아이작

취몽객
“I don’t understand this.”

The Emperor muttered. Opposite to the Emperor was Ismael’s face on the screen,
who nodded in assent.

-But it’s an offer we have to accept.

“That’s what bothers me even more. I am clueless as to what that undying witch’s
aims are. We think of one and then she abandons it, we think of another and she just
throws it in a bin…”

The Emperor vented out his frustrations, and Ismael carefully advised the Emperor.

-It’ll be too late by the time the Queen acts. Perhaps it’ll be wise to publicly
announce…”

The Emperor immediately shook his head to Ismael’s advice as if it wasn’t worth
consideration.

“This must look like a power game between the Queen and I alone. We cross that line
first, and the Queen won’t work from the shadows anymore. Although frustrating,
the Empire’s power does not surpass that of the Queen’s.”

The Queen’s power was immense, even more so than the Emperor’s. This was why
the previous Emperors constantly contested the Queen at every opportunity. The
fruits of this endeavor was discovering that the Queen was plotting a scheme
according to her own secret agenda during the rule of his grandfather.

But the Royal Family didn’t have concrete evidence to definitively prove this finding.
If the Emperor announced it to the public now, there was a high chance that the
Queen’s counterattack would result in the rise of a new dynasty. That’s how much
power the Queen held. The issue would be water under the bridge to the Pendletons,
and the non-humans couldn’t care less as to who the Emperor was.

For the past three generations, it was the Royal Family’s duty to scrutinize and
contest the Queen in secret.

Perhaps both the Surveillance and Analysis also knew the Queen held a personal
agenda, but the Emperor couldn’t risk the venture to confirm it.

And so the process of monitoring, contesting, and engaging in nefarious schemes

went back and forth disguised as an elaborate power game—when suddenly, the
Queen extended an offer. One the Emperor couldn’t possibly refuse.

-We have nothing to lose. The Queen has abandoned the Pure Bloods. And without
even serving up the poison that is the Pure Blood Confederacy, who have been
corrupting the Royal Family from within for so long.

The Pure Blood Confederacy had been a nuisance to the Emperors in the past, slowly
crippling the Directorate of Strategy.

Loyalty came at a price.

It was especially difficult to expect loyalty to the Royal Family from Central’s agents,
who were taught of this world’s secrets. Therefore, there needed to be a reward
befitting their life threatening work, which was how the Pure Blood Confederacy
came to be.

As a solution to reduce non-combat losses for agents who had survived battles
against the Expeditionary forces, demons, and angels, the Royal Family supported
the remaining families, mainly intending to commemorate their sacrifices.

The Queen took advantage of this and secretly urged them to create a cartel from
within.

Now they grew powerful enough that the Emperor couldn’t touch them without a
clear justification, and as a side effect, the Royal Family and Directorate of Strategy
always lost battles for power against Analysis and Surveillance.

But this problem was solved in an instant thanks to this incident. The Pure Bloods
counterfeiting an official document and falsely accusing an innocent noble family not
for the Empire or Central but for their own gain was beyond criminal at this point.

-Perhaps we are taking this too seriously.

“Why so?”

-Even if the Queen has been controlling the Pure Bloods from the shadows, those
fools have abused that name for too long. It’s likely this incident took off before the
Queen could intervene.

“It’s true that they were more rotten than we first believed.”

-Yes. This incident was likely beyond her expectation.

“But I still don’t understand it. Is Isaac so valuable that she would throw away the
Pure Bloods, something she had dedicated immeasurable time and effort to foster?
Wasn’t he just bait to distract the Directorate of Surveillance?”

Ismael didn’t have an answer to the Emperor’s question. The Lichten Family, one of
the main pillars of the Pure Bloods, had been destroyed.

The Pure Bloods united in retaliation, and the Emperor’s original intention was to
say, ‘go ahead, fight, and I’ll just watch from the side.’ But the situation changed when
the Queen revealed a top-secret document detailing the corruption and
embezzlement the Pure Bloods had committed up to this point.

The opportunity to clean up the eyesore that was the Pure Bloods revealed itself, so
the Emperor accepted without consideration. He rekindled the Dark Royale, which
had been lying dormant, and eliminated the heads of the Pure Blood Confederacy in
one fell swoop.

It was good and all, but what remained was to contemplate whether Isaac is truly
worth giving up the lethal poison that had been in the making for so long and
wonder about just what that Queen was aiming for.

“It’s even more of a headache when she is so bold with her actions.”

The proof of Pure Blood’s corruption provided by the Queen was likely an olive
branch.

The Queen only wanted one thing in return for offering a solution to cleanup the
Pure Bloods.

That he recognised Isaac as the master of New Port City.

That was all. At first, the Emperor, seeing just how much Pendleton was trying to get
his daughter out, planned to throw Isaac far away into some rural corner of the
Empire when he gave him the title. But then the Queen intervened by offering an
inexplicably generous concession.

It was hard to believe that all she wanted was Isaac be titled Baron and rule over
New Port City; in return, she offered the Emperor a deal that the Emperor would
have accepted at any price.

-It’s likely that this is a scheme to distract us just as she’s always done, but I can’t
imagine what her plan is, risking the dissolution of her relations with the non-
humans.

“I’m thinking the same thing too but let’s not waste our strength here. If it’s a bait,
we must bite. But we won’t stand idly by either.”

-Do you have a plan?

“Let’s find out if Isaac truly is as valuable as she thinks. All she asked was we
recognise he be master of New Port City alone, so there are many ways to shake him
up.”

-Are we opening hostilities?

“Proceed in a way to recruit him.”

-Are you serious?

Ismael asked back in disdain, which the Emperor smirked and nodded.

“The Queen is bound to react if we try to form a friendly relationship with Isaac, and
we’ll move accordingly afterwards. It doesn’t matter if it succeeds or fails. Isaac’s a
man who’d be happy to join hands with us if he doesn’t like where things are going,
no matter how close he is with the Queen.”

The inauguration concluded in a much simpler manner than expected. The

employees from the Empire’s Capital Department of Administration handed out the
documents, rights, and a seal and flag engraved with the Rondart symbol. Isaac
looked at the goods and muttered.

“This Rondart name really is persistent. But what happens to the Baron Rondart
family that existed before? Is that mine too?”

“I heard you refused the inheritance of the lands.”

“That’s right.”

“Since Lord Isaac, the official successor to the Rondart Family, had forfeited the
inheritance earlier, the existing Rondart Family will now be considered a branch
family. It will take the first syllable of your brother’s name and use the surname
Karondart from now on.”

“Karondart huh… Then would it be Corondart if Cordnell got it? So lackluster with
your work. Whatever, go away if you’re done with your work. No, since you’re here
from the capital, I’ll treat you as special guests. Make sure you splurge, alright.”

The members of the Noble Council erupted in a fiery uproar at Isaac’s uncaring and
rude response, but Rivelia quietly escorted them away. After a brief conversation, the
Noble Council quickly left New Port City.

With the employees from Capital gone and no more visitors to be expected, peace
settled around Isaac. However, that was contrary to the festive mood of New Port
City.

“It’s noisy.”

Isaac muttered to himself as he sipped at his wine, listening to the cheers and
singing of the populace from his rooftop. Rizzly quickly butted in.

“Shall I bring you your instrument?”

“I’m not in the mood. Don’t.”

Isaac seemed to have lost interest when Rizzly beat him to it. He rudely spat his
answer and continued to smoke. Rizzly glanced at him to appraise Isaac’s mood.

After having cared for him for so long, he could tell if Isaac was just wasting his time
or if he was deep in thought. So Rizzly took Laila to the corner and began whispering
to her of what she needed to know.

‘Why is it so quiet?’

Central’s and the Empire’s silence was uncharacteristic; they typically reacted like a
woman slapping a molester. But it was this silence that had ended up hindering
Isaac, intentional or not

The reason Isaac had to shut himself in his city despite acting as if the world was his
oyster during the provincial war was because he was unable to act.

Isaac believed that Central would say something against the rise of another noble
family to Dukedom. Throughout history, the only hereditary noble family that
achieved the title of Duke was Pendleton.

If Wolfgang suddenly rose to Dukedom, the Empire would be embroiled in perpetual

warfare, filled with ambitious souls aiming to be third and fourth Dukes of the
Empire.

It would be a golden age for weapons manufacturers, but that would mean the
disintegration of the provincial war system, a system that originally intended to
maintain an experienced standing army for the Empire in the worst case scenario…

And humans were always greedy for more. With a strong army and loyal vassals
under their rule, these nobles would naturally look to become king or even Emperor.

This wouldn’t be a problem if Central could maintain its absolute power forever, but
you could never be sure that the future would always be like this. The rise of a
second noble family to Dukedom created more problems than solutions. Yet Central
kept absolute silence—not a single word of agreement or disagreement.

If Isaac had no stimuli, he wouldn’t react. That was Isaac’s personality, but Isaac’s
liked to quietly integrate his own schemes beneath the chaos. But with no stimuli at
all, Isaac was stuck in inaction.

Granting him an official noble title was hardly a noteworthy stimulus for Isaac; it was
an overprotective father’s tyrannical abuse at worst. Central’s order was needed for
Isaac to move and make adjustments, but their silence meant that he would spend
his time idly.
This would be welcomed any other time, but the two years Queen asked for was a
problem. Isaac couldn’t trust the Queen, so he couldn’t trust the timeline Queen gave
either.

So Isaac needed to move faster than what the Queen asked for. He was lacking in
manpower, materials and time. In this situation, it’d be difficult to finish
preparations for backstabbing the Queen and Central when necessary.

‘Whoever is more desperate has to move first… but the risks are too high.’

The Queen was a problem, but Strategy and Analysis couldn’t be ignored either. With
the Queen’s favourite chess piece watching from every angle at all times, suddenly
acting on his accord after putting on airs of indifference would immediately attract
suspecting eyes.

‘I need a cover… ’

Was there a convincing excuse? An excuse that everyone would nod their heads to
and accept? An excuse that answered the question of ‘why was he acting so unlike
himself?’ There was.

“It’s greed.”

“Sorry?”
Rizzly’s expression jolted upward when he overheard Isaac muttering to himself.
Isaac calmed him with a wave of his hand, and Rizzly continued to converse with
Laila.

Greed—it was an adequate excuse. It was perfectly reasonable too, given his newly
acquired title. This could trick not just Central, who was aware of the truth behind
the scenes, but even the eyes of the oblivious public.

To the elites of this world, a successful life was inheriting a noble title and leading
their family to prosperity, founding a new noble family of their own or climbing the
ladder of nobility.

An outrageous fool who acted as if every day was his last had seen the potential for
greed after receiving a noble title. To those in power, what would be a more
convincing reason?

Central would still be doubtful and vigilant, but Isaac just needed to look like he was
obsessed with money and his fief while keeping himself safe. In fact, Central would
welcome it.

The reason why Isaac was a difficult target was partly because he was a close
advocate of the Queen, but mostly because of his aggressive tendencies that lashed
out indiscriminately to cause as much collateral damage as possible as if nothing else
mattered.

The only way to deal with someone who had nothing to lose was to give him
something to hold and protect. The moment they feared losing something, they were
no longer a difficult target.

If Isaac suddenly grew an attachment to being alive and foolishly threw away his
greatest weapon in greed, he would no longer be a precious faberge egg but a mere
chicken’s egg, a single press away from crumbling.

When Isaac’s thoughts had concluded at this point, he began to suspect that Central
already planned for such an occasion in advance. In the public’s view, Isaac was just
going to be a temporary ruler for New Port City.

But, using the excuse plotted by Pendleton—that overprotective Duke—they could

have transferred Isaac to become head of the Rondart Family and forced Isaac to
move from New Port City to his home.

Distress and rumors would have flown about if that happened, but the Emperor was
at the helm of the Empire—at least in the public eye. If the Emperor officially
ordered so, everyone had to obey.

Yet the Emperor handed New Port City to Isaac. What did this mean? A gesture to be
friends? Or an attempt at creating a weakness?

There was no need to contemplate over it, since he and the Empire were bound to
become enemies sooner or later.

‘It’ll be too suspicious if I changed so much so quickly, so I’ll need to adapt subtly…
There’s plenty of witnesses already, so do I have to act as if I’m attached to this city?
Or develop it further? Determining how far I’ll go too is difficult too. It’ll make more
sense to make changes to the original plan as I go. Shall I find out who my allies are
first?’

With his scheming over, Isaac called out to Rizzly.

“Schedule me a meeting with the Director of Surveillance.”

Rizzly flinched at Isaac’s order and replied hesitantly.

“W, why the Director of Surveillance?”

“I think the Director is amicable toward me, but we’ve never met face to face before.
I’d like to demonstrate my gratitude to her for assisting my last mission, and I have
some interesting things to discuss. Pass the message that I have some mutually
beneficial terms to discuss.”

“W, well. The Director is a very busy person… But I’ll pass the message on
nonetheless.”

“Tell that I’d like to meet as soon as possible.”

Rizzly failed to give a proper answer and quickly retreated from the rooftop holding
Laila’s hand in his. Isaac thought to himself that the Director of Surveillance had to
be a very scary individual, considering Rizzly’s response.

‘Just getting the Directorate of Surveillance on my side would halve my job’s

difficulty… ’

The greatest barrier to Isaac’s plans wasn’t the Empire, the Directorate of Analysis,
or the Queen. It was Surveillance.

No matter what Isaac tried, the immense ability of Surveillance grabbed at his feet.

Since he had no idea of what Surveillance was fully capable of, Isaac had to assume
that they were watching his every move. But he couldn’t think of any ways to evade
their watch either.

Isaac had proceeded with many of his works under the table—as per his style—all
this time, but there remained the question of whether those plans had already been
sniffed out. But if the plans proceeded as usual, they might not have had enough time
to finish preparations.

So Isaac had contemplated if there was another way, when he found surprising
pieces of evidence during the provincial war between Wolfgang and Lichten.

First, it was the order from Central demanding that Count Wolfgang be eliminated
because he was supposedly a demon.

Of course, this was secretly a false accusation for the purpose of destroying
Wolfgang.

It was impossible that the Surveillance didn’t know of this fact, since it was entirely
their duty to detect the first signs of a demonic presence.

Yet they remained silent and even openly accepted Isaac’s request for assistance.

What did this mean? Simple. Non-humans didn’t want humanity’s influence to grow
larger. The proof was that Surveillance already laid the foundations to destroy both
noble families when Mazelan asked to end the war quickly, and Mazelan was
completely oblivious to Surveillance’s actions.
Was their ignorance just a ruse designed to fool the other Directorates, or did they
really wish to diminish humanity’s strength? And if so, by how much? Isaac needed
to probe their intentions cautiously. Depending on the assistance of Surveillance, the
plan’s difficulty would change dramatically.

Isaac sat on his sofa with his legs crossed. His body leaned to one side, his head
sitting on the palm of his hand. With his bored look, Isaac spoke down to Cordnell.

“You look fine?”

“…”

He and Kalden had been forced to starve for the last ten days. All the while Kunette
and Reisha prepared a feast, devouring it all as the two of them watched. The two of
them thought about quitting at the sight of the despicable treatment at first, what
with a small fortune they’d saved up, but the two never had the will to do such a
thing in the end, no matter what happened.

As the core members that had raised this city from the start, they had risen to
become local celebrities in the city; many citizens greeted them with looks of
admiration whenever they walked the streets.

They had grown attached to growing what was a doomed city at the start to this
extent, but the most important factor was that New Port City was the best place to
build connections with the influential.

Even before the city was developed, this had always been a famous vacation spot.

It was a given that more people visited as New Port City grew. It was so simple to
meet highly influential nobles and celebrities face to face—even those who’d
normally be extremely difficult to meet just once in a lifetime—using the titles as
members of the Administrative Body of the city. Gaining their favour was even
simpler—it was just giving them preferential treatment during their stay. And they
didn’t even need to use their own money for this.

You could very quickly achieve fame, honour, and connections that only a select few
would have been able to achieve by their retirements—all just by working in New
Port City

Sure, the work was hard, their boss was maniacal and their orders were insane, but
the boss never interfered with their work. And they weren’t going to leave just
because their boss was an asshole.

“We have put out the more urgent fires.”

The starvation seemed to have made him vicious. As soon as he regained a bit of his
vitality, he immediately began cutting away at the city expenditures, practically
demanding that they come out of the red.

He banned all acts of creative accounting, which had been unofficially approved by
Isaac, and demanded that his colleagues pay back half of everything they had
embezzled until now.

There should have been a massive pushback against Cordnell’s demands, but looking
into Cordnell’s eyes was like staring into the eyes of a starving wolf. And it wasn’t
like his colleagues didn’t feel guilty about ignoring him during his period of
involuntary starvation.

“But this is just a temporary solution. So long as we don’t have a proper plan, we will
fail.”

Isaac tilted his head. Not even the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds could look down on
New Port City’s profits. Plus, they recently raked in a huge source of revenue without
investing a single cent.

Which was precisely why Cordnell’s and the current administrative system’s
persistent money crisis was still a mystery to him.

Isaac was well aware that the current situation increased the risk of a financial crisis
the longer it went on. He was also aware of the fact that his current solution to this
problem for the foreseeable future was opening up new loans to pay off old ones—
an additional problem to the pile that came with his newfound nobility status.

But Isaac just needed to survive the 2 years that the Queen asked for, so he didn’t feel
the urgency that Cordnell spoke of. But perhaps from Cordnell’s perspective, it was
reasonable.

“It’s not like we’ll go bankrupt now.”

“No. We will go bankrupt if we go on like this.”

“Impossible.”

“Sure, it wouldn’t be the case if you forgave the debt owed by the Lichten Family.”

“What?”

Isaac tilted his head in confusion. Cordnell sighed deeply and glared at Isaac in utter
hatred.

“I knew this would be the case. As per your orders, we opened a loan with the
Lichten Family’s fief.”

“It was a great deal for us.”

The loan was the equivalent of an immense fortune; it was so large that the entire
fiefdom had to be put up as collateral. Isaac approved the loan and gained it all back
from the casino, so the only things that really changed were words on a document
while Isaac had gained an entire fiefdom.

Isaac dashed his lip, wondering if there was another fool he could rip off when
Cordnell burst out in anger.

“That is the problem! The Lichten Family have yet to pay any compensation
regarding the damages caused by the war!”

“Hm?”

“And now they don’t have an official leader who can approve such an expenditure!”

“What?”

“Now that you have gained a noble title, all of the rights over the fief will become
your responsibility if you seize Lichten’s lands. That means you will be responsible
for all debts owed by the fief as well!”

“…”

Isaac’s face stiffened as he listened to Cordnell. It was a problem he hadn’t thought

about at all. The war between Wolfgang and Lichten had been the largest war in
recent history.
The number of the dead far surpassed that of average. Plus, New Port City was
already supplying funds to Wolfgang Family to recuperate their losses. If the
compensation for the dead and civilian casualties from Lichten were added on top,
New Port City was bound to languish in the red no matter how much money it had.

“Do others know about this?”

“Why do you think the Lichten Family is so quiet right now?”

Isaac sighed deeply at Cordnell’s answer.

“Unbelievable. I gave them time to secure their own survival once the dust settled as
Mazelan sunbae asked for, but did they misinterpret it as me being too scared to take
over?”

“That’s why I’m doing everything to gather funds.”

Cordnell complained, and Isaac questioned him.

“Not advising against it?”

“Would you stop if I did?”

“No way.”

“Which is precisely why I didn’t even consider that option, and it’s also why I’m
suffering like this now.”

Isaac smirked at Cordnell’s banter and took out a cigarette.

“I swear, I’m always running low on money no matter how much I earn. So you got
any ideas?”

“I won’t say you should cancel the welfare funds outright. But I just ask that we stop
the leaking.”

“Do it.”

“…Sorry?”
Cordnell had prepared himself for another round of starvation, but Isaac accepted
Cordnell’s request readily, unlike Cordnell’s expectation. Surprised, Cordnell blurted
out.
“What choice do we have when we’re out of money? Plus, when charity goes on long
enough, people will start to take it as a birthright. It’s about that time when people
are just starting to relish themselves in the charity, so we should buckle up now.
Continue to operate the schools free of charge and try to minimise healthcare and
hospital expenses. Also, the food banks are to operate within each district as it
always has, but make sure you do a proper survey—only allow those who truly lack
the ability to make money. Anything else?”

Now that he had decided to put on a masquerade of greed, he needed to first

demonstrate a departure from his carefree administration.

Cordnell was somewhat taken aback by Isaac’s relentless cutting of the funds, but it
wasn’t a bad thing.

“Um… Are you going to leave the syndicate bosses as they are?”

“Why, are you bothered by them?”

“T, that’s not it. It just seems pointless to still operate in districts when the entire city
has become a single fief…”

“There won’t be any changes. Tell the bosses to manage it as they see fit. And isn’t
Smartass managing the whole thing anyway?”

The reason why Syndicate bosses willingly paid their fees was because Soland had
risen above them as the godfather.

Dinozo had retired and handed over his district to Soland long ago. Milena had also
become a devout follower of Isaac, but she had earlier mistook Soland as being
favoured by Isaac due to him frequently being called to meetings, so she had lowered
her head to Soland some time ago.

“But the disparity between the central district and other districts is too large. Those
who are seeking to migrate to the central…”
Isaac frowned and cut Cordnell off mid-sentence.

“Wait a minute, migrate? What bullshit is this?”

“The citizens, I mean, your subjects living in other districts wish to migrate to Ceta
District…”

“I thought I talked about that in the beginning. There won’t be any changes.”

“What? But you just can’t limit their freedom of movement.”

Isaac glared at Cordnell, irritated by his objection.

“Tsk! I’m the owner of this land. If they don’t like it, tell them to fuck off.”

“…”

Cordnell had no argument in him. Lords had authority equal to a king’s within their
lands. Allowing freedom to move was an effective policy only if the Lord wished to
prevent emigration from their lands.

Other lords would have pondered long searching for a way to keep their people on
their lands, as emigration weakened their lands. But such a thing didn’t matter for
Isaac.

He wasn’t the kind to care if he had any subjects in the first place. Which is why it
was the subjects who had to make a choice: stay and tolerate the tyranny or leave.

“In fact, get as many of my subjects to emigrate. This place isn’t suitable to raise
upright children anyway.”

“…Yes. We’ll give it a try.”

Though Cordnell was dumbfounded by Isaac’s order to kick out as many citizens as
possible, he quickly realised that New Port City benefited more from it.

When he estimated the possible revenue from building more warehouses and
collecting tariffs from storage, the revenue was much, much greater than from
collecting taxes from subjects living in the same area.
“What else is there?”

“When will you disband the mercenaries corps?”

“Why would I disband them?”

“All they do for work is eat, sleep and make a ruckus in the name of training. And I
swear, they are absolute gluttons when it comes to food! I don’t understand why they
are staying here when they don’t even get paid.”

“Aren’t any of them leaving? I don’t remember mandating service to me after training
in the contract.”

“There were many leaving at the start, but they’ve recently latched onto a possibility
that they’ll become a professional army, so none of them have left recently.”

“Professional army? What kind of bullshit is that?”

Isaac acted unfamiliar to the subject, and Cordnell cocked his head in intrigue.

“Since you were officially titled land, you may need soldiers to protect it no matter
how small…”

“Why would I operate a military when the Police Force is more than enough?”

Cordnell’s eyes gleamed ravenously.

“So you mean you have no thoughts on operating a professional army?”

“I thought you said we don’t have money?”

“That is a great decision! Then I shall disband the mercenaries immediately.”

Managing the mercenaries had been a painful experience for Cordnell, who had
realized just how costly a military organization could be regardless of its size. He
couldn’t hide his joy when Isaac stated his refusal to maintain an army, almost
jumping with joy.

“How many members are still in the band?”

“Around 300.”

“300, that’s quite a lot. Who is their leader?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve only looked at the documents…”

“Since we were the ones who made this, it’s a shame to disband them completely, but
it’s a hassle to leave them like this too… How about this, we will cancel the policies
and benefits provided by the city from now. Tell them not to cling onto any false
hopes, because I’m not maintaining a professional army. Those who don’t like it can
leave, and those who still wish to stay will need to fend for themselves. The city
will… provide a building for the mercenaries to use.”

Cordnell pondered for a moment and then nodded at Isaac’s order.

“It doesn’t seem like much of a loss for us. In the case of emergencies, we can use
them as military force. Their building can be used as a basic military training facility
for the subjects of this city.”

“Is that enough?”

Cordnell quietly calculated in his head but came back with a grim shake of his head.
Though these policies have been helpful, they didn’t contribute enough to be the
solution.

“So I need to think of a way to make money again?”

“Do you have any ingenious ideas again? Try coming up with one that can work with
a minimal investment.”

“I wonder… I’ll need to give it some thought. Send a message to Smartass; tell him to
be ready to clean up the Lichtens when I make the order.”

“Yes, Lord.”

Isaac couldn’t stay idle while he waited for the Director of Surveillance to contact
him.

He needed to acquire many more funds if he didn’t want to suffer through the
growing pains of absorbing the Lichtens.
“Kyahaha!”

Isaac had ordered a special fabric that imitated plastic as closely as possible. He used
the fabric to create a giant ball with an inner pocket marked with a cross shaped
path that allowed free movement within the ball. As the ball’s first user, Julia ran
frantically inside the ball like a hamster on a wheel. Reisha and Kunette would lightly
tap the ball to the side, pushing Julia about and playing with her. Isaac watched the
scene and asked.

“How about it, do you think it’ll sell?”

“I think it’ll be popular, but I doubt it’ll be of much use.”

“Do you think it’s too expensive to manufacture?”

“It costs too much to make something that large and also to make this type of fabric
transparent. No ordinary household could even fathom buying one.”

“Guess it’s a given since we don’t have plastic or vinyl here. I guess this is a fail.”

“But I’m sure that if you think of a way to use this, we will be able to get a return on
our investment.”

“Deploy them near the lake and rent them out. I’m sure it’ll be popular, since walking
on water isn’t quite the everyday experience.”

“Oh! That’s not a bad idea?”

“So, how are the mercenaries doing?”

“It seemed most were disappointed by your decision and deserted, but surprisingly,
a hundred members have stayed and taken up residence within the building.”

“A hundred? Even when I took back all the benefits and shut down their dream of
becoming a professional soldier? Not a single one complaining?”

“I was surprised too, so I personally visited them. It seems the ones left are truly
dedicated to living as mercenaries. They say they are more than happy with the
building they were provided and do not wish for any more. They even said that they
had to train more and divided themselves into rotations of work and training in the
process of becoming self-sufficient. I was so impressed that I told them the city
would at least maintain the building for them.”

“But still, a hundred… That’s more than I thought.”

“Sorry?”

“It’s nothing. If anything, come up with a monetization model to make some money.”

Cordnell began estimating the price of rent, lease durations, advertisements, and so
on as ordered.

Isaac’s new product, which had been inspired by the sight of Julia tripping and
scratching her knee, ended up a half-failure. Only Julia, Kunette, and Reisha were
happy from this outcome since they got a new toy.

“Ah! It’s Rivelia unniii!”

Julia increased her speed by galloping on all fours inside the ball and smashed into
Kunette. Julia rolled in the opposite direction, while Reisha fell on her back and
laughed. A small smile formed on Rivelia’s face as well.

Kunette seemed mad at suddenly falling over and began bullying Rizzly. Julia
energetically approached Rivelia, who in turn rolled her away gently.

“What is it?”

“Sir Pount demanded Laila’s return.”

“Some word he’s using, she ain’t some object you know. But who is Pount again?”

“…He’s the Mission Support Agent assigned to the Wolfgang Family.”

“Ah, I remember. But why’s he acting up now?”

“It’s because of inheritance issues.”

“Inheritance? What problem is there when the brat still lives?”

Isaac shot a glimpse at Laila, who was watching Julia from the side with a worried
look.

“It’s not Wolfgang Family but the vassal families that serve them.”

Subservient to the Wolfgang Family were a viscount and two baron families. These
three families were loyal subjects who demonstrated utmost support in the previous
war. And they resisted the Lichtens until the end, meeting their ends in the final
battle.

“But they must have at least protected one child to be their heir, right?”

The path to becoming a noble within the Empire was simultaneously simple and
difficult. They had to graduate from a school or professional training facility and be
employed by the state. Though they could start off as a commoner, they would be
given a noble title when they were promoted beyond a knightly status and began
managing a small department of their own.

From there, they were given a title befitting their work. Which was why strictly
speaking, there were many that were treated as nobles and benefited from holding
titles of Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquis, and Duke.

However these were titles attached only to the work—once their tenure was over,
the title was but a hollow name with no benefits or honour. Which is why all nobles
dreamed of being given a fief and establishing a noble family of their own,
intensifying the competition.

But the bar was set too high. Even after working in their given field and retiring, only
a select few who had been regarded highly were given fiefs. Most nobles simply
received a lump sum reward upon their retirement, collected a regular pension, and
clung onto their honour for the rest of their lives as one-off nobles.

That was why the possibility of managing a fief was so attractive in comparison.
Calling the territories ruled by counts and those higher-ranked vast was an
understatement and managing this land was too difficult for a single family alone.

Managing countless cities and villages and their complaints and laws, general
administration, roads, public order, and resource management required capable
candidates—and of course, the work put in to recruit these people. So what the
Great Nobles came up with was feudalism.
They would give away a portion of their land to a vassal serving them. It wasn’t given
away completely—more like it was rented out to them.

For the Great Nobles, it meant significantly less problems they needed to consider
and streamlined recruitment of loyal vassals and subjects. The vassals too gained
from this, as they could continue as inherited nobles and continue their family line,
even if they were restricted by a number of conditions.
Of course, there were disadvantages that came with feudalism, but they were
minimal compared to its advantages. But the one major disadvantage and critical
weakness of this system was that if the head family, who parceled out the lands, lost
their right as a Lord, all other families that swore fealty to them would also lose their
rights and titles as Lords because their possessions were loans.

Which was why a war between two head families was rare, but if it did happen the
vassals needed to divert all their resources into the war effort. Because defeat meant
losing everything they’d built.

A total war on both sides. Winner took all, and the loser fell to the abyss.

That was what the war between Wolfgang and Lichten was.

“Regrettably, all of them had died in battle because of a certain someone.”

“But the situation complicated itself because Wolfgang won instead.”

Rivelia’s passive aggressive tone got no reaction from Isaac, who nodded. Members
of the main family had the right to inherit and manage the possessions and
properties of the family. If those in line to succession were to die, the family looked
towards its next successor, but if no suitable candidate were to show, a fight for
succession was inevitable.

The prize of succession was irresistible to the branch families; if they came out on
top, they would continue their family line not as a branch but the head family.

“Branch families popping out of the woodworks with their greedy shenanigans aren’t
my concerns, so tell them not to annoy me.”

Rivelia cocked her head at Isaac’s answer, until she realised Isaac had misunderstood
and corrected him.

“Let me repeat that everyone has died because of someone.”

“Are you telling me all the successors of the head and branch families are dead?”

“Yes. Because of someone, entire family lines have been erased.”

Isaac frowned at Rivelia’s dripping sarcasm and spoke.

“What are you hinting at?”

“Sorry?”

“I’m asking why you’re just beating around the bush like that. Tell me clearly who
caused all that.”

Rivelia glimpsed at Laila and Julia and made sure they were too far to hear her voice
before she answered.

“…I apologize. I’ll say it again. It was you, Lord Isaac.”

Isaac smiled sweetly listening to Rivelia’s direct tone.

“See how easy it is when you come out straight? I almost mistook your implication
that it was caused by someone other than me when you kept mentioning a ‘certain
someone.’”

“…I’ll make sure to do so from now on.”

“Good. Remember so. But I must say, even the vassals of Wolfgang were diligent.
They attended the war—both main and branch families, huh. It really is a shame to
lose their successors like this.

Isaac muttered, and Rivelia nodded in assent. It was even more tragic because they
knew of this fact.

“So excluding Wolfgang’s territory itself, who is managing the lands of the vassals?”

“That’s the reason why Sir Pount requested Laila’s return. The in-laws are using the
widowed wives as an excuse to expand their territories.”

“Aren’t they quick on their feet.”

It had to have been heartbreaking for the wives to lose both their husbands and sons,
but it was an excellent opportunity for their families. If they manage to convince the
widows to adopt a son or daughter, the in-laws will be able to inherit these lands
without the approval of the Wolfgang Family.

