Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 104: New information

[Your Majesty Eurius, how have you been? I wanted to visit you in the capital often, but I have been busy with a lot of work lately. I haven’t seen your face even once since winter began.

By the way, I am very pleased that you have shown interest in the internal affairs besides the external activities for the past few months. I always told you that what the emperor needs is not only military power but…(omitted)…]

Eurius quickly skimmed through the letter. 

He skipped the nagging parts coolly! 

He had exchanged letters regularly, but he knew exactly what he would say after hearing the same thing for decades, including his previous life.

Eurius turned the letter over and grumbled inwardly.

‘Back then, I thought he nagged a lot because I was so incompetent, but now I see that this is just a habit, right?’

He chuckled.

As he turned a few pages of the letter, he finally got to the main point. 

First of all, it was about the progress of the northern development.

[As you said, the exchange with the immigrants is going well. The development situation is also fast. They are a bit cautious, but I think we will be able to build a trade route that leads to the mountains soon.]

‘Cooperation with Nuada is going well. After all, I never broke my promise!’

He nodded his head as he read the letter.

‘Uh?’

[By the time this letter reaches you, I will be preparing to go to the capital. It seems that you have something important to ask this old man after a long time. Then I will tell you properly when I see you.

-Marius-]

‘Father called him to the capital?’

It was not strange to call Marius, who was originally the emperor’s reliable right arm, to the capital.

But the northern development was busy and Eurius was also helping with the state affairs quite well, so there was no big problem even if he didn’t call him.

In fact, compared to the complicated power struggle in the capital, the northern development had a lot of issues to deal with but less things to worry about.

For someone like Marius who specialized in administration, it was almost like giving him a vacation.

‘What could Father need him for…?’

It was definitely not a political problem. 

The aristocratic faction had been greatly weakened recently and the grand duke did not take any noticeable actions either.

‘He informed me in advance by letter, which means it’s not irrelevant to me either. What on earth is it?’

***

At that time, Marius was really preparing to leave from the north. 

He called a young man with a neat impression and said goodbye.

“You can handle all the work without me. This business in the capital seems to take quite a long time. I’m counting on you.”

“I’m still lacking a lot. Thank you for trusting me and leaving it to me.”

“Thank His highness Eurius instead of me. If it weren’t for his consideration, no matter how good your ability was, they wouldn’t have used you so much as a foreigner.”

“I hope to thank him someday. For now, please convey my gratitude instead of me.”

“Tsk! Are you making this old man work for you?”

He said grumpily, but Marius smiled warmly. 

The person he was handing over his work to was Bryan. 

He showed amazing ability and rose from a low-level official to a manager he could trust in no time.

‘Eurius really has an excellent eye. I knew he was a talented young man, but I didn’t expect him to rise so fast.’

Marius originally wanted him to start from the bottom and climb up slowly even if he came in with a recommendation. 

He was so stubborn that he didn’t want to compromise on that point.

But Eurius seemed to have a different idea.

“Isn’t it right to give him more opportunities if you think he’s excellent? He looks like a pretty good talent to me.”

“If Your highness says so, I will give him more chances to show his achievements.”

And Bryan did all those things better than Marius expected. 

He was young and quick-witted and decisively good at handling work.

Marius had been thinking of making him his successor from the beginning when he saw Bryan’s talent.

With his outstanding achievements added, they became close enough to joke with each other like this.

“By the way! Speaking of which, a frozen corpse was found in front of the office today.”

Marius frowned. 

It was not uncommon for poor people to freeze to death in the city in winter, but the location was the problem.

“Isn’t this the third time this winter? Why did they die in front of the office, not in the back alleys of the city?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Actually, I came to see you before you left because I had something to tell you about this.”

“What is it?”

Bryan lowered his voice a little.

“I think these series of incidents are not coincidental.”

***

‘First prince, does he have no intention of leaving the capital at all?’

It had been three months since the non-aggression treaty. 

The grand duke rarely attended the meeting with a slightly anxious mood. 

He had been waiting for a chance to strike for the past three months, so he stayed in the capital without returning to his territory.

‘Have the shadows wait near the capital.’

Ever since he decided to entrust Eurius to himself, the Grand Duke had planned to use radical means to strike at the Emperor’s faction.

He had ordered all the remaining shadows to stand by near the capital, ready to target Eurius at any time.

But Eurius did not even go out, using the excuse of learning state affairs to stay in the capital. 

Of course, the Grand Duke did not take it seriously at first.

‘There are many ways to deal with the First Prince without directly attacking him.’

The first way was assassination.

‘First, I just have to eliminate some of the Emperor’s faction’s forces in the north.’

He secretly hired assassins and sent them to the north. 

Of course, they were not careless enough to leave their guard down, being part of the Emperor’s faction.

But even if they failed, he thought that it would be enough to shake Eurius or the Emperor.

“I received a message that all the assassins sent to the north have lost contact.”

“What do you mean?”

“As I said. They disappeared like ghosts.”

