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The first thing Alfred did when he returned to his mansion was to gather all of the household vassals.

Alfred angrily took off his coat and aggressively swept all the alcohol bottles off his office desk. The bottles and cups that were still full fell on the floor, shattering and spilling alcohol everywhere. However, all he cared about right now was the battle agreement he had signed with Eisen.

‘That bastard! How dare he act all powerful and mighty when people used to call him a perpetual count!’

It had taken a while for him to get back home after meeting with Eisen, and he had been fuming the entire way back.

‘I have to crush him in this battle!’

Given that he was an outstanding spiritualist, but also a commander in chief of the imperial Spirit Corps, Alfred was confident. Moreover, he had no intention of losing to someone who merely wielded a sword.

However, Eisen was also an incredibly strong knight. During the time when the Central Aristocrats were still around, he would easily handle his duties with great force as an armed man.

Therefore, Alfred wanted to crush him into pieces with an overwhelming amount of force in this battle. There was nothing better than crushing the pride of an armed man by defeating him with sheer strength.

‘I need more power…!’

Alfred wanted the battle to be a Fief War because it was the most effective way to tarnish the reputation of the opponent\'s family and utterly shatter their honor.

During a Fief War, the head of the family had to participate in the battle, so as long as luck was on his side, he would be able to get rid of Eisen forever.

Eisen was a peak Sword Master and Alfred was a peak spiritualist. Therefore, if the two faced each other, it was unlikely that either of them would win by a landslide. Thus, Alfred needed more power, the kind that would be no match for even a peak Sword Master.

‘Do I really have no choice but that…?’

Alfred Etherwether could summon high-level spirits of the earth and also the wind. He was basically a genius who belonged to a group called ‘the Double.’ However, no matter how much he was called a genius and a role model, he couldn’t summon the highest level spirit, namely the spirit king.

No one knew why.

Was it because he wasn’t sociable? Or was this the limit to his capabilities?

By looking at his lineage, he knew he had ancestors who could summon the spirit king, so he believed in his talent and had no doubt about it. His spiritual skill was something that had been passed down through generations of the Etherwether family as a family vision.

However, although Alfred could summon two of the high-level spirits, he was still unable to summon the highest-level spirit, the spirit king.

‘Aubert…’

Alfred had no other choice but to get the Egg of Evolution that Aubert had in his hands.

The Egg of Evolution was a prized possession that increased the level of a summoned spirit by one-tier. Among spiritualists, this treasure was equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Alfred was still upset that such a treasure had fallen into Aubert’s hands.

If he had had that egg, he would have already evolved the current spirit he had into the new spirit king.

Alfred had been making various deals with Aubert to somehow obtain the Egg of Evolution. However, Aubert was a strategist. They both held the same title, so after confirming that he was obsessed with the egg, Aubert refused all his offers and kept the egg as a trump card for when he needed it.

But now, Aubert had been stripped of his title, deemed a traitor, and exiled to Salgaera, the land of the cold, with all of his family.

‘I don’t get it. If he had asked me for help using the Egg of Evolution as bait, I would’ve gladly found a way to help him.’

Given the urgency of Aubert’s situation, Alfred thought that he would offer him the egg and make a deal after he was exiled to Salgaera.

‘I have to go meet Aubert.’

Having summoned all his vassals, they were expected to assemble within the next few days. Then, he would leave them to prepare for the upcoming Fief War. In the meantime, he would meet with Arthus and the emperor to report the battle, and get the Egg of Evolution from Aubert in Salgaera.

Concluding his thoughts, Alfred immediately got up from his seat and shouted at the servant, “Prepare to leave for the palace right away!”

Alfred departed for the palace immediately.

* * *

A private meeting with the emperor.

This was already the second emergency private meeting just this year alone.

However, the emperor couldn’t refuse Alfred’s request this time again, because it was a privilege of the Three Great Families.

Sitting in front of Alfred, the emperor was smoking the Pink Swamp that Eisen had gotten him and asked, “Ha… What did you just say?”

“I would like to have an honorable battle with Marquis Eisen.”

“Why Eisen? Is it because of this?”

The emperor waved the Pink Swamp he was smoking in front of Alfred.

This infuriated Alfred. He had asked for an investigation, but now the emperor had become so addicted that he couldn’t live without the Pink Swamp.

Rage boiled in his heart, but he had no choice but to hold back because he was facing the one and only emperor of the empire.