Not all families would be tempted by it of course, but the world was always driven
more by profit than honour.

And since the Wolfgang Family didn’t have a suitable candidate that could take reign
of the fief, the number of people who drooled over their lands increased by the day.
Laila’s presence was an absolute necessity in order to solidify her rightful succession
and eventual rise as a Lord.

“How are the Lichtens?”

Rivelia’s brows tensed when Isaac asked.

“That place is also a mess, albeit in another way.”

While the Wolfgang’s vassals were in turmoil because they lost their successors to
the war, the Lichten’s vassals were overflowing with them.

The Lichtens were a Great Noble family that presided over two viscount families and
six baron families, all of which had sworn fealty to them. These families didn’t want
to expend their laboriously nurtured might in the war against Wolfgang. Instead,
they seized and embezzled the war funds and even sent new recruits in the place of
elite core units as military support.

As the war progressed and Lichten’s victory became assured, the main heads of
every family attended the last battle in an attempt to gain military honors enough to
make a claim for the spoils of war. Until all of them, from heads to elders, died,
leading to the current the issue.

Unlike the Wolfgang Family, who struggled to maintain public order with their lack
of manpower, Lichtens had an overflowing number of soldiers and knights in
reserve. And their long family histories gave almost every possible successor a
plausible claim to become the head family.

The ranks of the military command had strengthened their political positions, while
the knights denounced such dishonourable acts and scholars of vassal families
grunted in displeasure. The fight to succeed the Lichtens was just mudslinging in a
swamp.

And as more time passed, rumors that Isaac was refraining from seizing Lichten’s
lands because of potential bankruptcy and implosion if he did so became more
convincing. So the Lichtens had started to act more boldly.

“I swear, nobody thanks you when you give them time.”

Isaac clicked his tongue. He had been waiting for a suitable opportunity, partly
because of Mazelan’s request and also because these idiots would cause a ruckus if
they suddenly lost everything in a single night.

Yet these fools who should have been busy burying their treasuries were instead
fighting to be the captain of a sinking ship.

“Should I just take it all, it’s so annoying…”

Isaac would suffer from indigestion for some time, but he wouldn’t die. But there
was no reason for Isaac to suffer the annoyance.

“And…”

“Hm?”

“There has been ominous rumour abound lately.”

“What’s that?”

Isaac asked, and Rivelia hesitantly looked at Cordnell before she answered.

“The rumour claim that Cordnell has been abusing the rights of the Lord for himself.”

“What? Me?”

Cordnell’s eyes bulged out in surprise and shouted.

“I know those are baseless rumours, but this involves the power of the Lord. The
rumours say that you have turned the Lord into your puppet and rampantly throw
around the Lord’s weight at will, oppressing your colleagues and superiors and even
embezzling in plain sight…”

As Rivelia explained, her voice trailed off to that of a whimper, picking up on the
awkward mood. Cordnell gulped like a fish in disbelief;he was the most innocent
man that one could blame for a crime he didn’t commit.

“Hm. Already engaging in political subterfuge to defame my close aides, is it?”

“…”

“No way, what an absurd joke you’re saying.”

Rivelia responded with a silence, while Cordnell refuted it immediately. Isaac pursed
his lips like an unsatisfied bully and spoke to Cordnell.

“You’re having it hard lately right?”

“…”

Cordnell’s eyes were filled with alarm when Isaac suddenly comforted him.

“What, what are you planning?”

“I’ve been thinking, it wasn’t much of a problem when this was just a city, but I think
I need someone to manage my fief during my absence now that I’ve become a Lord.”

“I recommend Kalden! He knows the city’s finances like the back of his hand and is
capable, trusted, and respected by both his colleagues and your subjects!”

The chilling tingle that ran up Cordnell’s spine urged him to recommend someone
else, but Isaac ignored it and continued to talk.

“That’s why I’ll promote you. Since you’re the next in command after the damsel,
you’ll be the 3rd man in charge.”

“How about Mr. Soland? His capabilities are proven as an agent of Central, and he has
firm grasps on the workings of the underground of this city, making him a suitable
candidate.”

“I’ll be leaving you to manage not just the fief but Central’s tasks too, so work hard.
Make sure they pay you back for all the grievances they’ve made you suffer through.
You’ll have my utmost support, so be sure to throw my weight as the Director of
Security around to the fullest. Got it? Go hard.”

“Why me?! Why? Do you hate me that much!”

Cordnell was practically spitting at Isaac as his eyes bore into Isaac when he noted
Cordnell’s new responsibility of handling Central. Rivelia coughed dryly and stepped
back while Isaac smiled, satisfied.

“Huh, to think you’d hate being promoted. I think I really have a loyal employee.
Hahaha. That’s what it takes to be my left hand. Others are just yes-men simply
because they don’t like dealing with me. But your attitude—to come at me
demanding a fight to the death—I like it. That personality of yours won’t get you far
anywhere else, so I’ll make sure you achieve success under me.”

“Yeah, you bastard! Let’s fight to the death right now!”

Cordnell exploded and threw himself at Isaac only to be held in the air by Rizzly, who
had the foresight to be on standby nearby.

Rivelia held her forehead and sighed, while Isaac took out a cigarette and spoke.

“Go do your work now. No. Why would you work on the day you’re getting
promoted? Take today off. I’ll pay for everything, so make sure you take the bonus,
party hard, and meet some women. You can go shopping if you want as well.”

“It’s me who manages that money in the first place!”

“Even better. Don’t feel bad and spend as much as you want.”

When Isaac appointed Cordnell to be the third man in charge, all the rumours about
Cordnell seemingly vanished.

Truth was, the reason why such rumour started was because Cordnell poked his
head around everywhere demanding they cough up money. This was the
administrative body’s form of retaliation, but they didn’t think Cordnell would be
promoted like this.
However, the administrative body was somewhat happy beneath the apologetic
feelings behind Cordnell’s promotion, since they could just report everything to
Cordnell instead of asking for Isaac.

Isaac too was pleased with dealing with Cordnell alone, who would occasionally
challenge Isaac in an adorable manner, instead of the administrative body, who
would flinch at anything he did. He applauded himself for such excellent human
resource management.

“What is it now? If you’re not happy that I only promoted Cordnell…”

Kalden shook his terrified face even before Isaac finished.

“Mr. Cordnell will do well. I am doing my best to assist him as well.”

“Then why are you here? Shouldn’t you all be going to Cordnell instead?”

Thanks to that, Cordnell’s workload had exploded, but that wasn’t Isaac’s business.
Kalden scratched his cheek at Isaac’s question.

“Port City has come with an offer.”

“Port City? Now that you mention it, I’ve forgotten completely about them. I really
have softened, forgetting those who tried to one-up me. So what’s the offer?”

“…It’s reunification with New Port City.”

“Reunification?”

Isaac burst out in laughter at Kalden’s words. Rizzly and Laila approached with keen
interest and carefully watched Kalden.

“Yes. Their argument is that since the two cities had been split away in the past, now
is the time to join together again.”

“Reunification huh… Such interesting terms.”

“I was surprised too. I didn’t think Port City would make the first offer.”
Because Free Trade Cities received no funding from the Empire, such cities had to
operate purely on tax revenue—which was difficult to accomplish without a novel
source of income. Port City was one of such Free Trade Cities, listed as one of the ten
richest cities in the whole of the Empire

“Now that you mention it, how did they survive until now? Port City shouldn’t have
anything that could supply them with money anymore?”

In the past, Port City would have used the tariff revenue from the waterways to run
the city, but now that it was impossible, their only source of money was what little
elite nobles, who were too traditional and bore ill feelings toward Isaac, spent in the
city.

But even those select nobles slowly moved toward New Port City, so it was only a
matter of time before Port City collapsed.

“It is amazing they are still standing as of now. They invested most of the revenue
from the southern waterway customs duties into the city so the citizens can
maintain their standard of living from before you screwed everything up, my Lord.”

“Ahem. What do you mean, ‘screwed up everything?’ You’re making it sound like I
made it happen.”

“…”

Everyone in the know was aware the once-in-a-lifetime gamble Isaac had won was
rigged—they just didn’t have the evidence to prove it. Which was why Kalden was
dumbfounded by Isaac’s blatant feigns at innocence.

“Wait. The waterway shouldn’t be city property, so how could they take all the
revenue from customs duties? Who was it again? Wasn’t it Zeroman who owned the
southern waterway?”

“Yes. And he is the current mayor of Port City.”

“I assume he didn’t take that title because he wanted to.”

“From what I hear, he was somewhat forced into the position and managed to keep
the city running with what he had.”

Nobody wanted their quality of life to worsen.

Forced by such citizens, Zeroman had taken the mantle of Mayor and barely
managed to keep the city afloat by raising customs duties on the southern waterway.
But now, the customs duties on goods traveling through the southern waterways
were so high that they now had to worry about a trade imbalance—the final
breaking point.

So the novel solution they came up with was reunification with New Port City.

“Foolish. Where did they get the idea that their lives would suddenly become better
once we are reunited? And did they think I would just jump on board with their offer
in the first place?”

“After some probling, I uncovered the reason why those in Port City are so hung up
about the reunification.”

“A reason?”

“Yes. It doesn’t involve the ordinary citizens, but most of the landlords in Port City
evaded taxes by investing the bulk of their money into New Port City real estate. The
money’s been frozen there since.”

“What’s the reason those lots are just standing on the edge of a cliff with their
money? Haven’t real estate prices peaked at this point?”

“How much are you going to tax them if Port City property owners decide to sell
their properties?”

“The maximum, of course.”

“That’s why.”

“How is that related to reunification?”

“Tax from property trade between a subject of a fief and an outsider is decided by
the Lord ruling the territory the property is inside, but trade between subjects of the
same fief are under the Private Property Protection Laws and are set in stone by the
central government.”

“Ha, dumbasses. Will they finally come to their senses after starving to the point
they’d pay a gold bar for a single loaf of bread? I see that they are still full in their
stomachs.”

“Well… Port City has come with an offer as well.”

“Do they even have anything to offer at this point?”

“…It’s the rights to the southern waterways.”

Cough!

Isaac spat out the puff of smoke when Kalden answered.

This was very intriguing. The waterways were originally supposed to be handed over
to Central, but the myriad of incidents afterwards dropped the waterways down
their list of their priorities. And now that he had become Director of Security, the
whole talk might as well have never happened, which was why it was quickly
forgotten. But now, it was just being handed out to him for free.

“Let me ask this. Shouldn’t the person proposing the offer at least show his face,
especially when it’s this important? Why hasn’t he shown himself?”

The waterway was private property. So the negotiation shouldn’t be city-to-city but
city to individual. But right now, it was between Port City and New Port City, with
Zeroman the owner excluded.

A wave of displeasure washed over Kalden’s face as he answered Isaac.

“I’ve looked into it, and it seems Zeroman is pretty much under house arrest.”

“House arrest?”

“Yes. I believe this entire proposal is being orchestrated by the three other families
who had previously lost their rights to the waterways. The three families have
spurred the citizens of Port City into supporting this measure too.”

“They’re not only taking his generosity for granted—they’re going to sell it off as
well? This is why humans as a race can’t be trusted. Tsk. Disgusting.”

“…What do we do?”

Isaac went deep into thought with his cigarette when Kalden asked. The first thing
that came into Isaac’s mind when he heard about reunification was ‘is this a trap?’

Absorbing the Lichtens alone was going to be a struggle, and Isaac was frantically
making the room to digest it as it was.

If he were to add in the reunification with Port City, his funds may not survive such
an immense expenditure of money in such a short timeframe.

It was unlikely that Port City was oblivious to that fact, given that they dangled the
rights to the waterway in front of him. And even if they were in fact oblivious, the
bait was too weak.

It may have been a tempting offer In the past when he didn’t have anything. But now,
the rights to the southern waterway was worthless. He could take it any time he
wanted to do so.

“I see that there are only idiots left in Port City.”

If Isaac wanted to take over Port City, it didn’t have to be now. Now that these
idiots—who haven’t the most basic knowledge about negotiation manners—
revealed their trump card, Isaac only needed to wait until they declared bankruptcy.
After that, Isaac would just pick up the pieces once their wealth had been
repossessed.

“I guess they thought we’d jump at the offer if it was the waterway.”

Kalden replied without much reaction other than a shrug. He seemed to have
calculated everything in his head already. Isaac looked back suspiciously and asked.

“What the? You’re not on Port City’s side?”

“Why would I be?”

“Why would someone who opposed the idea suggest it to me?”

“Because I’ve taken a hefty bribe myself.”

Kalden’s nonchalant answer made Isaac snicker.

“Good, now that’s an exemplary attitude. I reject their offer at reunification.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“I have come with a message from the Director of Surveillance.”

Isaac’s eyes gleamed brightly at Rizzly’s report.

“Good, what time suits best?”

“The Director has left you a message saying that it is difficult for her to meet due to a
busy schedule. And she is currently in a far-off land.”

“Why would a Director move about so busily like that? Shouldn’t that be left for the
underlings while the Director sits in their office and approves whatever documents
that arrive?”

Isaac responded, puzzled. Rizzly did his best to maintain a straight face and replied.

“Ahem. Anyhow, the Director has an additional message for you.”

“A message?”

“Yes. That the Director of Surveillance won’t intervene, but she won’t join along
either. As long as the issue remains between the human races.”

“That’s a rather nuanced answer.”

Isaac muttered with an unimpressed expression.

He could take the message as being neutral, but it was a warning that Surveillance
would intervene at any time if another race were to suffer from it.
Isaac didn’t receive a definite answer. But after some careful thought, believing in a
grand alliance was going to be an entirely different issue.

Isaac could put faith in this alliance and cause a scene, only to be backstabbed and
without allies to cry foul to.

So in a way, this answer was just right.

Perhaps the relationship was something like this.

I can guess what you’re doing and I won’t stop you, but make sure we’re not caught
in the crossfire.

“Tell the Director of Surveillance that I appreciate her cooperation and wish to
maintain such a friendly relationship. And also, tell the Director to contact me
immediately if there’s anything the Director doesn’t like. So I can fix up the plan
before it happens.”

“Yes sir.”

Isaac needed to be happy that he had reestablished a relationship with the Director
of Surveillance. But that also meant he needed to abandon his plan of using them as
an excuse to act.

So now Isaac needed an excuse that matched the gravity of his actions, but he
couldn’t think of a suitable one. Isaac pondered, his cigarette in hand, to think of a
target small enough to take on, before he scanned his surroundings.

“It’s quiet. Where is everyone?”

The rooftop was dead silent in contrast to the boisterous aura mere days ago.

“The airball was it? They’re all gone to play with it in the Lake.”

“I guess it’ll be entertaining to play on water. It’ll be great advertising as well. At least
they are earning their keep this way. Is the brat gone as well?”

“Yes. I think she needs some rest. She is still but a child after all.”

“I’m surprised she tagged along so cooperatively like that?”

“How could that possibly be. Julia nagged at her for hours, and I gave her the final
push on her back to send her off.”

“I wonder if she’ll even rest properly. I could see in plain sight just how hard she was
struggling to keep up.”

“If you already know, then why don’t you treat her better. She’s like a tightly taut
string, and my heart shakes in fear that it will snap at any moment.”

“Well her snapping will be good in its own way.”

“Don’t be like that…”

Rizzly grunted, bothered by Isaac’s cold logic. Isaac extinguished his cigarette and
continued.

“The brat’s got a promising life ahead of her, a life of plenty where she need not
worry about money. But she kicked away such a future to try to walk the treacherous
road. It’ll be better for an ordinary child’s mind to give up early.”

“She didn’t look like she’d give up any time soon.”

“That’s because that brat’s a protagonist. I swear, these protagonists get all the main
character buffs, what with a double experience gain event. Every trial they pass is
just a series of level-ups and rewards. I doubt she’ll ever give up.”

Rizzly didn’t exactly understand Isaac’s complaining but he at least understood that
the protagonists were amazing.

While Isaac thought about another business scheme to make money, the whole of the
Empire was in a ruckus of another once-in-a-lifetime happening of provincial
warfare. Many of the smaller nobles came together into a confederation and attacked
the Duberon Family, whose strength had sunk to rock bottom in recent history.

It may have been disastrous news for the barely recovering Duberon Family, whose
line of succession had been displaced and military forces weakened. But to those
chafing under the rule of the Duberons it was an opportunity of a lifetime.
That is how the war started, but contrary to everyone’s expectation, the war ended
in Duberon’s victory.

Called as the Three Days War, it was listed in the history books as the shortest war
ever fought. The war revealed a revolutionary tactic that would change the military
structure of all of the Empire in the future.

“Blitzkrieg. They’re mad.”

No, rather than blitzkrieg, perhaps it was more of maneuver warfare?1

The Duberon family loaded all of their troops and supplies on automobiles and
advanced rapidly into the Confederation Territory even before they could establish a
front line, driving straight for their headquarters.

As a result, the war ended when all of the Confederation’s heads gathered together to
discuss the untold ambush, only to be ambushed themselves and captured. All of this
happened so fast that Isaac couldn’t even start the war bets.

“Well, send a congratulatory message for their victory.”

Isaac ordered nonchalantly, but his head was in a mess.

The weaponization of vehicles was a shift in paradigm. From now on, wars would
inconceivably change beyond anyone’s expectation.

1. Maneuver warfare, or manoeuvre warfare, is a military strategy which attempts to

defeat the enemy by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and
disruption. Source.
Strategies couldn’t be copyrighted or patented; this new strategy would quickly and
dramatically change the tides of war. Scholars from across the Empire would
dedicate their lives to studying war data, releasing hundreds of theses on its pros,
cons, and necessary adjustments.

And with the increase in demand for automobiles, related industries would expand
as well.

Even in the past world, cars were considered the flower of industrialisation.
Industries related to cars were enormous in both size and numbers.

Isaac couldn’t fathom why Central approved this.

Commercialisation of the automobile industry would revolutionize economic

growth, especially the transportation industry. This meant that the level of human
civilization would rapidly progress.

From the immediate benefit of shortening transport times for goods to the long-term
benefits of population explosions—no matter which angle Isaac saw from, there
weren’t any advantages for non-humans.

‘They can’t possibly be oblivious to strength in numbers… Should I consider this just
a one-off incident?’

If the Duberon Family utilized the automobiles swiftly, Central wouldn’t be able to
stop them.

But considering that Marquess Duberon was an agent of Central, such a conclusion
was difficult to believe.

It meant either she went rogue or gained Central’s approval… When Isaac took out a
cigarette to calm his mind, Rivelia hurriedly approached Isaac and handed him a
document.

Isaac nonchalantly took the document. But as he kept reading, the cigarette fell from
his mouth and he looked back at Rivelia with wide eyes.

“…Is this confirmed?”

“Yes. They said it’ll commence next year.”

“Wow. They’ve been talking about doing it for so long, and now they’re actually doing
it.”

“Now this seems very intriguing.”

While Isaac was snickering, Rizzly peeked over his shoulder. What he saw surprised
him.

Now, Isaac could figure out Central’s intentions. Automobiles were but just a part of
the preparation for the next stage.

On the document Rivelia had brought him was a list of technologies and goods that
would be released in the next year, but every category on the list would bring more
change in their respective field than automobiles could compare to. All kinds of new
technologies, goods, and even their distribution plans were prepared in advance, and
Isaac could only laugh.

“There isn’t a single one I should look down on, but trains and airships especially…
Have they released these technologies knowing that doing so would rapidly change
the world forever? I guess the shock wouldn’t be so great since automobiles have
been released for some time now, but it will still be a shock to the world. I can
understand releasing trains, but I’m surprised that they’re going to release airships
too. The Grand Council sure was lenient with their approval.”

“Tsk. I’ve had my suspicions, but they really did approve it.”

“Did you know?”

“I’ve heard rumours. I was still doubtful. Nothing good will come from this…”

‘So he knew.’

Isaac muttered to himself as he watched Rizzly leave, saying that he was going to the
communicator room to learn more about what was going to happen.
It meant he knew the consequences of the existence of airships and trains. And they
still approved it?

This was on a scale incomparable to automobiles. This would really revolutionise the
transportation of goods in this world.

Automobiles were at least limited by travel distance and storage capacity. Once
trains started operating, travel times would shorten dramatically throughout the
Empire. That’s how vastly superior trains were in moving goods and people. Airships
also had many strategic uses.

It would bring more change to the battlefield than the innovation of maneuver
warfare.

“The decision was inevitable now that it’s been confirmed the Expeditionary Forces
have left the Forbidden Lands. We need to be able to deploy our troops the moment
we come in contact with them, but we calculated that if we don’t make these
technologies common knowledge, it would take too long to deploy both troops and
the necessary supplies. So in order to defeat our foes before they gain a foothold, we
need to remove restrictions on mass transport of goods and people.

“Is that how much of a threat you see Expeditionary Forces as?”

“What the Grand Council is worried about isn’t military might but the spread of
culture, technologies, religion, and ideologies.”

“Hm, I guess they have the right idea at least. Preparing for the cultural invasion…”

Historically, cultural invasions had been proven to be scarier than a military

invasion.

No matter how much this world tried to suppress it, people encountering the new
cultures were bound to start fraternizing when they started growing respect for it.

“That is why they decided to reveal trains and airships before the planned date.
When they encounter the new technologies of the other world, some will get
tempted. But if these technologies the Expeditionary Forces boast of were already
invented and debuted by the Empire…”

“It’ll be fascinating, but we have the same stuff too. I guess they aren’t all that better.
Is that what you’re aiming for?”

“Close. What’s important is being first in the technological race.”

“I can see why you’d hurry.”

Although it was sad, both this world and the other only remembered the person in
first place.

If the Grand Council just sat idly by, it’d create an opening for the Expeditionary
Forces to spread strange, new, and convenient inventions. Residents of this world
would develop a sense of inferiority that would translate into respect for the
Expedition. And respect for the Expedition would lead to a gullible friendliness.

Even if this world started to release new technologies that matched the Expedition’s,
people would consider it as a mere copy, although that was the truth.

“Currently, the technologies the Expedition can realistically provide to this world
would start at the birth of steam engines. Which is why we are going to
systematically release technologies up to slightly more advanced than that to the
public.”

“In other fields too?”

“Yes. they are currently preparing for equipment that will spread voices and films
throughout the continent.”

“…Are you talking about radio and television?”

“Yes.”

“What a joke. I’m about to watch the news in the fantasy world. No, am I about to be
on the news instead? You should be aware of how much impact that has, right?”

“Starting from industrial revolution, the final stage would reach a level of technology
almost matching that of the Expeditionary Force’s.”

“There are bound to be those who cannot keep up the sudden change like that. And
you’re going to embrace that mess?”
“It’s a mess that’ll happen regardless once the Expeditionary Forces appear.”

“If it’s a mess either way, you’re going to at least make it yourself, huh. At least you
can control it that way.”

Isaac clicked his tongue at the tough decision, and Rivelia left the rooftop,
mentioning her duties. Only after Isaac went through two more cigarettes did Rizzly
return.

“So you found out?”

“Yes. The Grand Council approved it with the condition that we have a monopoly
over core technologies and its related patents.”

“An economic capitulation… But would that really be enough of a shackle?”

Humans were truly intelligent when it came to profit. At the end of the day, most
people lived with one thing in mind. Riches.

Even if they had a monopoly, you’d never know when someone would have a spark
of innovation and give birth to a completely new invention. The Empire would most
definitely support it too.

The other races could point at their patents, but that only worked within Central. It
was impossible to censor technological development and account for untold
inventions throughout the world.

They could argue that the technology was originally theirs all day, but for the
inventor who actually put the time and effort to create it, it’d seem like they’re just
stealing their work. If the creator demanded why they didn’t reveal the technology in
the first place, the non-humans wouldn’t have an answer.

Rizzly seemed to catch on to what Isaac was saying and shrugged as he answered.

“It seems there are other ways to restrict the Empire too. Even if we didn’t, we still
have the Directorate of Surveillance.”

‘That still shouldn’t be enough… ’

In an industrial revolution involving trains and airships, the development of mass
media was a bomb that could utterly and completely change society.

No matter how much control over the media was had, it was a double-edged sword.
It could potentially reveal the Central’s secrets and the existence of the
Expeditionary Forces.

Not only that, the development of communication technologies would empower

those who were unhappy with the feudal system and its restrictions, enabling them
to gather and join forces.

Central seemed to worry only about culture, technology, and religion that the
Expedition would bring, but they also had to prepare for countless ideas centred
around certain aspects.

Even in the previous world, these bloody ideologies almost brought the end of the
world and started many wars. What would happen when these same ideologies were
imported too?

When approached by these ideologies—which have fed upon blood and been
polished through time—some would turn to radicalism, some would be
opportunistic, some would seek a quick buck and so on. They were the same as
religious fanatics.

Isaac was about to point out this fact, but he gave up. This world was too used to
Central’s merciless suppression; in the other world, Central’s methods would’ve
been recognized akin to massacres— flagrant human rights violation that would’ve
led to massive outcries.

Even so, Central wouldn’t be able to continue acting unimpeded like now once the
media established themselves.

There was no way Central wasn’t aware of the media’s danger, so their approval for
its development meant either they had confidence to control it or there was
potential gain that outweighed the risks.

Plus, it wasn’t a bad thing for Isaac.

No matter how big of a scene he made, it would end as an inside joke to those in the
know, but it was much easier to tear the world apart using the media.
The media was a great money maker too, and Isaac had previously been born in a
world of cutthroat battles for views.

“This might make me some decent money?”

Isaac pondered deeply as he smoked his lungs away. Port City’s proposal for
reunification had ended with Isaac’s rejection, but the expected release of new
technologies had changed the situation.

Port and New Port City were truly at the centre of distribution in a geographical
sense. It possessed all the best geographical traits of the entire continent for people
to gather and redistribute goods.

Just operating with ships brought so much fortune, and if trains and airships were
included too, the possible profit could match that of the Empire’s yearly tax revenue.

The problem was Port City. Approachability, placement, and most important of all,
connections cultivated through their long history and traditions. If left alone, Port
City could find a new foothold and revive dramatically, threatening New Port City.
The simplest solution was to absorb Port City before these technologies were
released, but the Lichtens were in the way.

“Advancing with both the reunification with Port City and absorbing the Lichtens’s
territory is impossible.”

“I never thought money issues would cause a headache for me so suddenly.”

Isaac muttered in response to Rivelia, when Rizzly made a suggestion.

“How about you sell some shares?”

“Shares?”

“Yes. Everyone knows how immense the profit will be once trains and airships are
released, so you’ll get plenty of investment.”

“Who would want to invest in me?”

“Well there’s the Queen, high ranking officers in each Directorates, the members of
the Grand Council, and so on. You’ll be able to raise all the funds you need in no
time.”

Isaac folded his arms with an unimpressed look at Rizzly’s explanation. He chewed
on his cigarette.

“I don’t like looking at them just putting their spoon on my meal like that… But I
guess I need to reinforce our friendship. The elves and North bears can take what
they want.”

“…Ahem.”

Rivelia coughed dryly when Isaac gave his approval. She avoided eye contact out of
embarrassment, and Isaac smirked at her cute act.

“The Pendletons can have some too. But, don’t take more than five percent.”

“Thank you.”

“But what shall we do with the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds? They’ve been
showering us with honey lately.”

“The Seven Grand Merchant Guilds? I guess a merchant guild of that size wouldn’t
miss out on such news. Are they bribing those around me because they aren’t
making any dents on me?”

“They’re quite persistent. They’ve tasted the rewards once before, after all.”
The Seven Grand Merchant Guilds, who had reluctantly purchased a portion of New
Port City’s lands under Isaac’s pressure, enjoyed a hefty profit from skyrocketing real
estate values.

Critical information such as reunification with Port City wouldn’t slip by the Seven
Grand Merchant Guilds, so they’d poke their heads in to try to get a share of the
profit. But their prior betrayal had left them estranged from Isaac; all they could do
was wait patiently and play around Isaac’s mood and foster relations with Isaac’s
close aides, asking that they put in a couple of good words for them.

“Screw it. Exclude the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds. Involving them when they’ve
already lost our trust will only get on our nerves.”

Isaac grumbled, when he seemed to have remembered something and asked Rizzly.

“Hang on, are you guys allowed to join in so blatantly like this? Isn’t this insider
trading, technically?”

Rizzly smirked and shrugged.

“Not like this is the first time. Rewards like this are what makes this job worth doing.
Central overlooks this because they know all of its profits will circle back to Central.”

Isaac clucked his tongue in disappointment. The Pure Bloods were probably founded
with good intentions in the beginning to aid Central.

But as generations came and went, they started to abuse insider intelligence to
increase their own wealth and power, corroding at its very purpose. Isaac was
surprised that Central had left them alone despite most definitely knowing about it.

“Is there anything else? It’s such a shame to give up on it…”

Isaac dashed his lip and went back to pondering—when he heard a sharp voice.

“You aren’t allowed to come up here!”

“Ohoh! So you’re that bitch! Get over here!”

“Aaak!”

Laila’s voice quickly turned into screams, muffled by violent grunts from the stairs
leading up to the rooftop. Isaac, Rizzly, and Rivelia’s eyes immediately turned to the
stairs.

There stood a middle-aged man with his face flushed red from alcohol. He held a
firm grasp on Laila’s hair, dragging her over as he came onto the rooftop. Rivelia’s
hands immediately reached for her sword, and Rizzly exposed his fangs in anger and
growled.

Isaac looked at the man wondering what stupid bullshit it was this time, when he
and the middle-aged man’s eyes met.

When the man saw Isaac’s intrigued expression, his face twisted, his eyes boiling
with hatred. He shouted at Isaac.

“You! Because of you! Someone like you!”

Rivelia and Rizzly dared not move recklessly while Laila was held hostage, and the
middle-aged man walked towards Isaac, nose flaring with rage. Rivelia and Rizzly
flinched and were about to spring into action. But a shadow suddenly appeared
behind the man and stabbed into the right armpit directly above Laila’s teary face.

“Kuak!”

The man screamed in pain and let go of Laila. Immediately, the shadowy figure
grabbed his shoulder and held him to the floor.

“Huang! Unnee!”

Julia ran up the stairs crying to hold her sister, who had collapsed where she was
released. The middle aged man screamed in agony. Their voices blended an
unbearable dissonance, when Isaac looked at the suppressed man nonchalantly and
asked Rizzly.

“What is that?”
“Well… I believe that it is Viscount Aintz, the one that came here as the Chief
Promoter.”

Isaac cocked his head at Rizzly’s answer.

“And?”

“He was a principal target of your orders.”

“Ah, that retard?”

Isaac finally understood and nodded. He then scolded Reisha, who was sitting on top
of Viscount Aintz, her knee pressing deeply onto his back.

“Reisha, what do you think you’re doing, injuring our guest like that.”

“Huh? Sunbaenim, you saw what this bastard did to Laila!”

Reisha protested Isaac’s logic, which made her seem like the unreasonable one, but
Isaac replied sternly.

“Uhuh! Don’t you know a guest who pays me money is more precious than a kid that
drains it from me? Get up and apologize.”

Reisha grumbled with a sad face and got back up by bouncing her knee off of Aintz’s
back and promptly got him on his feet too.

“Kuak! You bitch!”

Viscount Aintz flailed his remaining sound arm and wailed a play’s worth of insults.

Julia clutched Laila, trembling and terrified by his violent act. Laila hugged her sister
and glared at Viscount Aintz, while Kunette stepped in front of the two in a
protective stance and growled at Viscount Aintz.

“Huh, what brought you up here? You seem like you’ve had a few glasses already.
Why don’t you enjoy some more alcohol or visit the casino? Ah, we’ll be covering
your medical fees since this one is our doing. And I will compensate you handsomely
as well.”
Isaac spoke out of pity and turned his head away. Aintz’s face twisted to that of a
spectre’s.

“You… It’s because of you. Because of you I’m… Die!”

Viscount Aintz rushed at Isaac, but Kunette, who had been pouting all this time,
growled and swung her tiny arm. With the sound of bones cracking, Viscount Aintz
rolled toward Isaac on the floor. Rizzly kicked Aintz on the stomach, sending him
flying away like a ball. After a moment of free fall, the body slammed back onto the
floor.

Isaac watched Aintz throw up his stomach’s contents, and then he looked toward
Kunette and Rizzly with an unsatisfied expression.

