Half a month later.
During this time, Ren had visited the palace once. It was obvious that the Prime Minister no longer welcomed him.
The Inspection Bureau faced great resistance in its actions, undoubtedly due to their opponents' tactics.
Other nobles looked at Ren like a clown. They hated him deeply and wished for his downfall. Now that Ren was being targeted, the nobles were overjoyed.
Ren showed no reaction to this. He continued his daily work as usual. He operated the same way as before, using swift and decisive measures, making it hard for the Prime Minister to keep up with him.
At this point, if one still didn't understand Ren's intentions, Honest would never have become a Prime minister.
Honest no longer hesitated and decided to send the Three Beast Warriors to eliminate Ren.
Thanks to the intelligence Ren provided, the Night Raid went more smoothly. So far, only Scissor Girl, Sheele, had died, killed by the Magical Beast Transformation: Hekatonkheires Teigu user, Seryu.
Although they had Ren's information, they still failed, causing the Night Raid team to be more cautious. After all, the people in the imperial capital were not all useless.
Ren did not intervene in Scissor Girl's death. His original attachment had long since faded after living for more than ten years in this life. What remained now was only his stance.
"Lord Ren, General Esdeath has returned to the imperial capital. They want you to come over," a man reported.
"Alright, I'll go. I want to see this general's style in person," Ren said with a smile. The plot had long changed beyond recognition, but he didn't care. He no longer needed the ability to foresee the plot.
"Chelsea, make the final preparations," Ren instructed Chelsea.
"Yes."
Ren still led his guards towards the palace. This time, no one dared to underestimate this group of guards.
Half a month ago, the Prime minister's son had died right there. The other nobles couldn't have missed the news. Perhaps among these guards, there was a true expert hiding.
At the palace, Ren's position had changed. As the new force of the empire's Inspection Bureau, he no longer stood in the shadows.
"Hmph, coming so late, are you dissatisfied with His Majesty's orders?" Honest first accused Ren. He found Ren's tactic very effective—if Ren didn't refute, he'd take control; if Ren did, he'd see how to respond and then take control.
"Of course not. Earlier, a noble tried to assassinate me. It took a little time," Ren replied calmly.
"Lord Ren, are you alright?" The young emperor asked with concern.
"I'm fine. I was just a little late arriving at the palace. Please punish me, Your Majesty," Ren humbly apologized.
The young emperor looked at the Prime minister, unsure of how to respond, instinctively relying on him.
"Since Ren was also attacked, Your Majesty need not blame yourself. Now our Great General Esdeath has returned to take charge," Honest said, eyes narrowing slightly. Using Ren's own tactics against him wasn't working well.
"Minister Ren, please take a rest," the young emperor ordered, and Ren stepped aside to become a spectator.
They didn't have to wait long before the sharp clicking of high heels echoed from afar.
A tall woman with blue hair, dressed in military uniform, appeared. Her attitude was somewhat lazy, but no one dared to blame her.
"Great General Esdeath, thank you for your hard work putting down the rebellion of the foreign tribes. If you want any reward, please say so," the young emperor glanced at the Prime minister first, then spoke smoothly.
"I want to fall in love," Esdeath said shyly.
"Fall in love!?" The room instantly buzzed with excitement.
"Well, General, what conditions do you have?" the young emperor asked further.
Esdeath thought for a moment and said, "More than anything, the most important thing is to value future potential. Ideally, he should aim to become a general-level figure and train himself for that.
He must be brave. Even empty-handed, he should be able to join me hunting danger beasts.
Like me, he should have grown up not in the imperial capital, but on the frontier.
He should be younger than me, so I can control him.
And most importantly, he must have a pure smile."
At first, the palace members were surprised, but soon they were utterly speechless.
Esdeath's five conditions were harsh. The third alone ruled out 90% of the capital's population.
Add the first two, and only a few in the entire capital could qualify. The fact that she gave five conditions was the most shocking.
"General, this might be difficult. Is there anything else you want?" the young emperor asked awkwardly.
"Nothing else, but could you reward my subordinates? They fought bravely on the battlefield," Esdeath said after some thought.
"All right, then reward them."
The young emperor quickly agreed, worried that none of the requests could be granted.
The soldiers' rewards were nothing more than money and women.
Ren had hidden his presence the entire time, silently watching as a spectator.
When he heard Esdeath's idea, Ren couldn't help but feel speechless—rewards meant dating?
"General Esdeath, Ren, we need to discuss the upcoming attack on Night Raid," Honest called out.
"Mm."
Esdeath replied weakly, thinking about love instead of the Night Raid, which seemed like a small matter to her.
"I can fully cooperate by providing intelligence, but I have some important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first," Ren said hurriedly.
"Sir Ren, get some rest," the young emperor said, thinking Ren was still shocked.
Honest's gaze turned colder.
Although the young emperor was a puppet, he wouldn't argue over small matters.
The Three Beasts needed to act quickly.
"That great general noticed me. No wonder she's the strongest warrior—she's on a completely different level," Ren said seriously after leaving the palace.
He didn't want to reveal his true identity here; if he did, all his previous efforts would be for nothing.
"Looks like it's better to avoid meeting that general too often," Ren sighed lightly.
Meanwhile—
"Ren betrayed us? Oh."
Esdeath's tone was calm.
"General Esdeath, can we ask the Three Beasts to handle this?" Honest suggested.
"Hmm, I'll go. Sounds interesting," Esdeath said, recalling the strange feeling she had earlier in the hall.
She felt she needed to go in person.
"Oh? He can even interest General Esdeath?" Honest was curious.
"I just want to confirm a few things."
She wouldn't share her suspicions without proof.
"Lately, during the Night Raids, those sewer rats have been more active. Since they're all Teigu users, I might have to trouble you, General," Honest said while sipping his wine.
"All right, let's just treat it as killing time."
Esdeath didn't care if they were Teigu users or not; she only knew a fight was coming.
"General Esdeath, do you want any reward? Just say the word," the young emperor interrupted at this moment.
"Other than wanting to have a relationship, I have no other thoughts," Esdeath said plainly.
"Can you lower your conditions?"
"No," Esdeath firmly insisted. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now. I still have a mission to attend to."
"All the Night Raid members are Teigu users. General Esdeath could also form her own team of Teigu users," Honest said after thinking it over.
Esdeath remained silent. Only the young emperor and the Prime Minister were left. Facing the general's request, they sighed quietly.
It seemed no one in the imperial capital met the requirements.
**********
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