Imperial Throne

Chapter 129: Raven’s Trail

“You brought back a magical beast cub?!”

Annie, who was handling affairs in the Administrative Hall, was visibly shocked when she heard Akar’s report and saw the magical beast cub wrapped in the pelt of a Shadow Panther. She even looked somewhat horrified.

A few days ago, after descending the mountain, Akar only had someone purchase some milk from Ruby Village.

Since the magical beast cub didn’t have any teeth and clearly couldn’t eat meat, milk was the only option for feeding it.

However, he hadn’t expected the cub’s appetite to be so large. The amount of milk meant to feed an ordinary cub for five days was finished in just three by the Shadow Panther cub. And since it took four days to travel from Ruby Village to Gem City, the cub had to go hungry for a day before being fed again upon arrival.

At this moment, when Akar pulled the cub out of the Shadow Panther pelt, it had just eaten and drunk its fill and was sleeping soundly.

What Akar didn’t expect, however, was Annie’s intense reaction.

“Yes, but why are you reacting so strongly?”

“Because this kind of creature is a beast that can never be truly tamed!” Annie said gravely. “It’s not that people haven’t tried to raise magical beasts, but whether starting from a cub or capturing an adult one, the outcome is always the same: the beast ends up attacking its caretaker. That’s why no one trades in magical beast cubs.”

“Among Bloodline Users, magical beast cubs are typically dealt with immediately.”

“Compared to adult magical beasts, only the blood of cubs is valuable, because magical bloodstones require the blood of magical beast cubs to be crafted.”

Annie knew the Soderbell Family had experienced a gap in their heritage, so she explained further, “Additionally, a magical beast cub is the lifeline of the beast. Especially... during its nursing period, it almost always results in a relentless pursuit by its parents until death.”

“We’ve always had a theory about this.”

Looking at the cub still fast asleep in his hands, Akar hesitated briefly, then placed it back into the pelt.

Annie saw his action but said nothing further.

“Father and I believe that something unusual must have occurred in the Withered Wood Forest—something that killed this cub’s father. The mother likely found herself unable to both protect the cub and forage at the same time, so she fled the forest with the cub and brought it to what she thought was a safe place near Ruby Village.”

“The quarry was likely her habitat, and the mining activities disturbed her, causing her to attack.”

“As for the trade caravans, their routes probably overlapped with her hunting ground, which is why they were attacked as well.”

“But now that both parents are dead, we weren’t attacked when taking the cub.”

Akar and Roda brought the cub back safely. If its parents had still been alive, the two of them would never have made it back to Gem City. It had taken every resource and effort they had just to defeat the mother, and that had come at the cost of one person seriously wounded and another lightly injured. If it had been just the wounded Roda and Akar, four days would’ve been enough for them to become Shadow Panther droppings.

“So, what do you plan to do with this cub?” Annie asked again.

Akar glanced over and replied, “If you think it’s dangerous, then I’ll just…”

Mid-sentence, Akar suddenly recalled something.

Ordinary people couldn’t tame such beasts, but what if they used the Demonic Sword from their family?

Of course, he couldn’t mention this to Annie—this was tied to the very foundation of their family.

So instead, he changed his words: “I just had a thought… If only the blood of cubs is valuable, wouldn’t raising it to adulthood allow us to harvest more valuable magical beast materials?”

“Breeding it?”

Annie showed some hesitation and internal conflict. “It’s not like no one’s tried it before, but magical beast cubs take a long time to mature—usually ten to fifteen years. The higher the tier, the longer the growth period and the higher the cost of raising it. But… if you insist, raising a Tier-3 Shadow Panther isn’t impossible.”

“No need.” Akar shook his head. “I plan to send it to White Mountain Territory.”

“To White Mountain Territory?” Annie looked confused. “Why?”

“I heard Joshua was very displeased with how much profit White Mountain Territory has been siphoning off through trade smuggling…”

As soon as Akar mentioned this, Annie frowned and said in a low voice, “Akar, you don’t need to worry about what Joshua says. The truth is, some elders in the Kasein Family are just jealous and trying to seize our share of the benefits…”

“I know.” Akar smiled slightly and walked to Annie’s side, gently calming her down. “But regardless, Joshua does seem to have opinions about this. If we continue raising the magical beast cub here in Gem Territory, it’ll add significant costs, which could intensify Joshua’s dissatisfaction. Didn’t you say that among the Bloodline Nobles, magical beast cubs are typically executed by default?”

