n

n

n-At the Prime Minister’s Office-

nHaving read the report from Serena, the Prime Minister looked up at the ceiling.

n“The matter regarding His Highness Linus is an issue.”

nIt would’ve been fine if their transactions could serve to weaken the enemy countries, but their enemies weren’t so naïve.

nThey would come asking for profits from the side that won, and it was not Linus who would have to prepare the remuneration.

nRather, the burden would fall on the subjects that serve the empire.

nThe Prime Minister honestly wished that the princes wouldn’t make such selfish promises in their attempts to become the next emperor.

nHowever, such exchanges were common in the history of the empire, so there was no need for him to panic.

nInstead, it was Liam who was causing the real problem here.

nHe was actively trying to form friendly connections with another country and was supporting them with a large amount of supplies.

nHe was assisting a country that was hostile to the country Linus was involved in, and Linus was naturally aware of this fact.

nFor Linus, this was no different from having a glove thrown at him from someone he intended to punish.

nIn addition, Liam had formed a Cleo Faction which had around 200 aristocrats under its banner.

nIt had initially begun with only about 100 nobles, but the number was gradually growing.

nThe nobles that had joined the faction were mostly those that couldn’t properly manage their own territories

nTo be blunt, these noble households were mostly powerless.

nBy supporting these kinds of households, Cleo was trying to increase his presence.

nIn reality, it was Liam who was actually providing the resources.

n“So he has been gaining power through proper territorial management. It is indeed a rather well-grounded and practical management method.”

nThe Prime Minister was also in favor of this type of territorial management, not only because of the rare metals that could be gained from it, but also because it did not slight or offend other parties.

nHowever, this meant that Liam was determined to have a full-scale confrontation with Linus.

n“How will His Highness Linus react?”

nThe Prime Minister was looking forward to how this game would unfold.

n◇

n-Linus’s Room-

nInside, Linus was pushing away everything that was on the desk with his hands.

n“That little braaaaaat!!”

nRecently, a malicious rumor about Linus was being spread.

nThe content of the rumor was about Linus conducting shady transactions with people from another country.

nIt was the truth, and it became apparent to Linus that there was a formidable intelligence network working under Liam.

nHowever, Liam did not seem interested in backing Linus to a corner with this piece of information alone.

nIt was instead the Calvin faction that was constantly jabbing him with this fact.

nLinus truly wished to crush Liam, but he was too worried to do so due to the Calvin faction which he constantly had to be wary of.

nWhen he held his breath and snapped his fingers, a group of men emerged from the floor.

nThese men had unique masks on them and knelt in front of Linus.

nOne of the underground organizations behind the empire was in Linus’s hand.

n“You appear to be troubled, Your Highness Linus.”

nWhen their leader opened his mouth to speak, the voice did not sound muffled despite the mask on his face.

nLinus sat down in a rough manner, not bothering to hide his dissatisfaction.

n“It’s time that you guys act. Make an example out of Cleo — and kill Liam.”

nThey were an organization that specialized in performing dirty tasks like assassinations, and their current employer was Linus.

n“Not to mention Liam, assassinating His Royal Highness Cleo would come with a steep price. After all, the female knight on his side is rather skilled.”

n

n

nThe blood vessels on Linus’s forehead twitched and his eyes were about to bulge out.

n“And what of it? Eliminate them immediately. I’ll erase any fools that dare to challenge me.”

nThe masked men laughed.

n“Well, they did kill one of our men.”

n“Although it’s a bit late, we can take this chance to exact revenge.”

n“But will this be fine? There’s still His Highness Calvin to look out for. Are you sure about devoting some of your power to deal with His Highness Cleo? ”

nLinus naturally understood what the man was getting at.

nCalvin’s case was trickier to handle compared to Cleo’s.

nYet he couldn’t afford to ignore Cleo – or rather Liam – any longer.

n“—Erase them.”

nWith Linus’s verdict, the masked men sank back into the floor, disappearing from the room while being on their knees.

nLinus gazed up at the ceiling.

n“I hear that you’re confident with the sword, but these men have been active behind the scenes of the empire. They’re not opponents someone of your caliber can handle, Liam.”

nThey were people that have been working in the shadows of the empire for the past two millennia.

nCountless strong knights fell under their assassinations.

nBrute strength alone meant nothing against them.

n“Although Liam also has a Black Ops of his own, there shouldn’t be as many people in it as the Empire’s. Again, you have offended the wrong person.”

n◇

nThe Inner Palace was shrouded in the darkness of the night.

nInside his room, Cleo was alone and staring outside of the window.

nHe was sweating and having trouble falling asleep.

n“What an unpleasant feeling.”

nEver since Linus declared war on him, he couldn’t sleep in peace.

nRealizing how fragile his will was, he felt disheartened.

