Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Himanshu02Today, a rare guest visited the secluded temple in the south where Jamir lived.

“It is an honor to have you here, Master.”

Jamir, who usually had a casual attitude, bowed his head respectfully as soon as he saw the guest.

“You look well.”

A hoarse and dull voice of an old man answered Jamir’s greeting.

The guest was an old man who looked over seventy years old.

His wrinkled face had black spots and his back was slightly bent.

At a glance, he looked like an ordinary elderly person.

But no one would think that the old man was ordinary if they saw his eyes.

The old man’s eyes were completely white, without any trace of black.

He was not blind.

He just had white pupils that gave him a creepy impression.

The old man rolled his white eyes around and then opened his mouth.

“You disappointed me for the first time. You should have paid the price for that.”

“…!”

Jamir remained silent and the old man continued.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t trust you anymore. I raised you, after all.”

The old man slowly lifted his right hand.

Even Jamir, who was not easily intimidated, flinched at this moment.

That hand was dry and twisted, with bones protruding out.

It was a typical hand of an old man, but Jamir knew better than anyone what would happen if that hand touched him.

The hand slowly approached him and landed near his heart.

‘Am I going to die?’

Jamir closed his eyes tightly, but he did not feel the pain he expected.

“…?”

“I’ll let this go as a warning. You must have had a reason for failing. I’ll call you when it’s time to catch the target.”

The old man slowly walked into the temple.

Only after his figure disappeared completely did Jamir let out a sigh of relief.

“That was lucky. I thought he would at least take an arm or something.”

The part of his chest where the old man’s hand had briefly touched was torn as if someone had cut it with a knife.

His bare skin was exposed.

He soon stopped sweating and started to smirk again.

He had a lot to do now.

Even with his position, if he failed again, his life would be in danger.

But he secretly thought that there was no way that would happen.

“Can that first prince escape from our master’s hand, no matter how lucky he is?”

His master was one of the seven Archbishops in the Order.

To be honest, he thought it was too much to use him to kill one first prince.

He wondered if he should send another assassin from his line, but he had no choice but to make sure that he would end the first prince’s life this time, or else his own life would be at stake.

‘As long as my master is here, there won’t be any problem, but I still have to be careful about the timing of the attack.’

Jamir’s mind began to spin rapidly.

***“Cough!”

“Sir Cain! You’ve improved your skills a bit lately, but you’ve become lazy again?”

Cain’s special training still continued in the training ground regardless of rain or snow.

He had not gotten rid of his lazy habits yet, but his attitude towards training had improved remarkably.

Heinz was secretly amazed.

‘How did His Majesty manage to tame this lazybones so well?’

Heinz was curious about that, but he could not let go of Cain who had slacked off during his training.

He was basically gentle, but very loyal to principles as a knight.

Thud thud thud!

Cain groaned and staggered under his merciless treatment.

“Sir Heinz, please be gentle!”

Another surprising thing was that Cain’s swordsmanship had progressed amazingly.

He tried to beat him up seriously, but he did not fall down easily like before.

‘Well, that’s why His Highness took notice of him.’

Heinz was astonished but also sternly scolded him again.

At least he taught him properly unlike before.

“You couldn’t block the attack completely because your lower body defense was weak. Don’t rely too much on your talent and train your basics diligently!”

He had improved from before, but Cain’s hardship would continue for a while.

Eurius watched them with a satisfied smile from afar.

‘The knights are growing well!’

Of course, what the knights needed was not just individual strength.

They also needed to train for group magic battles, and learn the discipline required for group actions by squad.

Eurius estimated that it would take about six months for that.

‘It won’t be too late to start the real activities then!’

According to his memory, around that time, there would be a suitable incident to test the knights’ achievements.

As the knights, including Cain, strengthened their skills, Eurius felt that it was time to pay attention to other things.

‘Father said he would support me fully.’

The emperor’s support was the most reliable shield for him who had not yet established the foundation of his power.

He had regular discussions with the emperor about the future situation after returning to the capital.

The emperor no longer treated him as a child.

“I never thought I would have this kind of conversation with you. Haha…”

The emperor’s eyes were full of affection and warmth as he watched him.

A lot had changed and he had to change more.

“Your Majesty, the carriage to the capital is ready.”

The voice of his attendant interrupted Eurius’ thoughts.

“Good job.”

