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Count Arsene grit his teeth.

How could he not understand?

‘Right now, there’s no one here more frustrated than you.’

He lost his wife and child overnight.

Another son is now blind in one eye.

Yet the king, whom he served with lifelong loyalty, told him to just vent a little and bear with it.

This was no reward for loyalty.

The position of a vassal was insignificant.

No, they received less consideration than rat droppings.

It was a choice made solely for maintaining the king’s own power and influence.

If he had even a bit of consideration for his vassals, at the very least, he shouldn’t have made this decision.

‘Either trust your vassals and let them fight even if they break, or call out Marquis Foltaine yourself and deal with him according to the law. No matter what, isn’t this wrong? O, King of Hart.’

Thus, Count Arsene couldn’t avoid secondary or tertiary damage.

The royal family set the stage assuming a complete defeat.

Despite being the obvious victim, he had no choice but to show a powerless collapse in front of countless onlookers.

In this way, Count Arsene would lose not only his family but also himself.

‘What is it that you want to protect so much that you’d go to such lengths? Is power so important?’

There is no king without vassals.

There is no country without its people.

Loyalty, chivalry, duty as a vassal— those pretentious values lead to this kind of outcome.

‘I won’t let it happen now that I’m involved.’

I clenched my fists.

At this moment, Count Arsene was a reflection of my past self.

And that’s why.

‘I won’t watch this kind of foolishness again. At least not from those around me.’

For that, I had to regain my past strength as soon as possible.

I needed to become more accustomed to this new body.

And it just so happened that the environment was perfect.

‘The battlefield.’

I had lived my whole life in a place where blood and flesh flew.

A battlefield where I constantly tread the line between life and death at every moment.

The only place that could forcibly maintain an extreme state of tension.

In such an environment, I could regain my strength much faster.

“…… Even if this is a slave mentality……”

It was then that the silent Count Arsene spoke.

“……In reality, defying the king’s orders could lead to being accused of treason.”

“Treason? In a situation where every bit of power is precious, would he really cut off his own arm just because of a disobeyed order?”

“……”

Count Arsene just looked at me without answering.

“……Ha……”

It didn’t take long to realize that his silence was an affirmation.

“What kind of person is the king of this country? At this point, I’d like to at least see his face once.”

“……Even so, he is praised as a wise king. He tries to avoid fights that can be avoided, and he personally steps in to actively mediate disputes and controversies that happen right in front of him.”

In other words, he’s a cowardly little chicken.

“When opinions among allies diverge, rather than rashly taking sides, he wisely leads them to reach a consensus. So no one feels slighted.”

In other words, he’s indecisive and delegates all important decisions to his vassals.

Basically, he’s shirking responsibility.

“Just looking at the fact that he has unequivocally designated the first prince as the next king shows that he believes it’s better not to shed blood among family. No one disputes that the current king is a wise ruler.”

He’s your typical fool, who thinks he can control his children as he pleases.

“Furthermore, he extremely dislikes things going wrong once a decision has been made. I’m not mentioning treason just for the sake of it. Regardless of my feelings, I can’t defy the king’s orders because of such realistic issues.”

“Fine. Then let’s overturn the board.”

“Overturn…… the board?”

“The answer is already clear, isn’t it? Even so, we can’t follow such a ridiculous royal command……”

A faint smile appeared on my lips.

“Let’s make those Foltaine bastards defy the king’s orders instead of us.”

“What?”

Only then did Count Arsene’s eyes widen.

This was actually better.

In war, it is natural that the defending side has the advantage over the attacking side.

There’s a reason why they say you need at least three times the number of troops to besiege a fortress.

“We’ll create a situation where those bastards lose their cool and attack us first.”

“It would be ideal if we could, but…… how exactly?”

“Before we talk about that……”

I glanced towards the garden, which had been noisy since morning.

“The spies who escaped. You lost track of them, didn’t you?”

“……!”

Count Arsene’s expression hardened again.

“……I’m embarrassed.”

“There’s no need to be so ashamed. You don’t need to scold your subordinates either. This was an inevitable outcome.”

“How can I not be ashamed? We lost them so helplessly, even though their escape route was obvious!”

“They’ve been hiding in your household for over a decade, waiting for an opportunity. Their level of preparation is not ordinary.”

“……”

Count Arsene finally fell silent.

“If the Marquis of Foltaine was employing such foolish lackeys, you wouldn’t be in such a predicament now.”

“That’s……”

“In any case, to carry out our plan, we need to capture them first.”

Count Arsene let out a long sigh.

“It’s too late. The spies disappeared without a trace as soon as they exited the north gate. We should have captured them within the castle, while they were still in our territory. I’m sure there must be another force aiding their escape.”

“Well……”

On this point, my opinion differed slightly.

“Given the way the Marquis of Foltaine has behaved so far, he doesn’t seem like someone who cares that much about his subordinates.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Would he realistically take such risks just to save a few spies? From what I’ve seen of the Marquis of Foltaine, he would probably just tell them to bite their tongues and die.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Although illegitimate, you can tell just by how he treats his own children, can’t you?”

“……!”

Count Arsene flinched, seemingly realizing something.

“Lurking around will only provide the enemy with an opportunity. It’s better to sever ties altogether. That way, it’s easier to deny having planted spies here in the first place.”

“Then where are those bastards now? Are you saying they escaped right under our noses without any support? That’s absurd.”

I stood up from my seat.

“Well, I have a rough idea where they might be, so please leave this matter to me.”

***

Late at night, when twilight had fallen outside the window.

Without lighting even a single lantern, three men gathered in the living room.

They were none other than the spies from Count Arsene’s household who were reported to have escaped outside the castle.

