[Marcus family estate: Inner District of the capital.] "Father, are we really going to just stay here and do nothing?" said Lui Marcus. "Those people! They keep on slandering Lark's name!"
Although Lui knew another person was inhabiting the body of his little brother, he still couldn't help but fume with rage hearing all the rumors and accusations spreading through the capital.
"It's not slander." The duke calmly read the newspaper in his hand. As expected, even the newspaper was filled with articles regarding the crimes Lark had committed. "Most of them are true in the first place."
As the head of the Marcus family, Duke Drakus knew very well the various crimes Lark had been committing behind his back. He was even aware of how Lark trafficked children and tortured them, all for the sake of entertainment.
Back then, the duke used his authority to cover up his second son's mistakes. He continued covering for the atrocious misdeeds of his son, until the incident involving the priests from the Temple of the Water God.
It was the last straw. Even he, a duke, couldn't afford to make enemies in the temple.
"But still!" said Lui. He clenched his fists as he looked at his father.
"We should at least send our men and—" "Lui." The duke put down the newspaper and looked his eldest son in the eyes. "You saw it, didn't you? That seven-headed monster that could probably destroy the whole kingdom."
Indeed, Lui Marcus had seen the creature back at the Marcus Duchy. It was so massive and the mana undulating around it so powerful that even Lui knew there was no way for humans to defeat it.
"A human who could tame such a creature is nothing short of a god in this realm," said the duke. "You worry too much. Your little brother, Lark Marcus, will easily be able to deal with this himself."
Lui couldn't utter a rebuttal.
Would a magician as powerful as that even need their help?
"But it's regrettable," said the duke. "Even now, we are cleaning up the mess made by that damnable brother of yours. It truly is fortunate that Lord Evander took over his body. That kid, that human trash, doesn't—" The duke stopped midway through his speech upon seeing Lui's fierce gaze. It was truly troubling how much the Silver War God cared for his family. He showed brotherly love even for that devil incarnate. If only Lui wasn't this naïve, he would be perfect.
"Father—" The duke sighed and rubbed his brows. "Times have changed, Lui," said the duke. "We will send help if they ask for it, but for now, stay put.
Don't do anything unnecessary. I received a message from Big Mona."
"From the merchant?"
The duke looked out the window. "Something big will happen soon.
And when the time comes, we'll show everyone why they shouldn't make an enemy out of the House Marcus."
Big Mona had sent letters to several trustworthy members of the royal faction and the Marcus Faction that had come to the capital for the coronation ceremony. In his letter, he clearly stated that the chance to prove their worth to the next king of the nation would soon present itself.
*** Two days after Big Mona met with the leader of the Information Guild and the leader of the rats of the slums, he finally returned to the king's castle.
Immediately, he requested a meeting with Lark.
"It's been a while, partner," Big Mona greeted.
Following behind the fat merchant were the two members of the Arzomos Tribe acting as his guards. Judging by Big Mona's movements, it seemed that he'd gotten used to ordering the two of them around.
"I read your letter," said Lark. "You need more men this time?"
After confirming the authenticity of the information given by Casius, Big Mona decided to launch an attack on Black Midas.
"That's right." Big Mona sat on the couch, across from Lark. Using his thumb, he pointed at the two Arzomos behind him. "Can I ask for several more of them?"
"How many do you need?"
Big Mona rubbed his chin. "Considering there are three main locations where the underworld syndicate is located in the capital, around fifteen should suffice."
That would probably be enough to kill even a high demon. If they worked together, they could even slay a dragon. Of course, Lark did not tell Big Mona this.
"What do you think, Kel?" said Lark.
From inside the room, a voice spoke, "If it's to help quell those stupid rumors, then I don't mind."
Big Mona's eyes slowly widened the moment the leader of the Arzomos revealed himself. The fat merchant realized that he'd been inside the room the entire time, hiding himself using invisibility magic or something similar.
Big Mona looked at the two Arzomos standing behind him. It seemed only he did not know the leader was in the room.
"We only need to kill a few humans, isn't that right?" said Kel' Vual.
Kel' Vual's predatory gaze, coupled with his large physique, made his statement sound more threatening. For a moment, Big Mona felt shivers down his spine. Just like the two Arzomos who served as his guards, it seemed even the leader had no constraints when it came to taking someone's life. Fortunately, these monsters were loyal to Lark.
"They're members of the largest underworld syndicate of this kingdom.
Scourges of this nation," Lark said to Kel' Vual. He turned to the fat merchant. "But, Mona, how reliable is this information from the Information Guild?"
"Don't worry, partner." Big Mona smiled broadly. "I tasked my men to verify the information and the locations themselves. We're certain they're indeed connected to the underworld syndicate."
