My older sister is a villainous rich girl

Wayne's thoughts were in turmoil even after he got home.

Although he had experienced this to some extent before, this was the first time he had faced such confusion head-on.

Even if these inventions can be kept secret for a long time, they will eventually be revealed as society develops and international exchanges increase.

Just like the cannons and silk of the Celestial Empire in the past.

The development of things always progresses in a spiral and in waves.

Currently, all the resources and rights of this kingdom are monopolized by a small group of powerful nobles who possess strong magical abilities as a shield. In a normal social process, this situation would be difficult to sustain.

Even His Majesty the King himself was willing to change this situation, but he was hampered by his lack of power and resources and did not have enough support to carry out his reforms.

Professor Conley's current research philosophy will undoubtedly be the right path to liberate a large amount of productivity someday.

At that time, the things that will be able to change the world will probably be far more than just this magic bullet.

Even if he doesn't want it to be revealed, the world will eventually move in that direction.

Myself in the midst of this process —

Is it about jumping on the bandwagon of the times and strongly supporting Professor Conley in continuing to develop more "technological" props?

Or are they relying on their powerful magical abilities to comfortably enjoy a luxurious and privileged life at the top of the social ladder?

...It's just a romance anime on the surface, but it actually has such a hidden setting.

Wayne was full of resentment towards this flop animation.

However, after Duke Elliott spoke with him last time, he had considered gradually changing the Winchester family's stance.

This would allow the entire family to be seen as an "ally that can be won over" in the eyes of potential reformers in the future.

"Chris."

Wayne suddenly asked, "Do you now have any personnel or businesses in the family that you have officially taken over?"

Two long sofas were placed side by side in the study, with Wayne and Chris facing each other, each occupying one.

Originally, there was only one sofa here.

However, when Wayne relaxes, he always likes to lie across the sofa, so he often forcibly occupies the sofa in Chris's study.

Finally, Chris, unable to bear it any longer, had no choice but to add another sofa of the same style next to it.

Right now, they are comfortably nestled on the sofa, each reading their own book.

"No."

Chris flipped through the sketchbook in her hand.

She preferred these miscellaneous books to studying.

Why are you asking this?

Wayne moved over from his sofa and placed his head on hers.

"Don't you think we're already capable of taking over some... external forces at crucial moments?"

Chris put down the catalog, looked up and said with a slightly puzzled expression, "The family's business guild is very profitable and gives us dividends every month, so it's okay not to interfere with their specific operations."

"If you need help, just let them know."

Chris asked, "Are you short of money? Or short of people?"

Wayne thought for a moment and said, "We lack both, but we can recruit people with money, so we are more in need of money."

To directly challenge a larger force, one must first leverage the power of the Winchester family to create an opportunity for significant gains with limited resources.

In this capital city where only lineage matters, there is no future for someone relying solely on themselves.

Okay, let's just do it slowly like this.

The first step is to strengthen the king's power.

His Majesty's power is still too weak; without the support of the nobles, he can hardly accomplish anything.

His current successful governance is basically just a matter of playing both sides by taking advantage of the conflicts between different nobles and even the church.

Only then will some people step forward and, in the name of "respecting the king," demand restrictions on the rights of the great nobles.

No... this is not the first step.

Given the imminent crisis, thinking about strengthening the king's power seemed too far-fetched.

Wayne got up from the sofa.

The real first step is to find the mole within the city guard's leadership.

Chapter 159 Wayne's Night Raid on the City Guard

Wayne got up from the sofa and sat down next to Chris, looking at her intently.

Chris neither agreed nor disagreed.

"Now that you have money and people, what's the next thing to do?" she asked.

"I want to start a publishing house."

This was something he felt was most suitable for his family to do after careful consideration.

If it can be developed, on the one hand, we can use Chris's love for picture books and scripts to cover up our true intentions, and on the other hand, we can exert an invisible influence on public opinion.

Currently, there are some places in the capital that can print books, most of which belong to various associations or schools and are not very large in scale.

In the eyes of nobles, the most valuable things were handwritten private manuscripts or unique pieces that were the only ones left in the world.

Those mass-produced, commonplace items are something that people disdain even mentioning.

