Episode 385 – A New Master (3)
Arthur and Halyans entered the office.
The office, filled with the preferences of the previous owner, was so lavish it was nearly blinding.
Halyans wore a face full of things to say, but Arthur stepped away from him for a mont and walked toward the window.
From the office, he had a clear view of the inner castle.
He had already toured the fortress, and the chaos that once followed Azonne’s death had completely vanished.
All the masked agents associated with Azonne had been dismissed, and the main figures of the guard force had been replaced entirely.
Traces of Italus’ efforts to erase Azonne’s legacy were evident throughout the castle.
Arthur’s gaze shifted toward the mansion entrance.
There, the man who had stabilized Aintrier in such a short ti—Italus—was speaking with the newly appointed guard captain.
Both wore quite serious expressions, suggesting so problem had arisen.
What the issue was could be heard in ti, and Arthur slowly turned his head.
In truth, the real issue was behind him.
“Um…”
Cautiously gauging Arthur’s mood, Halyans carefully began to speak. His face held a hint of impatience.
A stark contrast to the confident expression he had worn earlier.
He had likely assud that now that the alliance terms were fulfilled, Arthur would imdiately dispatch reinforcents.
‘Not a chance.’
Arthur had never once considered allowing the Allied Forces to shed blood over Demtor’s internal conflicts.
When he conveyed that point indirectly, Halyans had worn that very expression ever since.
“I’d like to know the reason.”
“You an the reason we can’t offer military support?”
“Right now, Aintrier’s public sentint leans entirely toward the Allied Forces. We of the Ivory Tower have spared no effort in achieving that. At the very least, we deserve to know the reason.”
When Halyans asked, citing their efforts thus far, Arthur wore a thoughtful expression. But only for a mont—he exhaled shortly, then gestured to Halyans.
“This is actually classified…”
At the word “classified” and Arthur’s cautious gesture, Halyans leaned in, visibly tense.
Arthur gave a faint chuckle at the sight, then spoke.
“There’s a hole in the Allied Forces’ core strength.”
“…The core strength, aning…”
“Fenry, Karl, Natasha, and Lochter. All 5-star Awakeners.”
“I know about Sir Lochter’s condition, but the others…?”
“They clashed with the Sword Demon.”
“S-Sword Demon? You an Karvas, the Sword Demon?”
“That’s correct.”
At the ntion of clashing with the Sword Demon, Halyans let out a faint groan. As an elder of Demtor, he knew better than anyone the terror Karvas represented.
Hadn’t even the forr stars of Demtor fallen to that sword? Karvas wasn’t just a regular 5-star, but a true ‘monster.’
“Don’t tell … anyone died?”
“Fortunately, no deaths. But the injuries are severe. They need absolute rest.”
“Oh no…”
In truth, all three were completely fine—but Halyans had no way of verifying that.
All of them were secretly investigating the Black Market.
“The Allied Forces are currently suffering a major lack of power. In this situation, pulling more strength to oppose Grand Duke Clarke is impossible.”
“This is serious…”
As Halyans’ expression darkened, Arthur decided it was ti to present a carrot.
“Of course, that’s not to say we’ll offer no help at all.”
“Pardon?”
“We’re allies, after all. You’ve fulfilled my request completely, and I’m not so stingy as to ignore that.”
Arthur pulled a map from his inner coat and unfolded it wide across the table.
At a glance, Halyans imdiately recognized the map.
It showed the western region of Hell Gri—his holand, the entire territory of Demtor.
“A map of Demtor.”
“Do you see the marked locations across Demtor’s lands?”
There were over thirty marks. As Halyans wondered what they represented, he asked Arthur.
“What are these marked locations?”
“They’re secret branches of the Black Market.”
“What? This many?”
As an organization that dealt in information, the Ivory Tower had a decent grasp of the Black Market’s branches. But what he saw here far exceeded his knowledge.
“The Black Market is a cell-structured organization. Even those marked here likely don’t know of each other’s existence.”
“Then how do you know their locations…?”
“You’re asking if I’ve identified them all?”
This map had been obtained through one of the Black Market’s executive mbers who handled information flow.
Karl was currently stationed beside that executive, moving to uncover the Black Market’s entire information infrastructure.
In other words—
“It looks like I’ll be taking control of the Black Market soon.”
“…!”
Halyans’ eyes widened at the statent. He even shifted in his seat, visibly excited.
“Th-The Black Market? Are you serious?!”
“Check the locations on this map. You’ll realize I’m not lying. As proof, I’ll lend you the agents stationed at those points. They’ll serve as Demtor’s eyes and ears, a valuable asset to the Ivory Tower.”
“By the heavens!”
If Arthur spoke the truth, then Demtor would gain overwhelming informational superiority.
The Black Market’s intelligence network was renowned even within Demtor.
At the very least, they would no longer be vulnerable to surprise attacks from the Gram Alliance.
Seeing Halyans rejoice, Arthur wore a faint, ambiguous smile. It was still too early to be surprised.
“And take this as well.”
“This is…?”
“A small token.”
With a dazed expression, Halyans unfolded the paper Arthur handed him.
It was a luxurious sheet inlaid with gold—containing a check guaranteed by the Allied Forces.