nBehind such a Cleo, a group of people wearing masks slowly rose up from the floor.

nStunned, Cleo turned around and took a step backwards.

nWhen he grabbed the handle of a sword that he had hidden on him, it turned into a laser blade.

n“Who are you?”

nThere was something peculiar about these men who were wearing masks.

nCleo knew that they were powerful, but compared to a knight, he perceived a different type of strength dwelling within them.

nWhen the masked men fully got out from the floor and showed their entire bodies, he saw that they were holding the heads of other men that were wearing similar masks.

nSome of them still had their torsos intact. Others had nothing below their necks.

nCleo couldn’t help but drip cold sweat.

n(Who are they!?)

nJust then, the door suddenly opened and Tia entered the room.

n“Your Highness Cleo, are you well?”

nTia had a rapier on her hand, and it was drenched in blood.

nSome blood seemed to have splashed on her as well; there were some blood marks on her clothing.

nCleo called out to Tia.

n“Be careful! These people are dangerous!”

nThese “dangerous” men stood aside when they saw Tia enter.

nTia walked past them and approached Cleo to confirm his well-being.

n“So you were safe.”

nCleo was stunned, but he soon came to a realization.

n“They’re on our side?”

n“Yes.”

nTia, having confirmed Cleo’s safety, took out a communicator and contacted somebody.

n“It’s me… Yes, I see. We must always prioritize Lord Liam’s life.”

nTia then cut off the communication and explained to Cleo what was happening.

n“His Highness Linus has made his move. Assassins were dispatched to us and Elliot of the Clave Company.”

n“Assassins?”

nCleo recalled that there existed Shadows that came and went from the inner palace.

nHe turned towards the corpses on the hands of the masked men.

n(That’s them? It’s my first time encountering them.)

nBut this was also problematic in its own right as the masked men in front of him had on similar masks.

n“Are they truly on our side? They have similar appearances.”

nDid Liam hire people from the same organization?

nHe was having such thoughts when Tia beckoned him to hurry.

n“Rather than that, let us move quickly. Lord Liam will be worried otherwise.”

n

n

n“—Fine.”

n◇

n-The Head Office Building of the Clave Company-

nThe inside of the meeting room was covered in blood.

nElliot was sitting on a chair, pretending to be unmoved by the sight in front of him.

nHe was staring down at the traitors in front of him with crossed arms and legs.

n“Was it His Highness Linus’s instruction to betray me?”

nThe men in suits were the captured executives of the Clave Company.

nThe hired assassins were sprawled around them.

n“I’m sorry, Chairman!”

n“We acted in consideration of the Clave Company’s future!”

n“This will never happen again!”

nStanding besides Elliot were some masked men.

nOne of them who were spinning a knife close to his face walked to the executives and glared at them with his blood-red eyes.

nFrightened, the executives fainted as they frothed at their mouths.

nThe three escorts around Elliot were personnel dispatched by Liam.

nOn the windows of the conference room were small cracks that suggested a shooting.

n“Chairman Elliot, they were apparently trying to match His Highness Linus’s movement to remove you from this world. Basically, this is the result of their own decisions.”

n“Really? What a pity.”

nElliot’s back was drenched with sweat.

n(I never imagined that such an impressive force was around me.)

nHe believed that some capable knights would be dispatched as his escorts.

nIn reality, it was Kukuri’s subordinates that were sent to protect him.

nThe number of hired assassins that were killed by these three had exceeded ten.

nEven the sniper outside the window was not spared.

nThe masked men began a conversation.

n“What about Lord Liam?”

n“The head is with him.”

n“Let’s talk about something more interesting.”

nElliot had mixed feelings when he witnessed his escorts chatting merrily with dead bodies next to them.

n(If I were to turn coat, the same fate awaits me as these guys.)

nLiam was very scary. Yet at the same time, he was very reliable.

n(Liam-sama, I won’t be holding back. To make the company grow and for me to become the leader of this company both in name and in authority, I would need your assistance.)

nFrom the time he assumed leadership of the huge trading company, he was prepared to weather the storm.

nElliot was pleased to know that he had gained a powerful ally.

n◇

n-At that time-

nOn the rooftop of the hotel that Liam resided in, people wearing masks were fighting fiercely.

nThe person who was against Kukuri was one of the most powerful combatants in the organization.

nBut this man was panicking.

n“Who are you guys? How are you guys using the same techniques as us!?”

nHe was losing his calm because their opponents were employing the same techniques as they were.

nHe had quickly recognized that their techniques were not similar, but identical.

nKukuri responded to the question.

n“Same? No, you’re wrong. They’re not the same. You are simply imitating us.”

n“W-what are you talking about!?”

nKukuri’s shoulders shook as he laughed at confused man in front of him.