“We will stay hidden here for the time being.”

This place was a plain house located in the center of the city.

There was very little chance of arousing suspicion.

It wasn’t an empty house; a family of four had lived here until recently.

Moreover, the family continued to lead normal lives to avoid arousing the neighbors’ suspicions.

“When did you manage to bring the captain of the north gate guard to our side, sir?”

“He has been on our side for a long time.”

Jake answered calmly.

It was only natural.

Anyone with a brain would choose the Marquis’ household over the Count’s.

Even commoners knew about the power of the noble faction in the Hart Kingdom.

Fools who knew nothing claimed the two factions were evenly matched.

Some idiots even said the royal faction was still stronger.

This was because Duke Kairos, known as the kingdom’s greatest swordsman, was in the royal faction.

However,

‘Do the other two dukes just sit idly by?’

Out of the three masters in the kingdom, two were in the noble faction.

Moreover, they were much younger than old man Kairos.

Unlike the eighty-year-old geezer, the two dukes were only around fifty.

If the two in their prime joined forces, there was no way they couldn’t handle one old man.

“A war is about to start.”

“……!”

The two spies, who had been listening attentively to Jake, widened their eyes.

War.

They knew what war meant in this context.

It wasn’t just about a territorial dispute.

“At last……!”

“Will it be alright? Duke Kairos is still strong, isn’t he?”

“People age. There’s information that Duke Kairos hasn’t left his house recently.”

“Do you mean he’s suffering from old age?”

“Even a superhuman is still human. He cannot go against the natural order.”

As if finally understanding, the two other spies nodded.

“So we’ll continue with our task.”

“Our task?”

“We’ve lost contact with our comrades. That likely means they failed to eliminate Vigri de Foltaine.”

The two spies exchanged knowing looks.

“We will make sure to kill that bastard and silence him.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Pardon?”

“That filthy pig is no longer needed. Our real goal was different from the start.”

They say that plans should have a second, and even a third, layer.

It was a kind of diversionary tactic.

“We caused a commotion in the east and created chaos in the west. By now, they probably think our real target is Vigri de Foltaine and have increased the security around the prison.”

“Are you saying……?”

“The enemy is extremely confused right now. They are trying to protect that idiot while also chasing us.”

“You mean there’s another plan?”

“That’s correct. We don’t have much time. Soon the pursuers will notice something is wrong. Before that……”

Jake’s eyes gleamed with a murderous intent as he trailed off.

“……We will personally eliminate Count Arsene.”

“……!”

The two spies widened their eyes, not expecting Count Arsene’s name to come up.

“C-Count Arsene?”

“B-But he’s an Expert-level swordsman. Can we do it by ourselves?”

Jake chuckled at their concern.

“Do you know why the Marquis sent me here? Because I’m stronger than him.”

“……!”

The meaning of these words was clear.

“Were you…… hiding your true strength, sir?”

“The operation will take place at dawn. I’ll personally kill Count Arsene, and you just need to create a distraction near the underground prison……”

Rustle.

“……”

Suddenly, Jake, who was speaking, fell silent.

“The plan sounds plausible, huh? Maybe that’s because you haven’t been hit yet.”

“……Who’s there?”

“They say it’s darkest under the lamp, and here you are, hiding like rats.”

“You are……?”

Jake’s eyes widened as he confirmed the identity of the figure who casually opened the window and entered.

It was none other than that wretched kid from the Count’s household.

“How did you find this place……?”

“My informant is quite exceptional, you see.”

“……”

Jake’s gaze turned dark.

Right.

Everything had gone wrong because of this bastard.

Originally, he would have gradually built trust and then escaped after eliminating Count Arsene at the crucial moment.

“Did you come alone?”

“No need to bring anyone else to deal with a few rats.”

“……Heh, I had a feeling.”

Shiiing.

A chilling metallic sound echoed around the room.

Despite this, the arrogant kid remained calm.

“I knew as soon as I saw you.”

“What?”

“It’s you, isn’t it? The one who killed Lady Isabelle.”

“……So? What’s your point?”

“I examined the wound that caused her death closely. It was clean— too clean. It wasn’t the work of knights swinging their swords around this way and that. It had to be someone highly trained. Like an ‘assassin,’ for example.”

“……!”

For the first time, Jake’s pupils trembled.

“Judging by your aura, you’re at least an Intermediate Expert level. There are only a few organizations on the continent that could command someone like you. Maybe one on the level of the Five Great Assassin Guilds.”

“……”

“Wouldn’t you find it strange? If Vigri de Foltaine was the real target, why not use someone of your caliber? Why send incompetent lackeys?”

At this point, Ancelot’s voice took on a meaningful tone.

“One more thing.”

“……?”

“The first thing Swallow did after gaining power was to eliminate those Five Great Assassin Guilds, right?”

This I remember clearly.

The emperor, who desired immortality, had an intense desire to live.

He wasn’t the type to let assassin guilds, who could threaten his life at any time, run free.

So, towards the end of the unification war, he personally ordered the commanders of the north, south, east, and west to wipe out the Assassin guilds. The Five Great Assassin Guilds, especially, were to be hunted down and killed like rats.

“After that, assassins dared not show themselves openly. So how is it that someone like you is still walking around so brazenly?”

Ancelot hated the Empire but acknowledged their strength.

The Five Great Assassin Guilds?

Those assassins would have been wiped out within ten years at most.

But now, more than twenty years have passed since then.

“Just who are……?”

Suddenly, Jake, who was about to say something, froze

.

In a grotesque twist, Ancelot’s mouth stretched into a wide, unsettling grin.

He had never seen such a chilling smile in his life.

“I’m really curious. Who is the true master hiding behind a slave like you?”