Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 499 The Broken Balance

"I always felt that something was wrong."

Viscount Westfield, something feels off.

As one of the core members of the new aristocracy, he was only in his thirties and was regarded as one of the future leaders.

He, a rare warrior among the nobility and a practical fighter, was also one of the leaders of this "anti-traitor squad".

He is a wine tycoon in Radiant City and even the entire kingdom, owning at least a dozen high-end wineries and three large wineries, but his real main businesses are smuggling wine and brewing special wines for magic potions.

The exorbitant profits from the latter two industries far exceed those from honestly producing ordinary mid-to-high-end wines.

The main types of moonshine are dwarven wine, orc (Northland) wine, and elven wine. These imported products not only have unique flavors and sell very well, but smuggled moonshine can also be priced arbitrarily. Without any production or consumption, it can easily be sold for double the profit.

While the amount of alcohol used for potions was small, the profits were extremely high, and it also helped him make connections with alchemists and high-ranking mages. He even gained connections with several alchemical organizations as a result.

He was undoubtedly the kingdom's new darling, and money had become meaningless to him.

What he urgently needs now is perhaps to exchange money for status, or for the power to protect his assets.

"Damn bootlegging!" But these days, his life is getting harder and harder.

Originally a neutral party, he has recently fully embraced the new aristocracy, becoming a member of the royal faction in a certain sense, for reasons that are quite subtle.

As the biggest bootlegging dealer, he has been angrily berating those unruly bootlegging dealers in various occasions these days.

The bootlegging business, which originally accounted for at least 90%, has been robbed of at least half. When the other party's price is only half of yours and the quality is better, the remaining half is simply because some customers haven't realized it yet.

Normally, with armed forces at his disposal, he would have already taken direct action against these outsiders trying to steal his business.

But this time it won't work. This time, the vendors who are trying to steal our business have powerful backers.

"Damn dark elf traffickers! That arrogant girl actually opened doors for them!"

Every gain often comes with a hidden price.

As a price to pay for gaining the power of voters, the strategic weapons of the Mirror Demons, the support of the Dark Elf race and cities, Radiant City and even the Kingdom could no longer close its doors to the Dark Elves.

These corrupt elf bastards, they'll do any illegal business, and even legitimate business like stealing slaves, which Dania stopped, but they really can't stop the shady business of moonshine.

In fact, most of the people quite welcome these dark elf moonshines; they are much better than the wines of other kingdoms.

When the not-so-distant Dark Elf city delivered Grey Dwarf Cinder Liquor, Underground Gnomes Mushroom Wine, and various other Dark Elf liquors, the local area was practically wiped out, not to mention bootlegging, even the legitimate market liquor was almost completely destroyed.

This fate has actually occurred in many industries within Radiant City. After acquiring the technology of half-elves and druids, the weaving factories in the dock area have begun to subtly threaten Larry's local weaving industry.

Meanwhile, the Dark Elves' Gulu Beast meat and mushroom feast have severely impacted the local food market.

This is a good thing for the royal family, especially for Dania.

The maliciously inflated prices need to be curbed, which would also be good for the kingdom's strategic reserves.

However, given the long-standing situation where nobles were strong, merchants were strong, and the royal family was weak, this effectively disrupted the original division of industrial interests.
"That pretty boy"

Rean is the most hated. Although countless people curse him for rising to power through his engagement with Suliman, no one really thinks he's an incompetent gigolo.

Because it was after his arrival that Dania was able to gradually transform from a figurehead into a powerful monarch. Many seemingly outrageous actions, in retrospect, were related to him.

The group of "commoner knights" that Dania appointed during the beast incident, including Larry, Dimon, and Talia, have gradually become the backbone of the princess's faction. And the center of their reunion naturally points to that "pretty boy from the Sudar family".

A monarch without henchmen is nothing but a figurehead. With the activities of the "Rean faction," and with the dark elves, archmages, druids, and federal nobles gradually joining this power, the original so-called new nobles were not only not new (advanced) enough, but their industries were not even as valuable as those of the transnational powers and the more competitive new industries they brought. They became less important in the face of these new powers.

This is what truly causes their anxiety.

"We must eliminate Rean Sudar and sever the princess's hand to let her know our anger."

Killing Rean, the vanguard, to teach the entire princess faction a lesson gradually became a consensus among the new nobles.

But they hesitated about who should do it and when. The main reason was that no one was stupid. Everyone knew that the princess might not be able to kill all the new nobles who formed the foundation of the kingdom, but killing the group that made the move would definitely not be a problem.

"This time, the decision-making process was far too unified."

Assassination should ideally involve a decision-maker and an executor behind the scenes. The fact that it has become a consensus within the entire power circle, with even a set of rules, seems rather odd.

Especially today, for some reason, the high-ranking officials who had previously shirked their responsibilities suddenly reached a consensus, and all the missing resources were gathered together, forcibly forming a "coalition".

"Boom!"

With an explosion, they destroyed a large mirror demon spellcaster. The spellcasters were very effective, directly severing the shadow network in the vicinity and completely cutting off Rean's chances of receiving support.

But the smoother things went, the more uneasy Viscount Westfield felt.

Why are those previously hesitant individuals so proactive today? Why were the agents able to easily approach the Mage Tower Nexus and directly disable it? Why are those hired thieves so outstanding? Their efficiency is akin to that of professional spies.
"No, this is very wrong!"

He felt increasingly uneasy, as if some unseen force was orchestrating everything. But at this point, it seemed no one could stop.

At the forefront of this hunter's party, Rean Sudar's elder brother, Kane Sudar from the ancient kingdom, was still recounting the hateful aspects of his younger brother.

"He showed no respect for me, for our family, for the honor and rules of nobility; he was like an ignorant commoner."

It seems that this man did indeed have a motive, and he was the one who instigated this assassination.

"I just received word that they fought the Crystal Dragon to a standstill and are now resting and healing. The timing is perfect."

The assassins and bigwigs around him were flattered and excited, but Viscount Westfield felt increasingly uneasy.

Looking at the pitch-black passage before him, and the tunnel that was gradually leading to the light at its end, he felt as if he were seeing a passage leading to hell.

"No!" Finally, he made up his mind, prepared to pull back from the brink, and turn back.

However, the hired supervisory team behind them seemed to have other ideas; the crossbow bolts pointing forward gleamed with a poisonous sheen.
"What are you doing?!" he roared at those blocking his way. "Do you even know who I am? I'm the leader of this group!"

"You want to back down now? Don't be ridiculous." But some people don't seem to agree.

(End of this chapter)