House of the Wolves

"He sat unbothered of the gazes laid on him. He spoke unfettered of the decorum demanded from him. He stayed untarnished of the accusations thrown to him. But most of all, he stood undefeated by the fiends who plotted his fall… and I was there all along, watching this unrelenting monster devour the arrogant hunters who wanted to claim his life."

- Senator Zeynep Aydin

Imperial Senator & Representative of the United Turkman Tribes

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A highly respected political theorist by the name of Liam Loriel from the Kingdom of Albion once said that: "Democracy is not an alternative to Autocracy but simply its unplanted seed. As democracy develops and uses its people's common sense, time, lives and once it reaches its budding stage, the very morality that separates man from beast, its transformation from "for the people, by the people" to "the people demand all from those that it condemns of their humanity", its transformation is complete, and society collapses into Anarchy."

While these words might have been spoken shortly after the Atlanterran war of independence started, wherein the six original commonwealth states declared themselves as their own sovereignty led by democratic virtues, the subsequent effects of the war and the outcome that it led into, it made this statement become a cautionary tale against democracy, or at least the extensive libertarianism that comes from it.

"All rise for the arrival of our honorable senate members!"

Personally speaking, democracy is good by its virtue of giving even the destitute and powerless among the people the chance to have a position of authority in how a government is to be run, preventing despots…

"May we call onto the podium senator Zheng Haoran? Please take to the podium honorable senator."

…However, who can say that there will not come a day when that very system becomes the dictator that it was meant to destroy?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I must say, you're quite admirably brave to appear here despite the warnings that you likely received from your "friends"." The senator gave that quip as soon as he stood behind the podium and looked at Jonathan. "Well then, do you have anything to say before we officially begin, Baron Bougainvillea?"

"Yeah. Hurry this along, I have a practicum test on my MagiTech class by 2 o'clock and Albion language classes by 3:30. I don't plan to miss them."

Jonathan's sharp retort annoyed the senator from Qima while there are some other senators who heard it giggled at their fellow senator's expense.

"Hmph! Getting back on track, I would like to warn you that I will not hold back until you have answered my questions sufficiently and with nothing by the truth—"

"The truth or your truth?" Jonathan interjected mid-sentence, much to the senator's annoyance and confusion.

"W-What…?"

"I'm asking you if you want me to say what should be said, which is the truth, or should I say what you want out of me which is your version of things? Well, I already have a hunch about what you want."

That mention brought to everyone's mind what senator Zheng faced in his home country just weeks ago where it was revealed that he was playing for both the sides between the Kingdom of Qima and the Yilong Confederacy.

Apparently, he was giving guarantees that the confederation of states who seceded from the kingdom would be protected from being re-annexed by the kingdom, while also promising to Qima that the states' bid for being recognized as their own separate sovereignty and being inducted into the feudal Magna Carta would be rejected.

When the Five Week War was ended by Jonathan who attacked the Yibang Barony so severely that it became helpless against being retaken by Qima, the senator was questioned by the confederacy members whom he lied to by saying that: "I stopped them to the best of my abilities, but they disregarded my warnings."

However, it was later revealed in several reputable newspapers that when Qima threatened to remove him from being one of their representatives in the Imperial Senate because he has been slacking off in his work, he thought that his connection with the confederacy was found out and the kingdom was telling him to give up the Yibang territory. Thus, he secretly withdrew his protection of the Yibang Barony and helped the kingdom to annex the territory, weakening the military and diplomatic situation of the entire confederacy.

This drew the ire of both parties that he sided with. The confederacy rightfully hated him for going back on his promise, as well as selling out an important figure in their group, while the kingdom demanded for him to explain why he gave such protections to the confederacy despite being under both the written laws and unspoken rules of the imperial senate, wherein he must remain neutral in internal matters concerning his country.

To put it simply, Jonathan's comment of "the truth or your truth?" was a stab on this recent controversy and a timely retort against this man who demands it from him despite being unable to do so himself.

"WHY YOU, YOU PESKY, LITTLE—!"

"Ahem! Senator Zheng, please mind your voice."

"—!!!"

Just as Zheng's top was about to blow off in anger, a raspy voice belonging to the senate president brought him back to relative calmness. After readjusting his toga, the senator began questioning Jonathan who was still carrying a defiant expression.

