James called together all the people who had supported his cause to destroy the Berkley family. None of them were very exceptional nobles since nearly all of them were talentless second or third sons.

They had gained the head seats either because the eldest chose to go to the army or they died due to certain circumstances.

They gathered under James because he had promised them wealth and glory if they supported him and his household. James had connections to very influential people so it was obviously a good deal to cooperate with him.

The Imperial Court—which controlled the laws and regulations of the people—were but one of the places he had connections to. The person who he spoke to earlier was part of the imperial court’s head office.

James looked at the faces of his comrades. All of them were pale.

“Has there been any signs of Nork yet?” One of them asked.

James shook his head, “I don’t think he left the country because I never gave the payment in advance,” James suddenly thought of the worst case scenario, “What if he was captured as well…”

“Impossible. Those magic items we laundered from the third magic tower in the Theocracy is strong enough to take down tens of enemies at once. There’s also the magic bomb we secretly attached to one of the items. If he was captured then one of my people should’ve pulled the trigger,” a viscount answered confidently.

He was the one who helped James secure the funds for this operation, including Nork’s payment. They smuggled magic items every now and then so James decided to let Nork use some of it since he was so obsessed with magic items and that it would help him in his fight.

Although James denied it back then, he was also worried that there was a shadow guard that always protected Arnold. The magic items would increase Nork’s chances of winning if that was ever the case.

James noticed one of his subordinates fidgeting while cold sweat dripped down his face. The man seemed anxious about something.

Noticing James’ questioning glare, the man spoke, “T-There is a problem concerning this operation, lord James…”

“Speak.”

“Lord James must know that I love to ride my horse long distances whenever I have free time.”

“What of it?” James asked in annoyance.

“W-When I passed by the duke’s city this morning, I heard something from one of the city guards,” The man’s sweating intensified, “T-There was an attack on the duke’s castle two days ago.”

“What!? Why do I only hear of this now!?” James hit the table.

“T-That is because the city closed off all its gates so as to not allow anyone outside or inside. This is because the intruders may have been lurking still in the city.”

“That sounds like a good idea, to lock all the city’s gates and have knights patrol for anyone wanting to leave the city,” One of the other’s remarked, “The duchess isn’t the first wife for show, huh.”

“So the reason nothing has reached the empire yet is because the city is on full lockdown?”

The man from earlier nodded, “T-They wouldn’t even allow me to go inside but they told me what happened at least.”

“Shit, don’t tell me Nork and his men were the cause of all this…”

“About that…” The man took something out of his pocket—it was a piece of paper, “This is the wanted sign issued by the mercenary guild…”

Nork Reward is 2000 gold.

James’ entire face reddened in rage.

“!!!!” He grabbed the wanted poster and ripped it apart while screaming.

“…”

“…”

The others could only lower their heads in shame.

“Dammit! Dammit! It’s only a matter of time before the duke comes here!” James ran towards the door in hopes of trying to get away.

The other nobles looked at him in bafflement. The one who had brought up this whole idea was trying to run away.

“Papa?” When James swung the door open, a little girl of about six years of age was standing there with a teddy bear in her hands. She seemed to want to knock but stopped midway.

“W-Why aren’t you in bed?” James tried to smile and not show the terror on his face.

He picked the little girl up.

“I had a nightmare...” She tugged on James so as to not let go, “Please read a story to me, Papa.”

‘Dammit. I don’t have time for this. I need to prepare for us all to leave this empire.’

“Go wait in Papa’s study, babygirl. I’ll come read a story to you when I’m done with my work,” He closed the door slightly as he said that because she was about to peek over his shoulders.

His daughter lowered her head sadly and nodded, “Okay…” She dragged the teddy bear on the floor as she walked away.

“All of you should leave,” James said after opening the door again, “I’ll be leaving the empire first thing tomorrow morning.”

“But what about the things you promised us!?”

“Leave.”

All of their faces twisted grimly but they obliged. They didn’t forget to give James the stink eye as they walked past him.

James was about to turn to the opposite direction which didn’t face the front door but then he heard multiple exclaims of surprise.

“W-What is he doing here!?”

“H-hey, isn’t that his highness… Jurius?”

James’ head instantly darted towards the front door. He ran to see what all of them were so surprised about.

Then he saw it.

Jurius, with his hands tied behind his back and blindfolded was walking towards the middle of the driveway. There were multiple people following from behind him as well.

“Huh!? What is my entire family doing here!?” One of the nobles exclaimed.

‘What?’ Similar expressions appeared on the faces of the other nobles, ‘What’s going on?’

Jurius—along with the crowd behind him—suddenly stopped.

The people behind him looked confused as to what was going on. It didn’t seem to James that they came here willingly. The children were the most confused as they clutched onto their mothers and siblings.

James recognized some of them as being the family members of the people who had supported his operation. The strange thing was why all of them were here?

“J-James! James Caervil! Show your face! I order you to come out now!” shouted Jurius with a horrified expression on his face.

‘What the…’ He squinted his eyes and noticed that it was indeed the prince.

James was about to speak to ask why Jurius was here but someone beat him to it:

“—James Caervil, a man who inherited the title of head after the murder of his brother,” A very familiar voice sounded, “In an attempt to avenge his brother, he had ambitions to destroy a ducal family. His first crime?” The person who spoke revealed themselves—it was Arnold, “Attempting to kill me.”

“What!?”

“Is that true!?”

“But the count…”

“Can we believe anything this man says?”

The families of his vassals expressed their bafflement. They threw insults at the man who was confidently declaring the crimes of James so the entire neighbourhood could hear.

“That’s…” James’ entire back was covered in cold sweat, “Whatever do you mean, young lord? W-why would I aim for your life? I admit that I am saddened by the death of my brother but to seek v-vengeance?”