The distance between Eles Villa and the capital was not long if they rode fast horses. It would take less than half a day.

Usually, he would go to see the emperor, but his purpose today was different.

The carriage headed to a quiet place in the city, not the palace.

Clack clack

The place where Eurius arrived was a building that was still under construction. But unlike other buildings in the empire, it had a sign written in Eastern characters that stood out clearly.

[Azure Dragon Trading Company] – Scharnof Branch –

“We apologize for inviting you to this humble place. The building is not yet completed.”

“Don’t worry about it. By the way, you’ve already expanded to the capital? Your skills are impressive.”

“It’s all thanks to His Highness’s generous support.”

The person who Eurius greeted was Jegal Geon, the deputy head of the Azure Dragon Trading Company.

They had expanded their business from the north like an octopus and finally reached the central part of the empire.This was also thanks to Eurius who threatened Wallace and made other trading companies in the south not interfere with their expansion.

Of course, they felt grateful and somewhat fearful of Eurius.

“I don’t have much interest in small talk, as you know. Let me get straight to the point! How is the request I made at Hidden Moon Hall going?”

He had come to the capital this time for two reasons: to enter the capital of the Azure Dragon faction and to hear their answer.

Jegal Gun also had a cautious expression. He and the first prince were now in the same boat.

“The order from the Sect is to fully support Your Highness.”

This command was unexpected for him, who had been dispatched to the Eastern Continent. But he had to obey the decision of the Sect.

“That’s good news. I appreciate your cooperation once again.”

“Thank you for your trust.”

After a warm exchange of greetings, Eurius and Jegal Geon discussed the future requests.

“Actually, I have a question and an additional request for you today.”

“I’m all ears.”

“How long will it take for you to advance to the southern part of the continent? And I want to request an investigation on the southern desert kingdom.”

Jegal Geon thought for a moment and answered confidently.

“Assuming that Your Highness continues to support us, I think we can reach the south within two years at most. As for the southern desert kingdom…”

He trusted the experts of Hidden Moon Hall.

In fact, the average level of martial artists in the Eastern Continent was far ahead of the Western Continent.

And if they were trained by the Sect’s experts, how formidable would they be?

“Although not all of Hidden Moon Hall’s forces have arrived yet, it will take some time, but I think we can investigate anyone who is not too powerful.”

“That’s reassuring.”

But Eurius looked more careful.

‘They have skills to be proud of, that’s true. But are they underestimating the desert kingdom too much?’

“Then I’ll make a request. The target of the investigation is Jamir, the seventh prince of Parthia Kingdom.”

And he added cautiously.

“It might be a ‘gap’ level request by your standards. Please proceed carefully.”

Jegal Geon was startled by his words.

Eurius’s request was unusual, and he even knew their request stages in advance.

Hidden Moon Hall classified their requests into four stages:gap, metal, water, wood, and fire respectively.

A gap level request was only applied to core figures of major factions or high-ranking officials in Hwan, so he couldn’t help but become serious.

He remembered what Jegal Hwayoung had earnestly asked him.

‘Don’t be surprised by whatever this first prince knows and deal with it calmly.’

Jegal Geon was more of a martial artist than a scholar.

The reason he came out today was as a proxy for Jegal Hwayoung, the head of the group.

He just had to meet the conditions of the other party’s request.

“I will keep Your Highness’s words in mind.”

“Please report as soon as the investigation is done.”

And that was the end of their deal that day.

‘The quest is important, but going to the southern desert without preparation is dangerous.’

He planned to investigate both Jamir, whom he had met before, and the Order in parallel.

He thought he would find clues to the quest if he dug into their backgrounds.

That was how Eurius’s first plan ended. He currently classified his enemies into two groups.

The first was an unidentified group called the Order!

They were very secretive and he didn’t know much about them even from his previous life’s memories, so they were the group that he had to prioritize and restrain.

And the second was Grand Duke.

He wouldn’t be able to do anything blatant against him who was under the emperor’s protection yet, but it was time to start a hidden fight with them.

‘And there are second and third plans as well.’

The second and third plans were not things that he could control, but things that would happen when external factors intervened.

‘Based on my previous experience, unless I get involved directly, other major events in the continent will happen at the same time.’

Eurius’s gaze was directed to the west of the empire.

‘The Western Alliance!’

His second plan was to trigger a fuse there.