"My first question is this, Baron Bougainvillea. What made you think that you can fight a war against over twenty noble houses whose military, economic and territorial advantages dwarfed your own?"

"That's quite a stupid question, but sure I'll indulge you. It's because we had no other choice."

"No other choice? You could've lodged a protest to the capital, and we would've threatened the now dissolved Penne Earldom and its subordinate families with repercussions if they went through with it."

"…And how long would that have taken, senator? Weeks? Months? Hey, maybe when all of my men had been slaughtered, the women violated, the children enslaved and all of our possessions taken as spoils of war, the mighty and righteous imperial army will finally come to fight for us."

Utterly unabashed sarcasm dripped from Jonathan's words, making some of the people watching the proceedings and even some senators' jaws to drop in surprise.

"My, my… what could this be other than an irrefutable proof that you shouldn't be handed any power? Are you saying then that the imperial army is incompetent?"

"No, not at all. What I meant to say is that the ones holding their leashes are the ones who are incompetent, slow and too drunk of their own power." Jonathan once again showed a brazen expression and tone even when faced with the gazes of the very people that he is criticizing. "What? Does the truth that you were asking for hurt that much?"

"You cur! How dare you speak like that in front of us?!"

"Forget about having decorum! You don't even have basic manners!"

One by one, some of the senators stood up and spoke out about the insulting manners that Jonathan was showing them. However, the young man was not only unbothered about it but blatantly smirked after he heard some words that he was waiting to come from them.

"Heh!"

"Y-You—!"

"…Decorum? Manners? Why do I have to show such acts of reverence when faced with some of the lowest scum in the face of promethea?! How did you even think that you're worthy of respect despite everything that you've done to the empire and its people?!" Jonathan's incensed reply shocked the entire assembly and as he stood from him seat, he began to berate them in a manner that none of them has ever experienced in their entire lives.

"You question "How dare I speak like this?" Nay! What you should question is why I have resorted to speaking like this! Are you blind and deaf about the suffering that the empire's citizens are experiencing, or are you just proudly dumb about all of it?! You call me a cur? Then what do you call your kind?"

They went silent whilst Jonathan berated them, and it reached its climax when he gave an indisputable proof of their incompetence.

"You come here in your luxurious clothes, living in exclusive abodes and lording over the very people who are funding your excesses with the fruits of their labor, blood and sweat. You say that you represent the will of the people, yet you are blatantly wasting their efforts with your pitiful leadership and their lives in your endless wars. Tell me, has anyone even refuted the sinking of the SCS Mc Douglas in order to stop the war in Silesia, or did you simply saw it as just another opportunity to profit from the bribes given to you by the weapons factories?"

"You insolent scum! Are you insulting the heroes who shed their blood in this war to protect the empire—"

"Heroes who now have widows and orphaned children whose lives could've been longer and better! And what the hell are you talking about when you exclaim that it's for the protection of the empire?! Wasn't the bombing an actual f*** up done by amateurs in the senate intelligence service?" Jonathan's response made some of the senators to gasp in shock that even a lowly baron like him knew the truth about the SCS Mc Douglas incident.

"Y-You… how did you—"

"People talk, senator Zheng." Jonathan answered the senator's mumblings before ending their mindset that he is nothing but a naïve and stupid hick noble from the boonies. "You should be thankful that I have given this warning to you that if I am already aware of your actions and mistakes, how much more does those who have more means know about it?"

Shaking both in anger and fear, senator Zheng Haoran spoke: "I am done with my questions" and stepped down from the speaker's podium. He was then followed by the person who called for this inquiry in the first place.

"Baron Fenris Bougainvillea, I'm glad that you've come despite your busy schedule." Senator Zeynep Aydin politely greeted to him.

"I had some free time, but I must warn you that it's quickly running out, your honor. Unlike some people here who can afford a whole fleet of Saravia-breed horses to pull their luxury carriages, I depend on the tram car service and trust me, they always seem to both be in a hurry and running late."

After chuckling from his statement, the female senator returned to a serious tone and asked her first question to him.

"May I ask if it's true that you have led the miniscule forces of your territory to not only defeat but almost completely annihilate the allied army of east Serafina's demesne association?"

"It's a joint effort, your honor. May it be our House Robinson, House Elliot or House Dahlia, we would've lost if not for those courageous men who risked their lives for us."

Jonathan's response was correct, but it didn't quite satisfy the true underlying question that she had in mind. Thus, she spoke up immediately.

