A rainy night with *pitter-patter* falling steadily.
Debris from buildings scattered about as booted soldiers passed by, splashing *splash* water everywhere.
Aintz, watching the puddle between the legs with unfocused eyes, suddenly noticed someone sitting next to him.
It was Schlus.
“Want to smoke one?”
“……”
Schlus was pushing forth a white cigarette.
Aintz silently accepted it and put it in his mouth.
Soon, *hiss* flames erupted from the tip of Schlus’s finger, and Aintz brought the cigarette end to the flames.
“Cough! Wha-?! *Gack*…!”
The moment he took a big drag, Aintz coughed repeatedly, as if his throat was on fire.
No matter how he looked at it, it was not something he could smoke.
Aintz quickly threw the cigarette into the puddle.
“Schlus. Have you ever smoked?”
“No. It’s been a while.”
“I see…”
“I didn’t expect it to come to this either, Aintz.”
Schlus’s hand lightly patted his shoulder.
Aintz wished that what he just saw was not reality.
His father was someone who was diligent, kind, and never had a flaw according to everyone around him.
He was someone so pure that he could even publicly showcase every room of the mansion without any shame.
But he has just discovered his father attempting to enter the asylum’s safe house.
His father, surprisingly fleeing like a rat to take refuge in the safe house upon hearing news of Schlus Hainkel…
“Yeah. You wouldn’t have known. You’re not a believer, so how would you know about that? I didn’t know either.”
“I’m really sorry. I know your father’s heart well. So maybe he was coerced by the asylum into cooperating. Let’s try our best to show leniency—”
“Don’t kid me. Didn’t he have the rank of an archbishop? Is that a rank someone who gets coerced can reach? It sure doesn’t look like it. Don’t hold back, Schlus. No mercy, whether it’s my father or anyone else. The asylum is said to bring about annihilation to the continent, right?”
“Right.”
Schlus let out a deep *sigh* while gazing at the spot where the building used to be.
Regret flooded him for bringing Aintz along.
However, that choice never existed from the beginning.
Erica could provide a solid barrier in case of an attack.
And Aintz could unleash stable and powerful firepower.
Though Schlus himself could unleash the most powerful magic for five seconds, he fell short in sustained firepower compared to Aintz.
So taking Aintz along was essential to prepare for a situation involving fire.
‘How did it end up like this?’
Count von Byrne never imagined he would fall into a trap.
The meaningful information extracted from the operations commander consisted of just two things: that the archbishop was attending the masquerade ball and the location of the safe house.
So the initial expectation was that by pretending to track the archbishop, the archbishop, feeling pressured, would try to escape and take refuge in the safe house, having realized the situation.
The prediction hit too accurately, almost humorously.
The archbishop, escaping while disabling all surveillance artifacts in the city center, knocked on the door of the safe house, completely unaware that it was exposed and, eventually…
It has come to this.
“Aintz.”
“What?!”
“I won’t limit your opportunity for a meeting.”
“No need. I don’t really want to—”
“No. Apply for a meeting. This isn’t a suggestion; it’s a request.”
Aintz’s shoulder flinched and trembled.
Schlus’s hand remained on his shoulder.
Before he knew it, that large hand was gripping Aintz’s shoulder tightly as if gripping tightly.
A request.
A request that bore the weight of a command.
“Tell him that as his son, he should cooperate as much as possible. Depending on his attitude, we could improve his imprisonment conditions or, regrettably, apply some barbaric torture. Say it with your own mouth. I don’t wish to harm the Count if I can help it.”
“……”
“And be careful about what you say. If you speak nonsense, it might make your position uncomfortable too. I trust you, Aintz. I hope you can make the imperial police trust you as well.”
With those words, Schlus abruptly stood up, causing a *splash* as he walked away, stirring the puddle.
As the surface settled and calm returned, Aintz’s face reflected in the water.
“Ugh!”
Aintz stomped on the puddle, distorting the water’s surface once again.
He didn’t know how many times he had begged the gods for an opportunity to shine.
Hoping to achieve something great, to become worthy of standing beside Schlus.
He felt overjoyed when Schlus abruptly explained the mission and requested his help.
Like a child standing on stage for a little competition…
However, he never imagined that opportunity would come in this form.
A mission to apprehend his own father.
“Damn it…”
Such things would likely become more frequent.
Even the head of one of the three great magical families fell under investigation.
Maybe in Lichtenburg, or Flechette, or even the duke’s house, asylum minions may appear.
