Uh, how…….
He had assigned a 5th-Circle high-ranking mage and an upper Sword Expert knight as escorts to the royals.
Of course, the real purpose wasn’t escort but surveillance.
To prevent the royals from doing anything foolish.
Yet they evaded their eyes and subdued the royals?
No, it wasn’t subduing.
No mana was felt at all.
And if it wasn’t evading their eyes but the mage and knight were also taken down?
Taru swallowed and asked.
“Wh-who are you?”
He was curious about the man’s identity.
What on earth was his identity to show such bold actions?
At Taru’s question, the man—Gaon—smiled brightly and answered.
“You don’t need to know.”
Crackle!
At the same time, Taru froze.
Next, the frozen Taru floated up and flew behind Gaon.
And Gaon left the room.
Taru was just the beginning.
There were still quite a few in the duchy who needed to be killed.
Of course, not everyone needed to be killed.
Gaon put those who didn’t need to die to sleep with Sleep.
While roaming the entire mansion and cleaning up like that, Gaon smiled.
It was because of the auras detected by his senses.
Gaon continued the cleanup with a smile.
And shortly after finishing the cleanup, Gaon approached the window and looked at the mansion entrance.
A group appeared at the mansion entrance.
All were mages.
And quite high-level ones at that.
Gaon made a welcoming face upon seeing the group of mages.
Not because they were new prey.
The group of mages were the ones Gaon had called.
They’re busy, yet they put in quite the effort.
Gaon left the mansion and went to greet them at the entrance.
“I greet Lord Gaon.”
The representative of the group of mages at the front.
Pianus, the Vice Tower Master of Alter Tower, bowed his head and greeted politely.
“I didn’t expect the Vice Tower Master to come. Thanks for the consideration.”
“No, not at all. Haha, it’s a request from Lord Gaon, so I have to move personally!”
Pianus answered with a broad smile.
And he swallowed upon seeing the figures inside the floating ice chunks behind Gaon.
He sent them all away.
Gaon had contacted Alter Tower.
Asking if they could manage the Eltang Duchy’s territory for a while.
What did that mean?
It meant he would clean up the Eltang Duchy.
Cleanup could mean various things.
So he had wondered what kind of cleanup, and it was ‘death’.
Well…….
He didn’t think Gaon’s actions were excessive.
He knew the past of the Eltang Duchy—no, the Melrdia Kingdom.
From Gaon’s perspective, this level of action was perfectly natural.
“Should we start managing right away?”
Pianus asked.
“Yes, and…….”
Gaon trailed off and flicked his finger.
Then, the ice chunks containing the corpses of Taru, the head of the Eltang Duchy, and Crown Prince Roden flew in front of Pianus.
“You’ll need them.”
If Alter Tower suddenly said they would manage, there could be backlash.
But if there were the corpses of Taru and Roden?
The backlash would greatly decrease.
“Yes, thank you.”
Pianus expressed thanks and stored the two ice chunks.
“Oh, and this too.”
Gaon took out a bundle of papers from his pocket.
Currently, those Gaon had killed were the key figures staying in Eltarion, the central city of the Eltang Duchy.
The Eltang Duchy’s territory was vast.
There were several cities besides Eltarion, and in those cities were those managing the cities under Taru’s orders.
And naturally, most of them were targets for cleanup.
“I’ll handle it cleanly.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem! Considering the favor you’ve shown, it’s only natural.”
Pianus answered with a broad smile.
Gaon had bestowed a great favor on Alter Tower.
Not referring to decoding the formation.
It was Gaon who had helped the Tower Master of Alter Tower, Bladi, enter the 8th Circle.
Bladi had said.
Without Gaon, he never would have entered the 8th Circle.
What kind of realm was the 8th Circle?
Pianus, a 7th-Circle, knew better than anyone.
And at Pianus’s words, the mages with him also looked at Gaon with eyes of awe.
Gaon smirked at the gazes of the Alter Tower mages and said.
“Everyone, work hard. I can help with crossing the wall anytime.”
Helping enter the 7th Circle or 8th Circle wasn’t difficult.
As long as they were at the entry level, he could easily help them enter.
At Gaon’s words, everyone’s eyes flashed.
“Yes! We’ll work hard.”
And Pianus answered as representative.
“But where should we hand it over to……?”
Next, Pianus cautiously asked.
Gaon had asked to manage for a while.
In other words, someone to manage the territory would come soon.
So he was curious.
Should they hand it to Varta, the Lown County, or Gardion?
“It’s undecided yet. It might take some time.”
Ultimately, he planned to subjugate it to the Varta Kingdom, but not right now.
The distance was too far to exert proper influence.
The same for Gardion Tower.
Not as much as Varta, but Gardion was also quite distant.
Considering distance, the Lown County was best.
But the Lown County’s capacity was the issue.
Currently, the Lown County was already overwhelmed with just Coexistence Zone 14.
Managing the Eltang Duchy’s territory in this situation?
It wouldn’t be managed properly.
So Gaon planned to observe the situation for a while.
To see where to entrust it.
“But it won’t take too long. Don’t worry too much.”
Of course, he couldn’t observe indefinitely.
Alter Tower was in a cooperative relationship, not a hierarchical one.
“No! You can decide slowly. We can train anywhere anyway!”
Pianus laughed heartily and answered.
And Gaon also smiled.