“Tsk. You two need to be taught a lesson. If the guest tries to hit you, you should take
it with a smile. What will employees think—not just that, what do you think they’ll
learn to do when the city’s highest officials act like this?”

Reisha looked at Isaac’s scolding in complete bafflement, while Rizzly, the subject of
Kunette’s ferocious glaring, grumbled his answer.

“He’s probably not a guest.”

“Hm?”

“I heard he’d been banished from his family. The Lichtens are refusing to make
payments with him as their excuse too.”

“Isn’t he the only heir left for the main family?”

“That very heir had thrown his fiefdom away with gambling, so the branch families
joined forces and ousted him.”

Isaac tilted his head.

“That’s possible?”

“It wouldn’t be if he was the head of the family, but Aintz was just the most likely
successor.”
“Then how come I didn’t hear the news that he’d been exiled by his family?”

“You’ve been troubled by the situations with Port City and the Duberons lately. I’m
sure Mr. Kalden would have reported it to you by tomorrow. Just this morning, some
of the Lichtens’ diplomats arrived, and Mr. Kalden is currently in a meeting with
them. I think this man was enraged at the news of it and barged in uninvited.”

“How come you didn’t say a word when you already knew everything?”

Isaac asked, and Rizzly shrugged nonchalantly.

“Mr. Kalden asked to keep it a secret if I could.”

“Why?”

“I think the administrative body is trying to settle it by themselves. They probably

didn’t see the need to antagonize another Marquis Family when we are still on
awkward terms with Marquess Duberon.”

“I guess they tried to gloss over it because they don’t know the insides of this issue.”

From the administrative body’s point of view, what Isaac had done was tempt some
fool of an heir into gambling and led him to a road of ruin, attempting to absorb an
entire fiefdom for free. They didn’t know the finer details.

And out of luck, everyone else from his father and brothers had died from the war,
making him the sole successor of the main family and strengthening his claim. A
perfect situation for Isaac to use the debt to repossess the land.

Within the Empire, many people owned the title of Marquis. But only 30 or so of
them were hereditary nobles, making the Marquis class one of the most elite classes
in the Empire.

And Isaac’s relationship with the Duberon Family was uncomfortable at best. Rather
than add another Marquis to the list, it’d be much more convenient and beneficial to
act as if it never happened and maintain friendly relations.

“But shouldn’t Kalden be aware of everything?”

Kalden has inadvertently stumbled upon Isaac’s relations with Central. Ever since
then, he had received a certain level of information regarding Central so that he
could do his job.

“I doubt it. Mr Cordnell wouldn’t have a reason to be involved, since this belongs to
the administrative field. No one else would go through the trouble to tell either, and
the Directorate of Strategy would never openly talk about one of their failures.”

Isaac was convinced by Rizzly’s answer, when his eyes glistened at a sudden
epiphany.

“It’ll be difficult to get my money using him as an excuse right?”

“Probably?”

Isaac stared at the fool who had passed out after being Reisha’s punching bag.

Even as Kunette kicked his buttocks, his unconscious body would only flinch out of
reflex. It was difficult to tell if the man had passed out from the pain or the alcohol at
this point.

The Lichtens used this idiot to complicate and hinder the debt repayment process.
But if Isaac went along with their scheme, he’d no longer have the pretext to absorb
the Lichtens’ territory.

“Perhaps this is an opportunity?”

It just happened to be that Isaac was still considering how to deal with the economic
crisis that’d resulted from the Lichtens.

Plus, his meeting with the Director of Surveillance had been canceled, which meant
he no longer had an excuse to act.

But here they were, literally handing Isaac an excuse to act first—huzza for this idiot.

Isaac smoked as he watched Kunette vent out her frustrations at Viscount Aintz, then
Reisha who was comforting Laila and Julia, and finally at Rizzly, who looked uneasily
at Kunette and grumbled. After some brief forethought, Isaac let out a final puff of
smoke and spoke.

“This is an emergency. Rizzly, Reisha.”

“Yes?”

“What?”

Isaac spoke with grievous seriousness. Rizzly’s face stiffened like Isaac’s, and Reisha
cocked her head.

“I will declare an emergency. Halt all elven and North Bear activity and have them
occupy all the city’s strategic points, fully armed. The other districts will be overseen
by Smartass, and tell him to set the mood dead serious by all means.”

Rizzly and Reisha’s eyes bulged wide, while Kunette looked at Isaac hesitantly before
running over and jumping onto Isaac’s torso.

“Seriously? Do you want me to?”

“This isn’t something you do lightly.”

Reisha and Rizzly repeatedly asked Isaac to confirm. At first, Isaac simply nodded
back and forth at the two as he pet Kunette, cradling her in his arms. But it was a
single, last glare that finally led to action. Reisha and Rizzly closed their eyes as if
they’d given up and acted.

Rip!

Rizzly transformed into a bear. He puffed up his chest and then let out a single
mighty roar.

Kuhuuuuuh!

The roar echoed throughout the city, and the North Bears reacted immediately.

Reisha pulled out a small horn from her pockets and blew it with all her might.

Boong!

All elves perked their ears as the horn’s deep sound echoed throughout the city. The
elves moved swiftly.

The people on the streets were left curious, watching the elves and North Bear, the
forefront of the entertainment of this city, leave from their stations. Soon after, they
returned, except they were fully armed and watching their surroundings with a
sharp, deadly look in their eyes. The ordinary people realised something was up. The
foolishly brave stayed to find out what was happening, while the meek quickly left
the city.
The sudden emergency didn’t go unnoticed by the administrative body. Those
swimming in the sea of documents hurriedly gathered at the rooftop.

They didn’t need to ask questions about how this happened, for there was only one
man that had the power to mobilise all the elves and North Bears in this city.

Horrified by the possibility of engaging in hostilities with the two races for the first
time, the administrative body ran over—only to find Isaac leisurely smoking as he
always did. Their hearts empty and moods despondent, the group moved to find
their seats.

But they were also worried. This man wasn’t likely to just cause a ruckus because he
was bored. Something big was coming again.

Having mobilised the two races—an unprecedented move until now—they couldn’t
begin to fathom the immense scale of this new incident.

“…I think everyone’s here.”

Rivelia said after scanning her surroundings, certifying that most of the faces were
here, but Isaac shook his head.

“No they aren’t.”

Everyone began looking at one another to find the missing person.

“Mr. Lanburton is here, so why does it matter that Miss Reisha isn’t here?”

Everyone nodded at Kalden’s argument, but Isaac shook his head again and took a
glass of fruit wine that Laila had brought.

“Reisha has gone to do what I asked for. We’ll begin once she comes back with the
people I asked for.”

Isaac answered everyone’s question, and then Reisha appeared with a cheery voice.
“Yaho! Sunbaenim, I brought them!”

“Kuhuk!”

Behind Reisha were a group of men shackled together in a line. The whole
administrative body had collectively stopped breathing and grasped at their heads,
their veins pounding furiously.

They were the emissaries from the Lichten Family whom they’d been negotiating
with just moments ago.

The administrative body wasn’t sure why they were brought here shackled like
criminals, but what was certain was that the negotiations were over.

“What is this?! How dare you arrest emissaries from another land!”

“We will file an official complaint about this matter!”

“Lady Rivelia, please say something!”

“Mr. Kalden, I will never forget this disgrace!”

The emissaries didn’t refrain from expressing their emotions. Some vented out their
anger, some made arguments, and some sought assistance. But the administrative
body ignored their indignance.

Now that Isaac made his move, the administrative body had no voice in the matter.
The only ones who had a say were the non-humans, Rivelia, Cordnell, and Kalden.

After the emissaries chattered amongst themselves to exhaustion, Isaac opened his
mouth.

“I almost died just now.”

“…”

The administrative body dropped their jaws and looked at Isaac in complete
bafflement.

Everyone knew that it’d be near impossible to even harm Isaac in this city, secluded
in his rooftop—even if they’d brought an entire armed division.

Not only was he protected by the elves and North Bears, he also wore his
impenetrable defensive coat that had cost him a fortune.

Even the emissaries were baffled and started an angry ruckus. Isaac looked at Rizzly,
and Rizzly dragged Viscount Aintz’s body from the back of the rooftop, front and
center.

“This is the man who tried to assassinate the master of New Port City. And he doesn’t
even have money!”

Everyone in the room thought Isaac’s emphasis on the lack of money wasn’t the
correct subject, but the assassination attempt itself sounded so baseless that nobody
knew where to start correcting him.

And with dignitaries from outside the city involved, no one dared to speak rashly.

“Viscount Aintz has been banished from the family already. You cannot make us
responsible for his personal actions.”

Baron Dale, the leader of the emissaries, shouted out with a pale face. For a brief
second, he was in an absolute panic at the thought of this bumbling fool destroying
his own family, but he quickly let out a sigh of relief.

It was an assassination attempt at a Lord—not only that, a College graduate. They

had no right to complain if even Central got involved.

It was a miracle they managed to drive out Viscount Aintz, the sole successor; they
had spared no expense, involving connections, factions, and all sorts of political
savvy. All Dale had to argue that all of this was Aintz’s personal actions.

But Baron Dale mistook Isaac’s intentions. Dale had thought that this fool, without a
single talent, had gone off and drowned himself in booze after being banished, then
went over to Isaac and made a scene, got arrested, and that Isaac wouldn’t have
missed this chance to use him as an excuse to demand more favorable terms in the
negotiations.

Isaac seemed to have noticed what was in Baron Dale’s mind, and his lips formed a
cunning smile.
“So? The Lichtens aren’t responsible for anything? That’s disappointing. I’ve loaned a
lot of money to this man purely because he bore the honorable and historied Lichten
name—even when he didn’t have a single Bit to his name. But the Lichtens are trying
to bury it under by ousting this fool, which is why he came crying to complain right?
And you’re still acting innocent?”

Baron Dale tried his utmost to act sympathetic and nodded.

“We have already agreed as a Family to give up many of our rights to you, Lord. So…””

“Take it and fuck off?”

“That’s not what we…”

“I don’t want to.”

“Sorry?”

Baron Dale looked blankly at Isaac, who in turn smiled like a treacherous loan shark.
With a cigarette in his mouth, he replied.

“Why should I be happy with crumbs when I can just take it all?”

The emissaries’ faces stiffened. Baron Dale glared menacingly at Isaac and spoke.

“As I’ve already said, Viscount Aintz no longer has any relation to the Lichten Family.
Therefore, you cannot transfer former Viscount Aintz’s personal debts to us. We have
also begun the process of suing him for using the Lichten seal for his personal gains.
All documents that were signed by Viscount Aintz during the war will be voided.”

It was a warning to Isaac that he would not have any legal recourse, but Isaac took it
with a smile.

“Wow, I can imagine you must have gone through many struggles to get that
working. Amazing. You are quite talented.”

“…Thank you.”

Isaac clapped and praised Baron Dale, who couldn’t hide his worry even as he
acknowledged the compliment. Isaac gulped his glass of wine and spoke to Rizzly.
“Rizzly.”

“Yes.”

“Declare a provincial war against the Lichten Family.”

“…”

“W, What are you saying!”

The administrative body’s jaws dropped at Isaac’s declaration, and the emissaries’
faces were bright red, outraged at being utterly disgraced. Isaac cocked his head and
asked.

“Why?”

“Just what reason do you have to declare a provincial war?!”

“The lord of New Port City was almost assassinated in his own land. Both the culprit
and his supporters are here, so isn’t revenge the natural conclusion?”

“That is your colored opinion, Lord. In fact what proof do you have that Viscount
Aintz tried to assassinate you! You can’t expect witness accounts from your close
aides to have meaningful legal relevance in such a severe incident!”

“Really?”

Isaac looked back at the administrative body as if this was the first time he’d heard of
this, and the administrative body nodded without making eye contact with Isaac.

It was impossible that Isaac wasn’t aware of this fact.

The administrative body knew well that Isaac’s act was just preparation to push his
opponent deeper into the abyss. They had been on the receiving end many times
before, after all.

Baron Dale, who had no experience with Isaac’s treachery, shouted out, brimming
with confidence.

“The court won’t just accept your biased opinion just because you arrested some
drunkard without a shred of evidence.”

“But I do have proof?”

“What?”

Baron Dale was at a loss for words, when Kunette who was sleeping in Isaac’s arms
twitched and knocked the wine glass from the chair’s armrest.

Clang—everyone’s focus turned to the glass. Laila quickly rushed to clean the broken
glass, and Isaac frowned and scolded her.

“Tsk. Be careful next time. Go get me a new one.”

“Yes.”

Everyone watched Laila simply accept Isaac’s scolding silently even though she was
blameless. She quickly dashed to the cupboard to find a new glass as Isaac spoke.

“So that fool assaulting that brat isn’t proof?”

Flick!

Everyone’s eyes returned to Isaac once more.

“T, that’s why we will apologize, but it still can’t be used to justify a provincial war!
Not to mention, Miss Laila has no relation to you, Lord Isaac!”

“Why? This brat is the successor to Count Wolfgang, who is residing here as my
guest. She was assaulted by some retard! That disgraces my name; I invited the brat
as my guest, did I not?”

“…”

That was true, but nobody dared to point out that the very guest in question was
pouring wine for Isaac like some servant.

“T, The Lichten Family will formally apologize and pay a handsome recompense for
partial responsibility. Regardless, Miss Laila cannot be used as a witness account.”
“Tsk. I said evidence, not a witness account, didn’t I?”

“…”

Baron Dale shut his mouth at Isaac’s correction, and Isaac’s eyes moved to Rizzly.

“Are you really going to do it? Seriously?”

The administrative body could feel cold sweat dripping down their back, watching
Rizzly question Isaac again and even Reisha plea, ‘Are you really doing it? Can you
not?’ as Isaac passed Kunette to her.

It was something that even Reisha, an abnormality among the elves who loved to
experience strange new things, refrained from doing. It couldn’t have been
something normal.

Isaac got on his feet and waved his hand to his face in an exaggerated motion before
he spoke.

“Phew! The drinks I had are making me hot.”

“Huck!”

Someone in the crowd gasped. Isaac took off his last line of defense, the defensive
coat, himself. With a pathetic excuse that it was hot.

Isaac threw the coat onto his chair and walked over to Aintz, who was collapsed next
to Rizzly’s feet. Isaac crouched and shook Aintz’s shoulders.

“Oh! Dear guest, you can’t sleep here. You seem to be quite drunk. You should be
resting in your hotel.”

While everyone was confused by Isaac’s strange act with the incapacitated Viscount
Aintz, Isaac glared at Rizzly.

“Aren’t you doing it?”

“Why don’t we just make a mark…”

“So much for that bravery you show. Give it here.”

“But…”

Rizzly hesitated, but when Isaac’s glare bore into his skull, Rizzly took out a dagger
and handed it to Isaac.

Everyone got off their seat and shouted when they noticed the cold, sharp dagger,
but Isaac was faster.

Stab!

Isaac frowned as he felt the unpleasant sensation of his stomach being pierced.

‘Is this the second time I’m getting stabbed?’

“What are you doing!”

Just as the pain followed the unpleasant feeling, Rivelia pulled Isaac back and put
pressure onto the stomach where the dagger was struck, trying to stop the bleeding.

“Reisha, heal him now! You knew about this, right? Why didn’t you stop him!”

“Hing! I didn’t think he’d actually do it!”

Reisha cried in response to Rivelia’s growl. She then brought her hands to Isaac’s
stomach and began casting.

Meanwhile, the ruckus woke Kunette from her sleep. When she opened her eyes, she
saw Isaac bleeding from his stomach. Her eyes stretched wide, and she immediately
ran over to Rizzly. She pounced on his head, biting him and pulling out his hair.

“Uwack! I’m innocent, I swear!”

Rizzly defended himself, while the administrative body and the emissaries were at a
loss for words.

There was a limit to how crazy someone was—to think he’d cut open his own
stomach. And seeing how blood was dripping from his mouth, the cut was definitely
deep enough to pierce his organs.
The excruciating pain slowly washed away, and Isaac managed to catch his breath
and reach for a cigarette. He was so close to dying. It was supposed to be an act, but
gauging the depth of the stab was difficult when using someone else’s hand.

He would never have pulled off such insanity if immediate treatment wasn’t
available. But Isaac wasn’t going to pass up on the fastest and easiest method when it
only involved some pain. He just made a mistake towards the end.

“Bring me the evidence.”

Rizzly, whose face was crying mercy at Kunette’s arbitrary brutality, pulled out some
tongs and grabbed the bloody knife.

“Do you think such blatant fabrication will work!”

The knife had Isaac’s blood and Viscount Aintz’s fingerprints. At this rate, they were
going to be had—trapped and with no way of escape.

The only part that was remotely questionable was that this incident happened in
front of the emissaries in plain sight. Was Isaac certain he could keep them silent?

“What do you mean fabrication? I have the knife, blood, fingerprints, and a culprit
arrested.”

“Do you think we will commit perjury!”

“Hm? I think you’re mistaken. Who said we’re letting you free?”

“You can’t just arrest emissaries without a criminal charge!”

Feeling his wound slowly heal thanks to Reisha, Isaac felt firsthand how amazing
magic was. He got on his feet, lit a new cigarette, and announced.

“The elves and North Bears are combing through the city to find the assassin and his
helpers. Isn’t it normal procedure to arrest people of the Lichten Family, whom the
assassin hails from?”

Everyone was shocked at Isaac. So that huge mess the elves and North Bears stirred
up was for this reason.

‘He’s already made his decision.’

Baron Dale shut his eyes in shock. Half of his brain scrambled to assess the
difference in power between the two sides. Ordinarily, he would have scoffed at the
idea of going to war against some sorry excuse of a Lord that owned a single city, but
the situation now was different.

The Lichten main family had lost most of their military forces in the war against
Wolfgang. Their loss had set them dangerously close to bankruptcy. And their vassals
had been jockeying for power while the branch families’ alliances were in a constant
state of flux in the power struggle to become the family head.

If all of Lichten’s vassals united with what was left of their military, facing off against
Isaac would be a simple feat. But their opponent was a lunatic who didn’t hesitate to
cut open his own stomach. There was no way he would fight fair and square.

Dale could see all sorts of schemes, deceit, and conspiracies coming at them, driving
a wedge between each family and vassal.

Though Isaac had no formally conscripted military, his financial power alone
dwarfed the Lichtens’. And legality wise, he had the legal right to demand war;
requesting for outside aid or an arbitration was impossible. No. Isaac had Wolfgang
for military power. Though they were in a similar state as Lichtens, they would easily
crush the Lichtens if Isaac provided the Wolfgang family logistical and financial
support. After all, Wolfgang had plenty of reasons to join the war.

When his thoughts concluded at that point, Baron Dale bit hard on his lip, glaring at
Isaac as blood dripped from his mouth.

“The truth will be revealed one day.”

Isaac smirked, donned his coat, and sat back on his chair.

“The truth… yeah, it will be revealed one day. But will the people believe it? Between
the lie that some man who lost all his money and exiled from his house attempted to
kill me out of hatred, or the truth that some lunatic cut himself to take over a
Marquis’ realm? What seems more believable?”

“…”

“I think they would be plenty convinced if the culprit of that truth was you, Lord.”

The administrative body instinctively nodded at Rivelia’s point.

“Ah, really? Well it doesn’t matter. The hearsay of a few will never become the of the
many. Listen here brat—and you too, damsel. I’ll tell you the truth—the truth that’ll
be engraved into your blood and bone. What you want to believe is the truth—
especially when it comes to things you’re not involved in. Remember so.”

Everyone was silent, unwilling to endorse Isaac’s words. The rooftop was silent until
Baron Dale cried out.

“Do you think it’ll be over by just arresting us?! What about them?! How long do you
think they will stay loyal to you! The truth will be revealed when any one of them
betrays you!”

The administrative body’s faces stiffened, and Isaac’s head tilted.

“I thought accounts from close aides had no legal power in the court?”

“If a close aide gives an account that goes against you, it will naturally raise
suspicion—even if it doesn’t have any legal consequences.”

“That’s fine. I’ve been treating them horribly in preparation for a case like this. I’m
sure everyone will think they’re just falsely accusing me out of hatred—even if they
really do betray me.”

“…”

So blatant was Isaac that Baron Dale could only gulp like a goldfish.

“Take them away.”

A group of North Bears appeared out of nowhere and gagged the emissaries’ mouths
as they took them to jail. Watching the scene, Isaac lit a new cigarette and looked at
the administrative body.

“I’m asking just to make sure, but is there anyone who doesn’t hate me? If there is,
then I probably haven’t been hard enough on you. It’ll be easier for me to get away in
court if I make you all work harder.”

The administrative body pondered about their response.

Does he want them to hate him or not? As the group maintained silence in fear of
this being a trap for hell, Reisha raised her hand.

“Me, me! I don’t hate you sunbaenim!”

“Me too!”

“Ahem, I also don’t have any ill feelings toward you. In fact, it’s closer to respect.”

“I don’t have the right to say anything. I just do as I’m told.”

Reisha, Kunette, Lanburton, and Rizzly confessed they bore no ill feelings, but Isaac
responded with disappointment.

“Huuh! I see I was too easy on you. They always said you need to raise your
subordinates strongly. So from now on…”

“No! I hate you, Lord Isaac!”

“‘Bastard’ is the only name I use to refer to you!”

“I’m writing a book on management called How to Avoid Being a Hindrance to your
Employees: What Not to Do, Feat. Lord Isaac!”

“I am giving out lectures on how to become a respected employer, what not to follow
from Isaac!”

“I always swear at you every time I wake up and just before going to sleep!”

The administrative blurted out reactively when Isaac was about to declare that he’d
bully them even harder.
Realising their mistake, the administrative body slowly went back into silence,
fearing Isaac. However, Isaac nodded with a look of great satisfaction instead of
being angry.

“Good. Work harder next time. I’m sure there are people wondering about what’s
happening, so get back to work.”

“What do we do with this man?”

Rizzly grabbed Viscount Aintz who was still unconscious. Isaac pondered.

“We’ll need to get some of our money back. Throw him in the mines. And Kalden.”

“Yes?”

“Restart the reunification negotiations. We got our money.”

Everyone reached an epiphany and nodded. This entire scene was orchestrated to
absorb Port City. The administrative body wasn’t sure what changed Isaac’s mind,
but with no money being directed to Lichtens, they had plenty of money to use
towards reunification with Port City.

Isaac received a call even before he finished his cigarette as the administrative body
left the rooftop in awe, perhaps because of the incident he’d caused.

Walking leisurely into the Communicator room, Isaac smiled and waved when
Mazelan’s face appeared on screen.

“It’s been a while. I assume you’re staying busy?”

-Whose fault do you think that is?

Mazelan glared at Isaac, unhappy with Isaac’s casual greeting.

“I guess it is a big incident, as a College graduate, the Lord of New Port City, and the
Director of Security was almost assassinated.”

Isaac nodded with a look of sincere empathy on his face. Mazelan sighed with
contempt before he spoke.

-So why did you do it? I want to know the reason.

“To take over the Lichtens.”

-You could have done it without this!

Mazelan’s shout was met with Isaac snicker, as if the answer was trivial.

“Why should I pay for it when I could just take it for free?”

-…

Mazelan looked at Isaac with his face flushed completely red, coughing in between
venting out his frustration. If Isaac absorbed the Lichtens’ fief—which had been put
up as collateral—Isaac would need to buy out all of their rights too.

The nobles and bureaucracy would have protested this unprecedented method of
gaining entire fiefs.

Though it wasn’t scary, it was still annoying.

But what if it was provincial warfare? All of these annoyances would disappear
instantly.

Isaac also had the justification, so no one could say otherwise. After all, this was an
attack on the Lord of a fief.

Since this was a provincial warfare with everything on the line, if Isaac won, he
wasn’t responsible for compensating the civilian casualties in the Lichten’s previous
war.

Though morally Isaac had responsibility, it wasn’t forced upon Isaac. So if Isaac
declared that this should be done as the law states it, all recompensation would need
to come from the Empire’s treasury while Isaac only needed to pay for recompense
that occurred in the war between him and Lichtens.

This would also be something that never happened and would bring much noise, but
the Empire’s policy prioritises civilian damages when no rewards are involved, so
the first step in resolving the issue is to pay from the treasury. Therefore, if Isaac
declined outright, the Empire will carry the burden instead.

Which is why Mazelan vented out his frustration for a long time, until he sighed
defeat and asked.

-Are you really trying to make a new Dukedom?

“I don’t see why not?”

-There isn’t. There isn’t, but…

“I’m not liking the look on your face.”

Isaac was annoyed when Mazelan scanned Isaac from top to bottom with his eyes
half-closed.

-No. Well, you can do it if you want. Hm… the truth is, I’m curious how it’ll turn out
too…

“What’s with you and that weird laugh of yours?”

Isaac spoke with whole hearted disdain when Mazelan started laughing to himself.
Mazelan quickly regained composure and avoided the question.

-But do you think you can handle it? I think you’re doing too much for you to
handle…

Isaac quickly saw through what Mazelan was implying.

“I can always sell my shares If I think I need to. And I hear there are many people
looking for it?”

-Kuhum!

Mazelan coughed dryly as if Isaac had hit the mark and proceeded to avoid eye
contact.
New Port City shares were an excellent investment choice.

Holding shares in the reunification of Port and New Port City was the equivalent of
acquiring an endless stream of money. There were many parties who watched the
reunification process with keen interest.

-The Department of Supplies will be the first to contact you if you ever need money.

“I wonder. I doubt I’ll ever run into such a situation, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

-I’m sure you will have your difficulties, even if New Port City is overflowing with
money and you are absorbing the Lichtens for free.

“That would be the case if I’m alone, but I have a few friendly stakeholders too.”

-Hng. You’re bringing in the elves and North Bears?

“They have the right to be involved. They’ve helped me since the beginning and have
shares of New Port City. Oh I’ve also let the Pendletons in too because of that
damsel’s face.”

-Wow! Now isn’t that harsh? Have I not helped you? I’m disappointed in you, really!

Mazelan shouted out. Isaac took out a new cigarette with a troubled expression.

He’d let his tongue slip. Oh well.

“3%. No more than that. Not even the elves and North Bears have more than 8%.”

-That seems enough.

Isaac couldn’t help but feel that he’d been tricked, as Mazelan’s enraged face
instantly transformed to a bright smile.
Isaac had an uncomfortable feeling as he left the Communicator Room. The sight and
sound of Mazelan’s mischievous laughter echoing in the warning had been seared
into Isaac’s eyes.

It was, how to say, a smile that’d come back to infuriate him later, an embodiment of
‘I told you it was a bad idea.’

‘What is it? Is there something I’m missing?’

Isaac couldn’t find the reason no matter how much he pondered. Which made it all
the more frustrating.

“I’d really hate to see him have the last laugh…”

“What was that?”

“Hm? It’s nothing. And when did you get here?”

Isaac asked, and Cordnell replied, flabbergasted.

“I’ve been waiting for you here since ages ago!”

“You were?”

“We’ve been waiting silently because you seemed deeply concerned.”

Rivelia, who had been standing by next to Cordnell, added. Isaac’s head cocked to the
side.

“Why?”

“…”

Rivelia closed her mouth, dumbfounded, and Cordnell quickly took the chance to
shout.

“You started a provincial war and now reunification as well?! Can’t you just take
things one at a time?”

“Don’t worry about the provincial warfare, it’s not like it’ll happen immediately.”
“You weren’t even thinking about fighting the war whether it was approved or not
anyway! Aren’t you just waiting for the Lichtens to crumble from within?”

Cordnell pointed out, and Isaac flinched and looked back with great astonishment.

“How did you know?”

“How long do you think I’ve been working under you? You’ll just entice, antagonise,
shift the blame, and unleash all sorts of vile schemes on the Lichten’s vassals to
destroy them!”

“…Amazing. Was there such a way?! You’re a genius!”

“Stop avoiding the subject!”

“Ha, I guess everyone with a brain had already predicted so if even Cordnell is aware
of it. But the Lichtens are bound to fall victim to it anyway.”

Isaac commented with a smile. Cordnell sighed deeply and stated defiantly.

“You will need to have different people responsible for reunification and Lichtens,
respectively. We haven’t even finished adapting our administrative system to manage
a fief. If my workload increases anymore from here, I will go on a strike. The same
goes for Kalden too.”

“Ha. To think you’d blackmail me with a strike when you’re already receiving the
best pay in the Empire. This is why people say human greed is endless.”

“What’s the point of getting paid if I don’t have the time to use it!”

“Good. Every coin you fail to spend will stack up nicely in your account. Is there a job
with a better retirement plan than this?”

“I feel like I’ll die of overwork before I reach retirement.”

“Don’t worry. If you do, the city will happily use those savings of yours as a
development fund!”

“Kuack! I’ll never die!”

A fire was lit in Cordnell’s eyes. Cordnell’s resentful scowl bore into Isaac, who slyly
changed the topic of the conversation.

“Hm. If you or Kalden can’t do it, then pass over one of the jobs to this damsel here.”

Isaac pointed Rivelia with his chin, and Rivelia’s brows twisted and glared back at
Isaac.

“It would have been possible if New Port City was still a Free Trade City, but now that
it’s become the Rondart fief, I can’t intervene.”

“Hm? Why?”

“…It’ll change from the work by your orders, Director, to work that the Pendletons
intervened in.”

“Tsk! I swear, that nametag of yours makes it impossible to give you work.”

Isaac clicked his tongue and complained. RIvelia’s body quivered fiercely as she
tightened her fists.

Cordnell slowly inched away from Rivelia in fear of an outburst when Isaac spoke
after pondering.

“Should I make Smartass do it?”

“The pushback will be massive no matter where you put him. Especially since Mr
Soland is a member of a criminal syndicate on the outside.”

Cordnell, who had created enough of a safe distance already, shook his head after
some thought. Isaac spoke as if he had no other choice now.

“Leave it to the fatty. I’m sure he’ll do well. With all the trading he’s been doing with
the Lichtens, he’ll be comfortable enough with his connections.”

“Yes sir. But you’re not thinking of actually going into war right?”

“Don’t worry. War will never happen.”

“Can you really say that after requesting for an authorization for provincial warfare?
Even if the Lichten’s armies are destroyed, they’ll easily assemble thousands by
rallying the defeated troops and their combat knights. And the armies possessed by
their vassals are even larger. If they advance toward New Port City for war, we’ll
crumble to a single siege.”

“They won’t be able to reach here.”

“How are you so confident?”

“Because there’s still the Wolfgang Family. Those idiots aren’t just attacking me right
now. The Wolfgang Family has more than enough reason to join in. If the Lichten’s
armies somehow come to a consensus and advance toward us, Wolfgang will smack
the back of their head clean off.”

“…”

“That’s why you don’t have to worry about a war breaking out. And even if they
scrape together an army and come, so what? You think they can push their might in
this city full of elves and North Bears? I’ll bet you they’re busy shifting blame
amongst one another and avoiding responsibility right now. The fatty shines in
blackmail and leveraging relationships, so you can just wait for a bit before offering
to leave them alone with most of their fortunes intact.”

“…Are you sure it’s an offer? What if they refuse?”

“What other choice do I have if they reject the offer to leave with all their
possessions instead of being exiled penniless? If they want to stay, they can stay. I
have many ways to ruin them. You better try your best in persuading them if you
don’t want them to reach that fate.”

Cordnell sighed deeply watching Isaac snicker away.

“Who do I leave Port City to now…?”

Isaac contemplated on who to leave Port City to. He couldn’t make non-humans do it.

It was beyond possibility, as they had no talents in such matters. Isaac thought about
other members of the administrative body, but they were all exhausted from just
managing their own workload at this point.
But Isaac didn’t want to do it himself, and he couldn’t make Rivelia do it.

Just as Rivelia had said, her noble birth had changed the weight of her actions. She
was first and foremost the successor to the Pendleton family, and a representative of
the Rondart fiefdom second.

Isaac thought about dumping it onto Kalden or Cordnell outright, but it seemed clear
that they’d retaliate with a strike. Whether it was good or bad, those two really didn’t
care for what came at them after ten days of starvation.

So Isaac scanned the area for a suitable candidate, when he saw Laila.

Smile!

Laila could feel her spine tingle when their eyes met. Isaac declared.

“Alright. I’ll leave Port City work to the brat.”

“Eeh!”

“Sorry?”

