Chapter 197 - Athena, the Goddess of Strategy

Damn Goddess of Strategy! She uncovered the identity of the person who wants to kill me in just five minutes of conversation!

I glanced to the side and saw Athena beaming, savoring a dessert Martha had prepared. She looked visibly happy, which, considering the situation, was almost comical.

"Oh, how wonderful this is!" she said with a mischievous smile. "Look at this frozen treat! This thing called homemade ice cream is delightful! I’ll promote Martha to be my priestess!" She laughed while enjoying the dessert.

I could only sigh.

"Glutton..." I muttered, returning to my own ice cream.

Athena had the ability to create a ghost copy of anything I touched. She used it to eat, and the strangest part was that once she made a copy of the food and ate it, I couldn’t generate another ghost copy of that dish for her. If she wanted more, I’d have to touch a different dish.

Now, on top of everything, I’m forced to pamper this crazy woman as a reward for what she’s done...

I looked away, trying to avoid seeing Athena’s satisfied smile while she ate. Watching my arch-enemy making happy and cute faces while enjoying herself wasn’t a very pleasant sight for me.

Nikolaus Wolves... so it’s you who wants me dead...

I started thinking about the 35,000 gold coins; it was a true fortune.

My family earns 40,000 gold coins annually, a considerably higher amount than the nobles around us. A marquis in an agricultural duchy can bring in up to 8,000 gold coins a year, but that figure is often reduced by land maintenance costs. A count earns between 3,000 to 5,000 gold coins, while a viscount generates between 2,000 to 3,000 coins. Meanwhile, a baron usually has an annual income of 1,000 to 2,000 gold coins.

I kept pondering.

Noble merchants, like the families of students studying in Apsalon, though they lack political nobility, can earn between 400 to 1,000 gold coins per year. With the right connections, their fortunes can grow further, rivaling the earnings of some noble titles. To amass 35,000 gold coins for my head, this faction must have pooled their wealth.

The memory of last night’s conversation with my family came to mind. I had shared Athena’s deduction with them, and everyone was surprised. Nikolaus Wolves had struck a peace deal with my aunt over 10 years ago and even supported her financial projects within the duchy. He even provided information on gang locations to our military, helping dismantle hideouts.

I guess he was just eliminating his competition in the duchy...

We always knew Nikolaus had ties to the underworld, but the truth is that most political nobles had some involvement in clandestine affairs. I’m not talking about major crimes but smuggling cigars, wine from neighboring kingdoms, or counterfeit artworks—minor offenses that were part of the noble game. My aunt often turned a blind eye to such activities, as we weren’t about to pursue a noble simply for smuggling a box of wine to avoid taxes. It was considered trivial.

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Even my family produced illicit substances through Yusuf, but the goal was to strengthen me and Chloe, making us immune to addiction and poison. Raiding a noble’s home just because they liked to indulge was never something we did.

Nikolaus, however, raised the flag of peace a decade ago and played a crucial role in pacifying the nobles who opposed my aunt’s control over the duchy.

For years, we remained suspicious, but after my official recognition as heir by the kingdom, he could never touch me. If he dared, his entire family would face condemnation. We never expected him to be so bold, yet here we are.

Chloe was saddened to learn that the motive behind all of this... was to create the same crisis that arose when I wasn’t officially recognized. With me out of the picture, and if these people could damage the duchy’s economy, they might attempt to force my aunt to marry her off once again.

I hope my cousin’s future husband isn’t too shocked when he discovers a line of crazed nobles vying for her hand…

I remember the look of sorrow on her face when she found out, and I sigh.

I'll need to talk to Chloe to reassure her… she's feeling guilty.

When I presented the information, we had to discuss and assess all possible scenarios. We couldn’t rule out the possibility that someone was trying to interfere with the duchy, fostering internal discord. Skilled assassins from a legitimate assassin organization had many ways of destabilizing a government, and my aunt had told me stories of assassins using seduction techniques to infiltrate and manipulate nobles. However, most of these organizations were wiped out and are now just mercenaries.

Only two families still honor the old assassin rules: mine and the Asalon family with their Night Killers. They don’t know my family was once an ancient organization, as all of these groups were hunted down in the past because the Founding Emperor didn't want them among his nobility.

This was one of the main reasons why our family maintained the tradition of only marrying those within our circle. My father marrying my mother was an exception, even though my late uncle followed the rule by marrying Aunt Margie, who was a castle servant.

After we raised the possibility that someone might be trying to sabotage our duchy, Athena came to me with a suggestion. She advised me to tell my aunt to investigate the finances of all noble families within the duchy, checking for suspicious transactions. It wouldn’t directly prove anything, but it could reveal which nobles had moved large sums of money recently. After all, they would need to use both illicit funds and their fortunes to gather 35,000 gold coins.

Martha, ever practical, used an expensive device reserved for political nobility—a kind of magical scroll that allowed for message exchange. It was costly and had limited use, becoming useless once it reached its limit. She communicated with my aunt, shared our discoveries, and requested an investigation into the nobles' finances. I expected it to take at least a week, but to my surprise, by this morning, after 12 intense hours of investigation, we already had an answer.

It was exactly as Athena had predicted. Significant financial movements were detected, to the point that Nikolaus Wolves himself was on the brink of financial trouble. And ironically, all the nobles who made large transactions were part of the faction that, ten years ago, wanted Chloe's hand in marriage.

I sighed.

Damn Goddess of Strategy… she thought of everything…

A shiver ran down my spine as I recalled the time I faced Athena as an enemy. Her precision was relentless. To defeat her, I gathered all the powers of Olympus, resurrected Chronos, enlisted the strength of the entire Titan race, guided by the smartest Titan, my friend Prometheus... and still, that bastard almost defeated me in the end.

"I'm not doing this for you, Icarus," she said while devouring her ice cream with a mischievous grin.

"And I don’t want your friendship either, you crazy psychopath. Let me guess, you only helped me because you became a fan of Martha?"

"Of course! She’s perfect. If I were a man… I’d marry her," Athena replied with her usual taunt.

I stood up, ignoring the goddess.

I’m broken inside and can barely lift a spoon… but she's right, this homemade ice cream is really good…

I had to admit that Athena was right this time.

I stop and realize that Athena solved the mystery of my enemy’s identity in five minutes just because she wanted to get back to dinner.

These nobles made a mistake by messing with someone haunted by the damn Goddess of Strategy.