“Everyone has gathered.”
Viscount Alons Keilid, First Chamberlain of the Ministry of the Interior, reported that all the required personnel were present.
Before beginning his speech, Kain signaled with his hand for Baron Heinrich Denver, commander of the Imperial Guard, to approach.
“Are the preparations complete?”
“Perfect.”
Though it was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, sufficient troops had been deployed around the imperial grand banquet hall in case someone suddenly transformed into a demon like Baron Hog Melros.
Right beside Kain stood Baron Denver, a Grand Chevalier, and Aaron Valerian, who had stepped into the early realms of Meister.
Count Steiner Landerck waited with fifty imperial knights in a position from which they could reach the hall within three minutes if anything happened.
Yet if everything went according to Kain’s prior plan, the knights would not need to draw their swords here today.
“Loyal retainers of the Empire and the imperial house.”
Amid faint tension, Kain began his address before the assembled nobles and officials.
His plan was simple: while delivering the prepared speech, he would quickly scan the setting books of the thirty-odd people gathered in front of him.
Of course, the setting books were not omnipotent.
Relying on them alone to uncover every traitor would be excessive optimism…
But with luck, he could at least pick out those with suspicious histories or individuals worth keeping an eye on.
Even without hard proof, simply separating those with a high probability of betrayal would be helpful.
During the speech that lasted more than ten minutes, Kain succeeded in reviewing every setting book present and identified roughly five individuals who showed signs of treachery.
Now the Ministry of the Interior, the mages of the towers, and the imperial knights would combine their strength to begin investigations into these people.
Yet in the midst of it all, Kain lowered his head with a trace of regret.
The complete annihilation of the Hassassin is truly crippling.
The necessity of an intelligence agency—he felt it keenly.
Originally, the emperors of the Felberg Empire had commanded the elite assassins known as the Hassassin, directly under their control.
But every last one of them had been wiped out in the Founding Day Catastrophe.
The Hassassin were not only individually formidable; above all, they controlled numerous informants and assassins beneath them, making them extraordinarily useful for the preservation of the imperial house.
With their total annihilation, the means to contact the networks they had overseen had also vanished.
The informants and assassins they had trained were now beyond the current imperial house’s ability to control.
But still…
“There is a way.”
Beings who operated in the darkness, uncovered the enemy’s weaknesses, and drew their blades to strike those weaknesses when needed.
For the governance of the Empire, Kain needed such people.
And fortunately, he recalled the name of a noble who could provide information about the now-dead Hassassin.
Theseus Haren.
The Haren Earldom had been loyal to the Felberg Empire and the imperial house since ancient times, yet when no more Sigil-bearers appeared among the imperial bloodline and legitimacy began to wane, they were one of the families that declared neutrality.
That much was common knowledge, but there was a hidden setting.
The Haren family had once been among the houses that trained the Hassassin.
Of course, it was so long ago—back when Sigils still manifested continuously in the imperial bloodline.
By now they publicly claimed to have no connection whatsoever to the Hassassin or any assassins.
But Kain knew better.
Perhaps the Haren family still knows.
The direct lines of communication the Hassassin had independently established with their assassination cells and informants.
Even after so much time had passed, the Haren Earldom was virtually the only family that might still possess that knowledge.
Though the Hassassin themselves were dead, if he could absorb the assassination cells they had trained, the intelligence warfare, covert operations, and assassination capabilities—currently the greatest deficiencies of the imperial house and the loyalist faction—would increase dramatically.
“Viscount Keilid!”
His deliberation was brief.
Kain immediately summoned Viscount Keilid and ordered him to arrange a meeting with Count Haren.
As it happened, Count Theseus Haren was already in the capital, Granada.
Once disappointed that the imperial house had lost the Sigils, he had nevertheless been part of the emperor’s faction at heart.
The moment he heard that the imperial house had regained a Sigil, he immediately rescinded his declaration of neutrality and hurried to the capital to rejoin the loyalists.
Count Theseus Haren, who had been closely watching Kain’s recent actions, spoke calmly to the messenger who had come seeking him.
“Lead the way.”
Having only recently inherited the title from his father, he was still a young noble.
His reply was as straightforward as it was crisp.
Yet at that moment, after the palace messenger delivered the audience schedule and departed, a young mage of the Haren household offered counsel to his lord.
“My lord, would it not be wise to delay a little longer?”
A bold subordinate daring to suggest playing hard-to-get with the Emperor himself.
Count Haren merely smiled faintly and shook his head.
“I must go now. The later I join, the more my loyalty will be doubted.”
He spoke not of duty, but of practical advantage.
His eyes glinted with swift calculation.
