Eldin was busy in the Royal Capital.
‘I hope this is helpful.’
He wanted to help the House Ofern, which was now being led by his younger brother. He wanted to be just as useful to the family as his brother.
There was no jealousy. Rayrn had brought far too much to Ofern for that.
Eldin, who had a sound mind, did his best in his own position.
Whenever people from various houses gathered, he would visit them.
“Oh, Sir Eldin. What brings you here?”
“I came to share some recent news.”
He went and did not just kill time like before. He led the conversations. And then.
“Please, take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
“It is a video regarding the rumored Orcs.”
He spread the news of the threat of the Orcs that had been sent from his territory.
“So this is the video from the rumors.”
“Oh! Can Orcs really grow this massive?”
“Because they are strong.”
The nobles in the Royal Capital did not know the terror of monsters. It was rare for nobles themselves to face monsters directly.
To them, the threat posed by Orcs was not something they felt in their own skin.
“How interesting.”
It was merely a fun and interesting video.
‘They might not move right away.’
But Eldin was not disappointed. Showing the videos to the nobles in this way was a form of setting the stage.
He was not setting the stage for nobles who didn’t know the threat of monsters.
“Are you saying that a real problem has occurred in the Northern Mountain Range?”
“That is correct. It is substantial. If things go wrong, a large-scale disturbance could occur.”
“……That is a problem.”
He was setting the stage for those who could recognize the seriousness of the situation, those who knew the danger of the monster threat.
Those who heard the news approached Eldin carefully.
“If a problem arises, can we join forces?”
“……The fiefs are far from each other. However, if there is something we can do to help, we should. The threat is always present.”
“That is good.”
In that way, Eldin gathered the nobles in the Royal Capital little by little.
‘Those who approach after seeing our family’s strength are no good. Better a proper person than some meddler.’
Eldin, who resembled Earl Ofern, never moved lightly. When news about Rayrn echoed through the Royal Capital, he acted with even more self-restraint.
Once the rumors died down and the eyes on House Ofern were lifted little by little, he searched for the real ones who stood revealed from that point on.
Slowly but steadily. That was how Eldin operated.
“Let’s prepare a plan together.”
“That sounds good!”
The results in the Royal Capital were beginning to show little by little.
However, the people in the Royal Capital were not just standing by and watching that scene.
Their gaze had only been lifted for a moment. The Royalist faction nobles in the Royal Capital always had one foot in House Ofern.
Not only was Rayrn an Aura Expert, but Eldin had also revealed his power later.
Eldin, who revealed his strength at the Royal Academy Knight Selection, was clearly strong. He possessed an Aura that was difficult to attain at that age.
Eldin was in his twenties, but still in the early years. Becoming an Aura Expert at that age was synonymous with being a genius.
House Ofern had been famous as a martial family from the beginning, but not to this degree.
‘There is something there.’
The Royalist nobles pricked up their ears. They read every move.
In addition, they did not just sit still and moved by issuing various schemes. They were continuously implementing multiple plans at once.
And.
“House Ofern is making a move for certain. We might need more containment.”
“If we make contact this time and fail, then we must implement containment.”
“Hmm…… I will prepare.”
Having read Eldin’s definite movements, they gathered to make a choice, and they prepared.
Whether their preparation would be a gain or a loss for House Ofern was unknown. However, it was certain that various movements were directed toward House Ofern.
There was also a place that poked its tentacles into a place other than House Ofern.
It was the Duke’s Household of Jisert.
They were not interested in House Ofern right next to them. Rather than targeting those who were firm and secure, they targeted the weak.
That was the way the Jisert family had grown until now.
“……It was tough. There were quite a lot of them, weren’t there?”
“I did not know they would replenish their forces further. I suppose they wanted to see the end of it.”
“Still, we succeeded in barely fending them off.”
The Duke Jisert, who broke the silence, dyed parts of the fief with blood.
Capable of resonating with his fief through a special secret technique, he pulled the power of the land toward himself and crushed the Black Mages.
The Black Mages, who were struggling at first, changed their methods and moved.
‘Duke Jisert was one. Were they not many?’
“Scatter. Destroy everything. That will become the seed for our great cause!”
“As you command!”
The Black Mages scattered, pledging their lives. One by one, or two by two, they dissolved like points and were released to every part of the Jisert family’s territory.
“There! Pursue them!”
“Kuaaaack!”
As they divided, they also became weaker. There were cases where knights and soldiers who were at a loss against the gathered Black Mages succeeded in catching them.
However, in cases where they failed to catch them as they fled, it led to a painful result.
“Into the thick darkness…… Arise! Undead Summon!”
Crunch. Snap.
Zombies. Skeletons. Skeleton Knights. Even Ghouls!
Black Mages who were prepared to die purchased the lives of the dead undead by pledging their own lifespans.
“Spread out!”
Gr-g-g-k
That was enough.
The Black Mages neither controlled nor led the reanimated undead. They simply set them loose.
The undead began to scatter in all directions.
The undead were a disaster in themselves. Those who died to the undead rose as undead.
“Kyaaaaack!”