n“You are different from us. Did you guys start a new organization after stealing our techniques? No wonder your skills are so rusty. The core has been lost.”

nThe man surveyed his surroundings.

nHe was starting to get agitated as his colleagues were being defeated one after another.

nAs the situation was not in their favor, he tried to escape, but Kukuri’s subordinates encircled him, preventing him from doing so.

nWhen several of them touched the ground, a terrifying rune enveloped the entirety of the rooftop, hindering the activation of all movement magics.

nThe man judged that there was plausible escape route, but he regained his cool.

n“You’re trying to confuse me; however, it’s not going to work.”

nTwo thousand years had passed since Kukuri and his gang were petrified.

nSuddenly being told that a new organization was formed based on the techniques left behind by Kukuri and his associates, it was no wonder that the man had his doubts.

nThe possibility of people from 2,000 years ago reviving never crossed his mind.

n“Confuse you? Hmm, this might be an occupational disease. You are very skeptical of others’ words. Now, we should wrap things up soon.”

nKukuri shortened the distance between them and extended out his arm.

nIn response, the man leaned back to avoid his arm.

nKukuri’s hand managed to touch the man’s mask, exposing the man’s mouth which warped into a smirk.

n“Got you.”

nAs the man said so, insect-like legs that resembled a spider’s appeared from his back, piercing through his clothes and stabbing at Kukuri from eight separate directions simultaneously.

nIt penetrated Kukuri from his back and came out from his chest.

nKukuri’s subordinates that were around them expressed astonishment and were about to wield their weapons to help.

nThe man knew that he was about to die, but he cackled because he was able to drag Kukuri down with him.

n“I’ll have you all accompany me to hell!”

nThe man planned to activate the bomb implanted within his body.

nThe bomb had enough firepower to blow away Liam along with the entire hotel building.

nThinking that he could accomplish his mission in exchange was his life, the man chortles.

nUnfortunately, Kukuri, who the man thought he had killed, started to move again.

nWith his eyes glowing red, Kukuri punctured the man’s chest with his bare hands and pulled out the bomb, disarming the bomb in the process.

nThe man who was now vomiting blood from his mouth was shocked to see that Kukuri was alive.

n“H-how?”

n“You shouldn’t have lowered your guard. Regardless, that was an eye-opener. A technique which we do not possess. We’ll be studying it in depth.”

nKukuri pulled out the legs that were stuck within him.

nThe way he did so showed that he hadn’t received any life-threatening injuries.

nThe man, on the other hand, was detained by Kukuri’s subordinates.

nKukuri then observed and touched the man’s body with interest.

n“A hidden mechanism modeled after a spider? They’re also properly smeared with poison. Hmmm, they’re not bad, but they’re nothing amazing either. I’m intrigued, though. Is there a piece of technology that can reproduce the characteristics of other organisms?”

nOne of Kukuri’s subordinates spoke up as he was engrossed in his investigation of the man’s body.

n“Lord Liam is calling for you.”

n“Hmm, how unfortunate! Then half of you will remain here to collect the bodies and examine them. Since they can be considered our juniors, treat their corpses with care. That said, I want to study him while he’s breathing, so don’t kill him.”

nA gag was put on the fainted man, and his treatment began soon after.

nKukuri proceeded to head to Liam.

n◇

nI call Kukuri after the assassins have been cleared up.

n“Is it over?”

n“Yes. His Royal Highness should be serious about this seeing as considering that he sent his experienced veterans.”

nAlthough I knew that he was unnerved, I didn’t think he would reflexively react by trying to assassinate us.”

nA prince should be more thoughtful.

nKukuri infers what the other party is thinking.

n“He also has a dispute with His Highness Calvin. He probably wanted to get rid of us as soon as possible.”

n“He thought we could be easily disposed of, huh?”

nSimply put, he didn’t put me in his eyes.

nHow boring.

nI’m always welcoming towards enemies who aren’t vigilant. Nonetheless, I won’t stand being looked down on like this.

nFor Linus, Calvin should be his main rival.

nWe’re nothing but an annoying obstacle to him.

n—Thanks to that, we’re in a favorable position.

nLinus, Calvin, and the Emperor. It’s better to deal with them one at a time.

nThat said, I’ll have the insignificant Linus disappear first.

nSince he’s so impatient to erase us at the first sign of provocation, he would have lost to Calvin one day anyway.

n“If he’s sent assassins strong enough for you to describe as experienced, won’t Cleo be in danger?”

n“Please be assured as we have already taken him under our protection.”

nKukuri is really efficient at doing his work and is an excellent subordinate to have, unlike some two idiots.

nI am blessed to have met such a great subordinate.

nIs this also thanks to the Guide?

nI can’t thank him enough.

nI shall pray today as well.

n“We’ll head to where Cleo is.”

n“Acknowledged.”

n

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