Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

But at this moment, the large house was brightly lit, and the shadowy figures inside were almost crowded. Guards were stationed both inside and outside the courtyard, even on the walls, and they didn't seem to be a single group.

"There are no fewer than thirty horses tied up outside the gate. Judging from the saddles and accessories, they are for nobles and servants. If you include the stables in the courtyard... it seems there are quite a few people. It's probably half of the lords of Sochi who have come... No wonder Esther couldn't send a message to her master. It seems Adela and the others have taken over the Miller family's territory as a temporary base..."

Zona took out the magic crystal ball, intending to transmit information to Ryuka, but found that it was unusable.

"As expected, there is the shielding device the master mentioned..."

Just as Zona was silently making plans, a familiar figure appeared in her field of vision.

Esther Miller, with her personal maid. The two arrived at the gate under the protection of the family guards, but she was followed not only by Miller family soldiers, but also by soldiers from other families.

It seems Adela wasn't entirely at ease with her. Although the soldiers kept a certain distance from Esther and her guards, it was essentially a form of house arrest, and this had probably been the case since Esther's new residence.

"Miss Miller, everyone is here except for you."

At the door appeared Adela's maid, Juliana, who bowed respectfully to Esther and led her and her maid inside.

As the door was about to close, Zona's eyes narrowed. Just as she was about to blend in, she suddenly sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of energy.

"Ok?"

Not only Zona, but Yulina at the gate also suddenly turned around and looked into the darkness in the distance.

“Um…” Yulina suddenly called out to Esther, a slightly flustered expression on her face.

"Miss Miller... could you wait here for me for a little while...?"

"What's wrong?"

Esther treated Juliana very calmly. Juliana was Adela's maid, but Esther didn't find anything about her that made her dislike her.

“I… a little…” Yulina stammered, ultimately failing to give a proper reason, and instead looked at Esther with pitiful eyes and asked:

"Can I not tell the young lady?"

A glint of interest flashed in Esther's eyes. She didn't press Yulina for details, but simply smiled and said, "Okay."

"Thanks……"

Yulina blushed and nodded in acknowledgment, then jogged away into the darkness outside.

Zona glanced at Esther, who stood at the gate surrounded by numerous guards, then at Yurina, and finally followed in the direction Yurina had gone...

Chapter 32 Let's Stealth! Zona w

Rather than searching for an opportunity to contact Esther amidst numerous difficulties, Zona chose to follow Yurina to find out the truth.

After leaving the mansion, Yurina met a young man, and even in the darkness, Zona could see the excitement and joy on her face.

Seeing this, Zona, lurking in the shadows, curled the corners of her lips: "As expected... Master was right, when it comes to intelligence, you can never be too detailed..."

The person Yulina secretly met was her brother Julian.

According to the information Ryusha obtained from Hayden, the two siblings were close servants trained by the Golden Dragon Merchant Guild from a young age, currently serving Hayden and Adela respectively. Since serving their estranged masters, they have had very few opportunities to meet. Hayden speculates that after his arrest, Adela will likely order Julian to immediately obey her commands.

Hayden also emphasized that although the two siblings were not particularly talented in magic, they were very skilled at using magical weapons in combat.

Otus has strict requirements for organizations like the Merchant Guild Alliance, the most important of which is prohibiting them from possessing excessive weaponry. Therefore, whether hired or trained in-house, the number of knights and mages under the Merchant Guild Alliance is strictly limited.

Although this decree could not be fully enforced, it significantly limited the power of these merchant groups, preventing them from posing a threat to the empire's rule. This is precisely why the Merchant Guild Federation is so dedicated to the research and development of magical weapons…

Therefore, among the orphans who were jointly adopted by the Chamber of Commerce from a young age, there were individuals like Yulina and her brother, who were specifically selected to adapt to magical weapons.

“Testing magical weapons is very dangerous, but even among those children, these siblings are outstanding… You'd better be careful if you run into them. If conditions allow… never mind, it's nothing…”

Zona, recalling Hayden's words, had to become cautious. If it weren't for the fleeting magical fluctuation she felt upon seeing her sister, even she would have struggled to detect Julian lurking in the shadows. This servant was completely different from his unassuming demeanor in Lake Forest; he seemed to be wearing a strange set of light armor, and the longsword in his hand exuded an unsettling aura. Not only Zona, but even his sister Juliana showed a hint of worry.

The brother and sister exchanged only a few pleasantries before reluctantly parting ways. It seemed Julian had secretly followed Esther, remaining quietly lurking near the mansion even after his sister left, without changing his position. After confirming this, Zona bypassed Julian and arrived at Esther's new mansion.