“Save me!”
They were just weaklings against knights. But against commoners, the undead were strong.
The civil guard and the guard corps worked together to fight to stop the undead, but that was all. The side that won was.
“Jack-son! ……Ugh.”
Grrk.
The dead rose again from death. They were undead.
“……Trivial things.”
Thud. Thump.
In step with that, Duke Jisert set his feet toward all parts of the fief.
“Exterminate them.”
“Yes!”
He left the handling of the undead to the knights and soldiers. Instead, he concentrated his attacks on the Black Mages.
And the result obtained was the land of House Jisert, filled with blood.
‘……What I obtained is the Demonic Mana.’
Thick Demonic Mana of the undead and the Black Mages settled in every part of the fief.
Duke Jisert used a special secret technique to move and pull that power into one place.
Thump – Thump –
The Demonic Mana he gathered pulsed like a living creature.
He succeeded in gathering the Demonic Mana.
“Is it true you still haven’t come up with a plan to use it?”
“……I apologize.”
“Study it. I will give you enough time.”
He could not utilize it.
However, he could not get rid of it either. It was power gathered by killing dozens of Black Mages. It was a power so vast that even Duke Jisert, who could be called invincible in his own territory, coveted it.
‘If I only had that power……’
Greed could not help but arise even for Duke Jisert.
If he could only draw upon all that power, he would not just stay in the Jisert fief. It was a power so massive that it would spread the name of the Jisert family everywhere.
That was why there could be no choice but to feel a deep sense of regret. Thanks to that.
“It is a dangerous power. It is better to get rid of it.”
“Stop it. This is something I have decided.”
Despite the dissuasion of those around him, Duke Jisert never got rid of the collected Demonic Mana. He wanted to control that massive power.
It was a figure similar to the late Marquis of Owen, who believed he could control Demonic Mana.
However, Duke Jisert had no way of knowing that. Instead.
“What happened to the Black Mages who fled to the House of Marquis Owen?”
“There is no way to know. That side is in a complicated situation due to the civil war.”
“Hmm…… I suppose it couldn’t be helped as organizing the fief took longer than expected. Let’s prepare to head down soon.”
“Yes! We have troops that have been prepared since winter. You will be able to see them soon.”
“Good.”
The time was full spring. Just before the hot energy of summer would arrive.
The Jisert family began to stir. It was toward the House of Marquis Owen, not House Ofern.
And that movement.
“……This is not normal.”
“I will go and inspect it myself.”
“Do not overdo it. Even if you have the Stealth Technique, you have not reached that realm yet.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
The Black Crows, who had set foot in the Jisert household, were reading it down.
Swish
Possessing a high level of expertise in the Stealth Technique, they were the elite among the Crows. It was a level where they were not easily detected by knights, only easily caught by Rayrn.
They used the Stealth Technique to send information without rest. It was during that time that they obtained the movement of the Jisert family.
The news was delivered immediately to the leader, Ident.
“Hmm……”
Ident, who received the information, could not help but shudder.
Everything.
‘I should start getting the House of Owen moving too. It’s a good thing I prepared. Just as Master Rayrn said.’
It was due to the awe of things going exactly as Rayrn expected.
Rayrn had seen the House of Marquis Owen as one of the pieces to keep the Jisert family in check.
He had advised Ident to adjust things so that even if he sucked the marrow out of the House of Marquis Owen, the House of Marquis Owen should not fall immediately.
That advice hit the mark perfectly.
With one of the three axes—Ofern, Jisert, and Owen—shrinking, Jisert was moving to devour it.
‘I must report this to the Earl.’
Thinking that he should listen more attentively to Rayrn’s words, Ident sought out Earl Ofern.
“Earl. It seems it is time to trigger the prepared scheme.”
“I do not know how much time we can buy. Let us try it once.”
“Yes!”
The areas around the Ofern fief were beginning to turn complex again.
Meanwhile, Rayrn was.
Clang – Clang –
He was looking at the magic tower branch, which was being built in a special way, with admiring eyes.
‘It’s big and massive.’
The Enchant Magic Tower were mages and at the same time no different from master craftsmen. Even if they weren’t mages themselves, they possessed master craftsmen.
The magic tower, which brought them through the Teleportation Magic Circle, began construction immediately.
Having procured the materials themselves, they were raising the magic tower branch levels as if by magic.
“Wow. It’s quite large for a magic tower branch. I expected it, but…… on top of that, it’s special.”
“It’s our own secret method.”
“I know. But that secret method, hmm…… I think I can roughly figure it out?”
Actual magic was also being incorporated.
‘Did they put reinforcement into the materials, and is it a way of making a magic circle by inserting frames in between?’
Others might not be able to read it easily, but there were secret methods visible to my eyes. There were many that would be good to use immediately in the fortress.
‘I must apply it without being caught.’
Unlike the magic tower mages who still could not interpret the magic circles, I was absorbing them as I saw them, as if I were holding a family record.
‘It’s more comfortable now that I’m Class O. Hehe.’
Whether they knew it or not, the magic tower mages were raising the magic tower at a fast pace. Toward them, I.