Arnold was wearing the same suit he wore at the banquet.

‘Which means he came here straight after leaving the palace. Then when did he find time to…’ James suddenly remembered the woman that Arnold was with earlier tonight, ‘Did she call all the families of my vassals to gather here?’

He spotted that exact woman standing in the crowd, observing the scene.

‘Dammit...’ James tried to put on a carefree smile.

“Deny it all you want. But we have a witness right here. Or should I say an accomplice, right Jurius?” Arnold put his arm around Jurius’ neck.

The prince shuddered and his jaws clattered in fear.

What the hell happened to the prince while he was gone?

“Jurius was willing to cooperate with me. He answered all of my questions nicely,” Arnold gazed at James, “I hope you’ll do the same.”

“Kuh…” James suddenly heard multiple footsteps behind him.

He turned around and could see his family come outside as well.

“James, what is the meaning of this?” His father, Oliver, asked with a glare, “What did you do?”

“F-Father, this is…”

“Ah, ah, ah, James! Don’t try and spout lies right now. You’re just digging a deeper grave.”

‘Why you…’

James clenched his fists as he looked at Arnold who was smiling amusedly.

◇◇◇

Everything was going smoothly. Arnold’s last objective was to gather all the suspects in one area.

But who would’ve thought that they would move as he wanted? It made things much easier when the enemy unknowingly lessened your burdens.

Arnold looked into James’ eyes which were filled with incomprehensible rage. He could feel Jurius tremble uncontrollably.

‘Ah, why does it feel so good to toy with them?’

Arnold wasn’t directly involved with Jurius’ interrogation since he left it up to Liumiala. He made sure to tell them not to torture Jurius but use other methods instead.

Looking at the current Jurius, Arnold could tell that his mind was broken which meant that they used some sort of psychological method.

Jurius said this in a recording that Arnold saw:

-“I-I wanted to kill Arnold but I didn’t have the power to do so alone!”

-“Even if that meant putting yourself out there? That stunt you pulled back at the castle caused your position as the prince to worsen. Did you know that His Majesty was informed of what happened but he did nothing to save you?”

-“…”

-“Your actions ended up benefitting you nothing in the end. The young lord is still alive and he is seeking retribution. How does it feel being on the other end of the sword?”

-“Y-you bastards! One day! I swear—”

Arnold didn’t bother listening to Jurius’ ideals and wishes any longer so he shut the recording off midway.

The interrogator was Si, another member of Liumiala’s original squad.

“Time to bring the official from the Imperial Court!” Arnold loudly declared while pointing towards the gate. The crowd separated, revealing a man who wore a high-class suit and who had a bundle of documents in his hands.

The man raised his hand for everyone to settle down, “I am only here as an observer. As you may have already guessed, I have given full control of this situation to the eldest son of the Berkley family.”

James was even more horrified.

There was a sneer on Arnold’s face.

Arnold couldn’t stop smiling because his revenge was on the tip of his fingertips.

He patted Jurius’ shoulder and walked forward.

“Please read their rights, your excellency.”

“…Right? Whose rights…?” James fell onto his knees as he looked around in disbelief.

The man pushed up his glasses and took out a thick booklet, “We have done an investigation during these two days and have confirmed several suspicious actions done by our own people,” he paused, “By that I mean that there were some who conspired an attack on the residence of duke Berkley. Of course, they weren’t the culprits of the recent attack on the castle since it was the workings of a third party hired by James but the fact that you planned an attack already means you’re guilty.”

Multiple gasps sounded.

“This is an unofficial trial which can only be conducted with bystanders to witness the crimes of these men,” the official looked at Arnold, “I left the location and bystanders up to the victims themselves. Thus, the families are now here.”

“P-Papa?” A little girl pulled on James’ clothes.

“Get off!” He slapped her away.

The little girl was knocked back a few meters after giving a cry.

“A-Ah…! Ah!”

“James, you bastard! Are you insane!” James’ father pulled him up by the collar and screamed into his face.

“N-No, that is…” He looked at the little girl who was running towards a woman who was approaching him with a frown on her face.

Arnold looked around.

Scornful gazes was all he saw on the faces of everyone gathered here.

‘All according to plan. Now everyone can see what kind of man James Caervil is.’

Liam didn’t know James from the game personally but he could tell what kind of person he was. He was the kind of person who trampled those he felt threatened by when he gets an opportunity.

He was an opportunistic bastard. Not the good kind who Arnold would’ve liked to have as an ally.

‘If only things were different,’ Arnold walked up to the official.

“You should begin because I want to get this over with.”

The man nodded as a bead of sweat fell down his brow.

“This is not only a trial but also an execution.”

More gasps echoed.

“W-Wait, what!? Arnold, this isn’t what you promised me!”

Jurius suddenly went ballistic.

“Huh? Did I promise something to you?”

“!? Y-you said that you’ll forget everything and let me go! Didn’t you!? Come on, tell everyone!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Everyone’s eyes turned towards Arnold.

Arnold stuck out his tongue and shrugged, “This guy must be delusional.”

“ARNOLD--!”

Jurius’ mouth was suddenly covered by a gag. Arnold looked around and saw that Liumiala had flicked her finger.

‘Thanks a lot. This guy sure is loud.’

“Ahem, the victim is being protected under an imperial citizen law which allows them to carry out any action which will make up for the lack of assistance from the Imperial Court. In layman’s terms: he has the jurisdiction to do whatever he deems necessary to the suspect. No charges will be made as long as the punishments are within acceptable limits.”

“N-No…” James shook his head in disbelief.

“An official who was found guilty of conspiring with the suspect has already been executed under the court nobles’ supervision. I, myself—as a court noble—will supervise this sentence. Now then,” James’ face paled and his body trembled uncontrollably, “I shall read the suspects their rights—”