Esther was being monitored by Adela, and the area around the house was protected by shielding magic, preventing her from sending out any new information. However, it seemed Esther had been invited to their meeting, and Zona figured that if she wasn't mistaken, the guards at her new mansion should be considerably weaker!

As expected, there were only a handful of people around Esther's new mansion, and the atmosphere seemed quite relaxed. Moreover, although they were nominally 'assisting guards,' the Miller family soldiers and the soldiers sent to monitor them did not appear to get along well.

Zona could tell from their wary stances and the way they exchanged glances that this was the case, and she immediately fixed her gaze on the Miller family's knight captain. Beth, the young man who had stuffed his mouth full at Ryukyu's investiture banquet, was now looking seriously at a few lazy outer soldiers opposite him.

She immediately devised a plan, turned around and sneaked into a nearby house. When she came out again, she had changed into a village girl's clothes, messed up her hair and face to cover her dark elf features, and then put on a timid appearance, carrying a basket as she walked toward Esther's mansion.

"Halt! Who goes there!"

The foreign soldiers were even more wary than the Miller family's soldiers. As soon as Zona approached, she was stopped. She immediately trembled and shrank back, her slightly hunched posture and the padding under her clothes making her look like an elderly middle-aged woman. Her voice was incredibly hoarse. Like a timid villager, Zona said hesitantly:

"My lords... I've come to deliver medicine to my daughter. She works as a servant in Esther's household..."

"Deliver medicine? What kind of medicine?"

Before the soldiers could even get close, Zona immediately answered:

“Iris and oxtail grass! My lord! They’re for treating stomach ailments! My daughter, Zona, used to always be hungry, but thanks to Miss Esther, she’s living a good life now! Last time she told me she ate half a roast suckling pig that Miss Esther gave her in one meal! I’m worried that eating like that isn’t good for her health… so…”

At first, Bate also felt that something was wrong with the sudden appearance of the village girl, but after hearing 'Zona' and 'roast suckling pig', he immediately realized what was going on and rushed to Zona's side.

"Oh, it's Aunt Margaret! It's been so long!"

“Yes, Lord Beth, thank you for remembering me…”

In the darkness, Zona slightly raised her head, gave Bet a wink, and glanced into the mansion. Bet immediately understood and adopted a familiar demeanor.

"You haven't seen your daughter for several days, have you? I'll take you inside now."

Zona nodded gratefully, but just as Beth was about to lead her into the mansion, the foreign soldiers approached and began rummaging through the basket Zona was carrying without saying a word.

Iris and oxtail grass... two common herbs. They smiled and looked at the timid village girl with her head down, bringing the torch close to Zona's face.

“Raise your head.”

"Don't go too far! This is Miller family territory!" Bett's expression immediately changed, and he shouted at the outsiders. But they just smiled coldly and remained unmoved.

“Mr. Bate, we're just looking out for your young lady's safety. This is something Miss Miller and Miss Adela agreed on. You! Raise your head!”

"Yes... sir..."

Zona looked frightened, trembling as she raised her head. Beneath her silver-gray hair was a dark-skinned, wrinkled face. She grinned, revealing a few missing teeth, and reeked of cow dung. Even heavily armed soldiers would be startled to see such a face in the darkness. (The last two lines appear to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated text.)

"Damn it! How old is your daughter?!"

"Twenty years old, sir. I was indeed a bit older when I gave birth to her; it was truly a blessing from the goddess..."

The soldier, startled, looked somewhat embarrassed, and angered by Beth's cold laugh. He snatched the basket from Zona's hands and waved her away, saying:

"In short! This is a special time! No one is allowed to come or go freely! You should go back first! Otherwise, you can have your daughter come out and meet us here!"

"This……"

"Enough! Don't go too far!" Bette snatched the basket from his hand and shouted angrily at the foreign soldiers, then whispered to Zona:

“Aunt Margaret, may I take it in for you? You can go back now.”

Zona nodded sadly, then disappeared into the night with a hint of fear in her eyes.

Bert glared at the smug soldiers, then strode into the mansion carrying his basket…

He showed a hint of annoyance as soon as he entered the courtyard, but just as he was anxiously pacing around, a figure quietly appeared behind him.

"Oh my! Miss Zona, you really scared me to death... Speaking of which, this makeup is really amazing, how did you..."

"It's just the basics of being a shadow guard."