“Thanks for saying that. I’ll be going now.”
Gaon exchanged farewells with Pianus.
Alter Tower had agreed to handle the aftermath.
The Eltang Duchy was as good as finished now.
In other words, it was time to head to the next destination—Coexistence Zone 15 and handle the Eon Kingdom’s matters.
***
The office of Calvin Reito, head of the Reito County.
“……”
Calvin stared at the crystal orb without a word.
Until just before, Calvin had been communicating with Taru, head of the Eltang Duchy.
But the communication suddenly cut off.
What?
The problem was the scene he saw just before it cut.
It definitely looked like a person…….
For a moment, something in human form appeared behind Taru.
This…….
It didn’t feel good.
It felt similar to the ominous feeling when the Tower Master of Tower of Fire, Sinabro, died.
Calvin tried communicating again.
But there was no answer.
No, it wasn’t no answer—the communication itself didn’t connect.
What this meant was one thing.
There must be a problem with the Eltang Duchy’s communication coordinates themselves.
Could it be Gaon?
Suddenly, Gaon came to mind.
The Tower Master of Tower of Fire, Sinabro, was killed by Gaon.
Sinabro wasn’t the only one killed by Gaon.
A large number of mages from Tower of Fire were killed by Gaon.
If the culprit of this situation was Gaon?
It wasn’t a baseless delusion.
The Melrdia Kingdom, to which the Eltang Duchy belonged, was originally part of the Varta Empire.
When the Varta Empire’s power weakened, they rebelled and became independent.
In other words, from Gaon’s perspective, the Eltang Duchy was like rebels.
It wouldn’t be strange for him to deal with them anytime.
Moreover, if it was Gaon, the current situation made sense.
The problem was that the Reito County was no different.
The Eon Kingdom had also rebelled and become independent when the Varta Empire’s power weakened, just like the Melrdia Kingdom.
Of course, unlike the Melrdia Kingdom, the Eon Kingdom’s national power was solid.
Moreover, with excellent diplomacy, their backers were firm.
But he couldn’t relax.
Gaon was the madman who committed absurd acts in Tower of Fire, one of the Ten Great Towers.
He absolutely couldn’t relax.
……I need to contact right away.
It seemed he couldn’t stay like this.
If the Eltang Duchy’s situation was related to Gaon, it wasn’t just the Reito County’s problem.
It was the Eon Kingdom’s problem.
He needed to inform the royal family of this fact as soon as possible.
Only then would the royal family contact their backers, the Rios Empire and the Holy Empire of Seionia.
If those two protected them?
Even Gaon wouldn’t move easily.
I need to contact separately too.
Of course, he didn’t plan to contact only through the royal family.
Calvin also had a significant connection in the Rios Empire and planned to contact separately.
Having decided, Calvin immediately stood up.
And he left the office and headed to his second wife’s residence.
Shortly after arriving at the residence, Calvin could meet his second wife, ‘Asilia’.
“What brings the head here?”
Asilia asked with a cold face and voice.
“Haha, I came because I missed you.”
Calvin answered with a sly smile.
Of course, Asilia’s coldness didn’t disappear at Calvin’s answer.
“Ahem.”
Calvin cleared his throat.
Normally, he would have listed all sorts of flowery words to melt the coldness.
But this wasn’t the situation for that.
“Actually, it seems the Eltang Duchy has been hit.”
“……The Eltang Duchy of the Melrdia Kingdom?”
Asilia asked back with a surprised face at Calvin’s words.
“Yes, it seems like Gaon did it, just like with Tower of Fire…….”
“……Then we can’t relax either.”
“Right, he’s the madman who caused trouble even in Tower of Fire…….”
“Then you came to me because of Father?”
“Yes, if my father-in-law exerts his influence, even that Gaon won’t cause trouble in our territory.”
Asilia was the youngest daughter of Simuler, head of the Belling Marquis Family in the Rios Empire.
And the Belling Marquis Family was a house with quite a strong voice in the Rios Empire.
“Alright, I’ll contact Father first.”
“Thanks, and I’m planning to go to the palace right now.”
“You’re thinking of getting help from the royal family too?”
“Yes, it’s not just our family’s matter.”
***
The office of Sarpa, head of the Aiol Viscount Family.
“I greet Lord Gaon.”
Sarpa prostrated and exclaimed.
“Thank you for giving us the chance to correct our ancestors’ mistake.”
The Aiol Viscount Family had joined when the Eon Duchy became independent from the Varta Empire.
But it wasn’t voluntary.
At the time, refusal wasn’t possible.
If refused?
They would have been attacked from all sides, and eventually everyone in the territory would have died.
The Aiol Viscount Family’s choice at the time was inevitable.
The reason Gaon chose the Aiol Viscount Family was precisely that.
Because he knew it was an unavoidable situation.
“Stand up.”
Gaon said while sitting in the chair.
Then Sarpa stood up.
And Gaon continued.
“Before coming, I cleaned up the Eltang Duchy.”
“……!”
Sarpa made a surprised face at Gaon’s words.
“And now, starting with the Reito County, I plan to clean up the Eon Kingdom too.”
“Just give the order, I’ll stake my life.”
Sarpa answered with a resolute face.
Gaon smirked at Sarpa’s reaction and said.
“No need to stake your life. Are you confident? Confident in managing the entire Eon Kingdom.”