Book 1 Chapter 986

“Sigh. Is it because I’m not used to it? I feel drained. If I marry Eliza, will I have to attend these kinds of social parties often?”

Returning to his room and preparing for bed, Karl put on a smug expression.

“Hmph. Even a life of sudden success is exhausting.”

With a hand on his forehead, Karl put on a thoughtful expression.

But that was short-lived, and he ended up crouching down, tearing at his hair.

“Exhausting, my foot! Why do I have to suffer assassination attempts?!”

Karl made a tearful face.

On top of becoming an unwanted hero, he had also obtained a rosy future by entering into a romantic relationship with a woman far out of his league.

Is this really right? He still had thoughts like that these days.

However, not only happy things came his way.

Karl had earned enmity without committing any particular wrongdoings.

Becoming the son-in-law of the Hergin family without any background whatsoever was a significant undertaking.

“This is like a trade-off.”

With a deep sigh, Karl got up.

He then sat on the sofa and crossed his arms.

He had only realized the assassination risk against him two days before attending the Noble Families Assembly.

While attending Lumern, Karl had steadily laid the groundwork to support Leo and his other friends.

As a result, he succeeded in opening his own shop in Lumuria City.

Karl’s support abilities, which allowed him to quickly grasp the flow of battle and make efficient deployments to bring out the heroes’ abilities beyond their limits, were outstanding.

And equally outstanding was his supply capability, which was the most important aspect in combat.

Heroes were beings with immense power.

As such, they consumed countless supplies single-handedly in every battle.

‘Well, efficient combat is also a sign of strength.’

Hero candidates often fought at a disadvantage rather than from a position of advantage.

And usually, once a battle began, it often continued for a long time.

Even with overwhelming firepower, if efficiency was low, they would quickly fall into a state of combat incapacitation.

Therefore, combat efficiency was a very important aspect.

Of course, no one who went into battle with Karl fought inefficiently.

‘The problem is that even with efficient combat, they’re like potion-guzzling hippos.’

In that regard, Karl’s supply capability was perfect.

There was never anyone who suffered a setback due to supply issues among those who carried out missions with Karl.

‘I might make a wrong command, but I can’t fail in supply.’

That’s why Karl was still concerned about ‘money.’

Even though his business in Lumuria City had grown to the point of operating on its own within two years of entering Lumern, his identity as a merchant was still important.

‘No matter what anyone says, potions, weapons, or magical items all come from money.’

Karl never relied on his friends for that.

Although many of his friends came from great families, he believed it was his role as a supporter to prepare and provide.

And there was something Karl had built while doing business.

‘An independent information network.’

Initially, he maintained close ties with the Lumuria City Information Guild.

As Lumuria City was located at the center of the world and Lumern was there, the Lumuria City Information Guild’s capabilities were world-class.

However, judging that this alone was not enough, Karl built a small, independent information network.

‘This also devours money, but.’

“Boss. There are indications that summoning magic noble families scattered around the world are attempting to assassinate you?”

“Huh?”

Recalling the events of two days ago, Karl smiled sadly, thinking it was worth the money.

“Whew, well.”

Karl slapped his cheek.

“Leo would surely… know, right?”

Dealing with the assassination threat itself was actually not difficult.

While the information network Karl had created was quite capable, it was still a new network that had only recently been established.

If he had known, there would certainly be those among the noble families’ factions who noticed any suspicious movements.

Furthermore, one of Karl’s friends was the Emperor of the Shan Empire, who ruled the darkness of this world.

“Sia might know too. Whoever it is, if I grab a friend and complain that someone is trying to assassinate me, the problem will be solved.”

Karl crossed his arms.

However, he had no intention of seeking help from his friends.

“Leo probably wouldn’t take any special measures unless I asked him to.”

It was a cold action, but Karl didn’t feel any particular disappointment towards his friends.

‘He must believe I can handle it perfectly on my own. No. Perhaps he doesn’t even consider this a significant threat to me.’

Karl felt a cold sweat trickle down his back.

‘Leo. Lately, the expectations he has for me seem to be getting higher than necessary.’

Had he worked too hard?

He had a fleeting thought of regret, but decided to put it aside for a moment.

‘Anyway, I’ll handle it myself. It would be troublesome if I got overly excited and caused a scene. Come to think of it, I have quite a bit of influence, don’t I?’

For instance, if he told Elena, even that ill-tempered senior would genuinely get angry.

‘What? Someone is targeting my subordinate? They must die.’

She might then impose her will on him as a reason for saving him, after dealing with the perpetrators with a cheerful smile.

‘But this is also a matter concerning Hergin.’

He couldn’t entrust matters of the Hergin family to external forces.

With that thought, Karl got up and opened the window.

‘And Hergin wouldn’t be unaware of Hergin’s affairs.’

Though Eliza didn’t seem to know.

“Ferena, you’re there, right?”

Karl called out to Ferena, who should have been in Lumern.

But there was no response.

After tilting his head for a moment, Karl said,

“I know you’re there.”