"Let me rephrase that then. Is it true that you have not only defended your territory, but also attacked the territories of the nobles around you both in retaliation and to disrupt their ability to mount another offensive?"

"Yes. We did mount an attack on House Lavento, Belgram, Yibang and Rendon. The first two was in order to secure our original borders and block any attempt to once again have our lands assailed, while the latter two was to strike the two remaining noble houses that are gathering their strength to send another wave of invasion forces towards us."

"Does these attacks make use only of your forces?"

"Yes. We have made use of whichever force was best suited for our aims, as well as their ability to be deployed as quickly as possible to preserve the element of surprise."

"Then does this include mercenary Wizards of unknown origin?"

Once the female senator asked that, Jonathan's eyebrows raised for a moment and he stayed silent, pondering on the question.

"Baron? Baron, please answer my question."

"Senator… I believe I cannot do that." Jonathan's reply was quickly snatched by one senator who was still fuming about his behavior earlier, as a sign of disobedience in the face of an imperial inquiry.

"Hah! You can't answer it? What could this be other than a blatant display of noncompliance in a senate hearing! Bailiff! Seize—"

"Silence! Who on promethea allowed you to take over my authority to call out such things, Senator?! One more unwarranted heckling and I will put you under contempt!"

"A-Apologies, senate president!"

Once that was over, Jonathan explained why he can't answer senator Zeynep's question.

"As the question is worded out with a possible answer that would automatically turn it into a lie, I cannot answer it in its present form lest I commit perjury."

"Is that so? Well then, please tell us who these Wizards are and how they ended up under your service."

"They belong to House Dahlia, a group loosely related by blood who saved me during a dangerous encounter that I'd prefer not to elaborate on. The important thing is that I've personally knighted them and as I've been made to form my own branch family, they are directly under my command. This very same House Dahlia is where those Wizards came from."

Hearing his answer, some of the senators scoffed and laughed mockingly towards him while others remained silent, intent on hearing how he'd justify it.

"…As you can see, some of my fellow senators here seem to find it impossible to believe that you just came across a group of people who wasn't under the service of another noble house that just so coincidentally be Wizards as well."

"…"

"If you can justify your answer, please do. If not, please tell us why you're hiding the truth, dear baron."

For a moment, Jonathan became silent as he closed his eyes, earning the ire of some senators who wanted to hear his answer already. It was only when he stood up from his seat that they noticed something glowing faintly beneath his shirt.

"What is that?"

"Hrm? Is that a Logical Calculator?"

Then, Jonathan opened his eyes and the surroundings changed like a light projector was casting an image all around them.

"W-Wha—?!"

"What is this—?!"

"This is the answer that you're looking for, honorable senators."

Around them, a video of a battlefield accompanied by realistic noises of gunfire, explosions and the groans of injured and dying men, played with no censors to hide its sheer brutality. This is when some of the senators who are well-versed in MagiTech noticed that this was not a recording of a battle that is being played using a light magic orb, but instead illusory spells layered upon each other to form a moving footage alongside its realistic sounds.

"Baron! This is—!"

"I had a hunch that as a former commander of the Air force's Combat Wizard corps, you will be the first to notice it, Senator Minamoto. You are right, I am using magic to display this footage alongside its sounds."

"T-That's impossible! If you came here with a large LogiCal and about ten people to supply it with magic, it would've been sufficient. But I sense that only you are using magic in this room!"

Jonathan faced the assembly of senators to address the concern of one of their members.

"It's true that I am using magic to show these images and sounds, and it is also true that I am doing this alone. As for how this is possible, I have acquired a Logical Calculation unit several magnitudes more powerful than what the world currently has but I would prefer not to disclose its particulars."

"And why, if I may ask, baron?"

"Nothing in particular other than my preference to keep some things a secret. After all, such is one of the privileges afforded to me as a noble in the empire."

"Privilege? Hah! You dare attack us earlier for it and yet you hide behind it when it suits you? Wouldn't that be quite hypocritical of you, baron?" Senator Zheng, still bitter about what happened earlier, spouted those words as if to mock Jonathan. However, he wasn't prepared for his retort.

"Unlike you, I do my job properly and don't double-cross and double-dip, senator. It would do you well to remember that some privileges are given, while some are earned. This one is afforded to me by the Taiga Marquisdom for stifling the rebellion of House Penne, as well as the lacking, yet unceasing loyalty that my family gave to the empire for thousands of years and counting… something that a split-tailed serpent like you will never have."

