘He’s so shameless that I’m amazed.’

Eurius knew his true intentions and admired his audacity.

“Well, the Count is not a stranger to me, so it’s not hard to grant your request. I’ll try to talk to Marius for you.”

“Thank you very much, Your Highness.”

“Thank me? Haha!”

The atmosphere was friendly throughout, but the three of them had different thoughts in their minds.

This bizarre conversation continued for a while.

“Then I’ll leave it to you, Your Highness.”

“It was an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

“Have a safe trip.”

After sending them off, Eurius smiled faintly.

‘If he needs a stake in the mine, I can give it to him!’

But the price would not be cheap.

Why should he help Wallace out of kindness?

***

“Eh, what a shabby place.”

Stefan was becoming a decent city in the north, but it was still a new city.

He was provided a decent mansion considering his status, but it was nothing compared to Wallace’s eyes, who was one of the richest men in the empire.Wallace grumbled as he sat on the bed.

‘Well, at least it seems like the assassination didn’t leak out, and Eurius said he would speak for me. That’s something.’

He also had a meeting with that prince Jamir.

He was from a royal family that had influence in the southern desert, so he would be helpful for his business.

‘Phew, maybe I should get some sleep.’

Wallace turned off the light in his room, feeling relieved.

‘The moon is too bright tonight.’

It was a full moon that night, so the room was still bright even without the light. Wallace’s eyes turned to the window where the moonlight came in.

But at that moment, he was shocked as if he was about to faint.

“…!”

“Shh!”

“Good evening, Count Wallace.”

The one who was at the window was an unexpected guest that he never anticipated.

“Your Highness Eurius?”

“The moon is bright tonight, perfect for a conversation.”

Eurius smiled and slowly walked from the window.

Wallace felt instinctively that something went wrong.

How did Eurius get in and why did he come to see him at night?

“Huh. Your Highness, what can this old man do for you?”

He had been in politics for decades and was an experienced veteran.

He tried to act calm, but he was sweating profusely inside.

“Huh?”

Eurius looked surprised.

“Don’t you have something to say to me? That’s why I came here on purpose.”

“What do you mean?”

He said that while racking his brain.

‘This is wrong.’

Eurius knew something about him and came here for sure. And it must be about his secret request.

“You seem to like hooded guests at night. So I thought I’d pay you a surprise visit.”

“…!”

As he said that, Wallace gave up.

So much for secrecy!

The information about the assassination guild had leaked out.

But Wallace still had something to believe in.

‘But it’s useless without evidence!’

If they didn’t have conclusive evidence that he ordered it, it would only be a suspicion.

He had taken some precautions as well.

He had arranged an alibi for himself at the time of the request.

Even if he left the imperial faction because of this, he was still one of the richest men in the empire!

The First Prince wouldn’t abandon him so easily when he still had value.

He could use this opportunity to quit spying and join the crown faction.

But Eurius’s next words made his eyes widen.

“Samarqand!”

“Huh huh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

This was fine.

But Eurius continued.

“Fergana!”

“Khirint!”

“…!”

“Oh, and Samoa too?”

“What do those cities in the south have to do with me?”

Wallace felt his heart drop at this moment but tried to deny it until the end.

“How can they have nothing to do with you?”

Eurius delivered the final blow.

“Aren’t you conspiring with the Grand Duke to station the desert kingdom’s troops there?”

“How… how did you know?”

Wallace unwittingly blurted out.

This was so shocking that he couldn’t keep his composure.

‘I’m doomed.’

He felt like he was falling into an endless abyss at this moment.