“…Me?”

“It’s something you’ll need to do for the rest of your life when you go back home, so it
won’t be a bad idea for you to have some practice. I’ll give you some advisors, so give
it a try. You help out sometimes too, damsel.”

Everyone looked at Laila in worry.

Becoming the one responsible for this work meant bearing the animosity and
harassment that resulted from it.

It was too heavy a burden for a child.

But on the other hand, there really wasn’t anyone else suitable to be a candidate.
Even though the matter would be over so easily if Isaac took over, Isaac clearly didn’t
have any intention to work. So they had to look for a suitable candidate, which were
few in number.
Laila was one of such candidates, with the only flaw being her young age.

The money-obsessed opponents would struggle desperately with all their might, but
what if their opponent was the successor to the future Dukedom of Wolfgang?

And if the successor to the Pendleton family stood by her side, they didn’t need to
worry about Laila’s exposure to such unsightly displays.

“I’ll do my best.”

Laila nodded with a firm determination, and Isaac spoke as he took out a new
cigarette.

“Begin the negotiations from scratch again.”

“What? That’s…”

Port City’s negotiators would put all in their effort at manipulating the young Laila if
they redid the hard-fought outline of previous negotiations.

“Don’t worry. The final decision comes from me anyway. If I don’t like it, we can just
start again.”

“That’s true.”

Everyone nodded their heads. Since it was Isaac who had the final say on the terms
of the negotiation, it didn’t matter how much Port City bullied and manipulated Laila
into submission. All Isaac had to say was no.

“Finish it by next year before you start attending Campus. It will be a good
experience for you.”

“…I have a request.”

“What?”

“I want to learn from here instead of Campus.”

Isaac glimpsed at Laila when she asked. He exhaled a long trail of smoke and spoke.
“I guess it’s about time for you to know. The reason why I’m asking you to do this for
experience is so you can engrave one fact into your head that you’ll need to manage
your dukedom.”

“What is it?”

Isaac let out another trail of smoke, and then he looked Laila straight in the eyes and
spoke.

“Humans aren’t a race to be trusted.”

“…”

Laila’s eyes shook, unable to discern the meaning behind Isaac’s words. Isaac raised
one corner of his lip mockingly and continued.

“The average commoner may be able to live in a society based on trust, but that will
be impossible for you, brat. If things go well, you will become the second hereditary
Duchess. Do you know what that means?”

“…I don’t.”

“You cannot trust another human being. No, you must not trust them.”

“…”

Isaac’s cruel teachings turned Laila’s face pale and Rivelia shouted out in refute.

“What are you telling a child?!”

Isaac glimpsed at Rivelia and spoke.

“Shall we use this damsel as an example? Successor to Duke Pendleton. Single. These
two conditions alone attract others—especially men, who flock around her at all
times. Why?”

Laila pondered for a moment and answered.

“Because she’s beautiful?”

“…”

Laila’s unexpected answer made Rivelia blush, but Isaac scoffed and nudged Laila on
her forehead.

“Wrong. She may be pretty but there would still be plenty of men willing to approach
her even if she was ugly, even hideous. Why?”
Isaac asked again, and Laila squeaked out her answer as she clutched her forehead.

“Because she’s a woman?”

Pak!

Another hit and Laila’s forehead was now reddening with a hint of swelling. Rivelia’s
eyes turned angrily.

“Wrong. That’s just a difference in sex. Would anything change if the damsel was a
man? No, all sorts of women would have thrown their bodies at him to get anything
going. She should be glad that she’s a woman. If she was a man, her life could derail
completely with one wrong thrust…”

Smack!

“You should watch what you’re saying!”

Rivelia retaliated by smacking the back of Isaac’s head. Although Isaac felt no pain
thanks to the defensive coat, Isaac bit his tongue out of reflex.

Isaac grumbled as he took out a fresh cigarette and continued speaking to Laila, who
seemed a little refreshed.

“Strength, power, money, land, and honour. Having just one of these would entice
them like a carcass to vultures. Humans always prefer the easy way. At least the
damsel has the Pendleton name to protect her from those vultures, but what do you
have? You have no buffer to protect yourself, and you are young. The number of
people looking to manipulate a child like you are countless.”

Laila argued back, enraged by Isaac.

“I have people that have sworn loyalty to my family.”

Isaac frowned at the answer.

“Haven’t you heard? I killed all of your loyal subjects. If any of them are alive, they
chose their own lives over loyalty. What are you mistaken about? Do you think I’m an
advisor that won’t hesitate to teach you about life lessons? I am the enemy you’ll
need to kill one day. You aren’t working for your guardian right now. You’re working
for the man who killed your parents. Don’t forget that.”

“…”

Laila’s face paled at Isaac’s cold criticism.

“Listen well, brat. The people you need to guard against the most are those most
forward in swearing loyalty to you. A young lord is the perfect target to turn into a
puppet. If you return home after you’ve matured, they will flood you with knights,
citing your protection as their priority. Why would they do that? Is it really to protect
you? Because they are loyal? Of course, it’s highly likely the case, considering
Wolfgang’s ability to inspire, as I’ve witnessed personally. But each and every one of
those knights will be men around your age. Why? Because if they luck out and the
two of you get together, that family becomes part of the hereditary Dukedom. I guess
being a woman is a disadvantage in this case.”

Both Rivelia and Laila didn’t bother hiding their anger and glared at Isaac, but Isaac
continued without hesitation.

“Your land—the Wolfgang’s and Lichtens’ combined—will be vast, and they will
approach you for an empty plot of land. The loyal vassal families? I bet you they will
fight amongst themselves to take those lands with their branch families the moment
they see you. Do you think it’s any different?”

“T, they would never do such a thing!”

Isaac’s cold, relentless bombardment finally shattered Laila’s emotionless mask, who
shouted back with tears in her eyes.

“Human greed knows no end. Perhaps they won’t in the beginning, but will it
persevere until the end? The subject of their loyalty was Count Wolfgang, not you.”

“No! You’re wrong!”

Laila shouted out in a final act of desperation and Rivelia carefully hugged her head
pitifully. Laila wailed relentlessly within Rivelia’s arms; all of her emotions that had
been building were now bursting out in an instant. Rivelia gently caressed Laila’s
head, but her eyes glared menacingly at Isaac.

Isaac continued to smoke detachedly. Slowly, Laila’s cries grew quiet, and she left
Rivelia’s arms, asking Isaac with her red eyes.

“…Then what must I do?”

Isaac reminded himself that Laila was indeed a protagonist, being able to regain her
composure in such a short time, and snickered.

“Why are you asking me? You should figure it out yourself.”

“…I am asking for your advice.”

Laila bowed her head down onto the floor, and Rivelia’s glare went from sharp to
ferocious—like a wild beast. Isaac shrugged and spoke.

“There is no answer. It’s not an issue that can be solved just by doing well yourself.”

“Why is that?”

“This is something I’ve been contemplating for a while myself. The Empire has been
rather indifferent in their reaction at the birth of a second hereditary dukedom. It
was completely opposite to what I’d expected, but after thinking for a long time, I
understood their reasoning.”

“…”

“Do you know why the Empire is accepting the birth of second hereditary Dukedom?
It’s because even if that title were to come true, it will most likely end in your
generation.”

“I will lead the Wolfgang Family into a lasting dukedom!”

“That is why the Empire is relieved. Being a woman is disadvantageous as well. If

either you or your sister was a boy, the Empire would have reacted completely
differently and done everything possible to oppose its creation, including publicly
arguing against it. You and your sister are all that’s left of the Wolfgang name. Let’s
say you truly are gifted and grew up to the level of the damsel. Then people will
begin targeting your sister instead. Your sister is also part of the main family. What
will you do if she marries some nobody and asks that you give them some land?
When the size of your realm barely qualifies as a dukedom?”

Laila grit her teeth and answered Isaac.

“…That will never happen.”

“Do you know the meaning behind those words?”

“Yes.”

Isaac snickered at Laila’s declaration. Ah, she was truly an interesting brat.

“Kukuku, I guess you really are a protagonist. Alright. I’ll teach you a method. It’ll be
a long time before it comes in handy, but there’s no harm in making preparations
now. Do you want to maintain your dukedom?”

“Yes.”

“Then create a faction that is loyal to you. That is the reason you must go to the
Campus. The Campus is where the handpicked geniuses of the entire continent are
gathered. You will stay there until graduation and staff your dukedom with people
you handpicked yourself. I’m not sure if this is fortunate or not, but the entire
succeeding generation of the vassals who swore loyalty to your father have perished.
The survivors are branch families who have no relations or simply vultures who are
simply attracted by profit. So you only need to give them some reception, but you
should weed them out the moment they cross the line.”

“You said not to trust humans.”

“But they are also animals driven by self-interest. Simply put, so long as you give
them the reward, they will continue to serve you. To be a vassal of a dukedom, a
hereditary one no less, is an enticing title many would volunteer to serve under. You
need to pick and choose the real among the fakes and fill the list as you wish.”

“Can I maintain the dukedom by creating a faction of my own?”

“No, it’s impossible as long as you’re disadvantaged by your gender.”

Laila looked back, unsatisfied by Isaac’s answer.

He gave her an answer and still maintained that it was impossible. Isaac bore Laila’s
eyes straight on and spoke.

“When you grow up, I’m sure you’ll find a man that suits your taste. If you don’t
anyone of a decent status will do. Marry him and have his children.”

Isaac snickered in his mind, thinking what he was telling a child. But Laila listened to
him keenly.

“You don’t need daughters, but the moment you have a son to inherit your land, you
must erase your husband’s family, whether they are noble or peasant, main or
branch family. All of them. Not a drop of blood left behind.”

“…”

“What are you saying?!”

Laila looked back blankly while Rivelia objected. To speak of wiping out her
husband’s family entirely.

“That’s what politics is—to hold onto power. Countless nobles have fallen because of
their in-laws. The moment you have a successor, your in-laws turn from ally to
enemy. You are no longer necessary to the in-laws as well once you have a successor.
If the man you chose is a noble, they will intervene with your matters as in-laws. If
he’s a commoner, it might be simpler, but outsiders will start using his family to get
their way.”

“If… I can’t give birth to a successor?”

“You have an excellent piece of insurance called your sister. It’s not a bad idea to
leave all the child bearing to your sister while you focus on consolidating your
political power.”

Laila’s face turned pale. If she did that, her sister would hate her forever. But her
father and mother died in front of her eyes, for the title of Duke. If the dukedom
required it, it had to be done.

“…If I do all that, can I maintain the dukedom?”

“No. Everything I’ve said can only be done after you meet the prerequisite. It has yet
to be achieved, and it’s very difficult to do so.”

“…You’re saying I must show strength and talent befitting the title of Duke.”

“That’s right. What’s even more difficult after that is to maintain the Dukedom. The
Pendletons already have a solid foundation to build upon, but you need to build the
very foundation from scratch. It may crumble in the middle, and you may have to
build it all over again. This is only possible depending on your effort, willpower, and
most definitely your talent.”

“…I will, I will make it happen.”

Laila grit her teeth and declared to herself so. Isaac shooed her away roughly.

“Work hard. Go have some rest or wash yourself. You look hideous.”

Laila nodded and walked out of the room. Isaac got out a new cigarette and spoke.

“Cordnell, take care of the brat.”

“Huh? Yes. Yes Lord.”

Cordnell, who was watching Laila with great pity, immediately rushed toward Laila
at Isaac’s order, while Rivelia sighed deeply, a deep sadness in her eyes.

“Did you have to tell her now?”

“I’m surprised you even let me finish. I was expecting you to stop me halfway
through.”

“The Directorate of Analysis has also determined that maintaining the Dukedom will
be difficult. Is such a cruel method really the only way?”

“Cruel? What is?”

“Are you really asking that?”

“What a joke. You call this cruel? You should be well aware what happened to the
original owner of this body over a mere title of baron.”
“…”

“Hey, damsel, you listen here too. Everything I said just now is a daily occurrence in
the field of noble politics—the very environment you are living in right now. You
should really graduate from that naivete if you don’t want to lead your own family to
ruin.”

“But you could have waited until she matur…”

“Shall I make a prophecy now? I heard that one of Wolfgang’s barons was a distant
relative of his? I bet you all the other families are currently scouring the continent in
search of Wolfgang’s branch family. Just a single drop of the Wolfgang blood is plenty
for a claim on the Wolfgang dukedom. That’s how tempting of a prize it is. Because
the successors from the main family are daughters, the family that finds a man with
even a single drop of Wolfgang’s blood will try to aim to become the next Duke.”

“I am also a direct successor to Pendleton, yet it hasn’t happened to me.”

“That’s because Duke Pendleton is alive and watching with both eyes open. What
kind of lunatic would do something like that? And even if Duke Pendleton didn’t
exist, Central won’t let that slide. But Wolfgang doesn’t have such assistance.”

“…”

“Which is why if you want to see the brat acquire the title of Duchess, you better
teach her well. I’m sure there’s some connection between you two since both of you
are protagonists. Give her some private Pendleton-style lessons on lordship. No,
maybe both of you need to learn together?”

Isaac snickered, and Rivelia’s nose flared in anger before she walked down the stairs,
saying that she had work to do.

“But that was still too harsh.”

Rizzly spoke with a hint of disappointment on his face, perhaps thinking of Laila as
his disciple. Isaac smirked.

“Are you really saying that after seeing her grit her teeth and stand firm like that?
Having too much bottled inside will have problems in the future, so she needed to
empty her emotions at one point. An opportunity presented itself, so I used it. Even if
she is just a piece of insurance, it’ll be a problem if she breaks before I get to use it.”

Isaac grumbled his answer, and Rizzly poured Isaac a glass of fruit wine and spoke.

“Pendleton is receiving Central’s aid, but you said Wolfgang has no such thing right?”

“And?”

“Aren’t you trying to be that assistance yourself?”

“Me? What a joke. I’m more curious to see if I’ll survive until that brat grows up. Well,
I have no intention of surviving until then. But there can be others who can help
instead.”

“Like the elves, North Bears, or non-humans?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

Isaac replied with a smile in response to Rizzly’s scheming smile.

One of the four main heads of Port City that once possessed riches en masse and had
wielded great influence in the government—and now the only person who held the
rights to one of the waterways—Zeroman came to the rooftop of New Port City’s City
Hall and kneeled in front of Isaac and his administrative body the day after
reunification was decided.

It was a symbol of complete surrender.

“I will introduce myself. I am Zeroman, the current mayor of Port City.”

“I’ve heard the stories. You would have lived the rest of your life in ease if you stayed
put, but that nosy little head of yours couldn’t keep out of this exhausting mess.”

Isaac’s direct answer soured the mood and raised some coughs from the
administrative body, but Zeroman nodded in agreement and smiled bitterly.

“That is why I am regretting it recently.”

“At least you know now.”

The weak smile on Zeroman was familiar to Isaac. A smile that was disappointed and
tired of humans, dejected. Just like himself… It was probably why he gave up on
everything and let everyone walk over him, using his rights like they were their own
to seek profit for themselves.

“Aren’t you old enough to know what kind of animals humans are?”

“…What can I say? This is the home I was born, raised, and now die in. Not to
mention I have no successors, so I have no choice but to do as they wish.”

“Fool.”

Isaac criticised him and Zeroman nodded knowingly.

“One thing I know to hold true for humanity is that we will deny even the most
conspicuous of outcomes.”

That comment dug at the Port City’s residents, who had been riled up by the
prospect that reuniting with New Port City would restore their wealth and status to
prior levels.

But these fools were so consumed by greed that they didn’t even have such foresight.

Zeroman was sick of the citizens, who framed him as a traitor for refusing to reunite
with New Port City—all the while while these exact citizens used all of his wealth as
their own.

“Let me ask this one thing. How did you get away?”

The question was puzzling, but everyone realised this was about how Zeroman
managed to escape the massive debt from the casino incident.

“It’s nothing. I found there was no need to join once I let go of my greed.”

“Really? Hm, fine. Brat.”

“Yes.”
Laila came next to Isaac at the call. Isaac patted her head and spoke at Zeroman.

“I will purchase your waterway. In return, teach this brat.”

“…Teach her as in?”

“Teach her how despicable humans can become for profit, how selfish these animals
are, how treacherous they are, and so forth. Teach her the world. People who’ve
neglected to thank charity. Who delude themselves into entitlement. You’ve met
them all, so you should have much to teach. There will be many who will look down
on her and manipulate the little ‘representative’ in the negotiation. They will make
plenty of fine samples for her studies.”

“It’s a job too heavy for me.”

“Well, I recommend you do it anyway. The brat doesn’t have any experience, so if
someone doesn’t hold her straight from the side, she’ll get swept up in the current.
What do you think I’ll do if I don’t like the result?”

“…”

“There are many people around you who lose their lives due to unfortunate
accidents. You don’t want to see them die meaninglessly after you’ve given
everything to them right? Unless, it’s revenge you want, which I don’t mind either.”

“I, I will do my best.”

Realising Isaac’s intention was to clear the board if he didn’t like the results,
Zeroman bowed his head low, cold sweat dripping. From the experiences of his long
life, he knew that Isaac wasn’t joking.
Isaac held true to his words and delegated the responsibility of being New Port City’s
representative in the negotiations to Laila. The news of reunification between Port
and New Port City was surprising enough to the public, but it was even more
astonishing to hear that Laila, a child, was the representative with Zeroman as her
aide.

Meanwhile, chaos ensued in Port City. Having lost their original representative,
Zeroman, to New Port City, they hastily sought a new representative in the
negotiations.

Many wrinkles formed on Zeroman’s face as the residents of Port City branded him a
traitor. They feared that he would give away the rights to the waterway, Port City’s
greatest card in the negotiations, for nothing in return.

“They’re fighting?”

Isaac asked back dumbfounded when Rizzly reported to him with a chuckle.

“Yes. They seem to think it’ll be a simple feat to push Laila around.”

If they could steer young Laila towards them, Port City might be able to come out
ahead in the negotiation.

“True, it’ll be easy for them to cook a little brat to their taste.”

Isaac mumbled as he glimpsed at Laila, who was looking after Julia as she played
with Kunette and Reisha.

No matter how hard Laila tried, she was still but a child.

There was a reason why people looked at experience, age, and history. Not to
mention that Laila had yet to prove herself to be gifted enough to be invited to the
College, despite having promise.

“I don’t know why they’re so riled up about this when it’s obvious that this entire act
is to give Laila experience.”

“People make fools of themselves for three things.”

“What’s that?”

“Religion, love, and greed.”

Rizzly nodded along, seemingly convinced by Isaac.

“Leave those fools alone. They’ll self-destruct eventually. And how goes the
Lichtens?”

Rizzly shrugged at the question.

“That place is obviously in turmoil.”

Many of the Lichten family’s remaining successors fainted at the news of the Lichten
successor’s attempt to assassinate Isaac and the resulting declaration of provincial
warfare.

They first needed to deny Viscount Aintz’s claim to the title in order to clean up the
mess. There were no issues there; that was already done and dusted. But it was the
next step—selecting the new successor—that prevented them from moving on.

Everyone fought to establish their own branch family as the official line of
succession. Even the Capital’s Department of Administration, who intervened to
prevent the outbreak of provincial warfare, had left them out of exhaustion.

Everyone raised their voice to claim that they were the legitimate successor,
preventing the Lichtens as a whole from negotiating with Isaac even if they wanted
to.

The Department of Administration declared that the declaration of provincial

warfare would be accepted if the Lichtens could come up with terms of negotiation,
but it only added fuel to the fire.

The Lichtens were split into many factions—from the pro-war faction arguing that
there was nothing to be afraid of to those who argued that they should accept Isaac’s
offer and migrate elsewhere with their wealth to those that who clamored about
honour and tradition backing the opinion of choosing a new Marquis first and
negotiating afterwards. It was a complete mess.

“What’s the fatty doing all this time?”

“With so few under his command, he seems to be convincing them one at a time,
visiting them personally. Although progress has been lackluster thus far.”

“That’s strange. Just what is it backing this foolish bravado, especially when they
should be running away with their tails in between their legs?”

Isaac cocked his head in curiosity, and Rizzly answered with a bitter smile.

“I suspect it’s because of Central’s actions.”

“Did the Directorate of Strategy intervene again?”

“That’s not it. They’ve been boldened by Central’s inaction regarding the
assassination attempt at a College graduate. Everyone within the Lichtens’ sphere
that had been aware of the Pure Blood Confederacy has perished, but they still have
other connections and varying degrees of influence.”

Isaac’s expression changed subtly.

“Ah, I forgot.”

One of the reasons why the College garnered the admiration and envy of the
populace was because of the absolute protection Central provided.

It was common knowledge that Central didn’t leave a single rock unturned when a
College graduate was injured or died. Yet Central didn’t move when Isaac was nearly
assassinated and declared provincial warfare.

In truth, the reason behind investigating College graduates after they died or were
attacked was trivial.

It was because Central was afraid of sensitive information leaking, as many College
graduates were associated with Central.

All of the embezzlement, corruption, and other crimes that they unveiled as they
investigated the graduates’ associates were just a bonus.

Not to mention the agents, united under the sacred duty of protecting this world,
would ruthlessly cry out for vengeance when attacked in any way, shape, or form.

Simply put, it was one for all and all for one. If Isaac was an ordinary graduate of the
College, Central would have moved without question nor negotiation to ransack the
Lichtens and returned with their declaration of unconditional surrender.

However, Isaac was a Type 3 invader who had risen to the top of the chain of
command as the Director of Security, all purely through the Queen’s influence.

Which is why every agents’ reaction was akin to ‘so what?’ when Isaac was attacked.

Plus, this incident was entirely Isaac’s machinations from start to finish, which is
why Central wouldn’t act. Although it painted a different picture to the public.

“It looked as if Central won’t act even after a College graduate was nearly
assassinated. I can see why they’d misunderstand.”

Rizzly answered with a snicker, and Isaac grumbled with a small sigh.

“It’ll look weird if you butt in now right?”

“It’d be a very late entry. Not to mention we wouldn’t act in the first place.”

Isaac dashed his lip and let out another sigh. He leaned back into his chair, locked his
hands together, and placed them on his stomach.

“Damn. I fucked up. For me to forget such a simple solution to this…”

Rizzly looked back with a puzzled expression when Isaac fixed his posture and asked
Laila.

“Brat.”

Laila, who was playing with Julia, ran over. Julia also came over—her hand firmly
grasping her sister’s—alarmed by Isaac’s call for her sister. She glimpsed at Isaac as
she hid behind her sister.
Isaac scoffed at Julia hiding from him and ordered.

“Go and, what’s his name again? Just fetch me the captain of the mercenaries.”

“Yes, Lord.”

Laila nodded without a complaint and walked down the stairs with Julia’s hand in
hers.

While Rizzly looked at the two children’s backs with a complicated expression,
Kunette approached Isaac unhappily for ruining their fun.

Isaac grabbed Kunette, who tried to bite his hand, and placed her on his lap.

“Where’s Reisha off to?”

Isaac saw Reisha, who was normally with Kunette at all times, jump off from the
rooftop. Kunette leaned up against Isaac’s chest and answered.

“This is a dangerous city.”

“True.”

As the city became a fief, its back alleys also needed to change. But calling the gutters
“sewers” was just changing its name.

It didn’t change the fact that this place was the final destination for criminals at
birth.

Having two children donning expensive clothes in this city was like leaving gems out
in the open street.

Even if Soland had firm grasp over his territory, criminals became who they were
because they didn’t know the meaning of self control.

As they said, when you are foolish, you are brave. With so many people eager to
commit a crime despite knowing they’d be killed if caught, an escort was necessary.

“So your name is Flander?”

“Yes! I am honoured that you remember my name!”

Isaac sat on his chair with his legs crossed and his head leaning on one arm resting
on the armrest. He examined the young man in front of him.

Groveling hunched back, gleaming pupils, and an iris that restlessly scanned his
surroundings, with a weak and treacherous smile. It was a stance unfitting of
someone who impressed Lanburton and Rizzly by passing Central’s Combat Agent
training, even if it was a condensed version.

“You are staying with the mercenary band because you want to repay me, you say?”

Flander’s eyes shone when Isaac asked.

“That’s right! I was destined to be thrown away in the back alleys like trash, but I
survived thanks to your benevolence, Lord Isaac! I will live the rest of my life to serve
you!”

“A funny man.”

Isaac smirked, and Flander bowed his head.

“You know someone tried to assassinate me right?”

Flander’s snarled and began denigrating the assailant.

“If you leave the termination of that despicable pile of feces unfit for even gutter rats,
I will leave him wishing for the sweet release of death that will never come.”

“It’d be much more efficient to make him work to repay his debt.”

Flander seemed to have reached an epiphany and spoke to Isaac in great admiration.

“Ohoh! I see! If you lock him away, you’ll need to pay for prison’s upkeep, but if you
send him for forced labour, you’ll be able to cover some of its costs! I, Flander, am
awed by my Lord’s wisdom again and again!”

“…I mean, you don’t have to go that far.”

Isaac scratched his arm as goosebumps rose in response to Flander’s blatant

bootlicking.

“The fatty has been sent to Lichtens but it seems his safety is endangered. Go on an
escort mission.”

“I’ll fulfill it with my life!”

Isaac made a satisfied smile and nodded at Flander’s determined look.

“Good. I’ll make sure to give you a decent reward.”

“How could I possibly ask for a reward when I’m working for my Lord.”

“No, no. It is the norm to pay for the work received.”

“I thank you for your benevolence.”

Just as Flander bowed deeply to demonstrate his appreciation, Isaac turned his chair
around with a cigarette in his mouth and began mumbling to himself.

“There are still some who reject my gracious offer to leave the land with their wealth
intact and migrate elsewhere. There really is no answer for them. But I’m busy with
the reunification matter with Port City. I feel like they’re being more arrogant
knowing I don’t have the time to deal with them. At this rate, the matter won’t be
over before the Capital approves provincial warfare.”

“I will bring Lichtens to their knees in three days! Of course, it will bear a large cost.”

Isaac glimpsed at Flander, who was rubbing his hands together as he boldly declared.
He then sighed and continued his monologue.

“Ah, isn’t there a better way? I want to resolve this peacefully. It’ll work out once I can
get them to come together by silencing the idiots who keep demanding for a fight…”

Flander quickly caught on to Isaac’s monologue—befitting his treacherous

appearance—and he began mumbling to himself.

“So many people are enraged at our Lord’s assassination attempt and would
volunteer for war, but our Lord doesn’t want it… Even if they want to bring
vengeance to the place of our Lord, they can’t leave their families behind. All they can
do is just drink the anger away…”

“Haah, I want to prove how I can look after the families of those who die working for
me, but with no incidents to show as examples, I can’t show anything. Such a shame.”

“…I swear, these uneducated, ungrateful idiots ignore our Lord’s generosity without
knowing their place. It pains me.”

“Oops! Where did I leave the document listing the names of the members of the pro-
war faction?”

Isaac scrunched up a piece of document and threw it at Flander’s feet as he looked

around with great exaggeration. Flander placed the document into his pocket and
mumbled.

“How I wish to dismember those that attempted to harm our Lord and eat them
alive, but if I cross a line, it’ll only hinder our Lord instead. What should I do?”

“Ah, seriously! Aren’t there any loyal subordinates who’d give away their lives for my
sake? Such a shame they can’t even deal with these fools who are crossing the line; in
fact those fools need to be kept safe because any incidents surrounding them would
lead to suspicion…”

“My Lord, if there isn’t anything I shall take my leave.”

“Hm? You were still there? Go do your work. Whatever that is.”

Isaac looked back at Flander, seemingly surprised.

“There is no need for you to know what lowly peasants like us do. We are simply
uneducated folks.”

Flander bowed deeply and disappeared from the rooftop. Isaac took out a cigarette
and mumbled.

“An interesting man. He’s pretty sharp too.”

Isaac gave his impression. Rizzly, on the other hand, spoke out dumbfounded, after
witnessing such blatant acts of feigning innocence.
“Wow. I can’t believe how shameless you are.”

“Hm? What is?”

Isaac asked back innocently, and Rizzly stepped back.

“It’s nothing.”

“And what of the investigation?”

“I’ve looked through carefully as ordered. As you say, he’s an interesting man.”

“What, is he hiding something?”

“Most of his description fits. He was born in this place and even ran a small syndicate
of his own in the past. Turns out he was expanding his influence rather aggressively,
and if he kept up the pace he would have taken over an entire district for himself.”

“How come I wasn’t aware of him then?”

“It ended even before you were sent here. You know the syndicate bosses aren’t the
type to fondly raise new generations. His entire syndicate crumbled when he was
betrayed by a trusted subordinate.”

“And he didn’t die?”

“He was thrown into the gutters with all of his tendons cut as an example.”

“And he survived until now?”

“He crawled the alleys waiting for his death, then tadaa! You came, Sir Isaac. He
survived by taking advantage of free soup kitchens and recovered from his wounds
with free hospital care, preparing for his return.”

“Does he not talk about revenge?”

“He’s already accomplished it.”

“I haven’t heard of any syndicate bosses being replaced.”

“It’s not one of the current bosses, but a man named Foxt. He lost his territory, was
locked away thanks to you, Lord Isaac, and was promptly forgotten. But he crawled
back to New Port City when he was released with the fall of Port City. Of course, he
died without a sound nor rumours. The prime suspect of this case is him.”

“Foxt? Was there a man like that?”

Rather than try to remember who he was, Isaac simply glossed over the past.

“So he volunteered to fight for me and became a mercenary for saving his life and
allowing him to take revenge right?”

“Although it doesn’t seem like he’ll do it for free.”

“That’s why it’s even more certain. No lunatic would volunteer to fight for me with
their lives.”

“That’s true but…”

“Is there a problem?”

“It seems he was cared for by the people at the bottom of the food chain in the slums.
Now he spends most of his money taking care of them instead.”

“Turning a new leaf is it? What’s wrong with that? He’s the type to repay his debts, so
isn’t that useful?”

“It could be a weakness too.”

Rizzly warned Isaac, and Isaac let out a smoke and answered.

“A weakness can become your strength depending on how you use it.”
Most of the Lichtens’ nobles had already joined Saint’s side. Saints had used his
connections and called in favors from his previous dealings with military goods to
convince them to join him. However, the pro-war faction rejected Saints’ offer and
persuasion vehemently.

The leader of the pro-war faction was Viscount Rosenberg, an in-law of the culprit
behind their current state of ruin, Viscount Aintz.

Everyone Rosenberg had asked for assistance had ignored them. If he wanted to
preserve the family title and their dignity, surrender was not an option. This was the
very man Saints had visited.

The Rosenberg Viscounty was protected by both an inner and outer wall. Only the
Viscount’s vassals and soldiers resided within the inner walls. The inner area, which
once sounded of elite, professional troops marching, was now an embarrassingly
desolate space.

Because the Empire’s law dictated that all soldiers had to be volunteers, soldiers
were allowed to quit at any time.

Not many were willing to put their lives on the line for such a pointless war
undeserving of being a “provincial war,” so they had been handing in their
resignations.

Viscount Rosenberg had sent away not only his common subjects but also his non-
combat knights and those directly under his employ, determined to fight an orthodox
war. Around him stood the few remaining loyal soldiers and combat knights.

“My decision will not change no matter what you say.”

Viscount Rosenberg announced with a firm expression. He stood on the empty plain
just in front of the inner gate, fully armed. Saints didn’t even get the chance to utter a
single word.

Facing such resoluteness, Saints just groaned in woe—when suddenly, a band of

mercenaries swooped into action.

“Enemies, stop them!”

“Kuack! Protect Sir Saints and retreat!”

“You treacherous scums! How dare you attack an emissary!”

“…”

Viscount Rosenberg and his troops couldn’t even react at the sudden incident, simply
watching the chaos unfold.

The man who seemed to be the leader of the mercenaries grabbed the back of the
confused Saints’ and retreated. Immediately, the mercenaries unsheathed their
swords, and the Viscount’s troops also unsheathed theirs in response.

However, the mercenaries began cutting at each other instead—screaming and

stabbing at their fellow mercenaries to kill, falling by each others’ blade.

“This is mad, they are all mad…”

Viscount Rosenberg collapsed onto the ground, and even his knights were too
dumbfounded to assist him, watching the dead bodies blankly.

“Is this… Is this how it will end!”