“That can’t be…”

The Grand Duke was more puzzled than angry. 

The place he had entrusted the assassination was not a shoddy one.

He did not expect them to eliminate high-ranking officials like Marius, but he should have heard some news of incidents or accidents in the north.

But not only did they lose contact, but the north was also said to be peaceful.

‘How on earth are they managing that vast north?’

The Grand Duke’s worries deepened. 

The more time he wasted, the more his loyal nobles would waver and Eurius’s position would strengthen.

‘I have to break the momentum of the Emperor’s faction somehow. If this goes on, the worst situation might happen.’

***

Meanwhile, Eurius was visiting the Azure Dragon Hall again. 

There was someone who greeted him warmly as he opened the door and entered.

“My lord, it’s been a long time.”

“How is the training of the knights going?”

“So far, so good. If this continues, they will reach a level where they can use it in real combat in a few months.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Especially, some of the young ones have amazing talents. I feel like I’ve broadened my horizons too.”

Jegal Unhyeon sincerely admired them. 

In fact, even with his eyesight as one of the best warriors in the Eastern Continent, most of the Western Continent knights looked somewhat crude.

Didn’t Eurius also go through a lot of trials to earn his recognition?

But after his duel with Nuada, Jegal Unhyeon became interested in the Western Continent’s warriors. 

They had been bickering since they first met, but they eventually clashed in the underground training hall of the Azure Dragon Hall.

‘I thought he wouldn’t get hurt too much since I told him beforehand and there’s a level difference.’

The result was as expected by Eurius.

“Damn… I admit defeat.”

“Call me senior from now on. We’re in the same position anyway, but I’m older than you, so there must be some hierarchy, right?”

“I understand. But I’ll definitely get my revenge later!”

“Hehe, suit yourself.”

Nuada was very frustrated by his second defeat in his life after losing to Eurius, and Jegal Unhyeon answered leisurely, but he was quite surprised inside.

‘Huh… He’s just over thirty and he achieved that much. Maybe I should revise my prejudice against the Western Continent.’

Nuada was not a bad guy in terms of talent and fighting sense either, but Eurius had restored his White Tiger Protection Technique and started learning it earnestly not long ago.

And crucially, Jegal Unhyeon had learned martial arts from the same Four Great Martial Sects, but he overwhelmed Nuada in terms of skill completion and sophistication.

In other words, it was a natural result considering the training time, but it was rather amazing that Nuada could keep up with him at his age.

‘My lord is a legendary Death God Body, so I can understand that, but his talent is really unexpected. He might catch up soon.’

He finished his brief reminiscence and Eurius asked him with a smile.

“Who are you talking about when you say some young ones?”

“The young soldier and the slightly cheeky one.”

“Ah…”

Jegal Unhyeon had only one body and there were more than a hundred knights, so even with the help of other experts from different sects, only three knights had the chance to receive personal training from him besides group training.

Eurius looked slightly disappointed and asked again.

“You don’t like Sir Heinz as much as them.”

“It’s not that he lacks anything. I just meant his potential for growth according to his age.”

“That makes sense if you look at talent alone. But he doesn’t lose to anyone in terms of effort.”

“I know that too. It’s just an honest assessment, not a favoritism or anything, so don’t worry.”

Beatrice, Kains, and Heinz were the three who passed the strict test and received Jegal Unhyeon’s personal guidance.

Among them, Beatrice and Kains had such talents that even Jegal Unhyeon was amazed.

“In fact, they are the ones who only need time. If they devote themselves to training, they don’t need a teacher at all. But…”

“But?”

“After training him, I noticed a few things that bothered me, but I think I should tell you later.”

Eurius quickly sensed the intention behind this vague answer.

“So you have some new information from the Hyunwoljeon, huh?”

“That’s actually why Hwayoung asked to meet with you, my lord.”

A moment later, Eurius was having a private conversation with Jegal Hwayoung.

“It’s an honor to see you, my lord.”

“It’s been a while, Sangdanju. You asked for me, so I assume you have some urgent news?”

His status was such that they rarely called him directly for information, unless it was by letter.

[Jegal Hwayoung]

Current state: nervous, agitated

‘It must be quite a serious matter. I’ve hardly seen her so rattled before.’

Eurius first checked Jegal Hwayoung’s state and listened to her story with a cautious expression.

“The first thing I have to report is that there were assassination attempts on several emperor faction members in the north.”

This was expected. 

It had been three months since the Tournament, and there was no way that Grand Duke would stay still. 

It would have been more suspicious if he had been quiet.

“You did well to prevent any casualties. I haven’t heard any news of damage from their side.”

However, her nervous state did not ease even under his praise. 

Eurius became more curious.

‘Did they make a mistake somewhere?’

Along with his question, she continued to speak.

“But as I investigated the route of the assassination, I found some new information.”

“New information?”

“…….”

She hesitated for a moment, then said with a serious face.

“My lord, have you ever heard of an organization called [Illuminati]?”

“Illuminati?”