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Chapter 314: The Mastermind and the One Behind the Shadow

Count Justiano, looking down at Frey with a tilted head, replied in a subdued voice.

“I just think it’s going to be quite a headache in the future.”

"You\'re coming off quite humble, more than I expected."

Frey said with a puzzled expression..

"Isn\'t it the situation that calls for it?"

Count Justiano answered in a polite tone, but without seeming servile, and smiled at Frey, who was staring at him intently.

"I\'m not like the other foolish nobles. I\'ve risen to this position solely through my wit and observation."

His words were indeed true.

Count Justiano family had been deeply connected with the darkness even before the empire began to decay.

Thanks to that, although he was despised in the past, he successfully changed his image to a prestigious dark noble family after the empire started to corrupt.

He was different from the corrupt nobles filled with lust and vanity that Frey always clashed with.

"Although I may not know everything, I am well aware that any hint of disrespect or arrogance from me will earn me a broken shoulder."

The Count, bearing a calm expression similar to his daughter\'s, quietly bowed his head.

"What do you really want from me?"

Simultaneously, his eyes gleaming.

"Hmm..."

Looking into Frey\'s ever-innocent eyes, the Count thought.

What on earth are you planning?

Despite the Count\'s rather humble approach to Frey, the title of Emperor of the Back Alleys wasn\'t given for nothing.

The count hinted that he was aware of Frey\'s actions a few hours ago through his daughter\'s meticulously calculated remarks and his comment about not wanting his shoulders crushed.

If Frey had tried to conceal this fact, he would have reacted in some way.

I can’t read his intentions.

However, Frey was simply looking at him with innocent eyes.

It\'s been a while since I\'ve encountered a situation like this.

The Count, who always held the upper hand in his relationships, found this situation rather bothersome. Even when there was a gap between status, he was the type to flatter upfront and stab in the back to secure his benefits.

The only ones he had not been able to gain an upper hand over were the Emperor and the Hero of Money.

The Emperor possessed overwhelming force, managing the state affairs of the Empire for decades without being dethroned, and the Hero of Money was an entity whose identity he couldn\'t uncover no matter what.

But even with them, the Count had at least maintained a somewhat equal relationship.

The Emperor, cursed with apathy, didn\'t care what the Count did as long as he wasn\'t bothered, he had a contractual relationship with the Hero of Money that was at least nominally equal.

But now...

"Count Justiano."

"Yes."

"I can hear the gears turning in your head from here."

"..."

The Frey sitting in front of him right now was different.

"You seem to be having a hard time. Should I think on your behalf?"

Frey began to emit his killing intent with a bright smile.

"Hmm."

Then, Eurelia\'s eyes widened in shock, and she started trembling.

Although Eurelia was a cool-headed kid who had received a lot of training as the next lord of the family since she was young, she was still too young to withstand the killing intent emitted by someone like Frey.

"Fortunately, there\'s filial affection."

Frey murmured with his hand on his chin as the Count cautiously hid her daughter behind him, silently enduring Frey’s killing intent.

"You\'re lucky, Count."

In a way, it was truly strange.

The target most sought after by the public, designated as the number one target for removal by the Hero Party, and numerous assassins.

Moreover, he, who had recently been stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner, was now blackmailing the count.

"...I apologize."

However, the count bowed his head to him.

"Let\'s drop the trivial thoughts."

- Snap...!

At the same time, Count Justiano forcefully bent his own finger.

"Huh, why are you doing something I didn’t ask you to do?”

"F-Father."

Seeing the count\'s abrupt action, Frey scratched his head in confusion, while Eurelia’s expression turned pale.

"May my daughter leave?"

"Sure, whatever."

Unfazed by the situation, Count Justiano requested calmly. In response, Frey nodded with an indifferent expression.

"You go first."

"But..."

"Hurry."

With a cold voice, Count Justiano ushered Eurelia out of the office.

I could lose my life.

Afterward, the Count briefly summarized the situation he found himself in.

The escort knight would be useless. It was actually a good thing I didn\'t run away. Even if I had fled, it would have been only a matter of time before I met him.

Frey\'s hidden power, as reported by the informant he planted in the Crown Prince faction, was beyond imagination.

Indeed, hadn\'t the Crown Prince faction been entirely decimated by Frey? Frey could probably destroy him right here, right now.

Furthermore, even with all of my influence, I\'m lagging behind.

In a situation where combat power preceded influence, discussing influence was futile, he would only end up just like those nobles in the auditorium. Nevertheless, it was truly an absurd situation to be outdone like this.

