Chapter 616
My Villains Episode 616
71. swordsman teacher(19)
We are still passing on information from the Royal Capital branch of the bank from time to time..
Neither he nor I completely trust this secret society, so we have never given any orders that could infer our intentions or goals. Thanks to this, the only information coming to us was ‘shallow and broad’ news obtained through regular information collection..
Of course, that alone was quite useful, and it was of great help in the process of organizing the Young Knights and the student punitive force led by them over the past few days. We obtained quite detailed information about the key students and officials who accompanied us..
The people that banks are most sensitive to are those in power. Kings and royal families, high-ranking nobles and ministers of the court. It was natural to keep a close eye on them as they could have a significant impact on business, either positively or negatively. Perhaps that's why they created a kind of 'VIP list' that compiles personal information about those in power..
Even though the Glory Street inside the inner city was outside the bank's sphere of influence, there were many ways to reach out indirectly. To begin with, VIPs are not all confined within the fortress, and most of them have mansions in the old town outside the fortress, so collecting information about them was surprisingly not difficult..
The VIP list, which was about 200 pages long, included information on the children of those in power and high-ranking military officers in the royal capital, and many of them were also on the list of student punitive forces. It's not something I can use right away, but it was information that wouldn't hurt to have..
In addition to the VIP list, there was a lot of small information..
We obtained minutes of meetings of units in charge of public security in the capital, such as the Royal Capital Guard and the Royal Military Police, and a list of commanders who are vulnerable to bribery, which made maintaining the rabbit holes a little easier. There was a lot of information that was difficult for outsiders to access, such as a hole in the outer castle said to be favored by some undercover dealers, an alchemist's den that manufactured high-quality drugs, and an underground exchange where slaves and stolen goods were bought and sold..
In other words, the effect of sticking straws was enjoyed throughout the royal capital..
My honest opinion was that the bank was playing a sufficient role at this level, but Monggi did not seem to agree..
He wanted to make the secret society that was given to him along with the Pasa Sword, one of the sacred items of the Three Swords Association, his own. They want to change the organization into an organization that can do anything without being suspicious or trying to do it like it is now..
After thinking about it for a while, Mungchi started taking action two days ago. They began to exploit the weaknesses of the leaders of the royal capital branch of the bank..
Once the stalker, who can hide in the shadows, decides to start digging, it's only a matter of time before he uncovers a deadly secret or two..
Of course, it would not be a very desirable behavior for the leader or head of an organization to control the weaknesses of his subordinates. However, the bank was a group that had almost completely changed its structure from a secret society to a merchant society. It took a special number of people to completely take over such an organization in a short period of time..
He had his authority as a sword master and the fear of retaliation at any time deeply engraved in his mind, so if he pinned down the weak points of the leadership, the entire organization would definitely be in his hands..
Mungchi was in a situation where he couldn't leave the royal capital because he was working on that very thing..
It wouldn't be that difficult to catch up with the student punitive force, either by hiding or disguising himself, but even if he did that, there was a limit to the help he could give. At best, I'll just secretly act as an errand boy. My group and I had a common opinion that if time was wasted without much use, it would be much better to get organized in the meantime..
He wasn't exactly an immature child, so he just seemed despondent about having to be away from me for a while, but didn't insist on following me..
“……however,”
I met Ellen in a space set up in the basement of ‘Radenki’s Roaster’, a tea shop in the new city. Both I and I had a puzzled look in our eyes, but Ellen maintained a very confident expression..
“You must definitely follow me?”
“uh.”
“……Okay, let's hear why..”
Actually, I was planning to just complain and take it in moderation, but the business Ellen suggested was more plausible than I thought. No, it was more than that..
“I know that wizards got involved in that student punitive force or something.?”
“Of course, I was just talking about that..”
The final confirmed number of student punitive forces was 194. 135 people are Young Knights, that is, students, and the remaining 59 people are assistants..