Viscount Rosenberg began coughing up blood out of pure shock. All of this happened
so quickly that he couldn’t react. An appeal? He couldn’t prove the allegation, and
even if he could, who would believe him?

Twenty men had died.

He had difficulty believing what had just happened in front of him. Regardless of
how he might insist on how they all killed each other, he would just be ridiculed for
coming up with such a poor excuse.

“How, how can this be? Just what did Isaac promise them in return for suicide?!”

Rosenberg’s enraged cry echoed throughout the empty plain. That was
unfathomable. This was inexplicable loyalty from mere mercenaries not knights.

‘This is dangerous… ’

Isaac noticed an error as he reviewed his plans from the start again after sending
Sants away.

Maybe the Empire really was trying to recruit him; or maybe, they were trying to
chip at Isaac’s defenses, looking for an opening.

The problem was Isaac couldn’t figure out their intentions the moment he received
news from Central. To be fair, Isaac was preoccupied with many things, but he really
couldn’t let things slide like this.

If this happened one too many times, he’d find himself backstabbed before he could
do so first.

‘Shit. I really did let my guard down. How could I not think of this first?’

Isaac wasn’t sure if this was the Empire’s extension of an olive branch or a noose
tightening around his neck, but the Empire had just willingly unbound one of his
shackles.

If they delayed reunification with Port City until after the release of the new
technologies or even kept their release secret from Isaac, they would have dealt a
square blow to Isaac.

Even if the people of Port City were blinded by greed—or perhaps because they were
blinded by greed—they would quickly realize the potential of airships and trains. If
they did, the matter of reunification would just be water under the bridge. Port City
would no longer need to rely on New Port City.

Even if both cities had become near equals in recent history, Port City held the
advantage in almost all aspects.

Sure, you could build landing zones for airships anywhere, but trains had to enter
through Port City due to geographical reasons.
The train alone would resurrect Port City.

Then, Isaac would have to engage Port City in an ultimately meaningless fight on top
of everything else.

Regardless of all other reasons, Isaac’s tyranny was only possible through New Port
City’s massive wealth.

Once that advantage disappeared, the Empire would gain a card that could contain
Isaac. Central’s intelligence wouldn’t have missed this—yet they overlooked it.

‘That’s confusing.’

Now that Isaac thought about it, the Empire had really overlooked many
opportunities to put a leash around the monster that was Isaac.

Did they wish to be on friendly terms? Or were they trying to lull him into a false
sense of security before quickly eliminating him?

There was one way to find out.

To be greedy just one more time. If they originally intended to use it as an olive
branch, it would trigger a hostile response along the lines of ‘this fucker’s trying to
climb all over us just because we’re spoiling him.’ But if it was the latter, they’d
simply keep on giving.

“What would be nice…”

“Sorry?”

“I’m just wondering what the best choice is, among all the technologies being
released.”

“That’d be the train.”

“Why?”

“It’s strong, tough, and big.”

Isaac smirked at Rizzly’s opinion, which seemed more in line with the reasoning of
someone buying a car. The train… sadly, wasn’t the answer.

Even if they released the technology, they wouldn’t be able to put it to use
immediately.

Before they could create a spider web of tracks across the continent, they had to first
lay tracks between key locations—something that would take more than a mere one
or two years.

The same went for broadcast networks.

There was an advantage of entering the market first and creating a quasi-monopoly,
but it also meant you were directly competing with Central—the provider and
originator of the technologies—and the broadcast companies associated with it.
Even so, broadcast unlocked avenues of infinite profit.

From advertisements to programs, dramas, movies, music, reality shows, and the
pinnacle of all commerce, home shopping networks.

Doing it all alone would be impossible, but maintaining even just ten percent
viewership throughout the continent would pull in as much profit as New Port City’s
current activities.

But this would take just as long to set up as with trains, what with training
employees, their management, and the growth of associated businesses—regardless
of how quickly they set up the infrastructure.

For Isaac—who didn’t have much time left—it wasn’t going to be ready by the time
he would need to use them.

But the airship was different. Unlike a plane, airships could be mass produced.

In the future, aviation laws, fairways, sovereign airspace, airports, and such would be
developed, but airships themselves required nothing more than a tarmac.

“The airship is the answer.”

No matter how Isaac looked at it, nothing surpassed the airship. And Isaac could
quickly come up with a decent bit of pretext for acting, something he would struggle
with for the other technologies.

“Now, how will they respond…”

There was one fact most of the people trapped in New Port City’s casinos weren’t
aware of.

The Empire’s magical spires were undergoing a golden age thanks to the industry’s
concentration in New Port City.

Countless magical spires competed with and exchanged knowledge with one
another, drastically improving the quality of magical goods.

With such clear indications laid in front of them, even the most skeptical of spires
converged at New Port City one by one.

New Port City’s market for magical goods used to only serve consumption within the
city themselves, but its growth attracted merchant guilds that traded other magical
goods, culminating in a giant market.

At first, only offensive and defensive magical tools were traded, but the entry of new
merchant guilds spurred the development of household, medical, auxiliary, and other
diverse fields of magical goods.

New Port City had not only provided a research and testing facility but also
transformed the marketplace into an exhibition advertising the goods. Customers
with the financial power to purchase such goods could enter at any time to test such
goods.

Plus, New Port City cared not about what the spires created; they simply followed
the motto of ‘buy first, test later.’ They also cared not about the price tag on these
goods.

The city would then test the product thoroughly and provide feedback in a review,
discussing necessary changes, inconveniences with the product, and the like. New
Port City was simultaneously the spires’ greatest customer and partner.
“Are they all here?”

“I’ve only gathered spire engineers only related to the tech we want.”

The engineers had curiously gathered atop the rooftop of the city hall, New Port
City’s infamous landmark that was to be avoided at all costs. But when they saw their
colleagues, they knew immediately that this wasn’t an ordinary call.

Every engineer that Isaac called was associated with Central in some form, some
aware and some not.

The special nature of Central naturally demanded cutting-edge magical goods and an
equally high level of confidentiality. Most of the engineers had met one another at
least once during the development and improvement of the aforementioned magical
goods.

Some of these engineers were directly associated with Central. Thanks to Central’s
support in acquiring expensive resources and tools, they had risen above others to
become masters in their respective fields.

A grim worry took the edges of their pupils as they confirmed each other’s
presence…

All of them had been core figures regarding the airship’s development, from its
design to manufacturing.

These inventors were aware that the airship would be revealed to the public next
year, so they quickly deduced what Isaac wanted.

Isaac looked at the engineers gathered in front of him. He took a puff of his cigarette
and spoke.

“There’s something I want you all to make. I don’t care how much it costs, but it must
be made as quickly as possible.”

“Just say the word. We will make whatever you want just as you want it. Isn’t that
right?”

One man stepped out and confidently boasted, all the while looking back at his
colleagues for their assent.
Isaac indeed boasted of incredible notoriety, but he was also famous as the most
generous of sponsors.

Isaac’s call meant unlimited access to an endless supply of priceless resources—all

to create his bidding.

They could order assets they normally would balk at purchasing in normal
circumstances to make Isaac’s good. And the remainder afterwards would then be
divided up among themselves.

As the unawares silently agreed on the terms of their work, Isaac pointed his finger
to the sky and replied.

“Make me a flying ship.”

“…Sorry?”

Everyone froze at Isaac’s request, and the man who stepped out forced out a smile
and asked.

“Ahaha. You’re joking right?”

“Am I?”

“…”

“That’s impossible!”

“How can a ship fly!”

All of the engineers cried absurdity, yet Isaac replied boldly.

“That’s what you need to figure out.”

The engineers that were already in the know accepted Isaac’s demands calmly, but it
only further confused the other engineers.

-An airship! Just what are you thinking!

“You said it’s going to be revealed next year anyway. I don’t need everything else—
just the airship. As part of our growth and desire to transport more, faster, and
conveniently, we developed the airship. Don’t you think that’ll make a good excuse
for its development?”

-And who are you to decide that for yourself?

“Hm. Compensation? Solatium? Reparations?”

-What bullshit is that!

“Is this how you treat me just because I didn’t sign a contract putting my faith in
Central’s name? What did you tell me when I first came here again? Oh, that I’d only
be tasked with things related to angels and demons. And who was it that tried to
one-up me on my very first mission? An oral contract doesn’t count as a formal
contract to you all, of all people?”

Isaac argued back, and Mazelan shriveled back. In truth, Mazelan and the Directorate
of Strategy had no excuse.

So they simply looked at Isaac fearfully; truth be told, they were relieved when it
seemed Isaac was going to gloss over the issue.

“Hng. I’m sure the higher-ups are going to peck at us but it’s already happened. And
we did do you wrong before, so it might work, but I don’t think I’ll come out
unscathed… Can you at least tell me beforehand next time?! Do you have any idea
how surprised I was when rumours about an airship began popping up?!

Mazelan, his expression rumbling like a volcano, shouted resentfully at Isaac—who

replied with apathy.

“I’m going to be happy with just the airship, so hand over any used airships you
aren’t using.”

– Why used airships?

“Because I’m going to do all the advertising for you too. Ah, seriously, I should be
paid for this too. Tsk! The Directorate of Strategy should lower some of the barriers
to development and even be spreading rumours on my behalf as well. I’m going to
send the airships throughout the Empire and offer services to paying customers at
the New Years festival. I’m sure the airship alone will make a decent profit for some
time with that.”

– How is that related to advertising?

“It’ll be amazing seeing an airship for the first time right? It’s flying after all. You’d
like to ride it, right? You’d be able to drastically reduce transit times and
transportation costs, right? The nobles would want one for themselves, right? Who’s
going to be able to handle the expenses for all those airships? Me? Or Central?”

-Oh! So there was that method! I see that your skills in scamming students back in
Campus hasn’t gone anywhere!

Mazelan was impressed by Isaac, when suddenly he gained an epiphany and

shouted.

-Wait! That’s going to happen regardless of who reveals the airship!

“…Tsk. That was close. I could have gone away with it.”
“So it’s been confirmed.”

Isaac, after his petty scheme to take over the airships with no cost to him at all fell
through, promised the enraged Mazelan 5% of the airship industry’s shares as a gift
of friendship.

Only then did Mazelan smile, satisfied, before he disconnected the line. Isaac
watched the black monitor with his cigarette and muttered bitterly.

Mazelan seemed oblivious to the fact that when considering the airship’s
revolutionary potential, Central approved it far too swiftly—even hurried, perhaps.
Perhaps certain intel was being deliberately hidden from Mazelan, given his role as
Central’s de facto correspondent to Isaac.

Even if Isaac denied so, greed and attachment naturally intensified as one’s wealth
grew.

Could Isaac really show no hesitation in the most critical moment if he didn’t figure
Central out first?

Isaac wasn’t sure with his current state of mind, when he couldn’t even figure this
one out straight away.

Isaac couldn’t have been the first one to pop out of nowhere in this elaborate power
game between the Empire, the Queen, the non-humans, and the Pendletons
maintaining the balance in the middle.

As their title stated, invaders were uninvited guests, but they were also useful chess
pieces.

Therefore, they had been playing this game with people like Isaac as their pawns the
entire time.

“I guess the player and chess piece becoming one and the same is part of the game’s
charm.”
Isaac finally figured out a rough sketch of the factional battlefield.

The Directorate of Surveillance and Analysis were conditionally neutral. The Empire
and the Queen were hostile to each other.

Isaac didn’t know the reason why they fought each other, but victory and loss would
be decided by taking possession of or eliminating the chess piece that was Isaac.

“So have I become a king now? I’ve been promoted.”

Isaac snickered and left the Communicator room. But he couldn’t hide his surprise
when Rizzly brought him a glass of fruit wine and an update.

“They’ve returned the annexed territory?”

Under the leadership of Marquess Debora, their implementation of blitzkrieg tactics

ensured a lightning victory.

They eliminated their foes’ top brass and forced them to sue for peace, gaining
everything with minimal losses.

If they integrated their territorial spoils of war, their territory would have been large
enough to contest for the title of duke, much like how Marquis Lichten and Count
Wolfgang could have tried to.

But to think they would willingly divide their own lands, whether it be for money or
stability—an act of impossibility for nobles obsessed with titles and power.

“You know they are standing on thin ice. Rumors are that they chose to solidify their
position rather than push dangerous grounds out of greed.”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

Isaac snorted. Their current situation was perilous he said? There were plenty of
parties willing to invest in them.

Even Isaac himself was eyeing Marquess Duberon as a potential investment—if she
ascended to the rank of Duchess.

This treacherous world only remembered those in first, the path to it was even more
so. People knew just how difficult it was, which was why they remembered them.

In order for the Wolfgang family to rise to the rank of duke, Laila first had to survive
until her coming-of-age ceremony. It was entirely on Laila’s shoulders to withstand
the schemes and treachery looking to prey on her.

But what if another family earned the title of duke before her? Being first is difficult,
but second and third were much easier.

This was why Isaac silently hoped that the Duberon Family would challenge for the
title of Duke.

The Marquess of Duberon was an ambitious woman, and she had the talent to match
her ambition. Even though she was more than qualified to challenge for the title, she
willingly renounced the very possibility.

“I don’t like it if this is their act of laying the foundation against me…”

Duberon had made quite the mark on history by giving up on the title. Sure,
Wolfgang was surviving because Isaac is alive and well, but what if Isaac was gone?
Laila would have no say if the Empire used the Duberon Family as an excuse to split
up the Wolfgang territory and title Laila a Marquess instead. Technically, it was still a
promotion.

“Do I have to make it even more certain…”

“Sorry? Make what certain?”

“It’s my personal project. How is the brat these days anyway?”

Rizzly sighed deeply at Isaac and glared grudgingly at him.

“She’s being thrown around so roughly that it’s hard to watch.”

She was still just a brat. It could not have been easy for her to face adults hardened
by greed.

They would run at her from all sides and confuse her. A single misspoken word, and
they would bite at the opportunity, dragging the negotiations towards terms more
favourable to them. She was being scammed with both eyes open.
“What is the damsel doing?”

“It’s hard for her to even show her face because of her Pendleton name. Those idiots
are even using that fact to force Lady Rivelia to the sidelines when she is present.”

“Pressuring the damsel? I guess there are many creative ways to commit suicide.
What about Zeroman?”

“He seems to be trying, but there’s a limit to what one man can do.”

Isaac saw hints of disappointment and animosity in Rizzly’s eyes. Isaac took out a
cigarette and asked.

“Have you really grown fond of her, or are you just putting up an act?”

Rizzly smiled blushingly.

“Half and half.”

“Don’t these idiots not know I will overturn the negotiation if I don’t like it?”

“I think it’s because of the clash with Marquis Lichtens.”

“Hm? What’s the Lichtens to do with it?”

“You can imagine that Port City thinks that you would like to finish negotiations
before the war breaks out with them.”

A smirk broke out on Isaac’s face.

“Of course they’re thinking like that. I see they’re still living in the glory of their old
days. How are the Lichtens?”

“Ah! We received an urgent report not from Saints, but from the Directorate of
Surveillance. But the report is really dubious at best…”

“What is it?”

“It states that the emissaries that visited Viscount Rosenburg for negotiations were
attacked.”
“Attacking the emissaries? Isn’t that going against the Provincial War Laws?”

“It is a serious crime that won’t go unpunished… which is why we requested for
more information. They say that some of the escorts for the emissaries began
attacking the others.”

“…”

Rizzly hurriedly continued explaining to Isaac’s dumbfounded expression.

“The scene suggests that the emissaries were defending against a fierce full-frontal
assault.Without any other evidence, the law will surely make Viscount Rosenburg’s
head roll.”

“Hm. Oh man, I did think about this method, but I gave up because I didn’t have
anyone to order to die. I didn’t think they’d be able to do it.”

Isaac muttered, and Rizzly shouted out as if he’d known all along.

“I knew it! Those were your orders!”

“Hey! Don’t make such precarious claims. Did you ever see me tell them to die? You
were there with me.”

“That’s true but…”

“But are you sure we can really take advantage of this? It’ll be problematic if they
died for no reason.”

“What do you think sounds more likely, the truth that the escorts went mad and
killed each other, or the lie that the radical viscount demanding war couldn’t hold
down his rage and attack?”

It was most definitely the latter.

“But there must be evidence of a fight left behind on both sides. The viscount’s
knights should be clean without any wounds, right?”

“Ha. Who could fathom an attack on the emissary’s party? Plus, it’s a fight between
battle-hardened combat knights against mercenaries fresh out of training. When you
consider it an ambush, the investigation would consider even the smallest to just be
a fabrication.”

“Hm. You have a point. So are the Lichtens over?”

“Yes. Those in the know should be aware of what really happened, but they’ll
surrender because it’s even more frightening.”

“It’s good that this ended within the year. Now we just need to finish up the matter
with Port City before revealing the airship.”

“The matter with the Lichtens will end without a hitch, but what will you do about
Port City?”

“I’m sure the brat will do well.”

“I’m saying this because it won’t happen.”

Rizzly grumbled. Isaac breathed out his smoke and spoke.

“Then go and help her.”

Rizzly’s face brightened for a moment, and then looked down disappointingly again.

“Ei, who’s going to take care of you if I’m not there?”

“I’ll be living fine without you.”

“I’m sure you’ll be alive. The question is how.”

Rizzly replied and looked at Isaac like a worried parent leaving their child near a
deep pool.

“Then go and finish the matter quickly. It’s obvious we’ll end up redoing the
negotiation at this rate. I’d rather spend my days alone for a few days and finish the
matter rather than hear you cry about it all the time.”

“But…”

Isaac knew why Rizzly still hesitated, so he added with a smile.

“I’ll leave a message for Kunette.”

“Really? Thank you.”

Rizzly having gone to help, Laila, Kunette and Reisha fought to fill the role of the
missing assistants for Isaac.

“I am Isaac’s secretary!”

“…Then go make me tea.”

Isaac was forced to give orders when Kunette looked at him with overflowing
eagerness.

Kunette scuttled to the kitchen with Julia, where she began organizing the task. Just
heating the water and preparing the saucer was already a ruckus, but then came the
cups in the cupboards.

Kunette and Julia were jumping to reach the cups that were clearly beyond their
reach. Everyone could guess what’d happen next. They dropped the cups onto the
ground.

Clang!

A mountain of ceramics shattered on the ground. Kunette and Julia looked at Isaac in
fear of a scolding, but Isaac just looked at them disinterestedly and stated.

“Rizzly will cry when he finds out.”

“…I’ll clean it.”

Kunette and Julia made a scene cleaning the cups in an attempt to hide their crime.
They seemed to have forgotten their original goal was to make tea for Isaac. So Isaac
ordered Reisha instead.

“Reisha, can you fetch me some fruit…”

“Uheheh! Sunbaenim, this tastes nice!”

“I’m pretty sure that fruit wine wasn’t meant for you…”

Reisha managed to find the fruit wine, unbeknownst to Isaac. Her face was bright red
as she chugged the bottle with a smile. Isaac looked at her unhappily and then sighed
before reaching for a cigarette.

“Sniff, sniff! I smell something burning. Ah! Fire! Fire!”

Julia stopped her diligent cleaning and sniffed at the air to find the source of the
smell. She realised that a tablecloth had been left next to the fire that was made to
heat the water—and it had now caught fire. Julia cried out, and Kunette joined her in
frantically running in circles.

“…Why don’t you put out the fire first?”

Isaac couldn’t stand watching Kunette and Julia simply scream without thinking of
putting it out. He looked for Reisha to do it in his stead, only to find her dozing off
with the bottle of alcohol in her arms.

With no choice, Isaac got up and put out the fire. He pushed the broken fragments of
the cups to the corner of the room with his foot. Isaac then pulled out a cup that
somehow survived the fall and heated up some water. Lastly, he took out some
snacks and honey for Julia and Kunette.

“Just eat this.”

Kunette and Julia, fully aware of their mistakes, were simply standing still with
puppy eyes until Isaac threw the snacks at them. The look of glee overtook on their
faces, devouring the snacks and honey. Isaac watched the two indifferently as he
sipped at his tea.
“Just how did you guys create such a mess in the three days of Rizzly’s absence?”

Rivelia, who had come to the rooftop in search of Isaac, blew a gasket at the sight of
the chaos.

A mountain of shattered ceramics had been swept in one corner while the other was
covered in soot, them clearly having burnt something.

Crumbs littered around Isaac’s bed, glued together in place by old spilt honey. Reisha
and Kunette slept soundly among the many countless empty bottles, and Julia was
sleeping inside an airball. Isaac was resting his eyes on his sofa instead of his bed.
Rivelia couldn’t even control her own torrent of scolding.

“Take all this mess away and start cleaning! Now!”

Like the strict mistress of a dorm, Rivelia forced Reisha, who was reeling from a bad
hangover, up and immediately cut off Kunette and Julia when they protested to sleep
some more. She then forced them to clean the roof.

Clang!

“Kunette! What are you doing throwing all that onto the ground! Stop it, Reisha!”

Kunette, too annoyed to walk down the stairs with all the trash, instead threw them
off the balcony. Reisha was about to follow in her footsteps and start throwing the
bottles over, only to be stopped just in time by Rivelia.

Isaac quietly woke up from all the noise and watched the scene in a daze. He lit a
cigarette, only to be caught by Rivelia’s furious glare in the midst of scolding Reisha.
Isaac immediately shut his eyes and acted as if he was sleeping.

“…Are you playing with me?”

Every syllable of Rivelia’s voice echoed a deep, boiling fury. Isaac stretched his body
as if he’d just woken up and sat up.
“Yawn. That was some good sleep. Hm? When did you get here?”

“Eeick!… Sigh. I’ll get you a cup of tea once we’re done cleaning this place. In the
meantime, how about you go wash yourself.”

Rivelia seemed like she was about to wallop Isaac for his impudence, but she shook it
off with a sigh and turned her attention back to Kunette and Reisha.

“Wow! You’re so mean! How come you’re not saying anything to sunbaenim!”

“Isaac should clean too!”

Kunette and Reisha complained with emotional appeals to justice and fairness—
which Rivelia’s deathly stare’s promptly stamped out.

“How about you guys become my superior before complaining?”

“…”

Rivelia had extinguished Kunette and Reisha’s protests in an instant. Rivelia ordered
the two to clean the roof while washing Julia.

“So why are you here?”

Isaac asked, and Rivelia glared momentarily at him as she washed Julia’s face.

“The Lichtens have surrendered.”

“Really? That took a while.”

Isaac replied nonchalantly, which sharpened Rivelia’s stare. Isaac could feel her stare
poking him full of holes. He sighed and looked at her, annoyed.

“What do you want to say to me this time?”

Rivelia wiped Julia’s face with a towel and lightly spanked her toward Kunette and
Reisha, who were busy acting like they were cleaning. Rivelia then asked Isaac.

“The mercenaries’ deaths. Did you order it, Director?”

Isaac nodded at the question without a shred of hesitation.

“I didn’t exactly tell them to die, but I guess I did order it at the end of the day. I
merely told the mercenary captain to resolve it himself.”

“Sigh, I’m even more surprised that the mercenaries actually followed that order.”

“Hm? Now that’s unexpected. Aren’t you supposed to say something like ‘how could
you do this,’ ‘that goes against morality’ or something along those lines?”

Isaac cocked his head at the unexpected reaction, but Rivelia only looked back at
him, even more confused.

“To hold a sword in hand means one is determined to stand next to death. By nature
of being one, mercenaries chose money over pride and honour—which is why I’m
surprised they chose to die like that.”

“Really? Well I guess you can call them true mercenaries then, because they did die
for money.”

“Because of money?”

“They are residents of my city after all. I’ll be taking care of their families. As pillars
of Rondart Barony, they’ll be provided 1000 Giga as compensation, with free
education and medical fees for three generations. That should be enough right? Plus,
I’ll make sure to eliminate any greedy leeches who come out of the woodworks, and
I’ll also give them a bit of leniency if they commit any crimes.”

“…”

Though New Port City did become a better place recently, the number of residents
living in the slums dwarfed those who didn’t. But what if their families’ economic
problems were suddenly wiped out, even at the cost of their own life?

Plus, the city would protect their families from any schemers and treat them akin to
supporters of a noble family, forcing any ill-tempered man to think twice before
asking for a fight. It was no wonder many mercenaries volunteered to die.

“Just to make sure, I never told them to die. What was the captain’s name again? I
can’t even remember off the top of my head. Anyway, he boasted of having a very
simple solution, so I left the work to him. And he delivered, just as he promised.”

Rivelia sighed as Isaac gave his best attempt at washing his hands from the incident.
She shook her head.

“I guess it’s not a matter for me to bother with. Before that, I have received news that
your personal airship has been completed.”

“Already? Then again, I was told that it was already at the cusp of completion. Nice
timing. We will reveal the airship in the New Years Festival.”

“But when did you order a personal airship?”

“I just decided to buy the Emperor’s airship—the one that was put on hold.”

“You mean the airship our previous Emperor put into production?”

“Hm? You know it?”

“…”

Of course she did. It was an urban legend that every agent of Central had heard of at
least once.

When conflict between the Directorate of Strategy and Surveillance intensified, the
fight spread to relations between the Emperor and the non-humans of the Grand
Council. After the final straw, the Emperor announced his political delinquency from
the Grand Council. He decided to play tyrant—and the airship was one of many that
were put into production as a result.

These items were created with the sole purpose of showcasing absolute luxury of the
highest order. No one could possibly be allowed to see it because it was top-secret,
yet the Emperor poured both the Empire’s revenues and the Directorate of Strategy’s
funds to showcase his majesty.

The Grand Council snorted at first, believing that the act wouldn’t last long. At its
peak, the Emperor’s wild attitude drove the Empire to the brink of bankruptcy. The
Grand Council, in a desperate panic, appeased the Emperor by guaranteeing him a
few rights and allowing certain technologies to be revealed.
The Emperor signed a contract promising to never do something like this again, and
the rest of the items under production were repurposed. The airship was the only
thing that couldn’t be reused, so the legend went that the ship lay in the corner of a
storage facility somewhere.

And that very airship had landed in the hands of Isaac. The ship that was
handcrafted by the Empire’s greatest artisans and bankrupted the Empire.

The airship was often referred to jokingly as the Empire’s emergency fund, because
even a small fragment of the ship would be enough to fund the Directorate of
Strategy for a year. To think such a priceless item was sold to Isaac; Rivelia had to say
something.

“Mr. Cordnell will cry when he hears about it.”

“Don’t worry. I bought it in installments.”

Isaac commented nonchalantly, and Rivelia couldn’t help but mutter that it wasn’t
the issue. She sighed, when Kalden quickly appeared.

“Ah! You were here.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve just come back after catching up with a friend of mine who works at the
Capital’s Department of Administration. But it seems there’s a strange rumour
spreading there.”

“A strange rumour?”

“Yes. A rumour that you, Lord Isaac, is aiming for the title of Duke using Wolfgang.”

“What bullshit is this?”

Isaac replied with a grunt, and even Rivelia smirked at the sound of it. But Kalden
remained serious.

“I don’t think you can just laugh about the issue. I reacted the same way at first, but
the more I think about it, the more plausible it seems.”
“Tell me in detail.”

“It isn’t much. It’s just that Lord Isaac is only playing the part of helping the Wolfgang
Family and is actually using them with the true goal of ascending to become a duke
yourself.”

“Why would I want to be a Duke when it’s not even higher than a Director?”

“The people don’t know that. And how they fit this piece in the puzzle is a work of
art, I tell you.”

Isaac, who had no reason to join, had offered his support in the war to both Wolfgang
and Lichtens on the front. But in truth, he was slowly taking over the rights of both
families all the while amplifying the damages to both parties.

But when the war ended in the worst case scenario—the destruction of both
families—Isaac immediately secured the sole successors to Wolfgangs, all the while
leaving Lichten’s successor with an astronomical debt to Isaac that was impossible to
pay off.

Taking over an entire Marquis family via debt was unprecedented. Isaac expected
mass resistance if he pressed forwards. So he instead aimed for the young children of
Wolfgang. But Rivelia Pendleton’s intervention sealed Isaac’s plot and revealed the
inner workings of Isaac’s plan. Isaac had no choice but to step back against the
growing anger of the public.

So Isaac pondered and waited for an opportunity. Isaac was given a noble title, which
was expected, and used the incident caused by Lichtens’ successor as reason to
declare war. The Lichtens and their vassals, who were out of fuel for another war,
had no choice but to accept Isaac’s offer to emigrate elsewhere.

“Hang on.”

With the territory of Lichtens in his hand, Wolfgang was all that was left. When
Kalden’s explanation reached that conclusion, Isaac raised his hand to stop Kalden.
Isaac took out a cigarette, unable to mask his confusion.

“What do you mean, ‘that sounds plausible?’ That I took over the Lichtens of
purpose? Well it’s true, but I’m not doing it to have it for myself.”
“That’s why nobody believes you. Who in their right mind would go so far to help
someone who doesn’t share a single drop of their blood?”

“I am that lunatic.”

“And I keep telling you that people don’t know that.”

Isaac grumbled at Kalden’s refute and bit down on his cigarette.

Kalden watched Isaac’s mood carefully, probing if he should continue. He decided to

tell Isaac more.

“In truth, this was a conspiracy theory that only a few were saying, but it’s been
gaining popularity as of late.”

“Why? Is it the Directorate of Strategy toying with me again?”

“I don’t know about that, but from the sound of it, it’s because of you, Lord Isaac.”

“Me?”

“Yes. The Lichtens have lost the provincial war.”

“How is that a problem?”

Isaac frowned, unable to understand the reasoning. Rivelia, Kunette, and Reisha also
cocked their heads.

“Because they surrendered not to Wolfgang, but you, Lord Isaac.”

“Does that matter? I’m going to be giving it to Wolfgang anyway.”

“I don’t think that’ll be possible.”

“What? Why?”

Isaac replied with a great frown.

“That’s because the Lichtens surrendered only to you. The Lichtens and Wolfgang are
still at war with each other.”
“At war? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“According to provincial warfare laws, a province that has fought a war is not allowed
to fight in another war for the next year. It’s to forbid a treacherous act of attacking
another province that has been weakened by the previous war. So the Department of
Administration tried to reject your request for provincial war, Lord Isaac. But as it
turns out, they couldn’t reject it.”

“Why?”

“Everyone assumed the war was over with the final battle at the Count’s castle, but
the truth is, there hasn’t been a single negotiation for a ceasefire or peace. So on
paper, they were still at war with each other.”
“You have a point there. But is that even possible?”

Isaac asked, to which Rivelia answered.

“It’s possible. Wars aren’t always fought one-on-one. An increase in the number of
fronts is not uncommon. Normally, provinces use alliances or form confederations to
expand or threaten multiple fronts to discourage aggressors.”

“But the Lichtens surrendered, so isn’t that the end?”

“Yes. It’s over. Lichten’s territory is now part of Rondart Barony. The Noble Council
will send an employee to oversee your promotion.”

“Promotion?”

“Although your combined territory’s size is that of a Marquis, it won’t be possible for
you to ascend to Marquis immediately. For now, you’ll receive the title of Count,
which is one rank lower.”

“Why’re they giving it to me? I’m going to hand it over to Wolfgang anyway.”

Frustrated at Isaac’s rude tone, Kalden shouted at him.

“And I keep telling you that it’ll be impossible! The Wolfgang Family have signed no
pacts nor engaged in negotiations with Rondart Barony whatsoever, be it via
Administrative Laws or Provincial War Laws. As such, the Lichtens have actually
fought two separate wars on their own. Perhaps if the Wolfgang Family had begun to
amass their forces or mobilised them to the front lines, or made any action that
could have impacted the war, they may have been able to argue for their share of the
spoils. But Wolfgang hasn’t taken any action whatsoever.”

“Is that such a big deal?”

“Yes. It’s a massive deal. Lichten was defeated by Rondart Barnoy. Therefore, the
Lichtens’ territory will be part of Rondart Barony—which the Wolfgang County can’t
ask for a single share of, let alone compensation for their war effort.”

“Why do you keep talking about shares or compensation when I’ve been telling you
I’ll give it to them?”

“Because you can’t.”

“Why?”

“You could have given all the territory to Wolfgang citing their war contributions as
an excuse. It may never have happened in the past, but you’ve made a habit of doing
that anyway. However, the Wolfgang Family have been completely excluded from this
matter. They don’t have any rights to demand a share of the Lichtens’ territory.”