Originally, before becoming a commoner, Frey had been at the pinnacle of imperial power.

Although he was now a commoner, Princess Clana was glaring fiercely from behind him.

And his fiancée, Serena, was the princess and the leader of an assassination family that the Count couldn\'t ignore.

Furthermore, there was the Hero of Money, who was swallowing up his back-alley power with his considerable fortune, and there was also his butler, Kania.

The foolish nobles of the Empire might not have realized it, but with just a word from Frey, almost any noble family could vanish overnight.

And that included his own family.

"What I want from you is rebellion against the Imperial Family."

However, participating in rebellion entailed significant risks.

"Shall we conquer the Empire together? It\'s not that difficult. Just lend a few soldiers to Clana and make it known to everyone that you\'ve joined the Clana faction."

Frey smiled, he discussed rebellion as if he were talking about the weather. His lack of seriousness left the Count feeling lost.

"Choose here and now, Count, whether you\'ll comply with my request or not."

Despite his casual tone, Frey still managed to pressure someone as prominent as the Count, causing the latter to break into a cold sweat.

"What if I refuse?"

Quietly gazing at Frey, the Count considered a scheme that just came to his mind.

The Count surrendered himself here, sent a signal to the guards, and stalled for time while evacuating Eurelia.

Then, with Eurelia assuming the lordship, she would spread Frey\'s plan far and wide and waged an all-out war on the emperor\'s side.

In that case, who would be the winner? While not directly executing it, at least this could be a card to play against Frey.

It seemed there was a need to analyze the results a bit more.

"I\'ve engraved the stigma of slavery on Eurelia\'s stomach."

"It\'s over."

But at Frey\'s words, Count Justiano closed his eyes tightly and murmured,

"I\'ve lost."

"What? Are you feeling wronged now?"

Then, Frey, looked at him with cold eyes,

"You always took someone\'s children as hostages when you threatened them, didn\'t you?"

"..."

"I just did the same, is there something wrong with that?"

As the Count said nothing, Frey continued with a cold smile,

"By the way, it would be good for Eurelia to be the next lord of the Justiano family."

"That\'s..."

"She didn\'t cross the line. But you did. I\'m actually a very nice person, so I don\'t like someone who crossed the line to be my close associate."

Hearing his word, the Count looked at Frey with a slightly incredulous expression.

"Nice... What?"

"I\'m actually a very nice person, you know? I’m doing my best to resist the desire to crush every bone in your body right now.”

"..."

"Anyway, let\'s make Eurelia the next lord. Announce your retirement after this rebellion ends."

The Count stroked his gray hair and asked a question.

"I have two questions."

"I\'m busy."

"First, what will you do once you get your hands on the empire?"

Frey answered with a bright smile,

"I\'ll remodel this shitty country as I wish."

"In what way?"

"I\'ll fill all important positions with my faction and change policies to my taste to create my own Empire. I\'ll even create a harem law."

As Frey spoke excitedly, Count Justiano scratched his head and asked the second question,

"What will become of me?"

"Your daughter will be safe."

"No, I mean me... Never mind."

Guessing the implied meaning in Frey\'s words, the Count shook his head and headed out,

"I\'ll prepare the soldiers. How will you contact me?"

"A cute owl will come to you. And also, declare your support for Clana today."

With that, Frey concluded, rubbing his hands,

"Oh, and stop tracking Kania and the Hero of Money."

"..."

"You get what I\'m saying, right?"

"Understood."

"How refreshing. This is nice. If only people listened well, they wouldn\'t get hit, why don\'t they understand that? Really strange."

Hearing Frey\'s muttering behind him, the Count quietly walked away,

“I tried so hard to climb up to the top, but I can only get to this point.”

Then, he muttered with a somewhat dejected look on his face.

“I feel like an ant in front of a giant.”

An unstoppable violence. A disaster.

He just came for a parent-teacher conference, and looked at how terribly things turned out.

"Karma always catches up to you."

Rather than feelings of hatred or a desire for revenge against Frey, he felt only emptiness and bitterness flood in.

There was too much blood on his hands.

He had raised his family to the pinnacle of the Empire as he wished, but he had committed too many unforgivable deeds as a human.

He was no better than those nobles in the auditorium.

"At least my daughter is safe."

Still, he was grateful that he could protect his family and his daughter. It was rewarding to always obsessively separate his evil deeds from his family and his daughter.

"I should find a way to remove the stigma of slavery."

Thinking so with a relieved expression, the Count suddenly glanced back.

"It\'s scary when the one who\'s been lying low raises their head."

