The Prince Wants to Retire

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Chapter 9: The Secret of the Imperial Palace (2)

“The Crown Prince wants to retire.”

Kariel, who had issued orders to Talion, fell into deep thought with a serious expression.

“A secret I’m unaware of….”

In my previous life, I had merely struggled to survive during this period, so I had no knowledge of the details.

I thought I remembered the broad strokes, but I could instinctively sense that there was something seriously wrong underneath.

“What did I miss?”

Kariel, feeling uneasy, twisted his face in contemplation.

He rummaged through the notes he had kept since his return, trying to grasp the flow of major events.

“I got involved in politics too late.”

He clicked his tongue thinking of his previous life when he participated only after recovering.

It was hardly easy to guess what had happened at this time, nor the secrets held within, since I had no knowledge of the events.

Yet, thanks to smashing all factions indiscriminately, I was quite sure of the visible forces of the Duke families and the Count of the Border.

I had completely confirmed the ties I made while destroying criminal organizations.

Of course, there were still organizations I couldn’t figure out, which I assumed were severed by foreign nations.

“Isn’t it simpler than I think?”

-Things have gotten complicated.

Surth, who appeared out of nowhere, shook his head irritably as if just thinking about it annoyed him.

“Did you come?”

-Yeah.

“Not pushing me to train today?”

Kariel looked at Surth oddly for not telling him to practice as usual.

-I can tell just by looking that it’s not your training time.

Seeing Surth’s flames flicker, Kariel chuckled softly.

The problems he bore, which could horrify anyone just watching, were serious.

Not knowing who the enemy was, with many involved, including the Emperor.

In a situation where the heart of the Empire might collapse, what Kariel could do was extremely limited.

The problem was that it couldn’t simply be brushed aside just because it was a headache.

‘This will definitely become a problem later.’

Kariel’s intuition, having survived countless crises as Emperor, warned him of that.

If he forced this matter under wraps and retired, he instinctively felt that his YOLO life wouldn’t last long.

Perhaps it meant that a rebellion from the Aristocratic Faction or an invasion from neighboring countries, or even a disaster caused by dark mages, was all interconnected.

“Should I resolve it while I can…?”

Kariel considered the likelihood of being related to at least one of the three options.

-…Can you resolve it?

Surth’s cutting question left Kariel speechless.

There was an overwhelming feeling that if I touched this wrong, it would be more than I could handle.

However, he couldn’t just avoid it.

“The best scenario would be to tidy it up and pass it on to my siblings….”

Kariel sighed as he spoke.

His siblings would surely be losing their minds just from the incident with his attack.

It was evident that adding more trouble on top would be unbearable, so he had to tackle it himself.

-I wish the Emperor would help… but he’s in such a miserable state, he won’t be of much help.

Kariel frowned at Surth’s biting words.

But he wasn’t wrong.

Due to the dark mages, the Empire’s power had been plummeting endlessly, and even during the reign of the current Emperor, it was still falling without stopping.

“For now, I’ll have to look at the data Talion provided to speculate something. There’s no answer in the current situation.”

With that, Kariel abandoned his mental gymnastics and began training.

When in deep thought, physical exercise was the best, so he called Toto and Iris to start practicing.

Of course, it took less than 10 minutes for him to regret that thought.

He had intended to engage in simple patterns of exercise to clear his head, but soon found his body groaning in pain.

“Take it easy!”

-Okay! Okay! More!

Due to the high-intensity Body Technique training, the amount of fire energy absorbed into his body increased dramatically.

Surth had a satisfied look while nodding his head repeatedly.

-That girl seems to be impressively delightful.

As Surth praised Iris and smiled contentedly, Kariel scrunched his face and sank down to the floor.

“Phew… let’s take a break.”

“Yes.”

As Kariel sat there drenched in sweat lost in thought, Iris tactfully made her escape.

While he sat on the floor, deep in thought, Talion quietly approached him.