The auxiliary personnel consisted of five advisors led by Shaenna, two priests and four deacons who were his disciples, two cathedral knights and two auxiliaries who were his squires, dozens of knights and cavalry soldiers from the Colmaros family, etc. There were a total of seven wizards among them, including an advisor in the occult science department and a court wizard dispatched by royal order..
“One of the Order of Dawn's wizards we contacted applied for it..”
“……what?”
“Did you know that we worked hard for nearly a month to reach the high-ranking members of the Council of Dawn? That's the achievement.”
Perhaps because of the commonality of being a group of historical wizards, the Council of Dawn had many similarities with La-Palais Palace. In particular, the organizational structure seemed like something that was just thrown in..
The people at the top of the palace and the Council of Dawn are the High Master and the 'Chairman', respectively, but both had a very small presence..
The position of High Master has been vacant for more than 600 years, so few people in the world even know its name, and Ellen, who recently took over the position, was only recognized for her authority within the palace and did not wield much actual power..
The chairman of the Women's Assembly was also not a very meaningful position, as it was only a temporary position held by delegates in rotation at each meeting..
In the end, there were separate real apex points, such as La-Palais Palace and the Council of Dawn. It was the grandmaster and delegate..
Just as the seven highest-level elemental wizards of Middle-earth lead the palace under the name of Grandmaster, the Council of Dawn was ruled by twelve delegates who had no equal in terms of illusion, charm, and detection spells..
Although the top levels were quite similar, everything below looked virtually identical..
If you have mastered several branches of the Palace or the Order of Dawn, you will be given the title of Master and treated as an executive. In this position, the path to the highest position will be opened by nurturing many outstanding disciples, acquiring overwhelming combat power, inventing useful spells, or demonstrating political power to monopolize the support of colleagues..
Even if you do not become a master because you focus on one branch, if you have accumulated sufficient combat experience, you are called a battle wizard, or warlock, and are treated highly..
Of course, the absolute majority in the palace and the Council of Dawn are low-level magicians, commonly called 'disciples'. Those in the lower ranks are kids who can't even cast a spell - the palace calls them 'students' and the Dawn Council calls them 'trainees'..
“Of course, if it gets down to that point, it doesn't have much nutritional value. So we paid attention to the masters, especially those who acted in their own way..”
“okay? I heard that while he was leaving, he was also approaching the delegates.?”
“I decided to put that plan aside for now. Everyone was scared. The risk is too high.”
The palace wizards focused on those who were close to the dead or missing delegates. In this process, the general information collected by the bank and the internal information about the Council of Dawn that I found out through Princess Eadina were quite helpful..
Anyway, after some preliminary investigation, Ellen and the three Grandmasters reportedly gave up on directly confronting the delegates..
Well, the opponents are high-level wizards. It is mainly active in the ‘Hall of Dawn’ located in the middle of the Street of Glory. It was extremely difficult and dangerous to approach such people right away..
In the end, the targets were masters who were treated as next in rank to the delegates. The palace wizards selected masters with whom they could communicate, and then used all kinds of tricks and magical means to manipulate them..
“Since there wasn't much progress, I thought about kidnapping one or two people myself, but I decided against it in the end..”
“Because my subordinates are against it?”
“huh.”
“……Okay, you held up well..”
From what I heard, it seems like the duke was very successful. It is said that all three masters who received secret appeasement responded positively..
“appeasement?”
“I informed them that I knew there was a problem within the Dawn of Women's Association. He said he could help because he was looking into the fact that two of the delegates were killed and two others were missing due to that problem, and that the servant was connected to the Dark Knight..”
“Even the Dark Knight? Didn't I put too much pressure on it??”
“are you okay. 'Cause we didn't reveal who we were.”
“hmm.”
“All three of them didn't seem to completely trust this side, but they said they needed help..”
“One of those three ended up joining the student punitive force..”
“that's right.”