"You—!"

(T/N: Split-tailed serpent is an Ostadonian idiom for someone who switches allegiances in the same way that a snake whose tail has been cut in two, moves around by slithering left to right and misses its intended destination by a huge margin)

"Baron Bougainvillea, that is enough out of you! You too senator Zheng!" The senate president reprimanded them and the two had contrasting responses.

"If that's what you want…"

"Kh-! Arrogant hick pest!"

When Jonathan sat down, the images and the sounds ceased and so did the glow under his shirt. This is when senator Zeynep continued her questions.

"While its true that your right to raise your own army and maintain an acceptably sizable force is included in your right as a noble in accordance with the feudal Magna Carta, I would like to remind you that it also draws attention from the organizations under the imperial ministries as well as your fellow nobles. I would like to ask if you still intend to continue holding onto such a powerful force?"

"That's both a valid concern and a stupid question, senator Zeynep… I don't intend to slow down or cease the growth of my personal military force, if anything, that would be utterly ridiculous."

"Utterly ridiculous, you say? How so?"

"Because just this past week, I've already received and handled three assassination attempts which I have surmised to have come from people who are unhappy about my continued existence." When the senators heard that with an unbothered tone from him, cold sweat beaded their faces as they realized how much Jonathan can shrug off those attempts on his life so nonchalantly.

"Some of those attempts are from half-baked amateurs who I believe was sent to simply threaten me or because their clients don't have enough money to afford the professionals, while one of them stuck out to me as coming from someone who wasn't after my life for the sake of ceasing my actions but instead, to avenge someone who was important for their ambitions that was lost because of my actions… huh, I wonder who that could be now. I do wish that the old men with powdered wigs wasn't responsible for this."

Jonathan casually mentioning "old men" and "powdered wigs" made it obvious that he was implicating one of the three duchies in the west of the empire to be responsible for the attempts on his life. However, that was already outside of the scope of the senate's oversight, and they disregarded it as idle rambling.

"Well then, let's wrap this up with one last question from me, Baron."

"Sure. Fire away, your honor."

"Why have you deployed your personal forces in Irma Island?"

Hearing that question made Jonathan smile and answer with a practiced line.

"My brother is fighting there, and I wish to lend my aid in order to protect his life and let him do his duties better."

"While that is true, I believe that isn't the actual reason why you did so, Baron Bougainvillea." As the senator said those words, Jonathan's previously calm expression turned to one that didn't exactly seem pleased. "Baron Bougainvillea, I demand your truthful answer. Why did you send your own forces to Irma Island?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Far in the western territories of Ostadonia, an old man wearing a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses peered out of his office's window where he saw nothing but the endless expanse of desert sand contrasting with the vibrant greenery within the walls of the city that he is in.

"Ahh… it seems to be another drab day for us. Heavens have mercy that I keep on sighing away every day like this." He spoke shortly before closing the window and lounging at his luxurious couch gilded with gold furnishings and high-quality and comfortable padding. "Hmph! They say that the world is inching towards another great war, yet nothing ever changes here save for the increased demand for magic gems from the capital and the Turkman tribes."

The old man took off his shades that has now lost their purpose, showing the skin around his eyes that has wrinkles both from age and the slightly unhospitable place that he belongs. He would've returned to his bedroom to nap the day away if not for several knocks on his door that was followed by the entrance and the voice of his trusted aide.

"Your Grace, we have received a ManaCom call from His Grace, Duke Malhotra. He insists that you and only you should hear it."

"Huh? What does that guy want from me now of all times?" He complained for a moment but still took the earpiece and microphone attached to a large wooden box filled with the necessary trinkets to connect him with the caller. "You moron, I was about to rest already. Why are you bothering me this late in the day?"

["…Stop horsing around for a moment. I didn't call you to annoy you, this is important."]

"Hmm… well then, let's hear it."

Even though he wanted to joke around more to annoy his caller, the old man recognized the seriousness of the other side's tone and decided against it.

["I got a call from my men who arranged for "that thing" in Serafina. It seems like both attempts failed as the young acting Marquis still has the "papers" in his possession, and the whelp baron from the sticks still draws breath."]

