The capital Silvester was the most populated region on the continent.
Of course, the fact that it was the capital was a factor, but the citizens’ mindset was simple under the circumstances where monsters could invade from outside at any time.
“The safest place is where the Emperor is.”
Driven by this simple and very reasonable idea, people flocked to the capital.
And in the busiest commercial district of this capital city,
Promised individuals gathered in the hidden basement of a small tavern that looked as if it were wedged between buildings.
It was a meeting of the commoners’ group Indus.
Kraken grumbled as soon as he came down to the basement, following the tavern owner’s guidance.
“Why did you call people to such a crowded place?”
A man with a prosthetic arm said. The prosthetic arm was almost like a machine, moving freely while making creaking sounds.
“Thompson, is this really undercover? There are so many people outside?”
“If you want to hide a tree, you hide it in a forest. A place with lots of people makes it harder to find someone, you know.”
“Why would you want to hide a tree? Wouldn’t you be caught by the time you uprooted it and took it to the forest?”
Thompson let out a small laugh. Kraken had a very poor understanding of idioms and proverbs.
Then the girl standing next to him spoke. She was a young girl who was about half the height of a full-grown man.
“Don’t worry. The meeting place changes every time. I will always prepare the best place for us.”
“Well, I’m not doubting your abilities, Kian.”
Kraken shrugged. He sat down at the center table where everyone else was already seated.
“Shall we start the meeting?”
The one who spoke was a man wearing armor. His entire body was fully armed, so nothing could be seen inside, whether it be his face or body. The man’s voice matched his appearance and sounded unpleasantly metallic.
Kraken glanced around. “Huh? Where’s the leader? Is Mr. Skyler going to run the show today?”
“He’s in another meeting,” Thompson answered. Kraken clasped his hands behind his head.
“Zodiac must keep him busy, huh?”
Ignoring Kraken, Skyler continued, his armor clanking with each movement.
“Armel was attacked.”
“Serves him right, that bastard,” Kraken said immediately. Thompson supported his chin with his fist and said,
“Putting aside the fact that Armel’s a jerk, we can’t afford to sweep things under the rug anymore. There’s no one left to erase the memories.”
Kian added, “There’s a limit to how many loose ends we can tie up. We can’t keep spreading the story that ‘Indus didn’t do it. The culprits just called themselves Indus on their own’ forever. It was especially dangerous with Serf; if we frame Frondier, we don’t have to make a big deal about it.”
Thompson shook his head with a sigh.
“I told you. That guy is just obsessed with killing nobles. If ruining the image of the nobility doesn’t go his way, he’s the type that needs to see them die with his own eyes to feel satisfied. He’s not in his right mind.”
“It’s not our place to say.”
Kian lightly teased.
Skyler looked at Kraken.
“Kraken, what happened with that Serf’s business card? Didn’t you say you were going to run some tests?”
“Ah, this.”
Kraken pulled out a stack of papers from his belongings and placed them on the table. It was Serf’s business card.
“This is useless.”
Thomson cocked his head at Kraken’s blunt expression.
“Why? After all the trouble of getting it.”
“For starters, it doesn’t work well. Being mentally strong doesn’t seem to dictate one’s skill level.”
“It worked on the knights of the royal palace, didn’t it?”
Kraken shook his head.
“The guys Gregory gave the cards to, most of them were apprentice knights involved in petty crimes. Well, they must’ve followed Gregory’s orders because they had something to hide. Dirty bastards.”
“That’s also not for us to say.”
Kian teased again from the side.
Kraken continued.
“There are almost no completely resistant people, but it seems most can manage to bind themselves to some extent. How long they can endure also varies from person to person.”
“Indeed, that was the case for us too.”
After obtaining this business card, Kraken had tested it on each of the members here in Indus.
Thompson had completely lost his memory, and Kraken resisted but couldn’t move, while Skyler felt a strong suppression but was able to perform daily activities. Kian acted as if she was unaffected. According to her, she ‘felt the effects.’
“Look. If I’ve completely lost my memory, and it’s because of skill, that doesn’t make sense, does it? I’m supposed to be the strongest here.”
“Maybe Mr. Thompson has a weak mind? Or perhaps he’s just too impatient.”
“Kill him? Kraken?”
“See?”
Thompson growled at Kraken, then suddenly asked as if he had just remembered something.
“What about the Emperor? There’s no law saying the Emperor couldn’t be controlled.”
At that, one of Kraken’s eyebrows twitched. It was so preposterous that his human form slightly unraveled.
“How are you going to give a business card to the Emperor? Mr. Thompson, is it not your patience but your intelligence that’s lacking?”
“You little shit, I’m just talking about possibilities. What can’t be done? Keep talking like that, and you really might die once? Didn’t you say you already lost one life?”
Thompson laughed. Kraken glared at him with clear murderous intent, his eyes flashing.
Skyler, who had been watching, clicked his tongue, dropped his head once, and said,
“Even if the business card works on Bartello Terst, he would immediately lose consciousness, his eyes would go blank, and would turn into someone who looks dead. Who would follow the orders of such a person? We’d be lucky if it doesn’t immediately seem strange and get traced back to us.”
“We’re not trying to kill the Emperor. If we kill Bartello, another one will just take his place. We’re trying to remove the seat of ‘Emperor’, of ‘nobility’ itself.”
Cain added her explanation. Kraken and Thompson let out a snort.
Kraken shook the business card in his hand.
“At any rate, it’s useless like this. I don’t know who it’ll work on or how effective it will be. But it definitely seems to work on regular folks who don’t know anything about this. I guess that’s all we can do for now.”
“Besides, the only command we can use now is ‘kill Frondier’.”
Serf was dead, and there was only one voice recording saved. That must’ve been enough of a command for Gregory.