“What’s the result?”

“Here it is.”

Kariel tilted his head at the unexpectedly thin stack.

“Not much has been discovered additionally.”

Most of what was connected to the Chancellor had already been picked clean by the Inspection Department, so Kariel had already checked it personally.

After having built a clean image, the Chancellor had conducted secret dealings with criminal organizations through several layers.

Even that was a mere handful, so it was only natural that not much additional information would be uncovered.

“Nothing much.”

As Kariel spoke with an irritated expression, Talion scanned the pages again and nodded in agreement.

“But what’s this?”

Noticing a familiar name, Kariel pointed to the text with his finger.

“Apparently, the Chancellor was meeting him regularly.”

“A drug addict?”

Kariel tilted his head.

It was surprising that a lower noble, whose name he couldn’t even remember, would be met regularly by the Chancellor, a recognized figure. Even more so that this powerless loser was deep into drugs?

“There’s something fishy here.”

“I grew suspicious too and probed further but found nothing.”

“Probably hard to find.”

That clever Chancellor wouldn’t leave any evidence behind.

“Focus on the drug addicts. It doesn’t matter if they’re lower nobles or commoners.”

“Yes.”

Talion bowed his head and hurriedly disappeared at Kariel’s orders.

“Drugs….”

In his eyes, the Chancellor wasn’t the type to directly engage in drugs.

He had seen countless drug addicts in his past life.

Not a few nobles relied on drugs amidst the crumbling nation and unending warfare.

Yet, the Chancellor didn’t give off that vibe.

That meant he was likely contacting drug addicts for someone else.

“Is it the Emperor?”

Kariel sighed as he muttered that.

He frowned, thinking about the implications.

“It’s just drugs… but for the Chancellor to be hiding this secret, it’s not significant enough.”

The Emperor using drugs?

That would certainly be a problem, but it’s just trivial enough to be talked about for a moment and then forgotten.

It was clear that the Chancellor was not the type to be concerned about the Emperor’s honor, so there was a high possibility of a more intimate issue at play.

-Why not probe the Chancellor?

“Would he give me an answer?”

Surth, seemingly frustrated just by watching, asked, but it was highly unlikely.

-Still, wouldn’t it be better than just standing here?

“If I go and ask, I should at least bring a weapon to tease him with.”

With that, Kariel stood up.

-What are you planning to do?

Surth tilted his head, curious about Kariel’s sudden actions.

It didn’t seem like he intended to continue training, so he wondered what was up.

“Didn’t you say to tease the Chancellor?”

-You’re really considering going?

“I should probably do some preliminary work first.”

After replying like that, Kariel quickly washed up and prepared to head out.

The probability of the Chancellor responding was exceedingly low, but to slightly raise that low chance, preliminary work was necessary.

To do so, the place he headed was the Inspection Department.

“Bring all the information related to the Chancellor.”

“Yes!”

At Kariel’s order, the already busy Inspection Department members began searching for information related to the Chancellor.

Seeing them with dark circles under their eyes was pitiful, but there was no helping it.

“Nothing surprising, as expected.”

These were all facts he was already aware of.

But even if the information wasn’t significant, depending on how one used it, it could become a weapon.

“Chief.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Dig into this.”

Podolski, receiving the bundle of papers Kariel tossed his way, glanced over and widened his eyes.

“Your Highness, this is….”

“It seems to be related to the Emperor.”

“That’s too dangerous.”

“I know. I’m not looking to find fault with the Emperor.”

At Podolski’s comment, Kariel furrowed his brow.

“Then….”

“I must find out what secret the Chancellor is hiding.”

With that, Kariel began his work of pressuring the Chancellor.

*

Kariel began a public investigation through the Inspection Department based on the information Talion had brought.

As public investigations and unofficial inquiries began to take place simultaneously, a bit of truth that had been hidden underwater began to surface.

“You’ve met a lot of drug addicts.”