500,000,000G.
“Uhuck!”
The mont he saw the number, he inhaled sharply and dropped the paper.
Panicking, he hurriedly picked it up again. His hands trembled as he held the check, stunned by the unimaginable sum.
“Th-This… what is this?!”
“Money.”
“No, I an…”
“Use it to hire rcenaries. With that amount, you can even buy off so of the enemy’s better rcenary companies.”
Even after checking again, the amount remained the sa.
Five hundred million gold.
Swallowing dryly, Halyans stared at Arthur.
When Arthur had first said he couldn’t offer military support, Halyans had felt deceived.
Resentnt had begun to rise—but now, with those two things Arthur gave him, all of it vanished like it had never existed.
Black Market intelligence.
Five hundred million gold.
Not direct support, but so overwhelming that Halyans couldn’t complain.
Arthur sealed it with one final word.
“Halyans-nim.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Please hold out. Once our core forces recover, the Allied Army will march straight to Demtor.”
“Arthur…”
Halyans’ eyes no longer held any disappointnt—only trust and gratitude.
In Arthur, he saw a glimr of hope.
The tide wouldn’t turn completely, but it would at least loosen the suffocating pressure.
“This might even be enough to buy off mages…”
Halyans carefully stowed away the check and bowed deeply toward Arthur.
“I may not represent all of Demtor, but I’ll never forget this grace.”
Arthur smiled and nodded, and Halyans slowly exited the room.
Due to Arthur’s request to handle Aintrier, his return to Demtor had been delayed.
With the death of Sub-Tower Master Nagrok and the current state of Aintrier, he needed to report directly to Modin, Master of the Ivory Tower.
So, the mont he received his reward, Halyans began preparing to return to Demtor with the remaining mages.
Arthur silently stared at the door through which Halyans had left.
‘It feels like pouring water into a bottomless jar… but it should hold for now.’
Currently, Demtor was at a severe disadvantage.
The Gram Alliance, backed by the 6-star Awakener Grand Duke Clarke, held overwhelming superiority.
The only reason things hadn’t exploded yet was that Clarke wasn’t aiming for a full-on confrontation.
If he had wanted to end the civil war with force, it would’ve ended long ago.
Gram was currently surrounding the Ivory Tower’s side and slowly strangling it.
But once Halyans returned, the pressure on Modin would significantly ease.
“Just hold out for half a year.”
Turning his gaze from the door, Arthur looked at the mountain of paperwork stacked on his desk.
They were reports detailing the changes in Aintrier’s situation—but Arthur didn’t bother to read them.
“Because we’ve got an expert.”
Almost as if on cue, Italus entered the office, rubbing his back.
“Sir Halyans?”
“He’s returned to his quarters. Looks like he’ll leave for Demtor today.”
“…Really?”
“Is there a problem?”
At the ntion of the mages departing, Italus’ expression grew slightly dark.
“I just received word from the guard captain that public order is deteriorating.”
“Citywide security?”
“Yes. Many rchant groups have collapsed, and disputes are breaking out over the vacant territories.”
“Is it serious?”
“Not terribly. A show of force usually settles it. The problem is…”
“You don’t have the forces.”
“Exactly.”
Italus gave a bitter smile and nodded.
In the process of erasing Azonne’s remnants, countless castle personnel had been purged.
That led to a serious shortage of manpower—enough to destabilize public order.
Arthur could personally step in for now, but in his absence, they needed a reliable security force.
Deploying trustworthy forces in the castle wasn’t sothing that could be solved overnight.
While Italus was still agonizing over that—
“I think I can solve that problem.”
“How?”
Arthur nodded lightly and pulled an object from his coat, holding it out.
“What’s this?”
“A command token to lead the Black Market’s combat division.”
“…The Black Market?”
“They’re all elites. You can deploy them directly for security. They’re reliable—use them.”
Italus blankly accepted the token and listened to Arthur’s explanation as he inspected it.
A crude token dyed in black.
If the combat unit was composed of only 1–2 star Awakeners, they were still hand-picked elites from the Black Market.
He could use this kind of force freely?
Just what had this man done to the Black Market?
“Oh, I’ll also assign so of the ‘Leafs’ we brought from the Allied Forces. If you pass orders through their ghost commanders, they’ll act accordingly. Will that be enough?”
“Th-That’s more than enough…”
Italus swallowed a groan and nodded.
Until now, he’d been racking his brain for a solution—but Arthur had solved it as if it were nothing.
“And have the heads of the rchant lords imprisoned by the mages hung in the plaza.”
“…All of them?”
“When I opened the Golden Gate, I made a declaration. Do you rember what it was?”
“…Unity.”
“I plan to show what happens to those who break that unity. It’ll also serve as a warning to those eyeing those vacant seats.”
“U-Understood.”
Italus swallowed dryly, thinking of the rchant lords imprisoned below.
They were all desperately awaiting Arthur’s rcy.
But Arthur refused even to speak with them—and ordered their deaths.
Those rchant lords had amassed their wealth by selling off other races and witches as slaves.
It was a glimpse into how seriously Arthur took ‘unity.’
‘I really need to treat the dwarves better.’
He had felt it before—but standing on Arthur’s side had been the best decision of his life.
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