Zona haphazardly smeared some paint on her face, and the wrinkles and lines immediately disappeared, leaving only dark brown greasepaint. Even her missing teeth were simply blackened.

After confirming that the figure had disappeared from the guards' sight, she immediately used a stealth technique to bypass the courtyard wall and find Beth. After all, among Esther's current servants and guards, she only recognized Beth and Esther's personal maid. And the maid who was a candidate shadow guard was still by Esther's side, so Zona had to use this method to contact Beth privately.

It would be better if she could have infiltrated just now, but as long as Bet disappears from the sight of those foreign soldiers, Zona's goal will be achieved.

"To make a long story short, did your young lady give you any information?"

Bette gave an awkward smile: "There is some, but not crucial. After all, Miss didn't expect you to come! Naturally, she didn't tell me much."

But Bate did share some of what he knew, and then added:

"There might be some notes or something left in the young lady's room. You can search for them."

Zona nodded, then gestured to him and asked:

"Have you seen any magical devices of this shape around here? They're used to interfere with magic and prevent communication between magic crystal balls."

“No…” Bette shook her head, but then added, “But if it’s the size you’re gesturing to, it would be easily spotted from the outside, given the constant flow of people across the territory. There are only two possibilities then: one is in the house that Adela and her noble allies requisitioned, but that house isn’t large. Miss should have mentioned it, but she’s already held several meetings there. The other possibility is in the camp where the foreign soldiers are stationed!”

The camps where foreign soldiers are stationed... Zona's eyes gradually brightened as she listened to Bet's description. Currently, the foreign soldiers on the Miller family's territory include not only the guards from the Merchant Guild Alliance, but also many unidentified mercenaries, adventurers, and private soldiers brought by other nobles. They have arrived secretly in batches and are now scattered throughout the Miller family's territory.

"So many camps..." Zona was shocked. Just from what Bet said, the estimated number of people was close to a thousand. It seemed that the Chamber of Commerce Alliance was not just making moves in the market and politics this time.

“I understand…” Zona mentally ruled out the soldier camps of Adela’s noble allies and paid special attention to the camps that belonged only to the Merchant Guild Alliance. The magical device was probably in these Merchant Guild Alliance camps.

Then, she quickly took out a piece of paper, wrote something on it, and handed it to Bette.

"Give this to your young lady. Take care."

Becky nodded, then watched as Zona's figure gradually blurred before her eyes, receding and disappearing into the night. Then she heard a few soft sounds on the wall, followed by a gentle sway of the curtains on the third floor of the mansion, as if blown open by the wind...

Chapter 33 Hidden arrows are more hateful than open attacks

"Really? Thank you for your hard work, Zona. If possible, destroy the remaining jamming devices as well, but be careful."

Ryūka deactivated the magic crystal ball. Just moments ago, Zorna successfully found a written letter in Esther's room. Because the magic crystal ball was being interfered with, Esther had to send Ryūka a letter containing information she had obtained from Adela. However, due to tight security, she hadn't had a chance to deliver it and had kept it under Ryūka's pillow.

Zona then sneaked to the nearest merchant guild camp, and sure enough, she found the magical device that Ryūka had mentioned.

Bypassing the ordinary guards' deactivation devices wasn't difficult for her; the area of ​​magical interference had decreased, but other devices were still interfering. Zona did manage to use this opportunity to pass on Esther's information to Ryusha, but it's likely that Adela's people will soon discover that one of the interference devices has been deactivated. At that point, they'll probably not only impose a curfew and search, but also raise their guard even higher.

So, the task at hand is to race against time.

"Their objective has been determined. The Vatican has dispatched a squad of Judgment Knights, who are heading towards Sochi from the direction of Raven Ridge. Although their current location is unknown, they should arrive in Sochi within the next couple of days."

"Judgment Knights? The ones who are really good at fighting and have legal immunity? Doesn't Randall have connections in the Holy City? Why didn't he tell us anything?" Kania frowned. The Holy See's Judgment Knights usually form teams of less than ten people, and the weakest of them are at the peak of the main class, and there is even a high possibility that all of them are at the highest level of the main class.

But even more troublesome than their formidable strength were the legal privileges of the Inquisition Knights. Treaties between the Papacy and various nations granted the Inquisition Knights the authority to act expediently when dealing with heresy or attacks on the Papacy…

This treaty existed even before the history of the Ottus Empire, but it was just one of the many privileges enjoyed by the Papacy. Any secular regime in its early stages is inseparable from the influence of the Papacy, and once a dominant empire like Ottus emerges on the continent, the Papacy will secretly exert checks and balances. This is why Ottus never unified the entire continent, even at its peak.