“Ah!”

Rivelia grimaced at him. Isaac glimpsed at her and asked with a cigarette in his
mouth.

“I still don’t understand. What’s the relationship between them not having any rights
and me giving the territory to them?”

“You could trade the territory under the Mercantile Laws. However, Provincial War
Laws take priority over territories that have been gained through it. And according
to the Provincial War Laws, transactions of territory gained through war is
forbidden, with the sole exception being an inability to pay war compensations. This
was an article created in fear of provincial wars motivated solely by monetary gain,
but it applies to this case as well.”

Isaac frowned after listening to Kalden’s explanation.

“You’re making it sound like I fucked over Wolfgang.”

“And you did a great job at it. The Wolfgang Family received not a single bit of
compensation after losing so much—yet you, my lord, managed to take it all without
shedding a drop of blood.”

“So the solution?”

“You know how everyone hates you right, my lord? Both the Department of
Administration and Law heard the rumours as they processed the paperwork. They
realised that only the Wolfgang Family would be screwed over at this rate, so they
joined forces rather than let something good happen to you, my Lord. They threw
everything they had and still failed. And one of my colleagues contacted me
afterwards. So realistically speaking, there isn’t a solution.”

A bitter smirk appeared on Isaac as he rubbed his chin. He remembered Mazelan’s

sly snicker as he had warned Isaac. That man knew this would happen and still hid it
from Isaac. But he still needed to proceed with the provincial war, regardless of his
knowledge of the scheme.

It was the quickest solution to solve both the issues of the Lichtens and Port City
before the year ended. It just irked Isaac that Mazelan tricked him.

“Wow, sunbaenim, did you plan all of this? What will pitiful Laila do now?”

“D, don’t bully my sister! Huaang!”

“…Isaac, bad!”

Reisha teased Isaac with a ditzy smile. Julia, who remained quiet as she waited for
the boring conversation to end, quickly woke up when she heard her sister’s name
before crying out in a panic. Kunette came and thumped Isaac’s leg for making Julia
cry.

Chaos quickly engulfed the rooftop, but Isaac ignored all the noise and pondered for
a solution—until he realised that he didn’t need to even bother.

Since Isaac needed to act like he had become greedy and attached to this world, this
scenario was the perfect piece to fit in the puzzle. A scenario that would shock the
world to Isaac’s content. His heart would flutter from the insults shot his way.

Grin!

Isaac smirked and quickly finalized the plan. He extinguished his smoldering
cigarette onto the ashtray and glimpsed over to Rivelia, who seemed afflicted with a
headache.

“Is it nice being a duke?”

“…Sorry?”

“I mean, now that things have turned out like this, I just had the thought that it
wouldn’t be so bad to become a duke.”

“Just what are you scheming this time?”

“Hey now! Don’t say ‘scheming!’ I’m just enticed by this offer.”

“Yes, yes. Why don’t you aim for the Emperor while you’re at it?”

“Shall I?”

Isaac laughed over Rivelia’s sarcasm and turned to Kalden, who closed both his eyes
and ears. This conversation could be considered treachery and defamation against
the Royal Family—both crimes of highest order.

“Go and bring the brat and the entire administrative body here. I’m going to make an
important announcement.”

“Is this everyone? It’s rather empty. Did they all quit just because the work got
harder?”

Isaac commented when he saw how most of the seats remained empty despite the
summons. It was just Cordnell, who was dozing off with thick dark circles under his
eyes, Kalden, who stood awkwardly, and Rivelia, who was standing next to Isaac.

Kunette and Reisha were considered equal to Julia, who wasn’t a part of the
administrative body, and they weren’t even included because they were playing in
the corner of the room. Lanburton was also absent. Apparently he was too
preoccupied with playing the old gentleman and accompanying noble ladies.

Rizzly, of course, was currently blasting off all the stress that had been piling up on
him up until now onto Port City residents.

“We’re left with the bare minimum of manpower here because we sent everyone else
to Lichtens territory.”

Rivelia mentioned, exhaustion causing her voice to tremble. Isaac cocked his head,
confused as to why.
“Why there?”

“Because we don’t have anyone else.”

How much documentation would be required if one annexed territory through

Provincial Warfare? Though there wasn’t a precise scale, it was safe to assume that
the workforce running a small city would be nowhere near enough.

The members of the administrative body were deployed, but most of them were sent
to check for embezzlement and corruption. It was the Lord who needed to hire
employees to staff the actual administration.

Therefore, most of the staff that were tasked to administration were the Lichtens’
men.

Obviously, no one was going to work for Isaac, who took over the entire territory
through a vile scheme.

Even if some remained, there remained a problem of whether that person’s abilities
could be trusted.

So it was left to the administrative body to confirm everything, but New Port City
didn’t have anywhere near the manpower to do so. In fact, a single city shouldn’t
have been able to take over a territory fit for a Marquis.

Just because the impossible happened didn’t mean its outcomes were just as easily
triumphed.

The Administrative Body’s faces paled blue after seeing all the work that needed to
be done, and quickly went to the Lichtens’ territory for the hard fight—all the while
ignoring Isaac, who would have just irresponsibly left all the work to them in the
first place.

And this irresponsible, apathetic individual wasn’t even aware of his subordinates’
current locations.

“The territory owned by Lichtens alone contains 3 major cities, 12 mid-sized cities,
and villages too many to count. Plus, if we include the territories of their vassals, the
number just increases exponentially! We don’t even know where to start.”
Kalden’s complaint seemed to go over Isaac’s head as he continued smoking when
Rizzly and Laila appeared on the rooftop.

“You look happy?”

“Hahaha! I just got their signature on the reunification paperwork. Port City is now
yours, Sir Isaac.”

“That ended quickly.”

“They love to twist their words around, but we all know what they want in the end
right? They were so quick to sign when I offered tax exemption and to buy their
lands at 50% above the market price.”

“Good. Occupying our minds with Port City is a waste of time, so tell them to sell
quickly and fuck off from here.”

“Yes sir.”

“What about Zeroman?”

Isaac asked, and Rizzly shrugged as he answered.

“I think he was quite shocked. He said that this wasn’t his place to join and wanted to
have a drink. But from the way it looked, I think he wanted to jump into the canal.”

“Whatever. Don’t bother yourself with it. If he dies, he dies. We have more pressing
matters. Kalden.”

“Yes.”

“Explain.”

Isaac pointed his chin at Laila, and Kalden began explaining the situation to her all
the while wearing an expression of great pity. Laila’s face paled as Kalden’s
explanation went on. By the time he finished, Laila was trembling on her feet.

“So, your thoughts?”

Laila got back on her feet with Rizzly’s help. She took a few deep breaths, and then
she looked Isaac straight in the eye.

“From what I’ve heard, I believe I am of no use now that you have achieved your
goal.”

Isaac took Laila’s glare and took a breath of his cigarette. Through the smoke he’d
exhaled, he could see Laila was holding herself back from running over to him and
throwing a tantrum.

‘She’s definitely something alright.’

Isaac was impressed by Laila’s resolute veil; most children around her age would
have cried a river and thrown themselves into hysterics. Isaac maintained his gaze at
Laila.

While the administrative body struggled to breathe in the heavy atmosphere, Rivelia
also looked at Laila helplessly, unable to offer anything but pity because it was solely
Laila’s family’s issue. Reisha quickly coaxed Julia to sleep as the mood darkened. And
Kunette found her spot in Isaac’s arms.

Isaac took a puff of his cigarette and petted Kunette’s head as he spoke.

“Brat, you understand that Lichten’s lands have been absorbed entirely by Rondary
Barnoy by law, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Elite staff from both the Department of Law and Administrations failed to come up
with an answer, so it’s safe to say there is no way that Lichten’s lands can be
transferred to the Wolfgang name.”

“I understand.”

“…Your reaction seems rather lacking.”

“You promised my rise to Dukedom on my parents’ bodies. I will simply believe in

that promise.”

Isaac stared blankly at Laila for a moment before bursting out in laughter.
She really wasn’t your average brat. Rather than throw tears and have a fit, she
would rather comment on the past to stab at Isaac with psychological guilt and
responsibility. It was refreshing.

“Yeah, even though I am a man who believes promises can be broken if needed, I
would really like to fulfill my promise to you.”

“I will look forward to it.”

“Which is why…”

Isaac’s voice trailed off, and everyone’s attention was now on Isaac. After a brief
silence, Isaac let out the bomb.

“Let’s get married.”

The audacity of the statement was beyond their wildest imaginations.

When realisation dawned upon the administrative body, their eyes narrowed in
disgust at the sight of a filthy pedophile. Kunette let out a blood-curdling scream, and
fought her way out of Isaac’s arm. Once free, she clawed at Isaac’s face; it was spine-
chilling how it shredded through the defensive coat’s barrier.

Reisha grabbed at Isaac’s head from behind, shaking him back and forth as she
berated him. Rivelia approached Isaac with untold fury, announcing—sword in
hand—that she’d behead Isaac right this moment.

Rizzly stepped up to stop Rivelia half heartedly, purposely leaving openings for
Rivelia to attack through. Each time Rivelia’s mana struck at Isaac, two to three mana
crystals powering the barrier shattered.

The chaos went on for some while, but everyone eventually began to regain their
composure. Slowly, they admitted to being caught up in the heat of the moment
before starting to quietly look at Isaac expectantly, believing there to be a deeper
purpose behind his declaration.

Isaac bore their gazes upfront, casually pulled out a new cigarette, and continued.

“An arranged marriage is a common method in maintaining power for noble families
right? It’s not like we’ll get married immediately, and it can only happen once you’re
of age anyway, so let’s start it off with engagement first.”

“Kyaack!”

“Die!”

“Sunbaenim, I’m disappointed in you!”

Kunette, Rivelia, and Reisha jumped at Isaac, debating amongst themselves which
method was best-suited for Isaac’s death. Isaac finally felt the fragility of his
mortality when the number of dimmed mana crystals outnumbered those shining,
and he raised his hands in a surrender. The three women glared menacingly at Isaac,
fuming in anger. Prattle on stupidly, their glares said, and his life would be the last
thing he was going to worry about. Isaac took out a new cigarette to replace the
previous one that was crushed during the struggle and spoke.

“Is there any better method? In order to meet the requirement for the title of Duke, I
will need Wolfgang’s territory too. Then, I will become the most infamous scoundrel
in history who absorbed both a Marquis and Count’s territory. And once I’ve risen as
Duke, I’ll file for divorce. If I forfeit all of my wealth to the brat as part of the
proceedings, the title will also pass on to her. So we both get what we want. A win-
win strategy, you could say. Truth be told, there’s not much keeping me to my words,
so the successor to Pendleton, the elves, and the North Bears will serve as witnesses
and maintain the right to force these terms even if I refuse to do so. So? Is there a
better solution?”

Everyone agreed that Isaac’s plan was plausible. A confederation of the Wolfgang
family and Rondart Barony would create a territory meeting the size requirement
and provide Wolfgang with financial support.

With the requirements met, Wolfgang would become the second hereditary
Dukedom. The first would still be Isaac, but afterwards, it would be Wolfgang’s time.

Additionally, this course of action would appease the Wolfgang family and solve the
manpower issue they were suffering from at the same time—a tempting solution.

The Wolfgangs also had nothing to lose, as their financial state was dire to say the
least.

With support from New Port City, the Wolfgang Family would be able to stabilise
their rule, and with inheritance firmly locked into their favour, it’d be illogical to
reject such an offer.

As Isaac’s plan became more and more plausible by the second, Isaac called out Laila,
who was standing there blankly out of shock.

“So brat, what do you think?”

Laila finally came back to her senses. Emotion rushed back to her face, and she stood
in confusion for some time before speaking back firmly.

“If that is the only way…”

“What are you saying, Laila!”

“Kyaack! Laila you dummy!”

“Uwek! Did you really have feelings for him? Wow! Falling in love with the man who
killed your family! I want to try that too!”

Rivelia asked Laila to reconsider, Kunette went mad, and Reisha was busy running off
on a tangent. Stuck between the three, she was being bounced around like a ball
when Isaac commented on the situation.

“So, you got any better ideas? Isn’t it basic to propose a better method if you want to
reject something?”

The three closed their mouths.

Rivelia’s eyebrows formed a crease as she thought deeply. Kunette and Reisha
massaged their temples and pranced in circles. But none of them could think of a
solution.

“Noble society will not stand idly by if they find out about this. Central can’t silence
the nobles without a proper reason too.”

“We don’t need to worry about that. Even if this is leaked, the world won’t care
because there are many more surprises waiting in line far more exciting than this
marriage alliance.”

“Ah!”

Rivelia drew in a sharp breath. It was true that this scandal would have shocked the
entire continent in normal times, but the release of new technology from next year
onwards would change the paradigm of the world—a revolution.

An alliance through marriage between two families was nothing compared to

entering a new age.
So, their acts would slip under the radar. Sure, it might catch on later, but it’d be far
too late by then.

“Um… actually, it’s nothing.”

Kalden timidly raised his hand as he scanned his surroundings, and Isaac subtly
stared back at him with a frown. Kalden flinched and quickly withdrew his hand, but
it didn’t escape Rivelia.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“That is…”

Kalden’s eyes clearly took Isaac into consideration, so Kunette and Reisha stood up
to block Isaac’s body from Kalden’s view. Kalden finally seemed to have built up the
courage, but Isaac struck first.

“You’ve been pretty free of late right?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Kalden’s courage evaporated immediately. Kunette and Reisha immediately went off
at Isaac. That was when Cordnell snorted and stood up boldly.

“Hmph! What’s there to be afraid of when we’ll die of overwork either way! Everyone
seems to be only thinking of marriage, but that isn’t the only method. If inheritance
is the goal, there is the option of adopting Laila.”

“Rejected. I can’t possibly have a child when I’m not even married… Ugyack!”

Isaac tried to establish his defiant disapproval, but sitting next to Isaac were Kunette
and Reisha, who quickly grabbed the legs of Isaac’s chair and threw it in the air.
Rivelia caught the flying Isaac midair, spinning him around once before throwing him
off the rooftop like a shot put. Isaac was thrown out of the rooftop before he could
finish speaking.

“I would like to hear more about that option.”

Rivelia let out a refreshed, appeased smile. Cold sweat dripped from Cordnell’s and
Kalden’s backs as they quickly explained about the alternative.
New Port City never lost its light, even at night. And at the centre of its white way
was the City Hall, where Isaac grumbled from the rooftop.

“Shit. Wasn’t that too far? Pedestrians asked me if there was a rebellion. You know
what pisses me off more? Everyone just accepted it and moved on, saying it was a
long time coming.”

Rizzly smiled bitterly in response and handed him a glass of fruit wine.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have pushed them so hard. And it’s true they did rebel
against you. Mr Cordnell ignored your threats.”

“I need to slave him harder.”

“He already is. You can lash him all you want, and it won’t make a difference.”

“Tsk, did I push him too hard?”

Isaac dashed his lip with barely a hint of disappointment and moved on without a
care. Rizzly asked him a question this time.

“But are you really going to hand her everything? Isn’t it a shame to give her New
Port City of all things?”

Isaac smirked and bit down on his cigarette.

“While the plan of action has fundamentally changed, it’s one of many things I had
already planned.”

“New Port City as well? Was that your intention from the start?”

Agitated, Rizzly asked. Isaac spun around and leaned back, resting his elbows on the
fence.

“I’ve lived for too long already. At this rate, I’m going to build an attachment to this
life. I should finish this up before it happens.”

“Is Laila just that?”

“She deserves the reward.”

“Are you sure it’s a reward?”

“If becoming the master of this giant city isn’t, what is?”

Rizzly frowned and grumbled to himself, and Isaac snickered.

New Port City now, especially because it was joined together with Port City, was akin
to a flowing river of gold.

With so much profit involved, peoples’ ambition naturally flocked towards it.

But the reason why it had been so quiet until now was thanks to the Queen’s
protection, along with the public announcement of the Emperor’s interest in the city.
Unofficially, the title of Director of Security of Central warded off threats.

But what if Isaac disappeared and Laila inherited the city? Schemes and plots
beyond those concocted by the fools of Port City would rush to snatch potential
profit in the city.

Both of them knew that Laila had to withstand all the trials alone, which is why
Rizzly grumbled and Isaac laughed.

“But do you really not care about the loss? Humans usually don’t give up on things
like this. Because of greed, of course.”

Rizzly asked with great astonishment, and Isaac glared back with a snicker.

“I don’t know who came up with the quote ‘slow as a bear,’ but I bet that person
didn’t know how cunning bears are. I’m actually getting curious. Are North Bears
really obsessed over honey? Or is that how you guys trick the world?”

“Hm, I wonder what you’re talking about?”

Rizzly grinned and played innocent. Isaac looked at him for a moment, before
grabbing a new cigarette.

“Well I guess it doesn’t matter. Just take care of the brat. With the wealth she’ll have
later, you’ll be slurping up a bottle of elven honey everyday.”
Rizzly drooled as he daydreamed until Isaac’s glare brought him back to reality.
Rizzly laughed awkwardly.

Isaac smirked at the sight, stubbed his cigarette out on the fence and looked into the
night sky as he spoke.

“Pass this message to the Director of Surveillance. Next year will be an interesting
one.”

“…Next year, is it?

“Weren’t you guys anticipating it when I greedily demanded the airships?”

Isaac, who backed the Queen, had forfeit all investment options that would take time
to repay his investment. Instead, he staked his claim on the airship, which would
immediately turn a profit.

There was no need to concern the Directorate of Analysis over this action. Anyone
with a brain could deduce that this was definite proof the Queen would make her
move soon.

Rizzly gulped, a difficult expression on his face. He tried to say something, but
hesitation kept his mouth shut.

But Isaac, who was looking up into the night sky, didn’t notice Rizzly at all.

As Isaac expected, the news regarding absorption of Lichten’s territory, reunification

of Port and New Port City, and Isaac’s adoption of Laila and taking over Wolfgang
territory, was buried under the reveal of airships.

A flying ship that appeared at the New Years Festival. A ship so luminous and
luxurious that people would doubt their own eyes in a stupor before being overtaken
with excitement.

No praises were left unsaid for the greatest invention of the generation, which
fulfilled humanity’s dream to fly. People practically fought each other to be the first
to ride it.
Thanks to that, the conspiracy regarding Isaac and adoption of Laila was buried
without a sound.

It seemed that Rivelia’s work had paid off, as she had planned the flight path and
designated all the transfer points and installed airports in the locations. Each time
the airship approached, people flocked en masse to see it.

And even before the shock of airship settled, the Emperor announced a new
beginning and revealed the fruits of their labor to provide his populace with a better
life.

The first of the developmental measures was the installment of Communicators,

which at first only operated in public eras like a business. However, they were soon
installed in every household.
Most of the populace had needed to pay a hefty fee just to use the Communicators in
the public facility, but now they could use it at an affordable price and in the comfort
of their own homes too.

And the Department of Supplies announced that with an extra fee, they would add
the broadcast function to the Communicator.

Everyone was oblivious to what that meant, as they were simply in awe of the
communication function alone. But the few curious individuals that purchased it
realised the true advantages of the broadcast function.

The Communicator only offered so much entertainment in talking to other people. It

only took a day or two for everyone to have called other people to chat, leaving them
with nothing else to do. That gap was what the broadcast function filled.

The very first broadcast program was news reporting on the current state of the
Empire’s Royal Family, recorded in history as the very first news broadcast within
the Empire and also raising the curtain on the age of media.

There weren’t any proper television shows, let alone markets related to media or
workers in that field. Regardless, the Empire insisted on its widespread use, setting
the goal at one Communicator per household.

It was the airship that served an integral part in supplying all these Communicators,
and Isaac was honestly baffled at first as to when they designed such a meticulous
plan. And he was even more so impressed by how smoothly it was executed with not
a single hurdle or misstep during the process.

Up until this point, Isaac simply wondered why the Empire was so desperate to
proceed with this. Isaac simply thought that maybe that’s how much of a threat the
Expeditionary Forces seemed at first. But soon, Isaac realised that he had been
stabbed square in the back.

In the previous world, it took an immense amount of funds, materials, and time to
construct railroads. But in this world, it was too easy to a fault.
All they needed to say was ‘will you donate this land for the Emperor?’ to acquire the
lands necessary for railroads.

Compensation? It exists, but in this world, the Emperor using their land was the
greatest reward.

There was not even a notion of standing ground or negotiating to get a larger
compensation package.

Although, if anyone even attempted, the Arc Royale would compensate them with a
broken back instead.

Rails? That was even simpler. There was no need to line up steel like in the previous
world. All they needed were wizards capable of using earth magic.

A wizard would be deployed to their spot designated by a surveyor, and the wizard
would use magic on the spot.

Then, the earth would rise to form the H-shape of the tracks. Link them together, and
the railroad network was completed.

The same applied for occasional tunnels that needed to be dug out.

Creating the Grand Canal was an astronomically expensive exception because it

needed to be of an immense size, large enough for a galley and a mass of water to
flow through. But a tunnel large enough for a train was akin to making a small hole
in the mountain.

So time, resources, and funding constraints were reduced to be almost incomparable

to that of the old world.

All of this was thanks to magic.

When this revelation hit Isaac, he threw the glass of wine out his hand in sheer
frustration.

“Are you joking with me? Does this world really think magic will solve everything?
You think magic is some magical word that solves all problems? Is making railroads
really that easy? I understand that they’ve been preparing this for a long time, but
are you serious that it only took one month to create a railroad network in the
Middle Province with Gabelin at its centre? All your fears and complaints about the
Expeditionary Force—you were all just crying wolf, right?”

The reason behind Isaac’s anger was that the more active trains became, the less
value airships would have. Airships couldn’t even compete with trains in terms of
sheer volume of transportation.

The airship’s only advantage over the train was the shortened travel time thanks to
flying, but once the Department of Law begin meddling with rules they loved so
much, they’d soon create ordinances placing airports well away from cities much like
the old world, making them less convenient compared to the trains that passed
directly through it.

In terms of the cost, airships unfortunately were more expensive than trains.

It was quite clear which transportation method the general populace would gravitate
to, given that airships only boasted of just comparable travel times while
simultaneously being more costly and less convenient.

And considering how quickly the railroads were created, airports would likely follow
a similar timeframe. And once airplanes appeared, the airship’s only advantage
would disappear.

The reason why airships couldn’t become commercialized in the old world was
exactly this. They couldn’t compete against planes in terms of speed, nor could they
remotely compete with trains in terms of volume. And Isaac was about to repeat
history.

Isaac didn’t monopolize airships just to use them as a luxurious service targeted at
the richest nobles.

“I should have known when they immediately accepted my concession of shares! I’ve
been had! At this point, the development of supply chains for other businesses will
hasten too… I guess they are prepared to leave the stragglers behind.”

Humans preferred stability over change. If things changed much quicker than the old
system could adapt, there would be some who would try to revert back to the old
system and reject the new changes.
“At this point, I’ll need to make a new plan… I don’t understand this. What is the
Directorate of Surveillance doing? Don’t they know the non-humans are the only
ones losing out on this?”

The dam holding back the flood of civilization was broken, and it was sweeping
across the continent.

Humans may not be good at surviving extreme changes in environment, but they
were also the quickest to adapt to their new environments.

The non-humans with their long lifespans and reclusive nature in their reservations
would face a harder time adapting to these drastic changes, unlike humans. And in
the name of tradition, they would withdraw even further to try to maintain their old
ways of life.

Everything that would happen in the meanwhile would create a disparity in the level
of civilization, thus destroying the balance.

All that awaited the non-humans were extinction, slavery, or domestication.

Humans fought each other on the basis of a different skin color. They wouldn’t
hesitate to fight non-humans clearly weaker than them.

And the non-humans should be well aware of this fact, which was why it was
puzzling why they simply accepted this change.

Isaac let out a deep sigh and looked at New Port City’s main street.

Because the entertainment industry was the quickest to adapting new technology,
new Communicator screens were already installed on many walls.

The dazzling pictures and film grabbed the eyes of passers by and stopped them in
their tracks.

“Fuck me. There are ads already too? The Seven Grand Merchant Guilds didn’t even
tell me about this and kept this to themselves now?”

Isaac placed his hands on his waist and grit his teeth ferociously. Rizzly and Laila,
afraid to attract his ire, carefully cleaned up the broken glass all the while keeping an
eye on Isaac’s mood.
Just as Isaac said, huh? Blink, and the network facilities needed for broadcast were
installed. Huh? Blink again, and the Empire and the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds
had already begun exercising their monopoly through general broadcasts, along with
news, shows, and advertisements related to themselves.

Aggravating as it already was, what personally anguished Isaac was that none of this
could have been possible without significant advance preparation.

What pissed him off the most was that when the airship was revealed, they begged
and pleaded for a bigger share, yet they didn’t have any intentions on trading him
vital information in return.

They were simply concerned about reductions in their profit margins as the airship
became the figurehead of the new era, knowing full well it would soon become a
luxury good as the reveal of new technologies continued.

Isaac could jump in now, but it was too late to become its forefather. Sadly, it wasn’t
possible to ignore ads as Isaac, along with other invaders, knew best how powerful
advertisements were.

“The Directorate of Surveillance knew of this right?”

Isaac’s mark changed to Rizzly, who began sweating profusely. Laila, who had been at
his side, began backing away.

“U, um as I’ve said the Directorate of Surveillance will maintain neutral…”

“Are you kidding me? Does this look like a human-only issue right now? Shouldn’t
the non-humans especially know best that they’ll be losing out if things go wrong?”

“I do think it is strange, but that’s all I heard from the higher-ups. I’m sorry but I
don’t know any more than that.”

Watching a river of cold sweat stream down Rizzly’s face, Isaac determined that
Rizzly wasn’t hiding anything.

“Sigh. What’s done is done, and I’ll only be a bigger fool by crying over spilt milk.
Whatever. I might be late, but I haven’t lost much either.”

It was a shame Isaac couldn’t monopolise broadcasting, but it wasn’t too late.
Even if this world had the hallmarks of broadcasting, it couldn’t possibly outcompete
invaders of all people in areas such as idols, entertainment and advertisements.

And Isaac possessed many weapons that the residents of this world couldn’t even
imagine.

“I’ll need to pick some elves and North Bears to work as stewards and stewardesses
for the airship and make an ad for it. What will be the catchphrase? The place your
dreams come true? Where fantasy become reality? Hm, I’d like to make those smarty
pants do this instead, but there isn’t an advertisement industry yet, so I have to do
this myself. Then I’ll need to strip their clothes off… Would the elves volunteer for
that? I guess they would be since it’s a unique experience. And I can get honey for the
North Bears. Then who will I choose as the figurehead…”

Isaac reminisced of the countless ads he glossed over all his life and tried to scrape
together an ad when Rizzly carefully approached him.

“There will be a parade commemorating the reunification of Port and New Port City
soon.”

“A parade? What pointless banter. Is this happening with everything sorted?”

Isaac smirked and asked, and Rizzly dropped his head.

“It will take longer than expected.”

“Why?”

Isaac’s eyes grew cold once more, and Rizzly began stumbling on his words.

“That is, they seem to be having second thoughts about unification, what with the
trains and airships now being available.”

Isaac smiled mockingly and bit down on his cigarette.

“Pass that issue to Smartass. He’s a specialist in that field.”

“Yes Sir. Then I’ll take it that you’ll be attending…”

“Why would I?”

“Sorry? Then…”

“This was the brat’s handiwork so she should go instead. The two of you can go
together.”

Laila flinched when Isaac’s eyes shifted to her.

“Yes Lord.”

“And where are Kunette and Reisha off to this time?”

Isaac asked when he realised Kunette and Reisha, whom he was going to use, weren’t
around.

In fact, it’d been a while since he’d seen them.

“They’ve gone back to their homes due to their tribal events. Julia kept asking if she
could go too, so Reisha took Julia with her.”

“Hm, now that you mention it, they are quite the important people. I forgot. I almost
made a mistake.”

Isaac was going to make Kunette and Reisha finally earn their pay—by having them
pose in advertisements.

The elves had a reputation for beauty—as long as they kept their mouths shut. Isaac
would strip Reisha, whose beauty was remarkable even among the elves, down to
the whatever thread necessary to attract male customers. In Kunette’s case, her
adorableness would capture the hearts of female customers.

Of course, Isaac would introduce other elves and North Bears to dramatise the effect.
And with the airship, customers that hadn’t been able to come to the city due to time
constraints might be able to come.

But Kunette was the daughter of North Bear chieftain, while Reisha was the daughter
of a major elf family.

If Isaac put them in the ad without a thought, both North Bears and elves could
retaliate, which could fracture one of Isaac’s main allies. Isaac needed to convince
them carefully.
Only select individuals could enter the Royal Palace of Gabelin. Located in the heart
of the world, yet isolated at the same time. No ordinary guards were posted at the
palace—only the Arc Royale. And the Royal Palace had now turned into a fierce
battlefield.

“Stop them! Do not let them get to the Emperor!”

“You traitors!”

“I will not let you pass while I still breathe!”

Inspiring awe, authority, and fear with their fanaticism, the Arc Royale was truly fit
to be the Royal Family’s sword. Enraged by the sudden ambush, they roared and
began a counterattack. But they all fell before they could utilize their powerful
swordsmanship.

“Emperor, you must leave this place!”

The Hall of Eternity, where the previous Emperors once sat and discussed new
policies with his advisors. The Emperor had visited this now-unused hall out of
nostalgia for the days of old glory, now that the development of communication
technology had made it obsolete. He sat, drinking wine alone.

And just as the Emperor sat on its ancestral throne and looked back at the past was
when the event occurred.

Silently, the enemy assassinated all the Arc Royale that were guarding the Emperor’s
family.

By the time everyone realised what had happened, all the members of the Royal
Family except the Emperor had already fallen into the enemy’s hands.

The Arc Royale called out in alarm and rallied the surviving members, but it wasn’t
enough.
The strange weapons these ambushers used slaughtered members of Arc Royale,
leaving most to empty, pathetic deaths before they could demonstrate the fruits of
their training—a training so brutal that many were injured or killed in the process.

The Arc Royale were pushed back until they made their final line of defence in the
Hall of Eternity. They pleaded with the Emperor, who sat still on its throne.

But even before the Emperor could make his decision, a loud explosion blew away
the barricaded door. The ambushers revealed themselves and bombarded the Arc
Royale with arrows as they struggled to regroup from the blast.

The captain of Arc Royale bit his lip and drew his sword, shouting,

“We will die with you, Emperor!”

Just as the Emperor looked apathetically at the captain’s sword swinging down on
the Emperor’s heart, a shadow snuck up at the captain’s side and kicked away the
sword. The shadow then grabbed the arm and vaulted over him, twisting his arm.

Crack!

“Kuack! You trai…”

The captain screamed as his shoulder blade shattered. Before he could cry out and
curse, a rain of arrows quickly turned him into a pincushion.

“Phew! That was close.”

Reisha let out a sigh of relief, and the Emperor spoke to her.

“Is that the crossbow that used Isaac’s prototype as a reference?”

“Pretty good right? After using this, we didn’t see the point in pursuing firearms so
stubbornly. It’s still not enough for long range sniping, but it’s very effective in close
and mid-quarters combat, just as you saw.”

“I dread at the notion of even thinking about the cost of these arrows…”

“I was told that it will only be marginally more expensive than bullets once we begin
mass production.”
“That’s a relief. Where is the Director of Surveillance?”

“She’ll be here soon.”

Just as Reisha finished, the Surveillance agents who were cleaning up the hall quickly
righted their postures and moved away from the door, where the Director of
Surveillance entered.

The Emperor asked a question the moment she appeared.

“How is my family?”

“Everyone is safe.”

“And the Arc Royale?”

“Everyone on the list is dead. We’ve also eliminated everyone not on the list who
were suspected to be a part. Those hidden by Arc Royale are currently being
searched for.”

“Have we finally undone the shackle? It’s been too long.”

The Emperor let out a sigh of relief and relaxed the tension in his body. He then
looked down and frowned at the corpse of the captain, who had tried to kill him.

“Why did he try to kill me? Wasn’t I the only one left if my entire family is in
Surveillance’s hands?”

“Because there’s still Ismael.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue at the Director of Surveillance’s answer.

“They really have no answer. Rather than be disgraced by losing a member of the
Royal Family to the enemy, they’d defend their honour through death instead? I
guess this is just the kind of gimmick that the undying witch would come up with.”

