the meeting room of duke garcia was engulfed in chaos.

    “urgent report!”

    “we have a problem!”

    “it’s a disaster, your grace!”

    the urgent news kept pouring in, and the subordinates were panicking, their faces pale.

    papers that had been hurriedly brought in flew through the air as the desk was overturned.

    at that moment, duke garcia raised his eyebrows and slammed his hand down on the table.

    bang!

    “you incompetent fools.”

    a momentary silence fell over the room at the duke’s cold voice.

    no one knew what to say.

    duke garcia spoke in a low tone.

    “do you still consider yourselves members of the esteemed house of garcia?”

    the garcia family spread across the continent, including the capital, kaistein.

    they were expected to maintain dignity and composure in any situation.

    the duke pointed out a few individuals.

    “the chief officer and the heads of each branch, report.”

    following his directive, the chief officer and the branch heads hurried over.

    their faces were pallid as they began to relay their information.

    “communications from the trading companies are being severed one after another.”

    “stores have been attacked by ruthless gangs and burned to the ground.”

    “we are getting reports that members of the trading companies are disappearing one by one...”

    duke garcia’s eyebrows shot up.

    “under attack? by whom?”

    “it hasn’t been precisely identified yet, but... people wearing black masks are said to be burning the trading posts and driving away customers.”

    “how dare they act in such a manner, even after witnessing the garcia family crest.”

    “we also...”

    something felt off.

    despite the trading companies being dispersed, they weren’t typically easy targets.

    “since they are spread across various regions, they should have had capable armed forces stationed at all times, right?”

    even independent mercenaries were hired by the trading companies. what happened to them?

    “that is...”

    the chief officer lowered his head, his expression one of despair.

    “many of them have been neutralized by the attackers, and the mercenaries under contract with us have terminated their agreements and are acting independently.”

    “what?”

    “they said that since we had fallen out of favor with the royal family of kaistein, we were no longer worth doing business with...”

    “what kind of nonsense is that?”

    even though the garcia family was at odds with the royal family, this made no sense. mercenaries were strictly driven by money.

    how could those bound by contract simply break it for such a trivial reason?

    “this is the most absurd excuse i’ve ever heard. you’re telling me that mercenaries, who are more greedy for money than merchants, actually said such nonsense?”

    “well... there’s someone recently referred to as the mercenary king. they said that this was his command.”

    “what? mercenary king? and he gave a command?”

    “to be precise, it’s more of a suggestion rather than an order. he seems to have quite a reputation, and many mercenaries are following his lead.”

    as a consequence, the trading companies affiliated with the garcia family could no longer secure contracts with mercenaries.

    some of the larger trading companies that had maintained strong partnerships still retained a few willing to offer aid, but...

    “even if that’s the case, safeguarding a handful of buildings and trading posts is the extent of it... and even those mercenaries are beginning to abandon us in the face of the enemy’s assaults.”

    “are the city guard soldiers and territorial troops simply going to stand by and watch? they should have requested support from their lords!”

    “that...”

    the chief officer hesitated, unable to speak for a moment. then, he shut his eyes tightly before speaking up.

    “the lords have expressed that while they can accommodate many requests, they cannot act against the royal family.”

    it was a matter of justification.

    while they could secretly help in attacking the seventh prince, they could not provide support in a fight against the royal family.

    “at the very least, the enemy’s level is a problem.”

    “while it hasn’t been confirmed yet, they say there are knights among them. this is certainly why the lords aren’t helping us...”

    “still, it appears that, according to the duke’s wishes, no one is taking sides.”

    at those words, the others in the meeting room scoffed.

    “what a joke. trying to rationalize their inaction? they’re only concerned about self-preservation. if the garcia trading companies collapse, they’ll prioritize saving themselves.”

    “do you know how much money we’ve given them? what nonsense...”

    some were fuming.

    “but knights? knights aren’t readily available. are they truly employing such forces solely to target a trading company?”

    “does that even make sense?”

    “are they jesting?”

    it was only natural.

    it didn’t make sense that such powerful forces had been lying low all this time.

    if they had any knights, they could have easily sided with king eloin and struck against garcia long ago.

    but then, duke garcia had stepped in.

    “enough. if the chief officer has identified them as knights, then it must be true.”

    “ha... but your grace, aside from you and duke lavaltor, who in this country possesses such forces...”