Ryusha curled her lip: "It seems that this operation was kept extremely secret within the Vatican. After all, we've been bribing Randall for three months now, so the Carmela faction would have noticed by now."

The distance from the Holy City in the center of the continent to eastern Otus is no small feat. Once the whereabouts of these Judgment Knights are exposed, Ryūka could potentially prevent them from entering Sochi in advance. After all, if something 'accident' happens to these Judgment Knights outside of Sochi, or if Ryūka uses his connections in the capital to obstruct them, then the Carmela faction will be powerless.

But once they enter Sochi's territory, no matter what happens, Ryuga will be implicated and will not be able to refuse them entry to Sochi Cathedral. Although Sochi Cathedral has been obediently silent for three months under his threats, Ryuga knows that Rocco and Joel are just waiting, waiting for reinforcements from their superior, Cardinal Carmela, or waiting for Sinatiel to recover.

As for Adela's task, it was to distract Ryūka and further conceal the whereabouts of the Judgment Knights.

As Ryuka watched the image Zona transmitted back on the crystal ball, Esther wrote down Adela's next plans clearly in a letter in her delicate handwriting.

If the mass demonstrations they initiated in the first phase are suppressed, the Chamber of Commerce and the nobles will then use their 'fear' and distrust of Ryukyu as reasons to cause a tsunami in the Sochi market and economy.

Liu Xia rubbed his temples. Before his transmigration, he wasn't in finance; he'd only heard stories about it. According to Esther's intelligence, Adela had been secretly plotting for over a month through various merchant guilds and nobles!

In any business, cash flow is essential. Things like delayed payments, loans, and preparing goods and production after receiving deposits are unavoidable. Especially during the period of rapid development of workshops in Sochi Province, Ryukyu, in the name of the Governor's Office, supported many private workshops. These workshops' customers were not only locals in Sochi, but also many merchants from outside Sochi and even Ottos.

What Adela did was arrange for many unidentified merchants to order large quantities of goods from all the workshops in Sochi, but once these goods were produced, these merchants would vanish without a trace.

At the same time, she arranged for people to collect large amounts of gold and silver coins from workshops and ordinary merchants in Sochi by selling raw materials and goods at low prices but demanding immediate settlement in gold coins.

If you were an ordinary Sochi merchant or workshop owner, what would you do if you faced both of these situations?

Liu Xia couldn't help but sneer, and angrily slammed her hand on the table, smashing the wooden table to pieces!

There is only one answer: the workshops they support will naturally be happy to receive large orders and have 'kind people' providing raw materials cheaply! Even some ordinary people can't resist their greed, and after collecting gold and silver coins, they buy these 'eager to sell' ready-made goods, waiting to resell them to 'unconnected' out-of-town merchants to make a profit from the price difference!

In this way, although Adela provided a lot of goods and raw materials at a loss, she squeezed the cash out of these people and collected a large amount of gold and silver coins in the Sochi market into her own hands! When those workshops found that a large number of their orders had been canceled, even if they had collected a certain amount of deposits, they could not make up for the current losses!

The gold and silver coins they used for the acquisition were mostly borrowed from the 'kind nobles' arranged by Adela through short-term, high-interest loans!

For Adela and her allies, it was just a matter of money being transferred from one hand to the other, and the interest alone could recoup the initial deposit!

But their ambitions went beyond that...

"Make all the fake orders go bust at the same time, and then arrange for people to demand repayment from the workshops and merchants who borrowed money, all in the name of these noble creditors..."

At that time, all the workshops in Sochi, big and small, faced was a pile of unsold goods and thugs who suddenly came to collect debts... The large number of private soldiers and mercenaries gathered in Esther's territory were used for this!

Adela has hoarded a large amount of gold coins in Sochi, making it impossible for them to borrow new money from elsewhere to pay off old debts! Once these workshops go bankrupt, all of Ryūsha's hard work over the past few months will be wasted! Adela might even take the opportunity to buy up these workshops at low prices, turning the Sochi market controlled by Ryūsha into her own!

"No, there's another possibility: the fourth prince, Elias, could intervene and negotiate with me on the condition of 'helping to resolve the market problems in Sochi,' forcing me to compromise elsewhere, such as the power in Sochi, the future market, and matters concerning the Papacy..."

Ryuu couldn't help but narrow her eyes. Adela and her noble allies alone wouldn't dare to do this. After all, if she used physical means to solve the problem, they wouldn't be able to resist, and Elias was their backer!