“Your Majesty, Count Theseus Haren has arrived.”
Viscount Alons Keilid, First Chamberlain, announced the count’s arrival in a solemn tone.
Kain answered with a slight nod, and the Imperial Guard opened the firmly shut doors of the audience chamber.
“I am Theseus Haren, Count Haren. I come before Your Majesty the Emperor.”
The moment the doors opened, a black-haired man wearing formal black attire and a monocle over his left eye entered with restrained yet unmistakable presence.
Count Haren paid his respects to the Emperor of the Empire with calm voice and measured movements.
Kain acknowledged the greeting with a light nod instead of words.
“Come in, Count Haren. I have been waiting for you.”
There was no reason to hide it.
Kain openly displayed his pleasure.
At his frank demeanor, a faint smile also touched the corners of Count Haren’s mouth.
“I apologize for not coming sooner.”
He offered no excuses, only sincere regret for his tardiness.
On Founding Day, every member of the imperial family except the exiled wastrel Third Prince Kain Felberg had been massacred, and the loyalist faction suffered near-total annihilation.
As imperial authority had already begun to crumble, and as long years passed testing their loyalty, many of the Felberg Empire’s retainers had either slipped into the shadow of the Five Pillars or declared neutrality to survive.
The Haren family had been among them—once the most dangerous shadows who moved at the Emperor’s command, responsible for training the Hassassin—but when imperial power weakened, they declared neutrality to protect their house and lands from the Five Pillars’ threats.
Yet now…
The moment they heard the new emperor, Kain, bore a Sigil, they returned.
To be the very first to write their name on the loyalists’ joint petition before the master of the Sigil.
They had raced to the capital in a single step.
“I suppose here I should say I understand your position?”
At the perfectly balanced demeanor of Count Haren—neither lacking nor excessive—Kain silently activated the Wanderer Privilege.
[Using Stage 1 Wanderer Privilege to partially view the setting book of ‘Theseus Haren (Count)’.]
The instant he wished to read it, a single line of system message announced the activation, followed by the setting book itself.
<Theseus Haren (Count)>
Traits possessed: Grand Chevalier (A), Walker of the Night (A), Executioner of the Back Alleys (A), Assassin Blade (B) — further traits unavailable for viewing.
Summary: The Haren Earldom is a loyal family that has guarded the night of the Felberg Empire from the continent’s darkest places since ancient times and once trained the emperor’s direct assassination corps, the Hassassin. However, as the Empire gradually walked the path of decline and imperial authority faltered, they declared neutrality and began conserving strength for the future.
Upon reading the revealed portions, hazy memories sharpened.
Kain recalled far more about Theseus Haren.
The Haren Earldom had maintained its influence for generations by raising assassins for the Emperor.
Known as the nobility of the night, they trained elite assassins through secret methods passed down since the founding ancestor.
Yet because of a frail constitution and hereditary illness transmitted through the direct bloodline, most direct descendants could walk neither the path of assassins nor outstanding knights.
But Theseus Haren was different.
Though he still carried the hereditary frailty and illness, his talent as the current head of the family was unprecedented in Haren history.
To save a dark-fantasy world, you need not only an outstanding protagonist but many outstanding supporting characters as well.
In the original story, the character who belonged to the assassin class among the companions helping the player protagonist, Veil Sunchaser, prevent the continent’s destruction had been none other than Count Theseus Haren.
Of course, compared to other companion characters, Theseus had very low screen time, so even developer Kang Ji-hoon’s memories of him were faint.
But now that they stood face to face, the memories naturally returned.
Come to think of it, there was a way to cure the Haren family’s hereditary disease…
If he dug through his developer-era memories, he might recall it.
If he could sever the chain of that curse-like hereditary illness, the Haren family would remain loyal to the imperial house until their dying breath.
But that was not the priority right now.
“Count Haren.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“There are many watching eyes here. May we move elsewhere for a moment?”
“I shall follow.”
An immediate answer.
Kain rose from the throne and headed toward the small inner chamber attached to the audience hall.
Smaller than the audience chamber, it was protected by far stronger magic circles and barriers.
A place where, on days like today, the Emperor could speak quietly with a select few when necessary.
There was no need to explain why Kain had brought him here.
He had moved to the inner chamber to discuss the reconstruction of the emperor’s direct assassination corps, the Hassassin.
The existence of the Hassassin was hardly a secret, but the fewer who knew of conversations like this, the better.
“The Empire has little time, so I will dispense with preamble and be direct.”
“Speak freely, Your Majesty.”
“Do you know the means of contact for the Hassassin?”
If he truly wished to return as a loyal retainer, this was the minimum proof of loyalty he would have to offer.