I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Joey Ward had made great contributions to the Dillon Kingdom and was granted a duke's title, possessing territories in the eastern part of the Dillon Kingdom equivalent to those of two regular dukedoms.

The former Duke Ward was also a trusted confidant of the Dillon King at the time, and the old king had considerable trust in this disciple of the Legendary Strongman. Many important departments within the Kingdom were controlled by the subordinates of Duke Ward.

However, Joey Ward did not betray His Majesty the King's trust. Under the leadership of this de facto duke, the power of the Dillon Kingdom grew rapidly, earning it the qualification to compete with the Feis Kingdom.

But, as time changes, Joey Ward eventually succumbed to recurring wounds from years of warfare and passed away a few years ago, around the same time as the former Dillon King.

Now the power in the Dillon Kingdom has been transferred to Lukar Dilon's hands, and the title and authority of the Duke Ward were inherited by Joey's eldest son, Stran Ward.

Lukar felt that since Joey Ward had passed away, it was natural to take back that clearly outdated extra authority; he couldn't tolerate another influential voice within the country.

And Stran would definitely not relinquish the power that belonged to him. As a qualified political creature, he would never entrust his fate to the mercy of those in power.

This was the big backdrop to the unrest in Ice Peak City.

This was the cause of the "Demon's Gate" incident in Ice Peak City.

Lis understood in his heart that the task Gilberto had given him must signify that the conflict between the two parties was irreconcilable and about to be brought into the open.

Lukar, as the Dillon King, was very capable. The future invasion of the Feis Kingdom was pushed forward by His Majesty the King himself.

Perhaps the opportunity to launch a war had finally arrived, and Lukar could no longer bear it.

Before the actual war began, he intended to eliminate all potential threats at home.

To repel the foreign, one must first secure the home!

Lis had not participated in the entire process of the "Demon's Gate" incident in Ice Peak City; in his previous life, he was still struggling in Bright City!

Therefore, he only had a rough understanding of the progress of the incident and was not clear about the specifics.

Just like now, it must be the initial confrontation between the Dillon King and Duke Ward.

The question was whether His Majesty the King had any other plans in place.

Earlier, Gilberto spoke lightly of it, but if it were so easy to take down the position of Financial Assistant Frue Philip, would he need to send someone to stir up trouble?

Now Lis was worried that the pretense of Kenne Simon he assumed might be treated as a disposable pawn, to be used and then discarded, in which case his identity was very likely to be exposed.

Alas, why did things start off with such troublesome issues!

He could only watch and see if there were any opportunities to cause trouble during the process.

Lis sighed and took a light sip of the black tea.

Tok Tok~

A knock on the door sounded.

"Come in!"

Lis set down the tall white teacup in his hand.

A middle-aged man who appeared to be in his thirties gently pushed the door open and stood respectfully in front of Lis.

"Who are you?"

Lis asked nonchalantly.

"Lord Simon, I am the second secretary to Lord Salas, Hans Cruz. Lord Salas sent me to assist you with your duties."

"Hmm."

Lis responded indifferently and then said:

"Gilberto said you are familiar with the situation. So, where do we start?"

Hans was startled, not expecting this Finance Officer to be so direct and unceremoniously asking him to start work immediately.

I've heard that he was once a favorite of the Duke of Ghana, so it seems the rumors are true.

Yet in Hans's mind, who had navigated through the officialdom for over a decade, many thoughts flashed by, but his expression remained unchanged as he began to introduce the tasks entrusted by Gilberto to Lis.

"Lord Gilberto has already signed an official administrative order, commanding a review of all the financial and governmental tasks from last year by the Kingdom, to be overseen by you."

"The Finance Assistant, Lord Frue Philip, mainly oversees the collection, accounting, and statistics of the Kingdom's taxes, the allocation of funds for the construction of Ice Peak City, and the statistical distribution of the nobles' annuities."
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"When coming here, Lord Gilberto instructed that these areas might require extra attention."

Lis struggled to suppress a twitch in the corner of his mouth, maintaining his serious status and persona.

Goodness me, the significant authority of the Kingdom's tax collection isn't with Gilberto but in the hands of this Finance Assistant? Doesn't it mean that half of the Kingdom's financial power is controlled by this third-ranked official?

With just a little manipulation, a large sum of Gold Coins could end up in Duke Ward's pocket without anyone noticing.

No wonder they want to eliminate this guy first.

Even telling me where to start?

Lis fell silent for a moment, pretending not to understand too well, and continued,

"Since Gilberto trusts you, where should we start that would be appropriate?"

"Of course, the collection of last year's Kingdom taxes. Although Lord Philip should have already handled the ledgers, if any tampering has taken place, it will certainly be detectable."

Hans spoke with a grave tone, and although his voice still maintained respect for the Finance Assistant, he was ready to directly pin down this high-ranking official.

"Lord Simon, this is what I have brought, a memorandum of all the work done by Lord Philip last year."

Hans placed a thick pile of paper documents gently on the table in front of Lis.

After a brief glance, Lis saw that these documents were organized chronologically, most of which related to the Kingdom's taxation; in addition, there were a few other financial documents signed by Philip.

Suddenly, Lis spotted the name of one document.

Interesting!

A slight smile appeared on Lis's face, which he quickly concealed.

To be honest, since the Finance Minister and the Duke of Ghana planned to use Kenne Simon as a tool, Lis had intended to just follow the routine, and if he needed to shed his cover, he would change his identity.

But now it seemed that there was an opportunity to "steal a chicken," making the conflict between the two parties even more heated.

"Hans, you've got a good idea, let's start with the tax collection from last year, as you suggested,"

Lis nodded his head and said in a flat tone.

"However, since Lord Gilberto places such importance on this matter, looking only at the tax collection work is not quite enough."

"Lord Simon, what do you mean?"

Hans was unsurprised. In his view, this Finance Officer was not well-informed about financial matters and was just spontaneously interested in arranging more work, simply wanting to show some initiative.

As long as the major tasks followed Lord Gilberto's intentions, such minor matters would not be worth losing face over for this second-in-charge.

"Let's go with this!"

Lis randomly pulled out two documents from those in front of him and threw them in front of Hans.

"For the tax work, just arrange for someone to verify it; I trust you with that."

"These two areas, come with me tomorrow, and we'll investigate what Lord Philip did last year."

Hans picked up the two documents, one of which was titled:

[Ice Peak City Royal Family's New Galsa Warehouse Funding Approval]