Ellen nodded and took out a parchment scroll from her pocket and unfolded it. There was a montage drawn with such high perfection that it could be considered a photograph..
“The name is ‘Alvin Hawks’. As I said, I am the Master of the Order of Dawn, and I am currently serving as a Court Wizard..”
The Council of Dawn is called one of the three hounds of Zeore, along with the King's Riders and the Church of El Ganor. As such, about half of the court wizards were from the Order of Dawn, and it was not at all strange that a guy named Alvin was a court wizard..
“However, being part of the student punitive force meant that,”
“He volunteered as soon as he heard the news. They say they want to contact us in a place with less surveillance..”
“He's a trustworthy guy.?”
“It's the foreign affair of 'Jan Dimusnada', the representative whose death was confirmed through the princess. When I was a trainee, I was a disciple..”
“Hmm.”
As I scratched my eyebrows with an expression on my face, Ellen quickly added,.
“Of course, I can't completely trust it. Still, I think it's worth meeting.”
“It's probably not a trap or anything.?”
“You don't know that. So I'm going. I'll also take Liwan, Hagni, and Simos..”
“With that much power, you can crush even a clumsy trap.?”
“huh. I think it's not enough?”
“well.”
Honestly, it's powerful enough even if you exclude Ellen..
Li Wan is a Grandmaster, so no further explanation is needed, and Master Hagni is skilled in handling more than ten powerful attack spells. One-eyed Simos is a decent magic swordsman who has learned several lightning spells in addition to his useful swordsmanship skills..
“So, how do you plan on following along? It's not like I'm going to join the punitive force.?”
“Of course not. How could an unproven mercenary wizard join that precious unit?.”
“Then what should I do??”
“Fritz and those thugs. I'm still out?”
‘'Fritz and his gang' refers to seven bodyguards who were operating under the guise of mercenaries..
They searched the mouth of the Temel River at the request of the mounted patrol, and made an effort to encounter and destroy a goblin scouting party. Afterwards, he received a follow-up request and followed the traces of the Greenskins and discovered the Evil God's Altar..
They are probably waiting near the altar to carry out the third request by now. Their job was to serve as a guide for the soon-to-arrive regular punitive force..
As soon as I heard that question, I could sense Ellen's intention..
“……To stick there?”
“huh. Send them out among your subordinates. It's not strange for the same mercenary group to send reinforcements.?”
Except for Fritz, the rest of the bodyguards are currently guarding the two rabbit holes - that is, the mercenary office in the new city and the red-light building on Lipido Street. Cole, Steedman, Mira, Tilloria, and others who followed me to explore the underworld..
Ellen's plan was to disguise herself as a mercenary and follow the punitive force with them..
“……I don't know if it'll be okay. You don't even have a proper disguise..”
“It'll be okay. I already asked Cole and Mira..”
“already?”
“huh. The face of these kids is Kal Ain? I heard he made friends with the mounted patrol and the royal guard. That's enough to provide basic identity security..”
“Umm.”
As Ellen said, the two people who made the most sense when putting up the mercenary office sign were Goleman and Cal Ain..
Goleman was easy to order and quick to understand, but Cal Ain was so tough-looking that anyone could see that he was the mercenary leader, so he took on the troublesome task. When the staff of the mounted patrol, who were fascinated by the activities of Fritz Fatih, began to frequent the mercenary office, it was Goleman and Cal-Ain who mainly dealt with him..
After some deliberation, I decided to accept Ellen's offer..
I feel a little uncomfortable about Ellen and my men, who were hiding separately, moving together. However, if you can catch the Master of the Dawn Council, it will be a profitable business..
With that conclusion, we headed straight to the second rabbit hole where my men were waiting, the brothel building on Lipiro Street..
And before I met my subordinates and explained the new plan, I received unexpected news..
“Ruyan is planning a rebellion.?”
No, this is some kind of bullshit?
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