On November 3rd, late at night, the first autumn rain fell silently after the beginning of autumn in Suke City.

A drizzle of rain wet the sook plains, which were too dry after the autumn breeze blows, sweeping away the suffocating haze in the air.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

The Marquis of O'Briton, the head of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, was stabbed to death by a young nobleman who called himself a 'champion of the empire' on the central street of the imperial capital. Although the Lion Castle and the cabinet had the intention to block the news, there were too many people who witnessed this fact at that time, and by the evening, even the nobles who were confined to the Lion Castle banquet hall knew the details of the assassination.

At three o'clock in the morning,

Suddenly it rained harder.

The entire imperial capital city has been put under military control, and the guards on the streets have unconsciously doubled after dark, and in the second half of the night, the regular soldiers of the city defense battalion have begun to replace the ordinary patrols on the streets.

At the same time, after dark, the military headquarters issued a provisional decree to collect all the private soldiers of the nobles of the imperial capital, citing a 'state of total war'.

And just as the military officials were heading to the designated area to hand over to the nobles, a loud bang like thunder suddenly resounded in the sky, and the sky-high fire tore through the dark night sky, as if they were going to a duel with the gods in the sky.

The loud explosion not only shocked the nobles in the inner city who had been around all night, but also woke up the ordinary citizens in the outer city.

The ignorant citizens panicked, and the fire that could almost illuminate half of the imperial capital made them speculate.

Soon, rumors began to spread among the neighborhoods without being guided by anyone:

'The orcs have reached the imperial capital!'

'There is a noble rebellion!'

'The gods are sending calamity!'

In just ten minutes, the market squares in the outer city were full of people.

For the horror of the unknown, they began to curse loudly, and some even began to storm the gates of the inner city.

Major General Jarvis, who was in charge of the outer city, wanted to suppress it by force, but Prince Sinda ordered him to guard only the walls and not to intervene in the civil riots.

...

Soon after, the source of the explosion was identified.

The news spread among the upper nobles of the empire for the first time.

The site of the explosion was the Dungeon of the Guards, and the assassin of the Marquis of O'Briton was torn apart by the explosion and was already dead no longer dead.

Prince Sinda and Duke Eric arrived at the explosion site within ten minutes of learning the news, and at the same time issued an order to grounding the nobles.

The scale of the explosion was worse than expected.

Fortunately, with the help of rain, the fire did not spread.

The temporary head of the guard, Malek, had already identified the source of the explosion when Prince Sinda and Duke Eric arrived.

It's the self-destructing magic device inside the dungeon that suddenly activates!

"Your findings are a piece of shit. Prince Sinda looked at Malek with an icy gaze, "I would propose that the court prosecute you for the highest form of malfeasance." ”

Malek was taken aback by the prince's words, and he subconsciously wanted to explain something, when Duke Eric asked, "Who is in control of the self-destruction mechanism inside the dungeon?" ”

"It's a secret. Malek's eyes were a little erratic, "The specific list of personnel under his control is only known to the former Minister of Supervision, Chief Neb, after Chief Nebber was hanged, Sir Gus El had hired a professor of magic from Grace University to specialize in research, but so far nothing has been found, we..."

"I'm not interested in your infighting. Duke Eric impatiently interrupted Malek's explanation: "Can you tell that it was artificially activated?"

"I'm not a magician, and the results of the investigation will take three days at the earliest. Malek said through gritted teeth.

"One day! You only have one day, and at this point in the day, no matter what I'm doing, you can come and report your findings to me. Duke Eric glanced at Prince Sinda, "If the results of your investigation are satisfactory to me, we will drop the charges against you." ”

"I immediately increased my staff. "Malek is not guaranteed.

Duke Eric frowned, he was very dissatisfied with Malek's answer, but he didn't say anything more, he nodded indifferently and waved his hand to signal that the other party could do his own thing, and then he moved his gaze to Prince Sinda, "The soldiers of the city defense battalion..."

"I need to rest now. Prince Sinda immediately interrupted his uncle's words, turned to the guards beside him, and then walked as fast as he could towards the gate of the guard.

Outside the Guard Building, the carriage of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Count Stu Gara, was firmly parked on the road, and the fat Count Stu Gara himself was standing straight on the side of the road, and the light rain had soaked his noble robes at the moment.

When Prince Sinda arrived at the door, Count Stu-Gara immediately rushed forward and said, "Someone wants to meet you, Your Highness." ”

"Now?" said Prince Sinda, dressed in a military uniform, and his tone was casual, and he didn't stop walking towards his mount as he spoke.

"Yes, right now. "Count Stu followed the prince closely," he brought some news, such as... Minutes of a high-level meeting of the Chamber of Commerce League after the assassination of the Marquis of Obryton. ”

"Who is he?" Prince Sinda stopped and turned to look at Count Stu, who was bowing in the rain.

Count Stu bent even lower the moment the prince looked at him, "Marquis of O'Briton's younger brother, Viscount Templeto." ”

"Lead the way, Earl. ”

...

In the private residence of the Earl of Stu in the inner city of the imperial capital.

The atmosphere of the first meeting between the young prince, who had just taken over the imperial scepter, and Demptop-Bob, one of the heads of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, was somewhat urgent.

Or rather, it was an unexpected meeting.

Prince Sinda also didn't expect that he would meet Marquis O'Briton's younger brother here after the daytime meeting was messed up, and Viscount Dempto didn't expect him to meet Prince Sinda so easily.

After Count Stu's introduction, Prince Sinda asked impatiently, "What are you going to do?"

"It's not us, Your Highness, it's them. Viscount Dempto maintained a respectful attitude, "Most of the members of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance are willing to pledge their allegiance to you, including me, but we can't change the minds of some people. ”

Viscount Temple's attitude won the young prince's favor, for it was the first time since he took power that someone had declared allegiance to him in front of him.

"Just tell me what you call 'some people' in mind. Prince Sinda's tone softened imperceptibly.

Viscount Dempto looked at Count Stu next to him.

"Tell you what you know. Count Stu's tone was unmistakable, with a faint threatening killing intent.

But Viscount Dempto didn't speak immediately, he looked down and thought for more than a minute, then suddenly raised his head and looked at Prince Sinda for a few seconds, and finally took a deep breath and said, "They are ready to raise an army to attack Suke City!"

Prince Sinda was stunned, and his eyes couldn't help but look at Count Stu.

"You can take his word for it, Your Highness. The fat on Earl Stu's neck was covered with sweat, and he wiped it and said, "You should consult with Duke Eric as soon as possible." ”

At this moment, Prince Sinda suddenly became surprisingly calm, or rather relaxed.

It's a relaxation after knowing the truth.

The truth?

Prince Sinda's heart moved, and he looked at Viscount Temple, "Do you know how much it will cost to capture Suk City?

"They have an inner city and should be ready to form a vanguard army of more than two thousand men in the outer city. Although Viscount Dempto was still struggling in his heart, he still answered truthfully when faced with Prince Sinda's question, "There are also many nobles who have promised to find a way to open the inner city gate as long as the troops can reach under it. ”

"Who are they?" said the prince's voice, which was cold and terrifying.

"I only know part of it, but I think you have a way to get these people to speak. Viscount Temple's hands clenched together, "I can write a list." ”

"Duke Eric is good at dealing with these issues, and we can give him the list. Count Stu's voice suddenly rang out.

"No!" Prince Sinda shook his head at Earl Stu, "this matter—" he looked at Viscount Temple, "you can do it." ”