Book 1 Chapter 986

986.

“Ugh. Is it because I’m not used to it? My energy is completely drained. If I marry Eliza, I’ll probably attend social parties like this often, right?”

Carl, who had returned to his room and was getting ready for bed, wore a smug expression.

“Hmph. The life of someone who rose to success overnight is also tiring, isn’t it?”

Carl placed a hand on his forehead and adopted a somewhat distressed expression.

But that was only for a moment, he tugged at his hair and squatted down.

“Tiring, my foot! Why do I have to suffer from assassination threats?!”

Carl made a tearful face.

Not only did he become a hero when it wasn't even in his destiny, but he also entered into a romantic relationship with a woman far beyond his league, and even grasped a rosy future.

He still wonders if this is really right even these days.

But it wasn't just happy things that came his way.

Even though Carl didn’t commit any particular wrong, he incurred resentment.

To that extent, becoming the son-in-law of the Hergin family without any background whatsoever was a huge matter.

“This isn’t even an equivalent exchange or anything.”

Carl, who let out a deep sigh, stood up.

And then he sat on the sofa and crossed his arms.

He realized there was an assassination threat against him just two days before attending the esteemed families’ meeting.

While attending Lumerne, Carl consistently built a foundation to be able to support other friends, including Leo.

As a result, he succeeded in opening his own store in Lumeria City.

Carl was excellent at quickly assessing the battle situation in combat and possessed outstanding support abilities that allowed him to draw out heroes’ powers beyond their limits through efficient deployment.

And a part that was no less excellent was his supply capability, which was most crucial in battle.

Heroes are beings with immense power.

As such, in every battle, by themselves, they consume countless supplies.

‘Well. Conducting efficient battles is also proof of strength, but.’

Hero candidates much more often fought with disadvantages than they fought from an advantageous position.

And usually, once a battle occurred, situations where the battle continued for a long time were common.

No matter how overwhelming their firepower, if efficiency drops, they quickly fall into an incapacitated state.

Therefore, battle efficiency was a very important aspect.

Of course, among those who went into battle with Carl, there was no one who fought inefficiently.

‘The problem is, even if they fight efficiently, they’re still potion-guzzling hippos.’

From that perspective, Carl’s supply capabilities were perfect.

Among those who carried out missions with Carl, there had never been a case where they faced difficulties due to supply problems.

‘Even if I can make wrong commands, I cannot fail at supplies.’

That’s why Carl was still focused on ‘money’.

In just two years since entering Lumerne, even though he had grown his business in Lumeria City to the point where it could run on its own, his identity as a merchant was still important.

‘No matter what anyone says, whether it’s potions, weapons, or magic items, they all come from money.’

Carl did not ask his friends for help when it came to that.

Although many of his friends were from great families, he believed that as a supporter, it was valuable to prepare and provide support himself.

And there was something Carl had built while doing business.

‘An independent information network.’

At first, he established a close relationship with the Lumeria City Information Guild.

As it was located at the center of the world and Lumerne was there, the capabilities of the Lumeria City Information Guild were world-class.

But Carl, judging that it wasn’t enough, built a small but independent information network.

‘This is also a money-guzzling hippo, though.’

‘Boss. There are signs that prestigious summoning families from various parts of the world are attempting to assassinate you, they say?’

‘Huh?’

Recalling the events of two days ago, Carl thought it was worth the money and gave a wistful smile.

‘Whew, anyway.’

Carl slapped his cheek.

‘If it’s Leo… he’d definitely know, wouldn’t he?’

Resolving the assassination threat itself is practically not difficult.

Although the information network Carl created is quite capable, it is, after all, a new information network that was established not long ago.

If he knew, there would surely be those among the forces of the esteemed families’ meeting who noticed the suspicious movements.

Furthermore, one of Carl’s friends is none other than the Emperor of the Shan Empire, who rules the darkness of this world.

‘Shia might know too. No matter who it is, if I grab one friend and complain that someone is trying to assassinate me, the problem will be solved.’

Carl crossed his arms.

But he had no intention of receiving help from his friends.

‘Leo probably won’t take separate action unless I ask him to.’

Although it was a cold action, Carl didn’t particularly feel hurt or resentful towards his friend.

‘He’s probably judging that I can sufficiently solve it by myself. No. Perhaps he doesn’t even think this is a big threat to me.’

Carl felt cold sweat running down his back.

‘That Leo. Lately, I feel like his expectations for me are rising more than necessary.’

Did I work too hard?

Although he felt such regret, he decided to put those thoughts aside for a moment.

‘Anyway, let’s solve it myself. If I get unnecessarily excited and run wild, it’ll be troublesome. When I think about it, I really have deep connections, don’t I?’

For example, if he tells Elena, that bad-tempered senior would truly get angry for him.

‘What? They’re targeting my slave? They must die.’

After punishing them with a refreshing smile, she might exploit him under the pretext of having saved him.

‘But this is also a matter of Hergin.’

They cannot entrust the affairs of the Hergin family to external forces.

Carl, who had thought that far, got up from his seat and opened the window.

‘And there’s no way Hergin wouldn’t know about Hergin’s affairs.’

Though Eliza seemed unaware.

“Perena, you’re there, aren’t you?”

Carl called Perena, who should have been in Lumerne.

But there was no answer.

Carl, who tilted his head for a moment, said.

“I know you’re there.”

“……”

“If you don’t come out, I’ll ask Eliza to show me your childhood pictures…”

*Swoosh!*

“What?! What!”

Seeing Perena land on the window with a slightly reddened face, Carl wore a pleased expression.

“You’ve worked hard!”

“Haa… Seriously, why did Father make me do something like escorting Senior Carl…?”

“If you don’t like it, you can just quit being a shadow.”

“Hmph.”