Big Mona pulled out a folded parchment from his inner pocket and slid it on the table, in Lark's direction.
"This is?" Lark took the parchment and unfolded it. He started reading its contents.
"List of nobles who agreed to participate in our plans," said the fat merchant.
Lark looked at the list of nobles written on the parchment.
Duke Drakus, Viscount Zacharia, Lord Chase, Viscount Lakian, Viscount Carlos, Baron Morivar, Duke Youchester, and several other unfamiliar names.
Lark was surprised that so many powerful nobles agreed to help them with their plans. They could probably include more nobles, but for now, Big Mona had decided to contact only the trustworthy ones.
"Even Duke Youchester," mumbled Lark.
"That man is stubborn. I heard from His Majesty that the Youchesters promised to support whoever was the chosen winner in the competition to the throne," said Big Mona. "And the duke is sticking to his promise."
The Youchester Family.
A ducal house that ruled the northeastern part of the kingdom's territory. Their territory was right next to the dwarven kingdom. Out of the three ducal houses, the Youchesters held the most fertile land.
"No matter how thorough and careful the Kelvins are, there's bound to be evidence linking them to Black Midas," said Big Mona. "As long as this plan succeeds, it should be easy for us to reverse their cards."
Moreover, the head of the Information Guild promised to help them as long as they took care of the underworld syndicate.
"Very well." Lark folded the parchment and put it in his pocket. "Mona, I'll leave this in your hands."
"Of course."
*** After meeting with Lark, Big Mona went to his room in the castle. He'd hardly slept the past two days, as he was busy meeting with different people, sending messages, and formulating plans to deal with Black Midas and the Kelvin Faction.
Big Mona did all of these things to show his worth to his beloved partner. His goal was to become an irreplaceable member of Lark's faction.
Truthfully, Big Mona was glad that this opportunity had presented itself. With this, it should be possible to solidify his position.
"How tiring," said Big Mona. He removed his coat, and without bothering to remove his shoes, slumped on the bed. His fat body sank deep into the mattress. "Tomorrow will be a busy day," he mumbled.
Big Mona decided to sleep and recuperate for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow, they would raid the three main bases of Black Midas in the capital, and hopefully, wipe them out. Although Big Mona wouldn't personally participate in battle, he would still be supervising everything from afar. Moreover, he would be coordinating with various nobles the moment they got their hands on the evidence linking the Kelvins to the underworld syndicate.
Soon, Big Mona fell asleep. Loud snoring sounds reverberated in the room.
One of the maids unlocked the door using a spare key and entered the room. Without making a sound, she slowly walked toward Big Mona. Her eyes glimmered dangerously as she gazed at the merchant.
Without uttering a word, she took out a dagger, raised it high above her head, and stabbed the sleeping merchant in the neck.
She tried to.
To her surprise, the dagger made a loud clanking sound the moment it struck the merchant's neck. The dagger didn't manage to pierce the merchant's flesh. It couldn't even cut the skin.
She did not know what happened, but it felt like the dagger struck an invisible barrier.
"What?" the maid uttered in surprise.
She was about to stab the merchant again when suddenly, she found herself unable to move, as though her body had been frozen.
"This is the third time today, isn't it?" a voice, whose owner the maid couldn't see, spoke.
Another voice answered, "This human doesn't even know his life is being targeted by these rats."
Under the command of Kel' Vual, the two Arzomos serving as Big Mona's guards made sure to protect him from all harm. They even secretly dealt with the assassination attempts of Black Midas.
"We do not like this human, but he's still needed by Lord Evander."
"Like pests, these people sure are persistent."
The ice started crawling up from the maid's feet. She lost all color on her face, realizing her fate. At this rate, her whole body would become frozen. She tried moving, but her body refused to listen. She tried screaming, but no voice came out.
It felt like she was trapped in a nightmare. And she couldn't even see the people responsible for this hell.
She was willing to die for the sake of the organization. But not like this!
Ice soon covered the maid's body. One of the Arzomos tapped the ice prison with his finger imbued with mana, shattering it into pieces, along with the maid's body. Peculiarly, no sound was heard even as the ice shards fell down, even when the maid's body disintegrated and turned to dust.
For the third time today, the two Arzomos prevented an assassination attempt on Big Mona.
"This human sure knows how to sleep," said one of the Arzomos.
Big Mona, unaware of what just happened, snored in his sleep, mumbling incomprehensible words every now and then. Drool dripped from his mouth.
Even as he slept, the fat merchant looked so happy, as though he was looking forward to tomorrow. The day they would launch an attack on all the bases of the largest underworld syndicate in the capital.