“So let’s try another approach. If we send the cub to White Mountain Territory under your name, it acts as pressure on them. Our Soderbell Family may be unaware of the risks of raising magical beast cubs, but Sister Lily surely knows. If she still agrees to raise it, then it sends a public signal: White Mountain Territory is reliant on Gem Territory.”

Annie nodded slightly, having caught on to Akar’s idea.

“And in secret, this can help draw out those potential enemies—especially the old dogs in the Kasein Family—who are trying to drive a wedge between us and White Mountain Territory. If I can expose them, it’ll make our future actions much easier.”

Though Akar didn’t fully understand Annie’s thinking, he wisely smiled and nodded.

His true motive was merely to see whether White Mountain Territory could tame a magical beast cub. But since Annie had come up with her own explanation, Akar saw no reason to correct her.

Thus, the matter of the magical beast cub was quickly settled.

Due to Roda’s injuries, Akar couldn’t leave Gem Territory at the moment—he needed to return to Ruby Village urgently. And since all of the Bloodline Knights were stationed in Ruby Village, Annie had to dispatch a guard squad—not out of fear that the cub’s parents would attack, but in case they encountered foolish bandits. Otherwise, one person would’ve sufficed.

…

Meanwhile, Ruby Village was gradually regaining its former prosperity.

The fearsome magical beast that had terrified the villagers hadn’t appeared for days, and they believed what Aliman declared after his return—he claimed, in Annie’s name, that the Shadow Panther had been seriously wounded and could no longer threaten the mines or trade routes. He also said they were pursuing the beast and that the incident would be resolved soon.

As a result, many praised the Shelf Mercenary Group’s prowess.

Aliman also noticed that after his declaration, two of the three merchant guilds with Bloodline Users in the village began making moves, clearly aiming to intercept—after all, the body parts of a Tier-3 magical beast represented a significant fortune.

Only the Bruno Merchant Guild remained unresponsive.

Aliman didn’t bother with the rest. The Shadow Panther had long since died, and its corpse was likely already devoured by other forest creatures, leaving no trace behind. Still, to maintain the ruse, he continued “searching” for the beast daily, while secretly increasing surveillance of Ruby Village.

And just as he predicted, by the fifth day they had narrowed their search—they had confirmed that someone resembling Raven was indeed living in Ruby Village. However, the man went by the name Leo. His exact address still required further investigation, but they had identified two likely locations.

At this point, there were no more uncertainties—only a slow and methodical process of elimination remained.

Another four days passed.

Just as Akar returned to Ruby Village to reunite with Ion, Aliman finally located the residence of the man named Leo.

However, the final result of Aliman’s investigation appeared somewhat strange.

“You’re sure that Raven isn’t a Bloodline User?”

“I’m not sure.” Ion shook his head. “But if… things really are as I suspect, then Raven must already be a Bloodline User by now. What did you find?”

“This person named Leo is a concealed Bloodline User, and… his strength may not be weak,” Aliman said with a grave expression. “I have a strong intuition—if we get within twenty meters of him, he’ll definitely notice us. So during this recent period of observation and surveillance, we haven’t dared to get too close.”

Among Bloodline Users, sensing each other’s presence was nearly impossible to hide.

The only difference lay in the strength of that sensory perception.

Someone with stronger perception could naturally detect another Bloodline User from a considerable distance; conversely, those with weaker perception needed to be much closer to notice another.

A range of twenty meters was already considered quite wide.

Most Bloodline Users had a perceptual range of only about ten meters.

“Moreover, when I thought back on our recent observations, my subordinates and I realized that he was deliberately avoiding us,” Aliman said in a low voice. “This suggests that he may have already noticed us—he just doesn’t know what our intentions are yet.”

“Then… could Raven possibly be a Third-Tier Bloodline User?”

“Impossible.” Aliman shook his head. “I can tell you with absolute certainty that this man is, at most, very close to being a Third-Tier Bloodline User—or rather, he’s at the peak of being a Second-Tier Bloodline User. But he’s definitely not a Third-Tier yet. Still, I suspect that since he hasn’t left despite noticing us, he’s likely preparing to advance to the third tier. So no matter what you’re planning, Lord Ion, I think we must act quickly.”

“I understand.” Ion nodded. “If you’re saying that too, then let’s move tonight.”

“According to the original plan?”

Ion nodded again, his eyes growing sharper.