-Oh dear, that’s disappointing for me to hear then, especially when I’ve put so much
thought into that.

A voice echoed in the hall as if answering the Emperor’s mumbling. The Emperor
and Director of Surveillance flinched and quickly turned to their surroundings, while
Reisha and agents quickly formed a protective circle around the two.

Then one of the hall’s walls opened up, revealing a giant monitor and the Queen.

“Shit! Just what did you do to the Royal Palace?”

The Emperor complained, and the Queen smiled as she answered.

-Because I am that undying old witch that took part in the construction of this palace
from the beginning.

“And an old spinster.”

Crack!

A blood vessel popped on the Queen’s forehead at the Director’s comment, but she
maintained her smile.

-Hohoho. I see you’ve grown a lot?

“But I’m still much younger than you. Although everything else is much bigger.”

The Director of Surveillance posed, highlighting her breasts, waist, and hips. The
smile on the Queen’s face grew more menacing.

-… Hmph! We can talk about that another time. But why did you kill all the Arc
Royale? Weren’t they supposed to be the last shield protecting the Emperor?

“What a joke. They were not shields but daggers hanging right by my throat. Ready
to kill me at a moment’s notice.”

-Hm, was it too obvious? But I didn’t do it on purpose. The Arc Royale were my
earliest creations and I’ve just left them to be because I was too busy. Although, I did
ignore how they changed because I thought it’ll be useful.

“…I find myself pathetic that I can’t even get mad hearing this.”

The Emperor sighed deeply. It was the Emperor’s ancestors who willingly gave away
their lives to someone else. Although Arc Royale served the royal family with their
lives, there was a technicality.

The object of the Arc Royale’s loyalty was to the Royal Family, not the Emperor.

Therefore, if there was a simultaneous attack on the Royal Family and the Emperor,
the Arc Royale would move to assist whoever had a higher chance of survival.

‘Who becomes the Emperor is of no concern. Our objective is the survival and
protection of the Royal Family.’ That was Arc Royale’s ultimate goal. Therefore, the
Emperor was in greater danger by being under their protection.

A simultaneous attack on the Emperor and Royal Family. But, the attack on the Royal
Family was a feint, and the main attack was on the Emperor. But the Arc Royale cared
not about such a tactical situation and only considered who had a higher chance of
survival from the attack.

So reinforcements would concentrate on the Royal Family. The opposite is also true.

The Arc Royale’s captain had drawn his sword against the Emperor without a
moment of hesitation, all so he would not suffer disgrace.

Anyone who knew Arc Royale well could pull their strings with a little effort.

And it was the Queen who controlled the mental state of Arc Royale.

This was the most significant reason as to why the Emperor couldn’t act boldly—
why he forfeited many of his rights to the Queen, why he resorted to petty schemes
and blackmail to topple her.

The opportunity to change the situation was, funnily enough, provided by the Queen
herself when she forced the reveal of many technologies.

The Queen insisted on the reveal despite a large pushback from the Grand Council,
weakening their formerly close relations.

While the Emperor was thinking about how he could use this to his advantage, the
Directorate of Surveillance approached him with an offer to assist in ending the Arc
Royale. The Emperor accepted without a moment’s hesitation.

Whatever the Directorate of Surveillance had in mind, undoing the shackle on his
neck was the Emperor’s first priority.

So the Emperor handed over a register of all Arc Royale members, their patrol
schedules, security protocols, and even departed far away from his family, waiting
for Surveillance to move in the Hall of Eternity.

The result was great success. Although the single moment of peril chilled his spine,
he was at least alive. And the Arc Royale was no more. Without this shackle, the
Emperor no longer had to think twice about acting against the Queen.

-But why did the Directorate of Surveillance join in? Didn’t we agree that we needed
that final method to shackle the Emperor?

“Because we grew concerned that the final method might be used without our
approval.”

Crocodile tears crawled down the Queen’s face.

-That’s harsh. I did plan to kill him, but only on the last stage—not at this moment.

“So you were going to kill me!”

The Emperor shouted out, and the Queen answered, greatly annoyed.

-But you’re alive now, so it’s fine. If you’re a man, don’t be so petty about small
things.

The Emperor gulped, stupefied by the sheer audacity. The Queen ignored him and
continued complaining.

-But honestly, isn’t this a bit extreme? Even if my adamacy did create a rift between
our relations, how could you act without a word to me when I’m doing this for our
benefit? Tsk! Maybe I should just tell everything.

The Director of Surveillance flinched, and the Queen snickered at the adorable
naivety.

-But you know. Do you really think eliminating Arc Royale was so important that
leaving the Mr. Isaac that you care so much about alone was okay?
“What do you mean by that?”

-What do I mean? I don’t have a habit of taking complete losses. It’s a trade. I need
Mr. Isaac to do his part from now.

“…What have you done!”

The Director of Surveillance demanded, and the Queen waved her hands, feigning
total innocence.

-I swear, I didn’t plan this myself. I did help, but it was very, very small stuff. Like
helping avoid the Directorate of Surveillance’s eyes, disrupting information chains,
delaying incoming orders, and delaying an urgent report that needed to go to the
Director of Surveillance for a brief moment… Small stuff like that.

Grit!

The Director of Surveillance looked back furiously at the Queen’s sarcastic

deflection. From the way she talked, she obviously had full control of the situation;
not even the Directorate of Surveillance was free from the Queen’s influence.

-Thanks to the Directorate of Surveillance making such a top secret operation within
the palace, both the Strategy and Analysis are already on their way here. It’ll be a
while before you finish cleaning up. So why don’t we sit and admire the monster as
he lets loose its fury. I doubt you’ll be able to calm him so easily like last time. I can
just see how angry Mr. Isaac is. If anything, I’ll see you then in the next regular
meeting at the Grand Council. And please do attend. How could a Director be absent
so many times; that is severe negligence on your part.

The Queen waved and disappeared from the screen, and the Director of
Surveillance’s face crumbled.

She was toyed with from start to finish. Everything was happening within the palm
of her hands.

The Director of Surveillance’s fists quivered, her eyes shining like lights. The
Emperor and agents of Surveillance slowly retreated from the Hall of Eternity.

“Kuaaaaaah!”
With a fearsome roar, mana crystallized directly upwards to stab at the sky,
shattering the Hall’s roof.

“No, the Hall of Eternity, its history and traditions…”

The Emperor, who hastened his escape the moment he left the hall, arrived at the
gardens just in time to witness the roof of the Hall of Eternity crumble… He
squirmed painfully with his hands around his head.

“Aha! Now this is what you call collateral damage!”

“No that’s not!”

The Emperor shouted at the agents of Surveillance, who formed small groups in the
gardens as they laughed.
“You think this makes any sense? Why do I need to take the brat’s place? I might be
lenient, but don’t you think there’s something wrong with our hierarchy?”

“…”

Rivelia faced Isaac’s grumbling with the patience befitting a swordmaster.

“Is that brat playing sick?”

“…She never would have gotten to this point if she was the type to fake sickness in
the first place.”

“Why of all days does she have to be sick today.”

“She’s been suffering from tremendous anxiety recently, despite her attempts to not
let it show. I assume the adrenaline from recent events has worn off.”

Today was the ceremony for reunification. Port City had been rowdy for the grand
festival since the morning, but Laila, the one to attend the ceremony, suddenly fell
sick.

Isaac saw Laila with an intense fever, so he ordered her to be seen by a healer. But
the idea was opposed by not only the healer but Rizzly and Rivelia as well. They
explained that using healing magic on a child who had yet to develop their immune
system was akin to poison.

There was no one else fit to replace her.

Considering the significance of this reunification, it warranted the presence of a

prominent representative.

In New Port City, only Isaac and his adopted child Laila had the authority to play this
role.

Which was why Isaac had to go in place of the sick Laila.

Of course, Isaac practically vaulted off his chair and refused to attend outright.
Boiling with a fever and stumbling on every step, Laila still said that she would go.
Isaac pointed at her, arguing ‘she says she’s going!’

Rivelia, who had been using kind words to try to convince Isaac at first, exploded in
anger. ‘I believe there exists an excellent saying in your world, Director,’ she had
quoted, ‘to kill first and think later.’ Isaac gave up his ground quickly after.

So Isaac had to attend in place of Laila. Rivelia had originally wanted to decline the
invitation addressed to the Pendleton name.

But she was worried about letting Isaac go alone, and Rizzly wished to tend to Laila.
So Rivelia ended up deciding to accompany Isaac.

“Ohoh! Seeing this is starting to convince me that coming here was a good idea. A
great sight.”

Isaac crossed the Sky Bridge to enter Port City. Isaac smiled to see what awaited
him—a time of great festivities.

New Port City citizens laughed and chatted as they ate and drank at the city’s
expense. Elves and North Bears joined the cause. And behind them were the starkly
contrasted groups of Port City citizens, blatant disdain and hatred in their eyes as
they watched the New Port City citizens. Isaac breathed in the situation to the fullest.

For people of New Port City who’d just begun to adjust to clean streets of their city,
Port City was a different world—a place of pristine roads and buildings exhibiting
fabulous decorations.

Was this not the forbidden land, a land which they admired but could have never
approached when they were young?

The city that had brought them despair and defeat was now under their feet, where
they could eat and drink for free. But what excited them more than anything was that
people of Port City could only watch in displeasure.

Many roads bubbled with clashes between excited New Port City citizens and Port
City citizens who still remembered what the old New Port City used to be.

Arguments and fights between them were mediated by Port City’s police who were
blatantly biased and tried to actively suppress New Port City citizens, but the New
Port City citizens had the elves and North Bears on their side.

Whenever these non-humans thought the police weren’t fair, they’d intervene
without question and remind New Port City citizens to ‘tell that to Isaac if you think
it’s not fair.’ The police had no choice but back off with their tails in between their
legs.

Of course, both the police and non-humans showed no mercy when it came to
criminal activities such as pickpocketing, punishing them heavily to make examples
out of them. This established proper order in the festival.

After a number of crimes, their violent suppressions, and mediations, the two groups
resolved to simply watch each other on alert.

“…Yes. It’s a sight that depicts exactly what you’d expect in this situation.”

But even this bustling and somewhat threatening mood changed when Isaac
appeared. The music stopped and laughter disappeared.

If it was a normal festival, people would have cheered or praised Isaac, their Lord.

But both New Port City citizens that enjoyed the festival and the displeased Port City
citizens shut their mouths tight. They dared not turn their faces away, only looking at
their feet waiting for Isaac to pass quickly.

The sea of people split into two on their own.

Isaac pompously walked through the conveniently made path.

Rivelia followed him, sighing with relief that she wouldn’t hear him grumbling at the
very least.

In front of Port City’s City Hall, a sea of people were waiting for the ceremony to
start.

As if to prove the benefits of recent technology, screens were installed along many of
Port City’s roads so people unable to find a space in front of Port City’s City Hall
could watch.

The lectern where the ceremony was to commence shone with absolute luxury as if
to demonstrate New Port City’s newfound wealth. It was almost mysterious as to
why Cordnell allowed such an expenditure on something that would only be used
once.

And next to this lectern, representatives and the administrative bodies of both cities
waited for the most important member of the cast.

“What do you mean I’m late? I made it just in time.”

“…”

Rivelia imagined how refreshing it’d be to smack the back of a grumbling Isaac as
she followed behind.

“Huh? What are those guys doing here? Are they here as volunteers or something?”

Isaac saw agents of Security standing between the lectern and citizens. Rivelia
smirked and answered.

“They’ve all volunteered to stand guard for Laila.”

Isaac looked back at Rivelia dumbfounded and argued.

“They’ll do guard work for the brat when they don’t even do it for me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because Laila has recruited agents of Security.”

“What? How?”

“I hear the territory you must manage will be quite big once you become a duke?”

Acknowledging Rivelia’s insight, Isaac held his tongue.

Members were culled once through training and again during the war of Wolfgang
and Lichten. Now all that remained were spies sent from other Directorates and
those who were truly desperate for the reward they were promised.

But a new option materialized for these agents—one that did not ask them to follow
the Directorate of Security blindly.

Vast, rich lands without owners, free of any conflict that might arise from its
possession.

The master of that land was still young, and she had too few retinues to manage it for
her. But agents of Central, who were graduates of College, were the perfect and
proven candidates.

All Laila needed to say was ‘I’ll take you as my vassal.’ This one sentence was enough
for these agents to throw their defensive coats in Isaac’s face, finally vent their
curses, and quit their job immediately.

Of course, such a situation was unlikely considering the relationship between Isaac
and Laila, but being able to take one step away from the clutches of Isaac was a
satisfactory outcome.

“I see the brat’s done something adorable. I’m really liking what she’s doing.”

Isaac was pleased that she was already creating a faction of her own in secret.

Isaac smirked and walked up the stairs to the lectern, where he saw nervous men
pacing in circles.

“Hiik! I, Isaac!”

“…And who are you to call out someone’s name like that?”

“S, sorry!”

Two middle aged men turned their heads, and Isaac walked closer to them. Isaac’s
mood worsened when the two men screamed in terror when they saw his face.

Isaac frowned and watched their pale faces as they bowed and apologized fervently,
slowly stepping away in the process. But what annoyed Isaac was that their eyes
constantly shifted back and forth, almost as if they were troubled.

“Why do their faces seem familiar to me?”

Isaac cocked his head as the two men ran away desperately, and Rivelia answered.

“It’s Rodman and Niske.”

“Ah! I remember. But they were still here? I thought they moved elsewhere long
ago?”

Isaac snorted at Rivelia’s answer as he stepped up to the lectern. The crowd under
him began to murmur.

It was very apparent they were troubled by Isaac’s appearance instead of Laila’s.

Isaac rested his body on one of the chairs at the back and smoked with a bored
expression. Rivelia stood behind Isaac.

“Huh, why did Lord Isaac come instead of Miss Laila?”

Cordnell, who had been making preparations for the ceremony, approached with a
look of great surprise.

“Miss Laila had fallen sick suddenly, so I brought the Lord instead.”

“Man, that’s going to screw up all our schedules.”

Cordnell massaged his temples for a while. He then sighed and spoke to Isaac.

“We will go through all the formal procedures, but all I ask is that you give a speech
at the very end, Lord Isaac. I doubt you care enough to do a proper job and I most
certainly have no expectation of you as well, so just say whatever and leave. That is
the only thing I ask of you.”

“…”

Rivelia pondered if she should warn Cordnell of all people for crossing the line, but
Isaac was already infuriated by something else.
“Isn’t my job done now that I’ve shown my face? And why is it last? Just go through
the ceremony as quickly as you can. I bet I can easily pay off the monthly
installments on the airship with the amount of money that’s been spent on this
useless ceremony.”

Cordnell almost fainted at Isaac’s response, so he decided to ignore Isaac completely.

He moved over to someone else and began barking orders, hastening the
preparations.

Isaac glared at Cordnell, grumbling up to the start of the ceremony. As the ceremony
progressed through its formalities, Isaac lit cigarette after cigarette out of boredom
as he waited for his time to speak.

“…Something feels wrong here.”

“Hm?”

Rivelia warned Isaac, and Isaac, who had been dozing off, opened his eyes lazily and
looked at the people under him.

“Hm. Something certainly does feel wrong.”

This was the day Port and New Port City announced their reunification. A time that
might have been unpleasant for Port City but also a time that New Port City should
have been cheering.

Just as they saw from the roads they walked through, there should have been a good
mix of boos and cheers in the crowd. But everyone in the City Hall wore displeasure
on their face, wielding daggers in their eyes and keeping their mouths shut.

Cordnell and the agents of Security on the lectern were also taken aback by the
unexpected response. They pushed through with the ceremony in a great hurry out
of panic.

As the cold silence continued, it was finally Isaac’s time to speak.

“Now, I shall enliven the mood with a great speech.”

Isaac, who had been bored to death just moments before, got off his chair
immediately, eyes glistening in anticipation.
Rivelia had been worrying about Isaac and what mess he was going to start again
when Isaac reached the podium to speak.

“Everyone…”

Smack!

Even before Isaac could speak, an egg flew over from somewhere, hitting Isaac’s face.

A protective barrier materialized and Isaac was saved from the gooey bombardment,
but everyone from Rivelia, agents of Security, the elves and the North Bears—all part
of the security detail—and others behind the lectern dropped their jaws in utter
shock.

Some bumbling, oblivious fool provoked Isaac!

Tension choked the air. Nobody dared to guess how Isaac was going to react to this.
Isaac silently watched the egg drip onto the ground and shrugged.

“As a benevolent Lord, I will overlook such expressions of emotion from my subjects.
Everyone…”

Smack!

Another egg was flung at Isaac.

This time however, the non-humans had been watching the crowd keenly, and the
culprit was quickly caught and brought in front of the lectern.

Isaac looked down on the neatly dressed child, shackled and even gagged. Isaac
sighed and waved his hand to gesture the child be let go.

“I…”

This time, it wasn’t a single egg, but a torrent of eggs and garbage being thrown at
Isaac. At the same time, the people began shouting a slogan.

“Out with the wicked Lord! We want freedom!”

“The reunification was invalid! The citizens never wished for reunification!”

Cordnell’s face paled at the possibility that this would turn into a riot as he watched
the crowd chant in unison. Rivelia frowned and glared at the masses.

Troubled, the non-humans mixed amongst the crowd looked back at Isaac for orders.

But rather than be angry or discontent, Isaac smiled, gratified by the rowdy mob.

“This may turn into a riot. We should try to calm…”

Considering that the entire plaza outside of the City Hall was chock full of people,
they easily numbered five thousand and potentially more.

The unison chants of the people in the plaza were more than enough to shake the
building’s foundations.

“I’ve received reports from other elves and North Bears in the streets. They’ve found
protests all over the city bearing the same slogans.”

Isaac smiled at Rivelia’s frantic report.

“It was organised. They’ve already set their minds to it.”

“What shall we do?”

“Aren’t you curious as to how far humans will go when they’re hysteric? Let’s just
watch them for now.”

Rivelia sighed at Isaac’s orders and continued assessing the situation as a new report
from an elf came in.

“It’s already too late. The protestors have already clashed with citizens of New Port
City.”

“Ohoh! Now that sounds interesting. My boys might be outnumbered, but they’re
most definitely not outmatched. It’ll be an even fight. Let’s go watch that.”

“…This isn’t just entertainment.”

Isaac snickered at Rivelia’s retort and bit down on a cigarette.

“Look at them. Isn’t it so intriguing how humans in this world and the other act the
same way? They gave away their rights, enticed by the promise of fortune, but they
cry the moment they realise that not doing so will be more profitable. You said this
all happened at the same time right? That means they’ve been preparing for this. I
bet you my entire fortune it was done by the same people who called for
reunification.”

Isaac claimed boldly, which Rivelia met with a brief sigh. There was no way Port City
could invalidate the reunification.
Port City was Isaac’s fief legally and otherwise the moment their delegates, charged
with the power of attorney for their citizens, signed the papers.

Suddenly, a loud ‘bang!’ rumbled through the earth, shaking people to their core.

“What the?”

The blast almost swept everyone off their feet. Chaos ensued and people screamed in
terror. Rivelia swiftly supported Isaac and prevented him from falling over.

Elves and North Bears immediately took to the skies, running up the walls to reach
the rooftop. They all looked to one direction and murmured to each other.

“That’s our side. I can’t see from here. Let’s go somewhere… H, hig!”

Isaac tried to say the elves were looking toward New Port City, but Rivelia took this
as an opportune moment to grab Isaac’s collar. She then ran up the City Hall’s outer
walls.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Each time Isaac was slammed onto the wall, a barrier materialized. Isaac was then
thrown onto the rooftop, and he seriously contemplated as to why a barrier didn’t
materialize when Rivelia grabbed his collar. Why wasn’t that considered an attack?

“The city!”

“…Huh?”

Isaac turned his head at Rivelia’s utter shock—only to watch New Port City blankly.

Perhaps because of the setting sun, it looked even more red.

Dang! Dang! Dang!

With the sound of an emergency bell, black smoke rose as flames devoured the city.

Isaac went up to the edge of the roof, sat down and placed his elbow on his lap and
his chin on his hand. He bit down on his cigarette.
“This is a great place to watch a bonfire.”

“Now isn’t the time to say something like that!”

Rivelia shouted at Isaac, stunned by Isaac’s gall to be so nonchalant in this situation.

She was just about to take charge of the situation when suddenly another explosion
boomed, setting the warehouses aflame.

All of the warehouses lining the Grand Canal all the way to the lake simultaneously
caught fire. The smoke looked like a black serpent slithering into the sky.

Rivelia watched in utter shock, at a complete loss for words. Isaac got back on his
feet and watched with a stiff expression.

“I will take charge of putting out the fire.”

Rivelia went down to the plaza instead of Isaac, who stood deep in thought silently.
She ordered the agents of Security to rally the firefighters and put out the fire.

Isaac watched briefly with his arms crossed as the agents, elves and North Bears ran
in an attempt to control the fire when Rivelia came back to him. Isaac uncrossed his
arms and lit a new cigarette.

“Who knew I was coming to Port City today?”

“…I doubt there was anyone. Laila fell ill so suddenly that we didn’t have time to
announce it.”

“Not even the elves or the North Bears?”

“Yes. Not just them, but the administrative body and Security agents as well. The
changes were unbeknownst to everyone.”

Rivelia began to figure out the meaning behind Isaac’s questions. Her face stiffened,
but Isaac simply took out a new cigarette and lit it.

“So it should have been me running frantically originally, right?”

“If everything went as scheduled, there would have been only you and I in New Port
City, Director. Do you think this was an attempt on your life?”
“This shitfest can’t possibly be just a fire.”

“…But the damage to the city is too great for this to be taken as a simultaneous
attempt on your life.”

“That is what I don’t understand. Why did they blow up the warehouses if they knew
I wasn’t there? They could have delayed or feigned a diversion instead.”

“Perhaps they were found out by Mr. Rizzly? Mr. Rizzly is an opponent difficult to
face, even for me. It’s impossible for anyone with ill intent to have caught him off
guard.”

Rivelia argued back at Isaac as he mumbled along with a serious face.

“Oi, damsel, you said it yourself before. It should have been just the two of us in New
Port City originally. Do you really think they wouldn’t have prepared a method to
face a swordmaster in that situation?”

Rivelia’s face darkened, finding that Isaac’s words had reason.

“Isn’t this a serious situation then?”

“But don’t you think it’s somewhat strange? I don’t know who it is, but will that
person have the courage to provoke Rizzly?”

“Ah!”

Rizzly was a North Bear. And with the rumours that the title of Captain of the
Warriors was reserved for him, he was most definitely a significant member of his
tribe.

If they were to attack Rizzly, not only the North Bears but all non-humans would
rally in retaliation. If they didn’t want to risk that danger, they had to avoid him.

“It is strange.”

“Right? Maybe setting the city on fire is their backup plan. So let’s put out the fire
first. Put all airships to use.”

“The airships?”
“Yes. Setting the warehouses on fire was probably intended to isolate New Port City
momentarily. Seeing how they managed to blow it all up in one go, they must have
been preparing this for a long time. But I doubt they factored in the airships in their
calculations at the time. Considering we have airships, it’s hard to even say we’re
isolated in the first place. We’ve got plenty of smart people, so if you order them to
load water onto airships and pour it over the warehouses, I’m sure they’ll figure a
way to do it.”

“Yes sir.”

“And damsel, your job is to get rid of this noisy lot and bring Rodney and Niske to
me.”

“Do you think they are related to this protest?”

“Don’t you think the timing is too impeccable? I almost didn’t pay them any heed, but
they seemed to be in a bit too much of a hurry to get away, and I doubt that they did
that just to avoid me. They must know something.”

There was a commotion when Cordnell fainted from seeing the warehouses burn to
the ground, but Isaac just silently watched New Port City as he smoked.

He was expecting something to come, but to think they’d come at him like this.

What Isaac was most curious about was who planned all this.

Burning the warehouse district was a painful blow. Isaac could understand why
Cordnell was unconsciously foaming at the mouth, imagining all the costs for
compensating owners and reconstructing the district.

The severity of the damage had a very real possibility of hindering his future actions,
yet there wasn’t a single word of warning. Be it Central or even the Queen.

Rumours spread like wildfire. First, it was caused by those discontent with
reunification. Then, it was an even more baseless rumour that it was an inside job to
justify Port City’s destruction. But it was nothing in comparison to the rumor’s peak,
which had been distorted to the point where it claimed that Isaac would burn down
Port City out of vengeance for the fire.
The citizens of Port City panicked at this rumour, and were convinced by protestors
that they had to join in order to invalidate the reunification to protect their wealth.
The entire city seemed to have joined the protest, and the shouts of slogans echoed
endlessly throughout the streets.

The only reason there hasn’t been any violent clashes between Port and New Port
City citizens was because agents of Security patrolled across the city, punishing the
looting, mugging, and rape by beheading the culprits and hanging their heads as
examples. They also violently subdued instigators in an attempt to pacify the
situation.

Plus, citizens of New Port City immediately ran back when they heard the
warehouses were on fire to offer a helping hand in putting out the fire. So the
citizens of Port City had no opponent to face.

“What a shitfest.”

Isaac mumbled as he sat on the rooftop of Port City, looking down on the protestors
who clenched their teeth at the sight of him. Like the mobs that surrounded nobles
during the French Revolution, these protestors were swept into by mob mentality
and chattered about loving freedom and invalidating reunification, forgetting for a
moment their opponent was Isaac.

“Shall we subdue them?”

“Woah! You surprised me. When did you get here?”

“…I’ve been here for some time now.”

Kainen looked with disdain at Isaac. As Isaac had ordered, airships began loading
water into the airships and letting it rain over the area.
The agents of Security knew better than anyone that the moment these angry
protestors touched Isaac, the gates to hell would swing open—even if Isaac was in no
real danger at all. Which was precisely why prioritized stopping the protestors from
entering the City Hall above all else.

These agents, who had been caught red-handed joining Laila’s faction, dared not to
even breathe in Isaac’s direction. They quickly excused themselves to patrol the city
and stifle the outbreak of crimes in the chaos of the protests.

But Rivelia was needed elsewhere, as she had taken charge of extinguishing the fire.
Someone had to take on the role of Isaac’s assistant and messenger, so the agents of
Security needed to pick one from amongst themselves. Someone had to be sacrificed,
and in the eyes of the agents, there was no candidate more fitting than Kainen.

“Why are you still here anyway? Didn’t you go back home?”

“…Kaizen has assumed the rule of the Rondart—I mean Karondart—Barony.”

“Huh? That idiot? What were you doing all that time?”

“My in-law’s family justified it with the pretext that the seat could not remain empty
for too long. They chose Kaizen, who was already home, instead of me, who wasn’t,
to govern the land.”

“Ah! It’s still Karondart if he takes over too. But you look rather calm for being on the
losing end.”

“I have been well aware my in-laws have been favoring my brother over me. I would
be insane to stay in the Directorate of Security otherwise.”

“Hm. You’ve got it pretty hard.”

Snap!

Hearing Isaac’s nonchalant comment and seeing his singular nod, keeping a calm
demeanor required more than just effort on Kainen’s part. His hand tightly curled
into a fist.

The successful elite who was rising through the ranks of the Personnel Office
suddenly fell to the abyss the moment the Emperor took notice of New Port City.

With the help of his in-law, his dimwitted brother had stolen away the foundation for
his return to prominence. It was during this moment of despair that he was provided
a single ray of hope, so no matter how unfair and filthy his situation was, he had to
bear with it.

“They’re getting bolder it seems?”

Isaac muttered as the protestors began throwing rocks and sticks onto the roof.
Alarmed, Kainen quickly recollected his thoughts and spoke.

“We will disperse them.”

“Hm? No. Leave them be. I’m curious as to how far they’ll go.”

‘That’s exactly what I’m concerned about.’

Kainene grumbled in his head and glared at the back of Isaac’s head. That head of his
invited punches; it couldn’t have been more enticing if there was a target painted on
it, was what the Security agents would say to each other.

“What’s the damsel up to?”

“Lady Rivelia has taken a number of agents and entered New Port City. But before
they could, it seems that Rodney and Niske had escaped.”

“Hm? Escaped?”

Isaac looked back with surprise.

“Yes. We’ve found traces of a quick getaway. Not only Rodney and Niske, but most of
the major figureheads of Port City have disappeared. We’ve formed a task force to
track them, as ordered by Lady Rivelia.”

“Hm. They are just ordinary citizens, so leave that task to Smartass.”
Kainene looked back with surprise at Isaac’s order.

“Haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“According to the refugees from New Port City, Soland sunbaenim was ambushed as
well.”

“Smartass was?”

“Yes. Some of the lesser organisations that weren’t too happy with his rule rebelled
against him. It’s also the reason why Lady Rivelia quickly enlisted some agents and
entered New Port City.”

“Hah, these Port City bastards, they’ve brought everything they can.”

“Their last report says that they are currently engaged with the renegade syndicates,
who are supported by a mysterious armed force.”

“A mysterious armed force… It’s hard for me to guess; there’s just too many people
that hate me. Who do you think they are?”

“It’ll be confirmed soon, but most likely they are the former combat knights of
Viscount Rosenberg.”

“Viscount Rosenberg?”

“Yes. Their titles and wealth have been confiscated for attacking emissaries. All the
combat knights with even the remotest relations to the Rosenberg Viscounty have
lost all future prospects. They bear the greatest grudge against you. ”

It was akin to having a criminal record. Honour and trust was of highest importance
since they used tools of murder to feed themselves. It would have been strange for
them not to bear a grudge when they’d been permanently branded for something
they didn’t commit.

“They sound like the perfect tools to use. So is Smartass dead or alive?”

“It may have been a sudden ambush, but Soland sunbaenim is still an agent of
Central. He may not have been able to win, but holding his ground or making an
escape is an easy feat for him. Soland sunbaenim rallied his loyal syndicates and is
currently being aided by the mercenaries.”

“The mercenaries? Are they still prattling about loyalty to me?”

“Yes. Word is, they are extremely cruel. They stand by their declaration that any
those who dare to destroy the Lord’s city are unforgivable.”

“I see they are repaying my investment.”

Isaac nodded with satisfaction, but then he immediately frowned.

“Where did you get all this information?”

“The mercenaries and Soland sunbaenim have been sending messengers as things
have begun to stabilise, providing us with a detailed sitrep routinely.”

“…How come I didn’t know about any of this?”

“I’m even more surprised that you didn’t know. The non-humans took an airship and
entered the city without even attempting to put out the fire. That is why I’ve been
sent to be your assistant. I was never told to give you a report.”

Isaac’s face frowned at Kainen’s explanation. Non-humans would never try to protect
a human city. The reason they still went into the burning city was to secure the safety
of other non-humans still in the city and Rizzly.

It was strange. Up until now, the non-humans sent a routine report whenever
something happened. Of course, it was Rizzly who received these reports first before
delivering it to Isaac, but even in Rizzly’s absence, the non-humans would send
someone to Isaac. If they hadn’t said anything until now, something serious must
have happened.

Isaac was pondering just what could be causing the non-humans to forgo their
reports when Kainen received a message on his personal Central-issued
communicator. Kainen read the message, and his face paled.

“What happened?”
“…Lady Rivelia says there’s something the Director should see personally.”

“What’s Rizzly up to?”

“Mr. Rizzly and Miss Laila have gone missing.”

“…”

Isaac’s face stiffened in a frightening manner.

“And…”

“And?”

“Mr. Kalden is dead.”

Kainen unintentionally gulped and stepped back. He never knew the sight of
someone standing up and dusting his legs could be so frightening.

The aftermath of a battle was apparent. The City Hall looked like the aftermath of a
bombardment. Corpses and weapons littered the area, a testament to how fierce the
battle was.

Rivelia was ordering people to block off the plaza, collect the bodies, and go through
the debris when she found Isaac and approached him.

“You’re here.”

Rivelia greeted Isaac with a stiff expression. The mood around Isaac was terrifyingly
heavy, and even she gulped.

“What are those?”

Isaac glimpsed at the group of men who were tied up in a corner. Rivelia answered
icily.

“They are the culprits who joined in on attacking the city.”

“Then why are they still breathing?”

“They’ve surrendered.”

“Surrendered? We’ll talk about that later. Where is he?”

“We’ve placed him in a separate area.”

