Ian’s strategy seemed quite effective.
“Cough!”
“Wait, why isn’t the poison taking effect… cough!”
Ian’s sword pierced the enemies’ hearts.
Behind him, Nathan and two other knights finished off the remaining enemies.
And one of the knights spoke to Nathan.
“Sir Nathan! These enemies are carrying a lethal poison. How could you engage them so rashly?”
“Some of our own have already fallen to it…”
“Nonsense. The antidote the prince gave us is incredibly effective. Look.”
“…!”The antidote Ian prepared quickly neutralized the enemies’ poison.
Nathan, smirking as he took the antidote, approached Ian.
“Setting aside the miraculous antidote formula, was it truly necessary to resort to poison against such small fry?”
“Safety is paramount. Knowing the enemy’s scale, saving money is something a fool would do.”
“Indeed, the prince is wise.”
Surveying the scene, Nathan observed fallen enemies writhing in agony.
This marked the third group they had encountered.
‘The large mountains are a good advantage, and thanks to the enemies scattering to capture the princes, we were able to defeat them one by one.’
“Still, less than half of the enemies remain. We’ll be finished soon.”
“Yet, less than half remain. Our task is not yet complete.”
“Prince Louis seems to be finished as well. It looks like he’s trying to join us.”
The poison used by Garcia’s Secret Special Force was notorious across the continent for its danger.
They had been unable to find the antidote materials, but Ian knew them well.
Just then, Nathan whispered.
“Your Highness, are these all the First Prince’s troops?”
“Well, I’m not certain, but according to my brother’s intel, the possibility is high.”
He had some information regarding the First Prince, but Ian had never encountered him in his past life.
If it turned out that this person was indeed vying for the throne and was connected to the reasons behind his own death in his past life…
‘I need to gather information here.’
Perhaps having a similar thought, Nathan sighed.
“These are mere pawns. It’s a shame we didn’t torture those guys from the Secret Special
Force.”
“Are there no survivors?”
“None. They chose death as easily as breathing. Those bastards…”
But soon, Nathan’s expression changed as he noticed more enemies rushing towards the mountains.
“Those people are…”
“Do you recognize them, Sir Nathan?”
“I’ve seen them a few times before. It’s Viscount Jade and Count Roy.”
“!”
Nathan, the second son of the Marquis of Adelas and a former socialite, possessed exceptional eyesight, allowing him to identify enemies even without banners.
His expression showed that he had figured out who was behind it all, despite verbally expressing his disbelief.
“Do they not understand the crime of murdering royalty? If they get caught, their families will be utterly destroyed.”
“It might be a high-stakes gamble for them. There could be more significant motives at play.”
“But, Your Highness?”
“What is it, Sir Nathan?”
“Wouldn’t it be wiser to flee? There’s no need to engage in combat…”
His question was valid, but Ian laughed.
“Why flee? This presents an opportunity to unmask traitors among the neutrals.”
“Even with the Helgaia territory’s forces, it’s difficult to fight them. We could just film their faces and escape.”
“And then report it to His Majesty?”
“W-Well, yes?”
After all, they were significantly outnumbered.
If they were determined to flee, it would be quite feasible.
“They wouldn’t be able to capture us unless they spread a vast net to surround the palace.”
At the very least, knights could only capture knights.
If the enemies didn’t place knights along their path, their chances of escape were good.
But Ian shook his head.
“I had no intention of leaving this place from the start.”
“What?”
“There’s something important here.”
“!”
It was an ancient relic dungeon.
Ian understood the value of the treasures it held.
‘I can’t allow them to lay a finger on anything inside.’
Soon, an earthquake was about to happen.
The ones who came to kill Ian would take the risk of discovering the dungeon and informing the enemies, which he could not allow.
Most importantly, there was another concern.
“Once you start fleeing, it becomes a habit.”
“A habit?”
“Yes. Once it becomes a habit, you’ll always think of running whenever faced with an enemy.”
Ian knew this all too well.
In his past life, he had experienced it more than anyone else.
So in this life, he had no intention of running from anyone, especially not when something so important lay beneath his feet.
‘I will never allow them to take what belongs to me again.’
As Ian resolved this, his eyes gleamed golden with determination.
***
Flap. Flap.
Duke Garcia intercepted a messenger pigeon and burst into laughter upon reading the message.
“Goodness…”
“What’s the matter, Your Grace?”
Before him sat a handsome man with a cold expression.
Duke Garcia spoke nonchalantly.
“It appears that all attempts to capture the Seventh Prince and the Third Prince have failed.”
“Are those the ones trying to retrieve the Seven Sins?”
“Yes.”
However, the man appeared puzzled.
“Didn’t we dispatch a Secret Special Force there?”
“We did. Yet, it seems all three units were either eliminated or captured.”
The man’s face hardened.
It was one thing to lose a couple, but to have an entire Secret Special Force wiped out was alarming.
Furthermore, they likely lost all the magical tools they possessed.
“It seems we underestimated them.”
“That seems to be the case. It’s getting frustrating to see our plans disrupted like this…”
The Third Prince was definitely involved. However, Duke Garcia’s gaze turned icy.
‘Ian, the Seventh Prince. So it’s him again.’
This wasn’t the first time.
Ever since he turned that mere serf into a prince, everything had started to go awry.
The problem was that he didn’t actually dislike Ian all that much.
It was understandable why the Duke would be smiling.
‘Interesting. I wonder how he manages to survive every time.’