Would everyone submit to Schlus and the royal family every time that happened?
There could be resistance from the noble families, or possibly even rebellion.
In such a case, there was a need for a force to support Schlus.
As Schlus held an official position, he had no foundation and was technically a commoner.
‘Count von Byrne stands by Schlus.’
Now that his father was imprisoned, it was obvious who would take over the position of the acting Count.
Aintz, the eldest and rightful heir.
He would consume the betraying father and absorb that power completely.
Then, he would expel the remnants of the asylum from the Byrne household and fully support Schlus.
Aintz made his resolve, trembling his clenched fist.
‘That is the only way to survive.’
*
This attack was truly a jackpot.
He never expected Count von Byrne would get caught, but regardless of who it was, it wouldn’t affect the operation.
The reason he used the term ‘jackpot’ was due to the surprising cooperation from Count von Byrne.
He expected it would be easier than the lowly fanatics who had undergone memory-erasing levels of mental reconditioning, yet Count von Byrne spilled information before they even had a chance to threaten him.
Of course, there was a possibility that it was all deception and he was hiding the truly important information, but even considering that, the amount of information he disclosed was immense.
The information provided in one leisurely hour while enjoying wine was worth far more than the information obtained through three months of labor.
Count von Byrne had partnered with the asylum five months ago.
He had not received a clear answer regarding why.
That wasn’t important, so he decided to let it go.
The Count primarily funneled funds to the asylum, with only three people in the family, including his secretary, aware of it.
Thus, his son couldn’t possibly know.
Aintz seemed to be struggling quite a bit in taking over the acting Count’s position and dealing with the noise from the Byrne household.
He had momentarily suspected Aintz could have been swayed to the asylum’s side, but considering he promptly captured the asylum spy within the house and actively cooperated with the investigation, he felt it unlikely.
What worried him more was Aintz’s grades.
He had been quite absent, possibly due to difficulties coordinating within the family.
Well, he thought he could handle that on his own.
“Schwarz, Silvester, Heidelberg… *sigh*, they really have infiltrated so much.”
“Schwarz and Silvester are both on the run and being tracked, while the Baron of Heidelberg is currently being interrogated.”
“Good job.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Aria’s reaction was quite amusing.
While I had already known that the asylum permeated throughout society, it was Aria witnessing its reality for the first time.
Yet Aria merely made a *tsk* sound as if she had known all along, showing no sign of shock.
Was it because I was making such a fuss over it?
It seemed Aria had anticipated that the asylum’s influence would be significant.
“Yeah. This attack has cut off their funding and taken out about ten of their executives. Should we see it as quite a heavy blow?”
“I’m predicting it will be a catastrophic blow for them.”
“Huh.”
Aria’s gaze turned toward me, filled with interest.
In the original story, I had set the number of executive ranks within the asylum to about twenty.
Even with minor changes in this world, it wouldn’t exceed thirty.
Therefore, the elimination of ten executives, including the archbishop, essentially left them in a state of uncontrollable chaos.
That organized command was already hidden under layers of veils, and with such a drastic reduction in numbers, there would inevitably be critical issues in their command structure.
They would likely undergo turmoil in appointing new executives or changing command methods and would find it increasingly difficult to focus on their lower management.
In that time, if we launched another attack on the lower levels, the asylum would lose both executives and soldiers, inflicting a major blow to their forces.
“Complete annihilation may be difficult in the short term. So isn’t it time to celebrate our victory?”
“It’s too early for that, Your Excellency.”
“Why not? You don’t trust the imperial police’s capabilities?”
“I do trust them. The imperial police have always outperformed my expectations. But the problem isn’t with the asylum itself.”
“Then what is the problem?”
Indeed. If things proceeded as they were, the asylum would shrink significantly and degrade into a minuscule underground force with no chance of toppling the empire.
As long as that continued.
But what if a third force suddenly intervened?
“We must prepare for an attack from the Majin, Your Excellency.”
For instance, a Majin, who might be intrigued by the asylum’s plan for ruling humanity, could potentially align with them.
After all, until now, they had merely been passive observers, but seeing the asylum facing extinction could cause a shift in their heart…
“Which Majin are you talking about? Do you even know how many Majin exist in this world and who they are?”
“Alexia. The Great Sage. The Madman. The Magician. The Traveler. All five of them are worthy of vigilance. In the worst case, we might have to engage in war with all five.”
“……”
And that was a story relevant to all Majin in existence.
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