episode_0229

“Sophist Order headquarters???”

Even within the Imperial Knights, it’s an unofficial quest,

Eugene Schneider was quite curious about what it was.

Because he quite enjoyed the dopamine that Victoria provided while undertaking Drake’s quest.

So, he made various guesses, but the content of the quest that came out of Victoria’s mouth completely missed his predictions.

He thought it would be something related to monsters.

But lo and behold, it was infiltration of the Sophist Order headquarters.

“I think that Squad Leader Eugene Schneider knows well, as he is also a noble of the Grand Duke’s family, about the relationship between the Sophists and the Tyrannos Anti-Noble Alliance.”

Victoria, to Eugene Schneider’s bewildered reaction, added calmly.

“To be honest, I didn’t know well until recently. Then, while working as a mercenary, I heard in detail from my colleagues. The Sophists are playing the role of Tyrannos’s actual power, right?”

Then Eugene frankly revealed his level of knowledge.

Most men from noble families dream of politics or dream of becoming administrators.

Entering the Knights is also ultimately connected to that.

So, naturally, they grow up recognizing the structure of various forces within the Empire from an early age.

But Eugene had virtually lived a reclusive life, hadn’t he?

As a result, he learned those pieces of information almost recently through Thomas and Ivan.

“That’s right. Tyrannos was virtually a group that exerted power in specific areas, that is, in the territories of nobles belonging to Tyrannos. But they gained wings with the joining of the Sophists. It’s happened in the last 10 years.”

Victoria, having roughly heard about Eugene’s awareness situation, began to explain in earnest.

The basic combat power of the Anti-Imperial Noble Alliance, Tyrannos, is quite strong.

It can be analyzed as the reason why the group was created by nobles who had antipathy toward the imperial authority and had some power from the beginning.

However, due to the characteristic of the feudal structure and the fact that they are nobles sensitive to their own interests, the area where they can fully exert their power was limited.

Therefore, they were more defensive than active, and their movements were very slow.

Therefore, from a certain point on, the Empire efficiently managed them by utilizing their particularity.

However, there were those who created variables that caused cracks in the pattern that had been going on for a long time, and those were none other than the Sophists.

“Due to the joining of the Sophists, Tyrannos’s actual sphere of influence has expanded, and their speed has also increased. This is because the Sophists are secretly acting as Tyrannos’s hands and feet.”

The Sophists are a small elite group, and they move according to the interests and beliefs of the organization rather than individual interests.

As they became attached to Tyrannos, the anti-noble alliance Tyrannos became skilled in multiple operations and guerrilla warfare.

In addition, the Sophists solve the dirty and lowly tasks that they had rarely done because they were related to nobles.

As a result, the Empire’s management of Tyrannos is becoming more and more variable, and in the case of minor matters, the existing negotiations are generally not being followed at all.

‘I’ve heard it through Antonio’s words as well. The fact that they are so openly checking the Alexandria Merchant Guild’s route would have been difficult in the past. He said that it would have ended after a few attempts to gauge the situation? So, he said that the situation was different during Duke Alexis’s time.’

Eugene understood Victoria’s words in his own way.

Merchant guild checks are a kind of maneuver that can be carried out when active troop operations are possible.

If you block the route, you can take a detour.

Because of such shortcomings, Alexis had planned to place great importance on the trading business.

“Because Tyrannos’s influence has grown so much, monsters are becoming more prevalent than ever, and if a guy like Drake has influence even near the city, the Empire has to worry about the rear.”

The Imperial Knights are constantly running simulations regarding changes in the situation inside the continent.

One of the things derived from that was that when the core forces of the Imperial Knights are focused on monsters, Tyrannos attacks the rear, focusing on the highly mobile Sophists.

Of course, there is no guarantee that it will be 100 percent achieved.

Monsters do not distinguish between the Empire and Tyrannos.

But who knows how the situation will turn out.

“Opinions are divided within the Imperial Knights. That level can be sufficiently controlled through negotiations, and the opposite is not possible. The latter is a very small minority opinion.”

The mainstream of the Imperial Knights tends to view the possibility as low.

There may be several reasons, but the key is their overconfidence in their negotiating ability.

This is because the department that leads the negotiations is the most elite and has the most experience within the Imperial Knights.

“Sir Victoria Saber is the latter.”

“That’s right. My experience in the Imperial Knights is short, but I’ve traveled around the continent for a long time, so I pride myself on knowing the Sophists quite well.”

Another reason why the Imperial Knights are ignoring the Sophists is that, as much as the Sophists are a secret society, they are shrouded in mystery, so the core personnel of the Imperial Knights do not fully grasp their tendencies.

Furthermore, the opinions of field personnel who know even a little are usually ignored.

Victoria had been paying attention to the Sophists since she first entered the Imperial Knights,

She made her own voice based on that know-how, but it did not reach them at all.

“After returning from this Drake expedition quest, my thoughts have become even more firm. So, I am trying to carry out operations under my own authority, even if it is unofficial.”

Victoria is not just a reckless type, so she is primarily following the majority opinion of the organization.