That body couldn’t possibly be given the same treatment as the numerous corpses
piled up in a corner. Isaac followed behind Rivelia, and found an agent guarding a
body covered with a linen sheet.

“Move it.”

The agent, who had been rendered frozen by Isaac’s demeanor, lifted the sheet away.

Isaac looked down on Kalden’s cold dead body. He crouched and carefully observed
Kalden’s body when he noticed a wound at the back of the head. Isaac frowned and
stood back up.

“This isn’t what I think it is, right?”

Isaac spoke, and Rivelia pulled out an object from her pocket with a grim expression.

“We found this near the body.”

Isaac laughed emptily when he saw what was in Rivelia’s hand. An empty, cylindrical
object the length of a finger. An object far too familiar.

“A cartridge casing… Kalden was shot to death. In the back of his head no less. Seeing
how there’s no wound on his face, it must be a low calibre gun like a pistol. What are
the elves and North Bears saying?”

“We haven’t heard any information from them.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes. They are currently concentrating their efforts on finding the missing Mr. Rizzly.
And for some strange reason, they were cold to us.”
“Of course they were.”

Isaac witnessed it first hand on his way here. How the elves and North Bears, who
had always been friendly and polite, forcefully invaded buildings, homes, and shops.
They searched the area through force, and any who resisted were violently subdued.
Many were shocked by the sight.

This act would tarnish the city’s image, but that image had already been shattered
with the arson of New Port City and its warehouses. Trust was broken. But knowing
how non-humans treated humans in the state of emergency was a valuable insight.

“Call over Lanburton.”

Isaac ordered Rivelia, and he gave Kalden’s body a final glimpse. He then looked at
the destroyed City Hall. He sighed, took out a cigarette, and walked toward the
prisoners.

These prisoners must have been making quite the ruckus, as all the combat knights
were gagged. When Isaac approached them, they seemed to go into a frenzy against
their bindings. The sharp look in their eyes seemed to try to mince Isaac to pieces.

Gagged, their voices were muffled, but Isaac just looked at them coldly. Isaac scanned
through them and then pulled out his shotgun, pointing the twin barrels at the
closest prisoner’s head. He pulled the trigger.

‘Bang!’ and the pellets blasted the prisoner’s head off. The prisoner’s panicked at the
noise, even more horrified by the ease at which it decimated a human head.

Isaac immediately blew off the head of another prisoner next to the first victim. He
then broke open the barrel and reloaded.

Rivelia was in utter shock at Isaac killing prisoners. She blocked Isaac’s path.

“They’ve already surrendered!”

“I know. This is just revenge. This became Central work the moment we found the
cartridge casing, so don’t talk back. I’m not in the greatest of moods right now.”

Rivelia hesitated, but she stepped aside. She could have tried something if this was
just a rebellion against just Isaac, but she had no say when it involved Central’s
matters.

“Do you really think Mr. Kalden would enjoy such revenge?”

Isaac smirked at Rivelia’s comment.

“What are you on about? This is just self-satisfaction. I feel like doing this because
someone who worked for me died. What a dead man likes or doesn’t is of no concern
to me.”

“…”

“What are you doing, hold them still. It’s hard to aim.”

While Rivelia and the agents looked at Isaac in horror, the combat knights began a
frantic struggle, and the syndicate members inched away from Isaac as far as
possible.
Isaac frowned and commented as the frantically moving heads made aiming a
nuisance. The agents quickly stepped on the back of the captives, holding their heads
to the ground. The shells erupted in the back of the prisoners’ heads two at a time
before reloading, his motions as monotonous as a machine.

“They might have some information for us.”

Rivelia intervened, and Isaac nodded in agreement as he reloaded.

“It’s true that I do have a question. From those Port City bastards to combat knights
and even the scum of the alleys—everyone who despises me has gathered. However
foolish they might be to be used as tools, shouldn’t they at least have the brain to
think about their chances at success? I don’t understand what gave them the courage
to go through this. If everything went as planned, they’d only be facing the damsel
and I. But still, how would they beat a swordmaster?”

Isaac spoke as he executed two more captives. He then reached for his pocket for
more shells but frowned.

“I’ve got only two shots left. The rest… would be somewhere there.”

Isaac glimpsed at the collapsed building and sighed. He ordered the agents behind
him.

“It’s a shame, but we don’t have a choice. Wrap it up.”

The agents drew their blades at Isaac’s order. But only one man, whose desperate
efforts was the only to bear fruit, managed to just barely undo his gag and shouted.

“I, I know why!”

“Yeah, you can keep it that way.”

Isaac didn’t have a hint of interest, which made the man shout all the more
desperately.
“It’s true! I know the reason!”

“Good for you. What are you guys doing! How unruly.”

“Anton! It’s Anton!”

Finally, the man’s cry caught Isaac’s attention. Isaac raised his hand, and the agents
stopped in their tracks.

“That’s a familiar name. But why are you speaking a dead man’s name?”

“Will you let me live if I tell?”

“You want to negotiate with me in this situation? Not bad. Alright. I’ll let you live. Not
just you, but the rest of you all as well. In the name of College graduate, Lord of New
Port City, Baron and Director—ah, you don’t know that, right? Anyway, I’ll let you
live.”

Joy emerged in the faces of the captives. The man sighed in relief at Isaac’s promise
and quickly began explaining, lest Isaac’s mood change.

“Even I was in doubt when I saw the bandaged man scarred with burns. By chance, I
happened to overhear Rodney and Niske say that hiding him had finally paid off.”

“Hm, so those idiots from Port City saved Anton and kept him hidden until now?”

“That’s right.”

“Alright. Let’s say he’s alive. I believe he would have been an even match against
Rizzly back when he was still in one piece, but that damsel over there is a
swordmaster. You do know what a swordmaster is right? And you’re telling me they
caused all this hinging on some man crying over burn marks?”

“Anton, that man is also a swordmaster!”

“He’s a swordmaster?”

Isaac rubbed his chin in interest, but Rivelia immediately argued back.

“Lies! Your body evolves when you become a swordmaster!”

“I swear it’s true! I’ve seen him demonstrate his skills firsthand! It’s the reason why
we thought there was a possibility of success and joined.”

The man clung to Isaac, knowing that it was Rivelia’s words against his.

“I guess it makes sense if he’s a swordmaster.”

Isaac nodded knowingly, and the man’s face brightened, knowing that he was now
alive.

“I admit. That’s quite the useful bit of information. Just as promised, I’ll let you live.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

The man bowed his head up and down, thankful for his life. Meanwhile, both Rivelia
and the agents looked at Isaac tensely, knowing that he wasn’t the man to let things
end like this.

Isaac stood up and scanned through the captives as he spoke.

“Remove all the gags from their mouths. Anyone else have some useful information?”

Isaac asked as the agents undid the gags on captives, but everyone simply looked at
each other. Nobody opened their mouths. Seeing this, Isaac grabbed for his cigarette
as he spoke.

“Let’s end this If you don’t. Cut off all their limbs, break their backs, and throw them
out somewhere.”

The agents winced, looking away with their eyes closed. Just as expected.

“You said you’ll let us live!”

“Am I killing you? You’ll still be alive.”

Isaac replied completely unperturbed. Another combat knight shouted back out of
anger.

“Just kill us instead!”

“Fine then.”

Isaac nonchalantly pulled the trigger like he was doing a small favour.

“Aaaack!”

His aim was slightly off; another man was blasted with a shower of pellets. He fell
back, his bloodied face screaming in pain. Isaac took a puff of his cigarette.

“What are you thinking? Just kill them instead!”

Dumbfounded by Isaac’s preposterous orders, Rivelia argued back, but Isaac simply
nodded.

“Right? It’ll be better to kill them instead right? But I did make a promise, so I’ll only
kill whoever wants to die. So, anyone?”

“…”

“No one, right? See. It’s much better to live than die. What are you all doing? Cut off
their limbs.”

Isaac repeated, but the agents looked away with pale faces. They refused to move,
only sending Rivelia an occasional glimpse. Isaac sighed and scratched his head.

“Tsk. Well, I can’t really blame you guys for not following orders this time. Just pass
them over to Smartass if you can’t do it. I’m sure his boys will be more than willing.”

“No! It can’t be like this!”

“Spare us! You promised!”

“Damn you! I’ll curse you from my grave!”

Relieved that they don’t have to dirty their own hands, the agents dragged the
captives away to Soland.

Begging and cursing, their faces were eventually overcome by the fear of what was to
come. Rivelia, completely worn out from the sounds of anguish, spoke to Isaac.
“Did you have to order such cruelty?”

“You do know what setting an example is, right?”

“But still, it’s too inhumane.”

“I don’t see a problem. It’s not like I’m doing this for praise.”

As the sun began to set, the street lamps began to dutifully light up their streets. How
the dim light was scattered throughout the silent plaza made the mood ever so
melancholic.

Isaac deeply inhaled the smoke from his cigarette as he sat atop of the debris of what
used to be the City Hall.

Was it safe to say they got him this time?

Whoever it was, they succeeded if their intention was to spoil Isaac’s mood. Because
Isaac was currently at the boiling point.

The agents stood in a line in front of Isaac, stiff as a rock, silent and extremely
nervous. The administrative body came in a hurry after hearing the urgent news,
arriving shocked and at a loss for words. Cordnell himself wailed as he held Kalden’s
body.

The administrative body’s first reaction was one of anger and vengeance. But when
they heard about how Isaac dealt with the captives, they quietly realised that this
wasn’t the place for them and quickly scattered.

They were capable individuals who had graduated Campus. And they most definitely
weren’t sleeping under a rock. All of them had figured out Isaac was intimately
related to Central. They only acted oblivious because no good would come from
being roped into Central’s business.

The administrative body volunteered to disperse the protestors, deal with the fire,
and clean up the mess, replacing the agents and ushering them back to Isaac’s side.
But when they saw how heavy the atmosphere was, the returning agents quietly
snuck back among the other agents.
The syndicate bosses, who were dealing with the chaos in the other districts, also
arrived somberly. In contrast, Flander, the captain of the mercenaries, came back
with his head high boldly. It was a given, as they have done a great deal.

“…I’ll have a word with you all later. Go take care of your districts and get me a
damage report. The mercenaries did well. I’ll make sure you are well compensated.
Go and help the syndicate bosses.”

The syndicate bosses, standing nervously under Isaac’s glare, dashed away the
moment Isaac issued his orders. Flander, on the other hand, followed behind the
syndicate bosses trying to suppress his grin.

“You lost Rodney and Niske?”

“We’ve captured the rest of notable Port City citizens and finished interrogating, but
those two seemed to have made their escape on a fast ship even before all this
happened. We are currently using an airship to track them down.”

“I guess they could’ve made it if they booked it the moment they saw me and realized
their plan was ruined.”

Isaac nodded understandingly, and the agent reporting to him sighed with relief
before joining his colleagues.

“What about Lanburton?”

Most of the people who should be here had arrived, yet not one non-human was
among them. Rivelia spoke with a troubled expression.

“We sent a messenger, but there was no reply. It seems they are focusing all of their
manpower in combing through New Port City.”

“Are they not even asking for reinforcements?”

“No. In fact, they were wary of us. And reports say they clashed with the magical
spire district in their search, who was forcibly suppressed.”

“Hm. It ended rather quietly. I thought it would get to a dangerous level.”

The magical spire district was occupied by all the various magical spires, making
their denizens an extremely powerful combat force. Not even the fools that attacked
the city dared not to touch them, but the non-humans in search of Rizzly didn’t care.

Their ransacking would meet local resistance, but the non-humans would continue
forward without mercy. More force would meet more resistance, beginning a
downward spiral violence. It would not have been strange for a few deaths to result
from it.

Plus, living up to their name, the magical spire district had plenty of offensive and
defensive artifacts to use. One pull of a trigger from an impulsive man and it would
cause a massive chain reaction.

Isaac was worried at first and tried to put a stop to it, but he no longer cared when
he heard that Kalden was shot to death. He didn’t know who did it, but if they
wanted chaos, Isaac couldn’t do anything about it.

Isaac was somewhat surprised by how quietly it resolved itself. Rivelia glanced
around to see if Cordnell was around before speaking.

“The non-humans shifted their liability for the damages to you.”

“…”

Of course they would be quiet.

Isaac smirked and pulled out a cigarette. Cordnell would, of course, throw a tantrum
at this lunacy, but this was an excellent chance for the magical spire workshops to
exaggerate the damages and make a profit.

“Tell Lanburton to come back here again. We’ll start in the meantime. Any of you who
know how all this started, say whatever you know now.”
One by one, the agents presented the information they had compiled as Isaac silently
listened, his mouth always chewing on a new cigarette. Thanks to that, Isaac had a
rough sketch of the timeline of events, although the organization behind all this was
still veiled in mystery.

First were the prominent individuals of Port City. Threatened by a looming

bankruptcy, they coerced Zeroman into being the figurehead of the reunification
effort.

New Port City accepted the offer happily, and Port City celebrated their successful
endeavour of selling their assets for more than they were worth. But in their
preparations to migrate elsewhere, New Port City suddenly revealed the airship

By the time the Port City prominents realised they had been tricked, the Empire had
begun releasing technologies beyond their wildest imaginations—as if they had been
waiting for this very moment. Quickly, they realised that they themselves had kicked
away their chance at resurgence.

The timing of their transaction with New Port City was too impeccable. Although
reunification wasn’t framed that way, the only people who profited from it were the
high-profile citizens of Port City. There was nothing for the ordinary citizens of Port
City.

At this point, they would remain outsiders to the echelons of the upper class no
matter where they went. There was no way to undo the reunification this late either.
These prominent individuals were practically running around in circles—when
Rodney and Niske suggested assassinating Isaac.

At first, everyone else rejected the idea in fear of Central. That was when Anton
appeared. Everyone was surprised first by his survival and again when they heard
that he had ascended to become a swordmaster by holding onto his hatred and
desire for vengeance against Isaac.

With everyone now agreeing that there was a chance, they planned on executing
their plot on the day of the reunification festival. The first group they recruited were
the combat knights of Rosenburg Viscounty, who had suddenly found themselves
unemployed in their field of expertise.

The combat knights, all burning for vengeance, accepted the offer, and the Port City
Individuals provided them with a hideout to stay in.

They also recruited syndicate members of New Port City to create chaos from within.
Calling in each and every favour they had, they reached out to members who were
dissatisfied with how the city was currently running.

The syndicates—which had fought each other for dominance when the districts
were separate bodies—had lost their place when Soland suddenly united all the
districts under his rule.

Most syndicates had followed the trend and lowered their heads to Soland’s
authority. But to the few idiots clinging onto old memories of unadulterated violence
and lawlessness, Port City had thrown them a bone—promising them the power of a
crime boss in the old days.

Port City even presented a tremendous bounty in the event of success. Blinded by
greed, the fools joined in and commenced their attack on Soland when the
warehouses exploded—just as planned.

“So that’s roughly how everything is?”

“…This seems too haphazard.”

Rivelia commented with a frown. According to this timeline, Port City only took five
days to determine the date, recruit combat knights, and convince the renegade New
Port City syndicates.

“Right? I don’t understand it either. Even if everyone else was a fool, the people of
Port City are educated and well-informed. So why did they join in such a haphazard
plan? Not to mention that five days shouldn’t even be enough to assemble enough
substance to blow up the entire warehouse district. But it was all too perfect—from
their planting to detonation.”

The entire plan had one objective—assassinating Isaac. Probability of success aside,
there was no follow-up plan if it succeeded. Central’s intervention was a given, yet
not one person feared such a situation. It was also strange that they didn’t have a
specific plan for dealing with Rivelia and the non-humans, which should have been
their biggest concern.

Many bore grudges against Isaac, but Rivelia and non-humans were the reason most
didn’t dare attempt revenge. If Rivelia or non-humans were injured or even killed,
there would be consequences for not just the culprit but their friends and entire
families. Yet, this plan took none of it into consideration.

Isaac was pondering the glaring holes in their plans when Lanburton jumped off a
roof and landed lightly on his feet.

“Where’s Rizzly?”

“We are still searching for him. But has everyone gathered here?”

“What do you mean everyone?”

Isaac cocked his head at Lanburton’s question, when Lanburton suddenly raised his
arm. In response, the elves and North Bears revealed themselves from rooftops of
buildings and at the entrance to the plaza.

“What are you doing?!”

The agents murmured among each other in a panic, seeing the repeater crossbows in
the non-humans’ hands. Rivelia protested Lanburton’s actions.

“I apologize, but everyone gathered here must be investigated by the Directorate of

Surveillance.

“This is insubordination!”

“I know. But please understand our…”

“Hey, Mr. Lanburton.”

“…Yes.”

Lanburton gulped when Isaac interrupted his conversation with Rivelia. Isaac slowly
rose from his seat, scanning his surroundings. Every elf and North Bear flinched and
turned away when Isaac’s eyes glanced in their direction.
“Kalden is dead.”

“I am sorry to hear the news. But…”

Bang!

The shotgun roared with fire. Lanburton had made a panicked retreat the moment
he found himself staring into the other end of the barrel. Looking at the crater of
pellets where he had stood moments before, he stood nervously.

Isaac had always approached the non-humans like a friend. This attack was a
warning that such a relationship might be on its last legs.

“You didn’t know Port City was double-crossing me, you didn’t know Anton was
alive, you didn’t know the combat knights smuggled themselves in, and you didn’t
know there was an assassination plot against me? Am I supposed to doubt the
abilities of Surveillance? Or am I to doubt the Surveillance’s intentions? Rizzly’s gone
missing and Kalden was shot in the back of his head. And now, the non-humans—
you—who have been acting independently are now boxing me in? How am I
supposed to take this in?”

Isaac spoke as he holstered his shotgun, pulling out his modified crossbow instead.
Not only the non-humans but even the agents stepped away from Isaac. That was the
original design of Central’s new weapon, developed to match the firepower of
firearms, in the limelight.

That was Isaac’s personal weapon—which somehow had the ability to nullify the
power of defensive coats, baffling even the brightest minds of Central’s laboratory.

Pulling out the crossbow instead of the shotgun meant that Isaac was willing to fight
for real if things came down to it. Cold sweat dripped down Lanburton’s forehead as
he lamented his situation mentally. Once again, he was shocked by the Queen’s
diabolical, even inhuman, scheme. How complicated she made everything was just a
dilemma—one that Lanburton needed to solve by undoing the misunderstandings
before they crossed the point of no return.

“First and foremost, most of the manpower of the Directorate of Surveillance were
preoccupied with tracking down the Expeditionary Force that infiltrated our world
from a small Gate that was opened nearby. ”
Hostility noticeably lessened in Isaac’s eyes, replaced with curiosity.

“Let me guess. The Gate opened not even 10 days ago right? Surveillance focused all
their efforts on the sudden Gate, and Port City managed to proceed with their
assassination plot without being noticed. Don’t you think it’s too good of an excuse?”

“With so much of our manpower dedicated to tracking the activity of the

Expeditionary Forces, it created a hole in our surveillance network. We only received
the emergency report now.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that Surveillance noticed just now right?”

“…”

Lanburton’s face crumbled. He grit his teeth, reminded of the cunning Queen and
how she had caused such a disaster simply by delaying the transfer of information
within Surveillance’s systems. Lanburton couldn’t even fathom how deep the Queen
had infiltrated the Directorate of Surveillance.

“My thoughts are this. Surveillance thought I was pushing the boundaries too much
and wanted to put me back in my place. So you guys caused this.”

“You are mistaken!”

“Really? Then explain to me this. Rodney and Niske saved Anton and hid him until
now. Why didn’t Surveillance notify me of this? Were you too busy because a Gate
opened back then as well?”

Lanburton’s face twisted in frustration. That was Surveillance’s mistake from start to
finish. They hadn’t foreseen a mutual relationship with Isaac back then.

It was kept secret to be used as a trump card to eliminate Isaac at some point. The
Director of Surveillance ordered the plan terminated when it was disclosed, and
everyone thought the order was delivered. But it was intercepted at some point.
Most likely, it was the Queen’s doing.

So their secret weapon had dealt their original wielders a crucial blow. The Director
of Surveillance had put so much time and effort to make sure the monster doesn’t
awaken, but the mistakes of Surveillance caused Kalden’s death, and the monster
now doubted Surveillance. Lanburton feared who would be able to withstand their
Director’s fury.

Lanburton looked around seeking for help, but all elves and North Bears
immediately ran away when Isaac stood up, only daring to peek out their heads from
edges of roofs and alleyways and watch the situation.

‘Those heartless bastards.’

Even Rivelia looked at him skeptically, convinced by Isaac’s reasoning. He had retired
from Surveillance long ago, yet heaps of work piled up in front of him all of a sudden.
He was getting too old to deal with this.

“The Directorate of Surveillance will formally apologize for their lapse in oversight. I
will force them on their knees if I have to. But it’s more paramount to fix this
situation first, right?”

Isaac deliberated for a moment before nodding and putting his crossbow away.
Although he was convinced that Surveillance trying to screw him was the most likely
answer, Lanburton’s panicked face convinced him to listen for a little longer.

Seeing the mood lighten, the elves and North Bears emerged with relief. Lanburton
was looking at the two races grudgingly when Isaac spoke to him with a new
cigarette in his mouth.

“Now, tell me, just what was so important now that you halted your search for Rizzly
and came to me instead? You had best know who shot Kalden in the head at the very
least.”

The elves and North Bears who had been quietly coming in quickly retreated back
into the alleyways. The anger hadn’t disappeared. Now it was just sharpened and
controlled, like a knife at Lanburton’s neck.

“Mr. Rizzly seemed to be kidnapped along with Miss Laila, but we haven’t figured out
their location, the culprit, or their aim.”

Isaac’s brow twisted. Lanburton quickly continued before Isaac’s temper exploded.

“But we did receive information that someone here knows the truth behind this
incident!”
“That must be related to why you formed a perimeter around us.”

“That’s right.”

“So it was one of them that killed Kalden.”

Isaac’s cold glare turned to the agents of Security, panicked and confused that they
were now the target of Isaac’s anger. The elves and North Bears quickly surrounded
them.

“That’s impossible! What reason could the agents of Security have to betray us!”

Rivelia rejected the idea as if it was preposterous, but Isaac nodded, considering it
plausible.

“I did have my suspicions when I saw that Kalden was shot in the back. It means the
culprit was familiar enough for Kalden to turn his back to him. So, who was it?”

Lanburton hesitated with a troubled expression, and Isaac frowned deeply.

“Don’t tell me you don’t even know who it was?”

“That is, we only received very vague information as well. We’ve put all our efforts in
finding Mr. Rizzly but failed, and just when reinforcements were about to arrive from
the Directorate of Surveillance, they warned us of suspicious activity. Although it was
too late by then.”

Lanburton couldn’t say the warning came late because of Queen’s sabotage. Looking
at the circumstances, it was precisely because of that they let their guard down and
lost Rizzly.
“So there is a traitor, but you don’t know who it is.”

The agents looked at each other worriedly as Isaac’s gaze swept through them.

“That is why we’ll be interrogating.”

“With your elven specialty?”

“Yes. We’ll be able to pick up on their lies as we interrogate them one by one.”

Lanburton answered confidently, but Isaac smirked at the idea.

“And how long is that going to take? I’m sure they’ll have plenty of time to escape by
then.”

“But that is our only lead.”

“Finding the traitor is easy enough.”

“What? You have a method to find them?”

Lanburton exclaimed, surprised, while Rivelia and Security agents trembled at the
looming ambiguity.

“Everyone who was in Port City today are excluded.”

Most of the agents rushed out of the gap as the line of North Bears parted ways for
them, relieved. Once the group exited, only six agents were left, and they all looked
worriedly at Isaac. The non-humans surrounded them, forming rings upon rings
around the six.

“Are they the suspects?”

“Probably?”
One of the left behind agents desperately cried out.

“This doesn’t make sense! You can’t just treat us like traitors just because we weren’t
in Port City!”

“Then let me ask this one thing. Why weren’t you there?”

“What? That’s because…”

The agent who tried to argue back frowned in frustration. Why did the agents go to
Port City? Because they wanted to switch to Laila’s side.

Most agents of Security were veterans who had served Central for over 10 years
except for a select few individuals. That was why they’d be willing to quit the
Directorate of Security if Laila were to employ them as officials in her vacant
administration.

Even the few agents without a decade of service could ride the wave through lateral
positional transfers, which was why they also assembled in Port City to demonstrate
their support. So staying behind in New Port City itself was inherently suspicious.

The agents of Security had initially applied for generous future rewards. But
suddenly, there was an alternative route to an even more bountiful reward—and
sooner as well. No matter the excuse, inconsistencies popped up left, right, and
center regardless.

Because of their task as double agents? Because they were sick? Because they
wanted to rest?

Those excuses meant nothing when they survived through contests of survival thinly
veiled as training, and especially surviving vile treachery all around afterwards—
only to land in a muddy ditch. Kicking away an opportunity to escape made no sense
whatsoever.

“Nothing to say? Subdue them.”

The North Bears subdued them roughly before the agents could even react. Kneeling,
the six agents sent silent, pleading gazes for help from their fellow agents, but
everyone had made up their mind to ignore them.
“There are agents of Surveillance and Analysis among them too.”

Rivelia commented, convinced that of all the directorates, Analysis would be the last
to betray them. Isaac nodded at her.

“Let me apologize in advance.”

Isaac signalled one of the nearby agents to bring him a chair. As everyone wondered
why Isaac apologized, he sat on the chair and crossed his legs.

“There is the possibility that one of you really is innocent.”

“That’s right! I am innocent!”

“But as you know, we don’t have time. There’s a lot that needs to be done. So if you
are innocent and don’t know anything, keep saying that. I’m going to kill you all
regardless.”

“…”

A chilling silence fell around them. A declaration that innocent deaths were just
unfortunate and nothing more.

“Kukuku. Yeah, kill us. But you won’t get any information out of us.”

The sudden change in the agent pleading innocence turned everyone’s heads as they
watched.

“Robert, have you truly betrayed us!”

One of the agents outside the perimeter—apparently one of his good friends—cried
out in disbelief, only to have Robert shout back.

“Who do you think you are calling a traitor! We are the Order of the Empire, and we
swore to dedicate our lives to the Emperor and the Empire!”

“…What are these stupid Order of the Empire retards?”

Isaac asked, and Rivelia stuttered as she answered, her face pale from shock.
“The Order of the Empire… is an organisation of Central agents who have sworn
fealty to the Emperor and the Empire. But Sir Jackson, you were a vassal of the
Pendletons. How could you!”

“The Pendletons are the threat splitting the Empire into two. Do you not see how
much suffering is had for us humans because the Pendletons prevent us from being
united as one? I swore my fealty to the future of mankind long ago.”

Rivelia stepped back, trembling.

“See how convenient it is when you reveal your identity? Let’s just make things easy
for both of us. Who killed Kalden?”

Robert looked at Isaac begrudgingly and spoke.

“I have nothing to say to you. You may have escaped thanks to luck this time, but you
and the whore you follow will meet their demise by the hands of the Order of the
Empire!”

“Your death will be a clean one if you cooperate.”

Robert snorted at Isaac’s offer and shouted.

“Our conviction is hard as steel and our loyalty to the Empire undying. We will never
submit to any amount of pain and suffering!”

“We are the Order of the Empire! We are the hidden blade that protects the Emperor
and his Empire!”

Robert chanted loudly, and the other agents repeated after Robert in unison.

Isaac watched the scene unfold for a moment and sighed. He stood up and dragged
his chair behind him as he approached one of the members of the Order.

Krrk, krrk. The sound of scraping wood echoed in a silent plaza as Isaac approached
Robert, who was among the other subdued members of the Order. He set the chair
facing away from Robert, placing his arms on top of its backrest and resting his chin
on them.

“There was an author I personally liked in the previous world. I don’t know if this
author commented himself or plagiarised it, but he left this phrase. ‘Man starts wars
when there is something more dear than life and ends them when nothing is more
dear than life.’ Now, let me ask you one last time. Is your conviction more important
than your life?”

“Of course!”

Robert replied immediately without even giving himself a second to consider

otherwise. Isaac nodded and muttered, “I see.” Isaac gazed at Robert’s face.

“Is it too big? Open his mouth for me.”

Isaac gauged the size of the eggbomb as he spoke, and the North Bear restraining
Robert grabbed his jaw and ripped it open.

With the chilling ‘crack!’ the jaw opened ajar.

“I can’t keep the bomb stable now. Go find something to fasten it.”

Isaac spoke with a frown, and one of the elves swiftly provided the North Bear with a
rope. Isaac took the eggbomb out of his pocket.

Robert was writhing in pain from his broken jaw when his eyes bulged at the sight of
Isaac taking out the eggbomb. Isaac twisted the eggbomb and immediately shoved it
into Robert’s mouth.

“Tie it up nicely so it doesn’t fall off.”

Isaac spoke indifferently as Robert struggled against his restraints in vain. Isaac
dragged his chair to the member of Order next to Robert.

“I respect a man with conviction. Using an entire mana crystal to kill a man is a grand
death matching their conviction. Don’t you think so too?”

Immediately, Robert’s squirming head exploded. Isaac and the agents around him
were bathed in his aftermath. Isaac roughly scraped off the flesh that dripped down
the barrier and smiled.

“So, what is more important, your life or your conviction?”

The agent quivered for a moment, and then shouted out with his eyes closed.

“Kill me! I have sworn my life for the Emp…”

“Excellent.”

Crack!

Isaac glimpsed at the North Bear, who immediately broke the agent’s jaw. Isaac
shoved the eggbomb into his mouth and moved to the next agent.

Bang!

The pause before detonation seemed to be shorter this time, as the agent’s face
exploded before Isaac could repeat the question. This time, however, an elf shielded
Isaac from the shower of blood and flesh.

“Stop! Sir Jackson is part of Pendleton. Leave his punishment to me!”

Rivelia quickly stepped forward when Isaac’s wrath turned toward Jackson, but
Lanburton blocked Rivelia’s path.

“We reject Pendleton’s intervention.”

“…”

Rivelia weakly stepped back in face of Lanburton’s emotionless gaze. This incident
involved Rizzly’s kidnapping of all things. Even a Pendleton couldn’t stand in the way
of the non-humans, who were most sensitive to damages affecting fellow non-
humans.

Isaac glimpsed at the scene for a moment before asking the question with a smile
still present.

“Oh dear? It seems not even the Pendletons can save you?”

“…I forfeited my life the moment our plan failed. Central’s scrutiny is unavoidable.”

“Now doesn’t that sound like you had a way out if you succeeded in killing me?”
“…”

Isaac asked and Jackson closed his eyes as if he had nothing more to say. He opened
his mouth, demanding to be killed.

“Good! I am impressed. I’ll let you live. No. Not just you, but the rest of you as well.”

Jackson’s eyes opened while the non-humans looked on with great discontent,
unable to discern the reasoning.

“You can’t do that. They must pay with their lives!”

One of the North Bears argued back, but Isaac grinned and answered.

“But I don’t want to? Why should I kill these brave souls who would forfeit their lives
for their conviction? I will be managing them personally from now on. Anyone who
dares to harm them for vengeance and what not will be taken as an offense against
me, be it Central or non-human.”

“…What are you planning to do with them?”

Lanburton asked Isaac. The North Bear may have just had a short fuse, but
Lanburton knew Isaac didn’t act in kindness. Isaac replied, cigarette in his mouth.

“Go find their family, relatives, friends, partners, and whatnot. Every single one.”

Jackson’s eyes widened.

“My family has nothing to do with this!”

“If you visit Smartass, you’ll see what happened to the idiots that attacked the city.
Go and do the same to them. Ah! And make sure you relay this message to them: that
we did this because they knew a brave soul who valued their conviction over their
lives.”

“You demon! Just kill me instead! Kill me!”

Jackson and the other members of the Order renewed their struggle, fiercer than
before.
“Hm? But who’s going to take care of your family afterwards? Someone needs to help
them. Aren’t you curious if you’ll be able to hold onto your conviction to the very
end, or if you’ll regret it after listening to the wails of your friends and family?”

Isaac snickered and the members of the Order quivered. Isaac sat on the chair again,
his arms and chin resting on the chair’s backrest, and spoke.

“Now, my brave souls who’d gladly sacrifice their lives for conviction, let me ask this.
What’s more important: your conviction, or your family?”

(End of volume 8)