"Che! This is what happens when you do a sloppy job and cheap out on your "workers", you get what you pay for. Anyway, I've fulfilled my end of the "clean-up" and things are squeaky clean for me now, so I'm not interested in sending another group to handle those two anymore. The "papers" are not a threat to me anymore and the brat baron is just a prick that I can ignore now."

["Haah… The brat Kiyan told me the same earlier. He said he's cleaned up his involvement the moment he heard that House Rendon has been done in and he's not interested with silencing that mongrel who was responsible for this."]

"Is that so? Why not do the same and give up on this matter? It's not like you've put all of your cards on Rendon's deck and lost everything when he went bust."

The reply that he received from the other line made even the old man who has his own share of personal darkness to become uncomfortable.

["You seem to be forgetting our credo, Asmaan… It's not about getting even, sometimes, you need to strike down someone to send a message to everyone else who might be getting complacent about your silence in things."]

"…Then what do you plan to do? It's not like things will continue being like this when they've already thwarted several attempts on their lives." After the old man said those words, he heard maniacal cackling from the other side of the call.

["KAHAHAHA—! You will know soon, my friend… you will know very soon."]

As the line was cut and the glow of the magic particle amplifier inside the box receded, the old man handed back the earpiece and microphone to his aide who took it out of the room with him.

"Hmm… Poor brat. It seems like he picked the wrong person to mess with."

Once again left alone in his office, the old man spoke those words to himself as he closed his eyes to rest them from being assailed by the vicious sunlight outside.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

While he was freed from their continued scrutiny and any further involvement in their matters, Jonathan didn't exactly get off scot-free from the debacle that happened in the senate.

"Three months of prohibition from active military participation and a temporary suspension of taking over House Belgram's territory as our own?"

"Yeah. It was between that and being demoted to a Baronet. Given the circumstances and the repercussions of being demoted so early in my career, the choice was easy and obvious."

Back in the mansion that they are staying in, Jonathan told his maid who was brewing some tea, about what happened earlier in the imperial senate inquiry where he successfully shot down the attempt of senator Zheng to have him punished for the outcome of the Five Week War as well as reminding the entire senate that as elected officials, they are beholden to serving the people and they don't have some rights that nobles have.

"I must say, they are pretty lax about it if that is all that they gave us as punishment." Spica commented before asking her master why it is so. "Did something else happen which caused them to mellow out our punishment?"

"There is… the feudal army successfully defended Irma Island from a massive Atlanterran armada… or at least, that is what's being told in the newspapers and the public ManaCom service." Jonathan spoke as he took out the draft of tomorrow's newspaper which was handed to him earlier.

On its headlines was something that concerned him and his family, which made the newspaper's editors to send it to him in order to receive his approval to use their name.

"In truth, after watching Viscount Paller who was leading the airship fleet die in front of him, Joshua's anger unintentionally overridden his Soul Core's security protocols and made it overload with magic which he expelled using an extremely high-level Light magic formula that basically annihilated the fleet and its soldiers."

Jonathan turned the newspaper towards Spica and pointed at the big and bolded headline which says: "VICTORY FOR THE EMPIRE! IRMA ISLAND DEFENDED FROM ATLANTERRAN ARMADA!"

"Oh, Lord Joshua, Marquis Elmor and some of the living nobles even has a photo in it."

"There's that too. Back to the topic, no one would ever believe that something like that could be possibly done by a lone person, so it was arranged for an alternative story to be made both for the sake of believability and our own safety. However, since those senators are aware of the truth of Joshua's impossible feat, they decided to just let me off with that punishment for now since it won't do well to praise someone as a hero while his brother is involved in a controversy."

After steeping the tea sufficiently, Spica transferred the finished liquid to a tea pot and presented it alongside some tea cakes to her master. After taking a sip, Jonathan's eyes rose for a moment in surprise before he asked his maid a question.

"Huh… Given the quality of this Qima Puer tea, I assume that the trade went well?"

"It did, my liege. The madame was able to broker a good deal with a supplier for the San Gabriel Corporation in Marl Kah. They bought three-fourths of our current stock of Magisteel and set-up an advanced order for five more tons as soon as we have enough on-hand."

(T/N: The San Gabriel Corporation is a reference to a real-world company. If you know, you know.)

"And the price?"

"A cut above the average market size. The buyer was amazed with the quality and quantity, saying that its tensile strength is amazing and it's the purest that he has ever seen."