If the Wincher family were to step in, this newly founded publishing house would certainly be able to seize the leading position.

“Look, don’t you really like picture books?” Wayne urged.

"With a publishing house under our name, we could even develop a magazine that selects and serializes outstanding paintings, published every two weeks or once a month."

"Wouldn't that attract all the best painters in the country?"

Besides publishing picture albums, newspapers and magazines, which can stir up ideas, are also used.

Judging from Chris's past personality, this kind of thing must be very much to her liking.

Chris was indeed impressed. "Wayne, you're a genius!"

She also sat up from the sofa, excitedly muttering to herself, "Was I too lazy before? Why didn't I think of that sooner..."

What? Miss Chris actually has a clear understanding of her own incompetence!

Wayne said speechlessly, "You only think about how to mess around every day, of course you don't have time to think about these things."

Chris felt a little embarrassed that he had hit the nail on the head.

"Hey, isn't it great that you thought of it for me!"

With a new goal in mind, Chris excitedly took him to find Duke Elliott after discussing with him how to get started.

This matter cannot be accomplished without Father's permission.

Duke Eliot, who was powerless against his daughter's coquettishness, readily agreed to her request.

And so, preparations for this began.

……

That night, Chris went to bed a little later than usual.

Although she acted as if she really wanted to have a long talk with Wayne all night, she was eventually dragged back to her room by her mother.

As night deepened, Wayne sat by the window, waiting silently.

almost.

He put on a black cloak and climbed out.

City Guard Headquarters.

Even at night, there are guards on duty here, but they usually just stay at their posts and keep watch, and do not move around freely.

Having transformed into the form of Echo, Wayne slipped past the guards and sneaked into the locked building.

He planned to inspect the offices of all the suspects.

There was no other way; he did possess immense power, but he was neither omniscient nor omnipotent, so he could only trace back his origins bit by bit in this cumbersome manner.

On that day at Cirque du Soleil, I had reminded the new commander-in-chief, Mr. Bulwer, that this matter might be related to the remnants of the Principality of Milstein, and I don't know if he took this matter seriously.

Before long, Wayne successfully infiltrated the archives and found the information about the case of the ruins examination site.

The case records are very detailed, even including what clothes Wayne and the other two wore and what they said that day.

However, there was no useful information.

To be precise, it is—

A bunch of nonsense.

He put the documents back and then flipped to earlier records related to the "Cirque du Soleil case".

This document is much thicker, including the personal information of each victim.

Wayne even saw the investigation report about Echoes' identity.

The conclusion is: of unknown origin and extremely dangerous.

There were no particularly interesting clues either; the city guards knew less about the murderers than they did.

Somewhat annoyed, he put the document back as well.

Then we went deeper into the area where documents from several years ago were stored.

"The case of Baron Colclough," he thought, that should be a related filename.

however--

No.

Wayne searched through the files from five years ago but found no such record.

'It was taken?'

He had some doubts.

Is it because it contains more important information, or...?

He restored the archives to their original state and located the commander-in-chief's office.

This place now belongs to Mr. Bulwer.

To Wayne's surprise, contrary to his tough-guy image, there was a row of small cactus potted plants on the windowsill of Bulwer's office.

The window was open, and a gentle night breeze was blowing in from outside.

Don't you close the windows after get off work? Aren't you afraid rain will blow in?

Wayne muttered a complaint and went over to close the window.

Hmm... that feels much better.

The office was filled with many items, but it didn't look cluttered. There were also many small notes stuck on the desk at the head of the table.

Wayne sat down in his seat without any hesitation and began rummaging through his belongings.

From the detailed schedule down to the minute and the neat handwriting when correcting documents, it can be seen that this commander is usually quite diligent and meticulous in his work.

At least, he wasn't just a nobleman who occupied a position but did nothing of substance.

In fact, there are more than just one or two ministers in the capital who are only responsible for holding a title and receiving a salary, and whose disappearance will not have any impact on politics.

He checked every corner of the room.

Very clean.

There was almost nothing unrelated to work.

From the lower shelf of the office cabinet next to the Bourwer chair, he found the record of the "Baron Colclough Case".

"Why is it here?" Wayne murmured in confusion.