“……”

“If you don’t come out, I’ll ask Eliza for your childhood photos…”

*Crack!*

“What! What!”

Seeing Ferena land on the window, her face slightly flushed, Karl smiled with relief.

“Thanks for your hard work!”

“Haa… Why did my father assign me to protect Senior Karl…”

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

“Hmph.”

Despite Karl’s words, Ferena scoffed.

“So? Why did you call me?”

“I’m looking for the family that hired my assassination, can you help me?”

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

“I found out through my independent information network!”

“Wow… you have something like that?”

Ferena was amazed.

She had heard from her father that there were people trying to assassinate Karl.

That’s why she had been assigned to guard Karl in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

But the fact that Karl had discovered it independently was beyond her imagination.

‘As expected, the man my sister chose.’

Ferena marveled.

“Well, it’s unlikely that a family like the Rwalin family would send assassins internally.”

A family like Rwalin has its own shadows.

No matter how skilled an assassin they hired, attempting assassination within Rwalin’s territory would be akin to suicide.

At his words, Ferena scoffed.

“You never know. There are plenty of fools who don’t fear the world.”

“That’s also true.”

Karl shrugged his shoulders.

“I’d like to investigate all the suspicious families if I could… but that’s not easy either.”

The power of the noble families was by no means weak.

As families that wield influence in their respective regions, their power within their own territories was immense.

Without concrete evidence, it was not easy to deal with them.

Ferena clicked her tongue and entered Karl’s room.

“Father told me to watch and not to inform my sister.”

“Yes. I thought he would say that.”

“Don’t you resent it a little?”

“Not really? The family head must have thought I could handle it sufficiently. Besides, if I can’t even resolve something like this, it’ll be difficult to assist the Hergin heir.”

‘She’s reading the father’s thoughts accurately.’

Karl’s favorability was one thing, and demonstrating the capability to lead the family as the future spouse of the Hergin family head was another.

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

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

Ferena recalled her father’s words.

‘That Karl child… he has a surprisingly manly side.’

‘Senior Karl?’

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

‘That Senior Karl?’

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

‘No, it’s not that I distrust him… it’s just that he usually lacks spirit.’

“We could just get help from our family.”

“It’s a bit much to ask when we’re not even engaged yet.”

“Even though it’s something that happened because of our family?”

“Yes. So, don’t I need to prove that I’m a suitable match for Eliza?”

“Senior Karl is always more capable than I expect.”

“Hmph, thanks for the compliment.”

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

Of course, he didn’t tell Karl that to make him feel down.

“First, let’s narrow down the families that would resent me the most.”

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

“Ferena. The acting student council president can’t rest until all the work is done.”

“……”

At Karl’s words, Ferena thought.

‘I will absolutely not join the student council.’

“Please work hard.”

“Where do you think you’re going? You have to help too.”

“Senior Karl, you just said you wouldn’t accept help from the Hergin family…”

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

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

“We’re going to be family soon.”

Karl cunningly blocked Ferena’s escape.

“You could come in as you pleased, but you can’t leave that easily.”

“You called me, Senior Karl!”

Ferena protested, but Karl didn’t listen.

Having been thoroughly tormented by Elena, Karl had learned how to make people work.

In the end, Ferena was only released after being tormented by Karl until the early morning.

***

“His Majesty the King of our Ermean Kingdom has stated his position that we must formally protest to the Arhi Kingdom!”

“We are of the same opinion!”

The next day.

As the Noble Families Assembly officially began, the representatives of the families stood in the assembly hall and raised their voices.

‘Wow, they’re going even further than I thought.’

Karl, who had come as the representative of the Hergin family, muttered blankly to himself.

Eliza, who was sitting next to Karl, also let out a small tut-tut.

As expected, perhaps?

More than half of the families attending the assembly issued a joint statement expressing their stance that sanctions should be imposed on the Arhi Kingdom.

There were various agenda items, but Arhi was, as expected, the first to be discussed.

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

“The Noble Families Assembly is not a place to represent the King’s stance, is it?”

To Elena’s remark, the head of the Jeltian family, who had been raising his voice about sanctions against the Arhi Kingdom, said,

“Acting head of the Zerons family! Don’t think of siding with Arhi! There is also an agenda item regarding the Zeron family, which operates Lumern!”

“Oh, what is it?”

“A protest regarding the biased school operation!”

“Biased?”

As Elena tilted her head, the head of the Jeltian family’s face flushed with displeasure.

“Indeed! Last year, you promoted a student who didn’t meet the qualifications for promotion to the third year! This is a matter of fairness!”

At the Jeltian family head’s words, the gaze of several people turned in one direction.

Karl, who was the recipient of their gaze, gave a wry smile.

‘I guess I’m also a topic of discussion at this assembly. By the way, how do I calm down Senior Elena, who’s about to get angry? Senior Hark… it’s hopeless.’

Karl shook his head, seeing Hark sleeping openly during the assembly.

Finally, Karl’s gaze landed on the gray-haired man attending as a servant from the Zerdinger family.

‘I’m counting on you, Leo.’