Even at Carl’s words, Perena scoffed.

“So? Why did you call me?”

“I’m thinking of finding the family who instigated my assassination; will you help me?”

“How did you know? Did Senior Chen Shia tell you?”

“I found out through my independent information network!”

“Wow… you have something like that?”

Perena clicked her tongue in amazement.

The fact that there were those trying to assassinate Carl was something she had also heard from her father.

And in preparation for that unpredictable situation, she ended up guarding Carl.

But the idea that Carl would have found that out on his own was unimaginable.

‘As expected, he’s the man my sister chose.’

Perena was impressed.

“Well, sending an assassin inside the Rwarlin family is a crazy act that they usually wouldn’t do.”

A family of Rwarlin’s caliber has its own shadows.

Even if they hire a highly skilled assassin, attempting an assassination within Rwarlin’s territory is tantamount to an act of suicide.

At his words, Perena scoffed.

“You never know. Because there are plenty of fools who don’t know how scary the world is.”

“That’s true too.”

Carl shrugged his shoulders.

“If it were up to me, I’d like to investigate all the suspicious families, but… That’s not easy either.”

The power of the esteemed families is by no means weak.

As families that exert influence in each region, their power in their own territory is immense.

If there is no clear evidence, dealing with it is not easy.

Perena clicked her tongue and entered Carl’s room.

“Father told me not to tell my sister either and just observe.”

“Yeah. I thought he would.”

“Don’t you feel a little resentful?”

“Not really? The family head probably thought I could handle it well enough. Besides, if I can’t even solve a matter like this, it would be difficult to assist the Hergin successor, you know.”

‘He’s accurately reading Father’s thoughts.’

That Carl was liked was one thing; gradually becoming the Hergin family head’s partner and showing the capability to lead the family was a separate matter.

Of course, if Carl were to ask for help, the entire Hergin family would immediately mobilize.

‘Father did say that Senior Carl wouldn’t do that, though.’

Perena recalled her father’s words.

‘That Carl, you see. He has a subtly masculine side.’

‘Senior Carl?’

‘Yes. He thinks he can’t just receive help from the woman he loves, so he’ll refuse Hergin’s help.’

‘Senior Carl, *that* Carl?’

‘Why do you distrust the child who will become your brother-in-law so much?’

‘No. Rather than distrusting him… It’s because he’s usually a person completely lacking in spirit\/drive.’

“You could just get help from our family.”

“We’re not even engaged yet, so it would be shameless to ask.”

“Even though it happened because of our family?”

“Yes. So shouldn’t I prove that I am a person worthy of Eliza’s partner?”

“Senior Carl is always so capable, exceeding my expectations.”

“Hmph, thanks for the compliment.”

‘If he’s too capable, Father will try to exploit him a lot.’

Of course, by saying that, she didn’t make Carl depressed.

“First, shall we try to pick out the families who would resent me the most?”

“Senior Carl, aren’t you going to rest?”

“Perena. The acting student council president can’t rest if he hasn’t finished all his work.”

“……”

At Carl’s words, Perena thought.

‘I should definitely never join the student council.’

“Good luck with your work.”

“Where are you running off to? You have to help too.”

“Senior Carl. Just a moment ago, you said you wouldn’t accept help from the Hergin family…”

“Yes. I won’t accept help from the Hergin family. I need *your* help, Perena.”

“Let go, let go! Do you think it’s okay for a lady of the Hergin family to be in a stranger’s room late at night?”

“We’re going to be family now, aren’t we?”

Carl slyly blocked Perena’s escape.

“Coming in is at your discretion, but leaving is not.”

“Senior Carl, you’re the one who called me!”

Perena protested, but Carl didn’t listen.

Carl, who had been tormented by Elena as much as he could be, had also learned how to exploit people.

In the end, Perena was only able to be released after being tormented by Carl until dawn that day.

***

“His Majesty the King of our Ermean Kingdom has stated the position that a formal protest must be made to the Arhi Kingdom!”

“We are the same!”

The next day.

As the esteemed families’ meeting officially began, representatives of the families came out into the meeting hall and raised their voices.

‘Wow, they’re going wild more than I expected.’

Carl, who stepped forward as the representative of the Hergin family, muttered blankly to himself.

Eliza, sitting next to Carl, also made a small ‘tsk’ sound.

Should I say, as expected?

More than half of the families attending the meeting issued a joint statement, announcing their position that sanctions should be imposed on the Arhi Kingdom.

There were several agenda items, but what was mentioned with the highest priority was, as expected, Arhi.

At that moment, Elena, who had been quietly listening to the discussion, opened her mouth.

“The esteemed families’ meeting isn’t a place to represent the kings’ positions, is it?”

At Elena’s remark, the head of the Zeltian family, who had been raising his voice about sanctions against the Arhi Kingdom, spoke.

“Acting Zereon Family Head! Don’t even think about siding with Arhi! Because there’s also an agenda item concerning the Zereon family, which operates Lumerne!”

“Oh, really? What is it?”

“It’s a protest about the biased management of the school!”

“Biased?”

As Elena tilted her head, displeasure flared on the Zeltian family head’s face.

“That’s right! Last year, you promoted a student without promotion qualifications to the third year, didn’t you?! This is an issue of fairness!”

At the Zeltian family head’s words, some people’s gazes turned to one side.

Carl, who received the gazes, gave a bitter smile.

‘Looks like I’m the center of attention in this meeting too. By the way, how do I calm Senior Elena, who’s about to get angry? Senior Hark is… hopeless.’

Carl shook his head while looking at Hark, who was openly sleeping during the meeting.

In the end, Carl’s gaze fell upon the gray-haired man attending on behalf of the Zerdinger family as an attendant.

‘I’m counting on you, Leo.’