However, the Drake subjugation expedition, which produced results that deviated from the initial expectations day by day, made her determined to take ultra-strong measures.

“Hmm…can you cover it sufficiently with Victoria’s independent decision without orders from above?”

“Starting with Servants, each person has a certain level of independent authority. I’m going to try to do it within that.”

When Eugene thought about it, it seemed too deep to put the unofficial title on it.

Then Victoria told him that even if it was unofficial, it didn’t mean that there was no authority itself.

As Victoria said, Saber, the executive level of the Imperial Knights, has the independent authority to create and carry out quests on their own.

However, the troops and funds invested in carrying it out are strictly limited.

Furthermore, if the quest fails and results in harm to the Imperial Knights, the responsibility becomes even heavier.

“Are you confident?”

In other words, Victoria has placed herself in a desperate situation, and Eugene asked if she was confident.

“The first reason I’m doing it is because I think it’s something I should do. But it’s also true that I’m confident. Especially if Squad Leader Eugene and the elf Priscilla help me.”

To Eugene’s question, Victoria answered with a truly indifferent expression.

Either her confidence was really great or she was good at lying.

“Then that’s enough. Let’s do it together.”

Asking if she was confident meant that Eugene himself had no intention of backing down.

‘In the end, the safety of my family, mercenary团 colleagues, and mercenary village people depends on this.’

Eugene Schneider directly experienced the threat of monsters.

So, preparing for it is by no means someone else’s business from his perspective.

‘And now, I have to find out directly about my father’s work.’

Also, Eugene Schneider had a more active mind about Ulysses Schneider’s work, hadn’t he?

Currently, the group with the most information to solve the mystery is the Sophists.

“Hahaha…it’s true that my will is firm, but to take this approach.”

After that, specific methodologies were exchanged,

Eugene Schneider, who had heard Victoria’s detailed plan, had a troubled expression.

“As the one who killed the Ricardo brothers, you’re going to hand me over to the Sophists???”

Victoria is thinking of handing over Eugene Schneider to the Sophists as the culprit who killed Ricardo and Lucas.

Killing Lucas could have ended with the personal grudge of those brothers, but killing Sword Expert and advanced ascetic Nagarjuna was a different story.

That area was a matter of the Sophists’ pride, so even while keeping it quiet, there is a vengeful atmosphere within the Sophists.

Victoria has identified their atmosphere through informants, so she is planning to use it in reverse.

“So, I asked you to be the bait in advance. Isn’t it the best method in a situation where the manpower that can be mobilized is extremely limited? You can immediately penetrate deep into the enemy camp.”

“Ah…it’s really bait.”

A truly cheeky operation,

But when you think about it, it’s very efficient.

Currently, the advantages of Victoria’s side and Eugene Schneider’s side are that they are a small elite group,

And Victoria and her closest aides have short careers as Imperial Knights, so they are not well known within the Sophists.

Also, to maximize that, they have thoroughly supplemented the operation until now.

Therefore, it will be easier to enter the Sophist headquarters by disguising himself after putting Eugene in the front as bait.

‘Wow…it’s ambiguous to do this alone…’

Eugene is in trouble.

It’s not because he’s upset about being used as bait.

As Victoria said, it’s the most appropriate operation in the current situation, it’s just unexpected.

However, at this scale, it doesn’t make sense to do it without the permission of Jeanne, the leader of the Red Fox Mercenary团.

‘But these kinds of operations are all about time and timing. Let’s push ahead.’

Nevertheless, Eugene Schneider wants to proceed.

However, the person who will put the brakes on Eugene’s decision was not only Jeanne.

“I’m against it. It doesn’t make sense to use my mate as bait. How dare a human be so arrogant!”

That was none other than the existence who took the second step into the Imperial Knights’ arena with Eugene,

It was the elf Priscilla who chose Eugene Schneider as her mate.

Priscilla heard Eugene’s words after returning to the arena guest room and showed a reaction close to great anger.

“Hey! What are you so worried about, Priscilla? You and I are together. It’s three sword experts and two seekers who are attacking. Getting in is difficult, but once you get in, there’s nothing dangerous in my opinion.”

Tap! Tap! Tap!

It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but the intensity was beyond what he had expected, so Eugene patted Priscilla’s shoulder and persuaded her.

“Yeah! I’m confident in safety! I’ll definitely protect you! But that’s not all! This is a matter of pride! How can you use the elf’s mate as bait!”

But it doesn’t seem likely to work.

The elf’s weak spot has been properly touched.

To an elf, a mate is more than just an alter ego. It is no different from the elf’s own self.

In other words, using Eugene as bait is no different from treating herself, the elf princess, as bait.

“What? Pride?”

At that moment, Eugene, who was gently patting Priscilla with a rather affectionate expression, twitched his eyebrows at the keyword pride that she mentioned.

Flinch!

Priscilla flinched at the sight.

“Haaheueueueut!”

Soon, a sweet moan was drawn from Priscilla’s mouth.

“Why don’t you show off your pride with an indecent attitude. Try it, Elf Princess Priscilla.”

Thud!

This is because the unrighteous man, the runaway harem man Eugene Schneider grabbed her vagina.