What he saw was a smiling figure waving his hand, a huge variable that would shake the empire.

"But, it\'s strange."

The Count, who kept glancing at Frey, eventually tilted his head and muttered.

"Is he pretending to be crazy, or has he really gone mad?"

Although he had desperately analyzed while dealing with him, he couldn\'t come up with an answer.

“...Did he completely lose his mind?”

With an ironic yet seemingly close-to-the-truth guess, the Count, holding the doorknob, murmured.

But still, I\'m lucky. There\'s still a chance for me to survive.

He murmured inwardly, his eyes shining.

I\'ll escape overseas. The empire is now his. Our family will soon be discarded like trash.

Although he was old, the resourcefulness of a man who had risen to the top with nothing but his silver tongue was still sharp.

If it\'s the Cloud Kingdom, I can quickly establish a foothold. There\'s reliable information that a mine has been discovered recently. I\'ll buy up all the land there and apply for a refuge.

His brain was working vigorously.

The Cloud Kingdom has the potential to grow into an empire. It wouldn\'t be bad to become a power-house there. I have enough connections and wealth. Plus, they say the court wizard there is excellent, so maybe they can lift Eurelia\'s stigma of slavery.

In less than a few seconds, the Count, who had checked all the scenarios, turned around and bid farewell.

"Well then, goodbye..."

- Crack...!

"Ah!"

However, at that moment, he suddenly felt a terrible pain in his arm, and he collapsed to the ground, closing his eyes tightly.

"Why do something so obvious? Are you crazy?"

"W-What..."

"If you run off to the Cloud Kingdom, do you think I can’t catch you? Count, do I look like a fool to you?"

"...!"

As he spoke, Frey approached with a sinister smile.

Is it witchcraft? No, that would be impossible, right?

Because his greatest weapons were the tactics and information stored in his head, he was more thorough than anyone else when it came to preparing for the possibility of mind reading.

Thanks to this, when Frey read his mind, he uncharacteristically lost his poker face and became flustered.

[Current emotions of Count Justiano - Confusion, fear, despair] Priority 1: He\'s just a crazy guy after all.Priority 2: Flee to the Cloud Kingdom and establish a power base there.Priority 3: What kind of witchcraft is he using? I\'m curious. I want to know.

Of course, Frey was only demonstrating his LV2 Mind Reading skill.

Frey had never intended to underestimate Count Justiano, who was as cunning as a fox and as deadly as a viper, from the beginning.

Utilizing his Mind Reading skill was crucial when confronting him. Even now, he tirelessly sought out countermeasures.

"Why did you do that back then?"

"W-Well..."

Thanks to this, the Count, who was looking up at him in a cold sweat and trembling, silently swallowed when Frey opened his mouth.

“About 10 years ago, why did you give two warlocks a document with instructions on how to create an artificial warlock?”

"Ah."

“I heard it was something that has been passed down in your family for generations?”

It was karma.

The countless karma that Count Justiano had sown, the karma that he believed would never come back to haunt him in his youth, were coming back to haunt him exactly as he had feared.

If he hadn\'t thought about \'his own karma’ just now, they might never come to light.

But it was another truth that had been revealed through Frey\'s Mind Reading skill.

"...It was a ploy to weaken the Starlight family."

Count Justiano, who was about to lie, knew very well what happened to people who tried to lie. Moreover, his daughter was at the academy that Frey had practically taken over.

"But I never thought such a disaster would happen... No, it\'s over."

As he attempted to add pointless remarks, he caught the look in Frey\'s eyes and immediately shook his head. With a sigh, he muttered under his breath.

"Please spare my daughter."

"..."

"I will give up my family and myself. So please."

Looking down at him, Frey tilted his head and murmured.

"To tell you the truth, I wonder if the world has gone crazy while I\'ve just been staying still."

It was a remark that hit the nail on the head.

.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

"Heh, hehehe..."

The Crown Prince Killian, who had been relaxing in his villa with his maids by his side after attending the academy, looked down at the letter that had arrived with shining eyes.

- The mission is successful, Prince Killian.

"A blessing in disguise, isn\'t it? I didn\'t expect things to turn out like this."

He got up from his seat with a twisted smile.

"The fun is over. Get ready to leave."

"Yes?"

"We’re going to the academy. Now that things have turned out like this, father will surely approve."

As his maids, guards, and attendants tilted their head at his words, Killian, unusually light on his feet today, continued.

"It\'s time to become the Emperor."

As he spoke, Gugu, who had delivered the letter, watched him with a dumb /genesisforsaken