However, the man opposite him didn’t seem to share his amusement.
“Losing a Secret Special Force is regrettable, but there might be pressing matters at hand.”
“They are pressing us to retrieve all the Seven Sins.”
“Hmm…”
“Even if we want to ignore it, they say they’ll cross the sea to check in person. It seems that we can’t delay any longer.”
“Is that so?”
The man soon made a decision.
“It seems we need to handle this properly, Duke.”
“Of course. What are your orders?”
“How many troops do we have at our disposal currently?”
Duke Garcia quickly calculated.
“I can’t give you many. I’m currently holding off King Eloin’s troops.”
The man’s gaze shifted outside, where soldiers bearing Kaistein’s royal banner clashed with Garcia’s troops.
They were facing the royal army that had pursued them all the way to the Garcia territory.
“Do you need assistance?”
“Not at present. We are merely matching their forces to buy time.”
Duke Garcia’s words were sincere.
The private troops he had assembled at great personal expense were among the best in the continent.
“Unless King Eloin and the Blood Lion Knights intervene personally, they will not breach our defenses.”
But Duke Garcia spoke cautiously.
“However, given the king’s personality, he will soon dispatch a main force along with the Guardians.”
Implying the need for an elite knight to counter them, the man nodded.
“Fear not. I have someone suitable to handle him.”
“Then we should be able to muster around fifty thousand troops.”
Fifty thousand?
He couldn’t even imagine how many troops he had hidden.
But the man opened his mouth as if it were natural.
“I doubt we can defeat him solely with troops.”
“Then…”
“Perhaps it’s time for Duke Garcia to demonstrate his power.”
Garcia of Gold.
He was the owner of most major trade companies within Kaistein, exerting influence over nearly all continental distribution.
If he wanted, he could halt all logistics in Helgaia and isolate it completely.
That was what the man desired.
“This is the perfect opportunity, especially now that the King is at odds with us. We can take him down right here.”
Unless someone possessed wealth surpassing Garcia’s, that was the strategy.
Accepting death was the only option.
Duke Garcia lowered his head.
“As you wish, my lord. First Prince… No, Your Highness.”
***
While a new battle was in full swing, the Third Prince, Louis, arrived.
“What’s our next move?”
“Since the enemy stabbed us in the back first, we should return the favor and extract some information as well.”
To prevent them from even setting foot in Kaistein.
Ian’s eyes glinted sharply at the thought.
Louis appeared puzzled.
“Do you know our brother’s whereabouts? Or more importantly, these guys might not be in league with him.”
“No, they certainly are.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because the ones who initially attacked us were the Secret Special Force.”
The Secret Special Force had close ties to Garcia.
Therefore, it was only natural for them to be connected to the First Prince.
Furthermore, it didn’t matter where the First Prince was located.
“While we may not know where he is, we certainly know who he’s allied with.”
“Aha!”
Louis clapped his hands in realization.
It was none other than Duke Garcia.
He was the link connecting the Secret Special Force to the First Prince.
Ian raised an eyebrow.
“Then let’s start by cutting off the hands and feet of our enemy.”
If they struck Duke Garcia, the enemies would lose both their resources and their influence in Kaistein.
This meant they should target the Garcia territory first.
The Third Prince could only be shocked by those words.
‘This terrifying guy. To easily talk about confronting the wealthy Garcia of all people…’
No one in the kingdom would easily dare to speak like that.
Yet Louis calmly said,
“It won’t be easy. The duke has more wealth than you can imagine.”
“Then we just need to have as much wealth as him.”
“What?”
Louis tilted his head.
“Do you lack funds now? Even though your older brother, the Second Prince, had a lot of wealth…”
Ian had already spent a huge amount on Bahara and Helgaia.
He had even spent on mercenaries and poison.
He was asking if Ian had the capacity to deal with Duke Garcia.
Of course, his judgment was accurate.
‘As my brother said, I don’t have a single penny left.’
At best, Ian had enough for sustenance.
Nonetheless, he smiled at Louis.
“I’ll take care of that part. Instead, you help me with something else.”
“What?”
“I need you and the knights to move strategically.”
The intention was to obscure the activities of Duke Garcia’s trading companies within Kaistein.
Since the knights were moving, it wouldn’t be difficult to catch them.
“While you capture them, I’ll take care of the funds.”
“Really?”
“Does it not seem like it’s time for us to join forces?”
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
Ian and Louis shook hands.
And the Third Prince slowly left, saying he would go first to hit Garcia.
At that moment, Nathan cautiously approached from the side.
“We’re completely broke. What’s the plan now?”
“Money can be earned, can’t it?”
“There’s hardly any capital left for territorial investments. And on top of that, you intend to support the Third Prince against Duke Garcia with your wealth? Are you crazy?”
“It seems to me that Sir Nathan is the one who’s crazy, pointing his finger at me?”
“Hmph!”
Nathan stepped back slightly at Ian’s glance.
But Ian was serious.
“Just wait. Soon, we’ll be rich.”
“That’s utter nonsense…”
As Nathan stared at him in disbelief, a powerful earthquake suddenly shook the ground.
Thud!
A massive earthquake began to strike them.
The corpses of the previously dead enemies were instantly swallowed by the ground.
And as the uninhabited mine split in half, a space unlike any other was revealed.
“Oh… My. Is this a dungeon?”
Ian beamed with delight.
“Dungeons are said to be filled with wealth, right? We’re about to get rich!”
Nathan was left speechless as he tried to comprehend what was happening.
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