After leaving the Imperial Capital and the Imperial Guards, Lancer never returned to this city. Since he had no attachments, he didn't care. As long as he could improve his strength, it was all the same to him. However, he didn't miss out on some information about the Imperial Capital, such as: which officials had done something worth writing about recently.
Although there were no newspapers in this world, there were things with similar functions, and that was the official announcements. To be honest, the main function of this kind of thing was not to let ordinary people know information, but to manipulate public opinion. But this had nothing to do with Lancer. He was paying attention to one person: Minister Honest.
Of course, the minister at this time was not him, but Lancer didn't believe that the other party would remain obscure. Although there was no description of him becoming a minister in the 'plot', there were two things that could be confirmed.
The former minister should have retired of his own accord before the 'Previous Emperor' passed away. After all, with the personality the other party showed, he would definitely not suddenly leave at the critical juncture of a young emperor and the passing of the previous emperor.
The second thing was that Honest must have done something good before becoming a minister, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the position after the former minister left... No, it's also possible that he later manipulated the little emperor to make himself a minister, but what was certain was that even when the previous emperor was still alive, he would not have been obscure, as it was not so easy for him to gain favor with the little emperor.
So Lancer felt that in the absence of a source of information, reading these 'announcements' might allow him to find the other party's whereabouts, and in the end, it was just as he had expected. He saw the 'information' more than two months before he left for the Imperial Capital.
It's just that the content of the 'announcement' made him feel both amused and at a loss for words.
Although he had long thought that the other party would put on a good facade before he completely unleashed himself, he didn't expect it to be so 'dazzling'.
'Prefect Honest, diligent in government and loving toward the people, helped the disaster victims in his territory survive the famine, and was recommended to serve as the Imperial Minister of Finance...'
Thinking of the other party's subsequent actions, Lancer almost felt sick enough to vomit.
But then, he started to consider one thing.
Should he take advantage of the fact that the other party hadn't come to power yet and get rid of him?
Although the Imperial Fist Temple should have already sided with him at this time, and Lancer even suspected that there had always been a shady deal between him and the Imperial Fist Temple. After all, his own combat power and the Four Oni of the Imperial Fist Temple under him seemed to hint at this possibility to Lancer.
But in the end, Lancer gave up.
It wasn't that he wasn't confident in himself. Even if the Four Oni of the Imperial Fist Temple were protecting him, the possibility of him succeeding with a planned attack was still very high. The problem was, what would happen after he got rid of the other party?
'Minister Honest', a man who was given the name of 'mastermind'.
But what was the reality?
It was not realistic for one person to completely corrupt an entire country. Lancer was more willing to see the other party as a 'fuse'. He ignited the malice in the hearts of others and dragged them into the abyss...
Looking at it this way, the other party's image seemed to have two similarities with the legendary 'devil'?
In short, in Lancer opinion, simply getting rid of the minister would just be delaying a bomb that was destined to go off. So, what should he do?
He should cut off more of the 'tentacles' related to the other party, and then give the other party a fatal blow!
Of course, if Lancer couldn't do that, then he would just 'go wild' before he was about to leave, just like before!
But this was a 'last resort', and Lancer wouldn't use it until the very last moment!
The 'chat' with Budo actually ended in just a few minutes, and then he left. But what made Lancer feel helpless was that his 'reputation' seemed to be really bad. Even the several colleagues who had almost formed a 'revolutionary friendship' with him were now looking a bit timid when they saw him (in reality, they were afraid that the other party would find out about the time they had tested him).
Feeling bored, he finally left the barracks and started wandering around the Imperial Capital again.
After returning to the Imperial Capital from the western fortress before, he had been waiting in Budo office for the other party. Now that the 'official business' was done, it was naturally his private time.
But what made him a bit relieved was that at least in this past year, Honest seemed to have not yet influenced the Imperial Capital. It seemed to be no different from a year ago.
With his hood on, he seemingly casually walked around the Imperial Capital, and finally, he unconsciously walked into the 'slums'. Why would he come here? It was probably because he felt that if the Imperial Capital changed, then this would be the first place to change. After all, people in other areas at least needed to maintain appearances, but here, they didn't.
But what he didn't expect was that the 'accident' would come so early.
When he passed by a person who was also wearing a hood, he clearly felt that something was missing from him. A money pouch was gone.
Lancer usually kept his money in the 'hunting box', as it only took up one slot, so he didn't care. But he would also carry some emergency money on him.
However, he didn't immediately say anything and instead chose to quietly follow. The main reason was that he was curious about who would be so bold as to steal from him?
Walking quickly into an alley, Leone took off her hood with an excited expression.
'Looks like another naive person from out of town~ It's your luck that you met me. I hope you leave soon.'
In her opinion, the other party's left-and-right glances made it obvious that he wasn't a local of the Imperial Capital. And looking at his hood and the clothes he was wearing, it was obvious that he wasn't short on money. No matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem like someone who would be related to the slums, so why was he here?
He was either here to 'broaden his horizons' or to buy sex. For people like this, it was already good luck to just have their money stolen in the chaotic slums, as even the guardhouse couldn't control the entire slum area.
While sighing, she opened the 'money pouch' in her hand, but after opening it, she was completely stunned.
Why were there only a few silver and copper coins?
No matter how you looked at it, the other party didn't seem like someone who was short on money~
"Are you very disappointed? Why is there only this much money in the pouch?"
"!!!"
The slightly sarcastic voice coming from above made Leone shiver, and at the same time, she instinctively took a step back and looked up. She then saw a person standing on the roof of a mud house. Because of the sunlight, she couldn't see the other person's appearance clearly, but judging by the other party's tone, it seemed to be the person she had stolen from earlier.
Leone had countless experiences of stealing things, so the number of times she was confronted was naturally not small. When dealing with people like this, you must never panic! You have to stay calm!
"Haha~ Mr., what are you talking about~ I don't know anything~"
While giggling, she subtly moved her feet, and at the same time, she unconsciously puffed out her chest. It was clear that she was trying to attract Lancer attention and then run away.
If it were a normal person, they might have been captivated by her, but unfortunately, the person in front of her was different. He was on high alert.
Almost at the same time Leone took a step back, the other party leaped down from the rooftop, and the moment he landed, he forcefully grabbed her wrist.
It was clear that Lancer strongest skill was his spear art. Even the lance, which he was not good at, had reached a level that ordinary people could only look up to after a year of experience. But this didn't mean that he was useless with his bare hands. His powerful physical attributes, combined with the eyesight he had trained on the battlefield, meant that an ordinary person could not evade his grasp.
"Let's talk about the specifics at the guardhouse!"