"Excellent! Spica, have everyone in Stella throw a party for this. They deserve it for the job well done." Jonathan joyously exclaimed before ordering for his subjects who did a good job to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

"I'll carry your orders once I get back to Serafina, my liege. I'll see to it that they will have their fill of food and drink."

"Good. Oh! That reminds me, you and Martha along with your staff are switching places tomorrow, huh?"

"It's a normal routine rotation of our House's staff, my liege. As my staff and I are still novices in working as servants, it's just normal that the head maid, Lady Robinson, comes to serve you every three weeks while you are away from the territory."

"Yeah, I get that… Still, once she is here, I'd probably not get to stay up late and dressing more casually when going out." Jonathan said that and did something that would instantly have him scolded by Martha, which is to raise his feet on the other unused seat at the tea table.

"…My liege, if I'm going to be honest, those are issues to me too, but I refrain from being vocal about it since you already know to not do it."

"Oh, c'mon Spica. Don't be a kill joy." Faced with his maid's uncomfortably neutral expression, Jonathan tried to joke around to ease the tension but failed.

"I'll be resigning for the night, my liege. I still have a long day ahead of me tomorrow."

"Sure, sure. Go and have some rest now."

After Spica left his bedroom, Jonathan finished his cup of tea and sighed out the warm air from his mouth. For a few moments, he peered out of his window where two moons can be seen in the sky, bathing the ground below with gentle moonlight just bright enough to make walking even in the bare darkness of the night possible.

"Hmm… Now that much of my concerns are finished, I guess it's time for me to focus on what matters right now."

After saying that, Jonathan activated his Soul Core, making it glow faintly as it computed an illusory magic formula to display a series of images that he took earlier while he was in the Academy.

"Belonging to the "white ties" has been nothing but a bother… Longer classes, more subjects, higher grading requirements and even having to belong to at least three school clubs or organizations… Still, that might have been a blessing in disguise."

Ever since he became a Baron and was transferred to the Advanced Curriculum campus, Jonathan had a brief rough start this semester, but he quickly managed to regain his composure and balance things out.

"That Khalil brat was just a petty push-over and his goons are just riffraff from the Malhotra duchy. If anything, they're likely just lowly foot soldiers sent to intimidate me. Too bad, they got on someone else's nerve too quickly to do their work of exposing my capabilities… I wonder if the ones who beat them up and hanged them naked by the arch would ever be punished." He spoke while looking at the projected image of Khalil and his four hangers-on butt-naked and tied to the academy's entrance arch.

In truth, Jonathan knew of the animosity between the noble students from the Malhotra duchy and the Boreas Dukedom, and once he saw Khalil making some pretty forceful moves to court the sister of the Boreas group's leader, he snapped a photo using his LogiCal, showed it to her brother, and the rest is just how it played out.

"The same goes to that creep that ambushed Chiori-senpai yesterday. Someone like him who is about to be a bigshot in the Faldra duchy wouldn't really be interested with marrying into the Hiiragi clan and being stuck with internal imperial court politics… I'm pretty sure he was sent there to keep an eye on me too. Good thing, Chiori-senpai rejected his club application and publicly rejected him."

He turned to another pair of projected photos where a good-looking man around his own age came to their clubroom while holding a club application form, and the other photo was out in the basic curriculum cafeteria where his previously composed expression contorted in shock after being rejected in the middle of a large crowd.

"That guy did say that whoever it was that hired them is likely to be a big shot within the four duchies. Whether he's doing this to keep me in line or to avenge a hurt ego, he's about to learn what it means to piss me off."

With a snap of his finger, the projected images disappeared and was replaced by images of letters sent by his subordinate that he sent out to investigate their current circumstances.

"Hmm… Good work, Renzo. You really do these things quickly, don't you?" Jonathan mumbled while looking at the report that Renzo sent about his investigations within the empire's underground criminal world.

Within his findings, he mentioned gaining a lead on where the dead assassins got their job from, and it was at the duchy neighboring west Serafina.

"The Malhotra duchy… could it be just some low noble who belongs there? I fail to see why a duchy would want my life and documents that it can demand from the Marquisdom by calling talking with them. After all, they have friendly relations…" He pondered for a moment before setting the thought aside for now so that he can finally sleep. "Whatever, I still have a long day tomorrow… No rush on thinking about this."