While the elite spies and assassins of Greed Dike were passing through Lustburg’s entrance, inside the secret chamber of the Crown’s Shadow, Milia sat on her desk while filtering through the reams of reports her subordinates had handed over to her periodically.

“So, this time it’s the dwarves?” She mused to herself, wondering out loud. Her words elicited a small chuckle from her friend, Katia.

Like Milia, Ketia was one of the orphans who was kidnapped and subsequently experimented on by King Neptune, Sol’s grandfather. He was the so-called Puppet King, a disgrace in the history of Lustburg. Though her loyalty could not compare to Milia’s she was still a valuable asset of the kingdom, serving faithfully beside her friend through the years.

“One of the agents we stationed on entrance guard duty managed to identify them as highly suspicious and dangerous individuals. He couldn’t correctly assess their power level, but that in itself was strong proof of their suspicious nature. There is no way this is your run-of-the-mill caravan of merchants.”

Milia nodded, agreeing to her friend’s assessment. The influence of the Crown’s Shadow had steadily grown ever since Sol took control of the organization and now they basically had infiltrated all sectors of society. From the red lights of the lowly brothels to the sparking chandeliers of high nobility, their eyes and ears were everywhere.

It went without saying that Milia held more than a bit of pride in her organization.

“We need to know what their objectives are. Observe them from afar for now. But make sure to immediately capture them at the first instance of any suspicious movement, no matter how slight.” Milia did not want to capture them now as they were still technically merchants. Capturing them would only bring in another wave of international diplomatic complications for Lustburg given they were from a different kingdom. With everything that was going on for them, they did not need another set of trouble, especially something they could avoid by being patient.

However, if the situation called for it, she would act first and ask questions later. Sol had officially delegated enough power to her that she now wielded the necessary authority to slaughter nobles, if they proved to be suspicious, without asking for his input.

Pushing the documents aside, she focused on the more important matters.

“How is the reorganization of the group coming along?” They needed to expand more, fast. Now that Sol had taken over Wratharis, they needed to create a base of operation there and make sure they had eyes and ears everywhere in the Beastkin Kingdom as well.

It was necessary to have enough experienced members and someone trustworthy at the helm.

“Everything is working well. I am preparing to move soon. All I need is to have a chat with the princess to bid my farewells, then I can leave.” Katia answered Milia.

She had once been Lilin’s maid and her most trusted companion. The two of them spent years together, even after Lilin had journeyed beyond Lustburg and into the world. Katia had been there beside her as she explored the world to broaden her horizons, always there to help her in need.

In terms of loyalty, she was far more loyal to Lilin than to Sol or the country. Milia did not find this situation troublesome. As long as Ketia kept her ideals and loyalty to herself without influencing the recruits no complications will arise.

“As for the matter of recruiting new blood… as sad as it may be, the reality is that the war had stripped many children of their parents, rendering them orphans. No matter how much the Crown Prince helps financially, he can’t help everyone after all.” Ketia found the measures Sol put in place to be very admirable.

However, she did not find them realistic. There was a limit to how much he could protect and save people with his actions. Many soldiers and civilians had died, creating many widows and orphans. Be it in Lustburg or Wratharis.

Though the situation was worse in Wratharis.

“Princess Setsuna seems to be taking action to implement aid and relief to the victims of the war in Wratharis, however, she barely has any semblance of control of the country. Furthermore, unlike us, Wratharis seems to be in a deficit. I doubt she can realistically implement the same programs as us without bankrupting the Kingdom.” As an orphan herself, Ketia wished to help. However, the reality was working against her.

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Milia nodded in acknowledgment, “The prince has decided to lend some money to Wratharis, but there is a limit to how much we can offer. After all, our own coffers have fallen dangerously low due to war expenses.”

She waved her hand, “Either way, try recruiting as many orphans as possible. We will offer them training and resources. The only problem is fostering loyalty in them.”

Creating strong soldiers was an extremely long and arduous initiative.

Creating strong and loyal assassins and spies, on the other hand, was a whole different ball game.

At times, years of meticulous training and relentless indoctrination were required to create just one capable assassin, sometimes even that wasn’t enough. However, they did not have much choice in their hands.

Time huh… Milia could not stop herself from leaking a wistful sigh.

Her own training to reach the King realm should have been her top priority. However, time was not something she had droves of and her responsibilities were many. There were simply too many things that needed her attention.

The only good thing was that Clara took care of most of the administration problems, leaving Milia to handle the less savory side of the issues, the problems she was suited to resolve.

The security of the state was not something to be taken lightly after all. Even though she knew she had to delegate more of her duties to others, she did not have any suitable candidate in mind…

Oh?

She stopped short, remembering the name of someone who had more than enough loyalty and was worth training.

Should I give it a try?

She hesitated for a brief instant but, in the end, decided that she had nothing to lose by just trying. The woman was already Sol’s official retainer. So, there was nothing wrong with giving her a few more responsibilities. She was of course thinking about Athena Highland.

I doubt Athena will be useful in the Crown’s Shadow but Clara would surely love to have an assistant to take some load off her shoulder.

Athena Highland was an extremely straightforward, honorable, and loyal woman.

If she was used as the face of Lustburg’s administration, with her high pedigree and her identity as a pure human, many of the problems Clara and Milia faced would vanish.

After all, there were still many nobles who hated the fact that a prideful, obnoxious elf was positioned in such an important role by Lustburg’s king. No matter how many times Clara proved her skills, there was virtually no way to convince the people who had set their minds on thinking otherwise.

While Clara takes Athena, I can take Ares.

A well-structured plan was forming in her mind. Ares was not as strong as her sister and he was also not the heir of the Highland family, however, he was as loyal as her while not being as bullheaded in certain aspects.

He was a talent worth recruiting.

Once her course of action was decided, Milia stood up from her seat. She needed to meet His Highness and explain what she needed. The Highland family was too high-ranked for her to mess with without explicit approval.

***

In the basement of the mansion belonging to Hermes Traver, Theresa was busy drawing away while sitting on a small tool, perfect for her height.

Different schema and diagrams littered the ground but she had no care as a crazed look filled her eyes. Her mind was working in overdrive and more and more lines and complex shapes were added to the schematics.

“This is it! This is the way!”

She was filled with pure jubilation. Ever since she discovered the golem and worked on the Rangers, Theresa felt like she had entered a new world of pure bliss. She had a companion who could exchange with her necessary and overqualified workforce as well as near unlimited funds.

The Rangers were powerful. Perhaps one of the greatest things she created after the creation of Sol’s Divine Weapon— The Eye of Akasha. However, that came no way close to satisfying her. She wanted… needed more. She had to reach the height of creation itself.

“Hahaha!” A crazed laugh bubbled out of her mouth like foam. Her hair was frayed as she had not bathed in days. Her hands were stained in ink smudges and her eyes were bloodshot with heavy bags stretching long beneath them.

But she had never been so excited in her entire life.

If Sol was present, he would look at Theresa in utter disbelief since he would notice that she had unknowingly entered the Duke realm and was instinctively using her Zone to increase her focus.

If he looked at her soul, he would realize that the True Name of a King was slowly forming in her soul and a concept was building based on her insight.

In fact, Theresa herself was not conscious of all the changes happening to her. All she knew was that she had entered a moment of epiphany and that she would sell her soul to keep this moment going even if for a fraction of a second longer.

As for what she was creating… If Kali could take a look at the schematics littering the ground, she would realize that she, perhaps, should not have talked about Nuclear Fission, Thermodynamics, and other such concepts with someone as crazy as Theresa.