“It appears so.”

As Talion said that, grimacing, Podolski rushed inside anxiously.

“Your Highness.”

“What? Did you come up with something?”

“I have nothing new. However, I did find one suspicious point.”

It was unlikely to uncover clear evidence through a public investigation.

However, Podolski presented a report he had meticulously analyzed based on the information Talion had provided.

“What’s this?”

“It’s not all, but among drug addicts, there are individuals linked to priests.”

“Drug addicts are close to the Temple… could it be?”

Kariel looked at Podolski with a raised eyebrow, and he solemnly nodded.

“It’s all temples suspected to be connected to dark mages.”

Kariel’s face twisted at Podolski’s words.

“This is going to escalate.”

“…It seems so.”

Podolski sighed heavily in response to Kariel’s words.

Talion also shook his head, contemplating the seriousness of the situation. This incident seemed likely to become as shocking as the Crown Prince’s attack.

“For now, Talion, leak that the Chancellor is mixed up in drugs to the press. Frame it so it looks like he’s involved with drug dealers.”

“Yes.”

“Chief of the Inspection Department, if the press bites, make a public announcement.”

“I will do that.”

Seeing both rush out at his command, Kariel once again began thinking.

From the collected information, it appeared that the Chancellor had met several drug addicts, and the odds were high that they were related to dark mages.

“The Temple…”

It could also potentially be related to the Holy Nation, further deepening Kariel’s worries.

With ties on both the inside and outside, it could create a situation where he might have to go to war with both sides.

Moreover, whether this involved not only the Emperor’s faction and the Holy Nation but also other factions was still uncertain, making matters worse.

“From what I’ve seen, the Neutral Faction doesn’t seem connected at all…”

Kariel muttered to himself while propping up his chin.

In this unclear situation, where it was uncertain who the enemy was and how far it extended, he felt most frustrated.

Then suddenly, a thought brushed past Kariel’s mind.

“Wait a second….”

Kariel paused and quickly examined the temples connected to drug addicts.

“Central… Southeast… South… Central…”

He marked spots on the map with pushpins as he laid it out.

“Strange.”

The West was conspicuously empty.

Although there was none in the North, it was naturally clean since the North had been merciless on drugs ever since nearly collapsing due to them in the past.

“Only the West is clean….”

It wasn’t that there was no possibility of the West being connected to drugs either.

As a major port area vying for the top spot in trading on the continent, it was where enormous amounts of drugs were smuggled in.

While it was difficult to assert anything directly due to the absence of drug addicts linked to the temples, it certainly felt peculiar.

With curiosity he couldn’t suppress, Kariel called for Inspection Department members and instructed them to bring data on the origins and activities of drug addicts, and before long, he began hammering away at the map with pushpins based on the documents they brought back.

“It’s definitely odd.”

The West was excessively clean.

As Kariel felt something was off, he called Talion and Podolski over urgently to begin a detailed investigation.

“Indeed, the West is suspicious.”

“Yeah.”

Upon closely inspecting the West, peculiar results emerged.

Famous drug addicts and dealers all operated primarily in the South and Southeast.

Yet their origins were mostly along the border of the West and South.

“Living at the edge of the West but only operating in the border areas of the Southeast and South….”

“That’s not the only strange thing. I surveyed all temples associated with dark mages, and only the West is clean.”

Upon hearing Podolski’s words, Kariel’s expression turned serious.

“There are famous families in the West….”

“The Grand Duke Family, Count of the Border, and Count Belphus Family.”

Kariel sank into thought at Talion’s words.

‘The Grand Duke Family’s issues may not merely be due to a straightforward rebellion.’

With an unexpectedly possible concern, Kariel clicked his tongue.

‘I might need to see the head of the Imperial Palace Knights from my previous life sooner than expected.’

Having organized his thoughts, Kariel rose from his seat.

“I need to meet with the Chancellor.”