    “that’s absurd.”

    the maintenance of knights required a vast amount of resources.

    very few held the means to support such expenses in this country.

    nevertheless, duke garcia remained calm.

    ‘clever bastard. it seems he’s found a way around it.’

    they had not prepared just one or two methods.

    the adria family, after all, had been laying the groundwork behind the scenes.

    ‘we’ve identified all the garcia family’s trading companies, as well as their underground supporters.’

    but that wasn’t all.

    they had also recruited those who were hostile to garcia to completely ruin him.

    as befitting the ‘adria of intellect,’ their preparations were flawless.

    ‘even the artists and scholars that the adria family supported in the past are lending a hand.’

    even gerard, now a mercenary king, stood with them.

    the reason they had been waiting all this time was simple: to completely bring down garcia and to find someone capable of revealing their truth.

    and finally, the time had come.

    it was ian—the one successor who could help them.

    there was no longer a need to wait.

    ian smiled.

    “from now on, something quite interesting is going to unfold.”

    “what trick do you have up your sleeve this time, your highness?”

    “well, let’s see.”

    moreover, the place ian had sent a message to wasn’t just aria reese.

    soon, new messages began to arrive for ian, who had just released the hawk.

    coo coo coo.

    this time, it wasn’t a messenger hawk but a carrier pigeon.

    the first messenger he dispatched was the last to return.

    [will you now recognize me as your chancellor?]

    it was a message from the second princess in bahara.

    she had effectively severed garcia’s ties to bahara, restructured the distribution network to shield against his influence, coordinated with the kaistein royal family to expel the garcia trading company, and rallied the neighboring lords.

    ‘it appears she has exceeded my expectations...’

    but that was sufficient. ian could no longer delay.

    swiftly gathering the notes, he made his way indoors.

    “where are you off to, your highness? allow me to accompany you!”

    “i don’t have the time for leisure. hurry and join me.”

    messages had arrived from the two most important people.

    now, it was time to mobilize others.

    ignoring nathan, who was trailing behind him, ian entered the heart of helgaia—the lord’s castle.

    there, many people were already waiting for him.

    “you’ve arrived, your highness.”

    “we are prepared.”

    more than a dozen people were waiting for him in the conference room, including the butler of the crystal palace, the village chief of labadom, the leaders of the mercenary groups, and several nobles.

    these people, whom he had gathered until now, were his vassals and loyal subjects.

    they were people who had been influenced by his actions until now.

    ian stood before them.

    “i’ve received a message. there’s no need to wait any longer.”

    “are we moving right away?”

    “we must.”

    ian called over the butler standing at the front.

    “what is the strength of our enemies?”

    “it is estimated to be around fifty thousand. they have completely surrounded helgaia.”

    “and our forces?”

    “we have around twenty thousand.”

    defending might be sustainable, but their military strength was clearly insufficient for an offensive.

    nevertheless, ian smiled.

    “that’s more than sufficient. we merely need to stall.”

    “but... our food supplies are running low. even with our reserves, we can only last a month at most.”

    if this continued, the citizens of helgaia and the mercenaries might revolt.

    no one could fight without food. but ian replied calmly,

    “food is not a concern. we have ample reserves and a discreet way to transport them. the dragon carriage is also prepared.”

    the focus was on diverting the enemy’s focus and consuming their time.

    each passing day would exponentially increase their losses.

    “garcia may possess vast wealth, but let’s observe how long he can sustain his forces. additionally, ready the troops for a siege. we must be primed for an offensive at any moment.”

    “as you command.”

    in reality, the enemy was in the same predicament.

    like ian, they were also completely surrounded in their territory.

    but their situation was far worse.

    ‘with the population of the garcia dukedom to feed, the food they produce won’t be nearly enough.’

    it was a territory that had originally focused on commerce rather than agriculture.

    now, with trade halted, each passing day would make it harder for them to survive.

    “will they truly have the luxury to attack us?”

    “as a duke, garcia will risk all to try and best me. that’s his nature.”

    unlike others, ian was certain of this.

    even in such a crisis, garcia would maintain his cool demeanor and aim directly for the heart of his enemies.

    but ian was someone who understood the duke’s mindset better than anyone else.

    “let’s see who can hold out longer.”

    with ian’s command, dozens of people bowed their heads.

    it was finally time to lead duke garcia into true despair.