“...Yes.”

“Hmm, Marquis Alfred.”

When Alfred declared that the reason for their battle was the Pink Swamp, the emperor took another deep drag from his cigarette.

“Haa… Do you really have to do that? This doesn’t seem that bad now that I’ve tried it.”

“Your Majesty, those cigarettes have ruined both of my sons. I won’t ask Your Majesty to ban the Pink Swamp, but please just give me a chance to unleash my anger as a father.”

“Hmm… Now that you mention it, you do have a point, but I still don\'t understand how someone can become ruined from just a few cigarettes…”

This was something very insulting to say to a father who had almost lost both of his sons. However, Alfred was facing the emperor, and he himself was merely a marquis.

The emperor smirked and said, “Anyway, it would be insulting to you if I refused since you’re going through all the effort. Okay, I’ll allow you to have an honorable battle.”

“...I’m grateful. Thank you, Your Majesty,”

Alfred managed to gain permission from the emperor to fight a battle after being humiliated.

* * *

“I\'m here to see the Duke.”

Every minute was precious.

With the help of his high-level wind spirit, Sildia, Alfred had driven the carriage at fast speed toward Arthus’ mansion.

Having a private meeting with the Duke was easy because, unlike with the emperor, Alfred and Arthus had a close relationship.

“Nice to see you, Duke.”

Alfred was better mannered toward Arthus than the emperor, which proved that he held the real power in the empire.

“What brings you here?” asked Arthus.

Not having seen Arthus in a while, he gave off a strange, dark, and heavy feeling, but none of this mattered to Alfred at the moment. What was important for him was to inform his superior, Arthus, of his battle with Eisen.

“Duke, are you feeling okay?”

“About what?”

“Didn’t Count Terion or Count Oscar give you some cigarettes called the ‘Pink Swamp’ as presents?”

“Pink Swamp as in… Ah, are you talking about the cigarettes from Shahatra?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t smoke, and as you know, I don’t even eat food unless I choose it myself.”

“Ah, I apologize. I forgot about that.”

“It’s alright. Anyway, why did you personally come all the way here instead of sending a servant?”

“That’s… I’m actually thinking of having a battle with Eisen.”

Arthus suddenly stopped drinking his tea at Alfred’s response. He placed his teacup down and asked, “For what purpose?”

“It’s because of the Pink Swamp that I just mentioned. I think those cigarettes contain a large quantity of drugs. Because of those cigarettes, both of my sons have become ruined and the members of the Central Aristocratic Association have also become addicted to it, as well as the emperor.”

“Really?”

Oscar had also sent Arthus the Pink Swamp as a gift, but because he didn’t smoke, he gave them out to his subordinates and thus avoided a lot of trouble.

“What type of battle is it?”

“I’m thinking of a Fief War.”

“A Fief War… That means your goal is to get rid of Eisen.”

“That’s right. Since Eisen initially didn’t want to accept my challenge, I put my precious Three Golden Sites on the line.”

“The Three Golden Sites?”

Betting the Three Golden Sites proved that he was not going to lose no matter what.

After some thought, Arthus said, “Perfect timing. Now that even the emperor is addicted to such drugs, there’s no need to postpone it any longer.”

“Postpone? Are you talking about…?”

“I believe the moment has finally arrived. Alfred, I’ll carry out the plan in accordance with your Fief War against Eisen.”

“...!”

The plan that only Arthus, Alfred, and the exiled Aubert knew about was none other than the rebellion aimed to determine a new heir to the throne.

* * *

Henry and Viram were surrounded by darkness.

Illusion was a much more convenient power than expected. It was the power to trick the opponent’s mind by reconstructing what the illusionist wanted to show based on their memory.

This power could also be used for educational purposes. Viram could recall 70 years of Shahatra’s history and used illusion to create a form of video to train Henry.

‘There’s not much that’s really helpful…’

Henry was bored.

No matter how great of a high priest Viram was, he was still over seventy years old. Therefore, rather than teaching Henry the main points of illusion, his teachings revolved around the patriotism of his homeland.

It wasn’t until the end of this boring history class that Henry finally woke up from the illusion.

“...This concludes the story about the Shahatra desert. Now, let me explain how the Khan family unified the 4 tribes and established the Shahatra dynasty.”

‘...Damn it.’

It seemed that the lessons on illusion were going to be long and tough.