CHAPTER 278: HOW TO TAKE PERFECT REVENGE

The next morning.

News of Yusta Dren’s death began to spread among the central nobles and the Twelve Families.

“What? Yusta is dead?”

“Marquis Dren is dead?”

“Is the news of Marquis Dren’s death true?”

The Marquis Scriabin family was the first to react.

“Find out the details. No matter how disliked he was within the Twelve Families, he was still one of the Twelve Families. Being killed by someone outside the Twelve Families would be a disgrace to us all. If someone was able to deal with Marquis Dren overnight, it’s likely the Demon Empire.”

Naturally, the noble families who received the news thought that the Demon Empire was involved in Marquis Dren’s death. This was because the Marquis Dren family had tried various methods to expand their influence within the Twelve Families.

“He might have been backstabbed after joining hands with the Demon Empire.”

If that were the case, this was a serious matter.

A marquis of the Holy Empire killed by the Demon Empire? This was an issue that went beyond the safety of a marquis family and affected the prestige of the Holy Empire itself.

From early morning, numerous personnel were mobilized to gather information related to the Marquis Dren family.

And soon, the central nobles were able to obtain proper information about this incident.

“What do you mean… Marquis Dren was killed by a youngster like Ethan Whiskers?”

“It’s just circumstantial, but Marquis Dren reportedly visited the Whiskers territory that afternoon.”

“He was assassinated on the day of his visit?”

“Marquis Scriabin! I have an urgent report!”

A subordinate who rushed in through the corridor reported hurriedly.

“The Whiskers family has sent an official letter of protest to the marquis family. The subject is about the operation that took place overnight.”

The subordinate took a breath and continued.

“It seems that an assassination group contracted by the Marquis Dren family and the marquis’s troops attacked the Whiskers family, attempting to assassinate key figures but failed. The Whiskers family apparently subdued the assassins in return and secured physical evidence.”

“Ha, and? What about the Whiskers’ casualties?”

“None at all.”

“They were attacked one-sidedly? If it was Dren’s troops, it must have been assassins from Nightwalker and Crescent Moon, right? There’s no way a family like Whiskers could have blocked them without any casualties. Is this information reliable?”

“Well, the Whiskers family is no longer an ordinary provincial noble family.”

Marquis Scriabin frowned.

“The unheard-of Whiskers is not a provincial noble family?”

“Yes, they’ve achieved rapid growth in a short period.”

“Just because they’ve achieved rapid growth doesn’t mean a provincial noble becomes a central noble, does it? You do know you’ll have to take responsibility for saying that, right?”

At Marquis Scriabin’s words, the reporting subordinate hastily bowed his head.

“I will report in detail. The Whiskers family has not only achieved rapid growth but also quick stabilization, and now they’ve completely dominated the surrounding area, growing into a noble family that’s eyeing the central region. Behind this is an outstanding individual named Ethan Whiskers, and through connections with him, Princess Evangeline and His Holiness the Pope are supporting the territory.”

“Huh.”

Marquis Scriabin looked at his subordinate with a surprised expression.

“Is that really true?”

Marquis Scriabin couldn’t believe it. Why on earth? What was the Whiskers family that they were receiving protection from the princess and the pope?

“Well… It seems that Princess Evangeline received great help from Ethan Whiskers in curing her illness. Apparently, her illness has been completely cured.”

“…Wasn’t it said until just recently that the princess’s illness was incurable? If the princess has recovered, doesn’t that change the landscape of succession in the imperial palace? Why are you reporting such an important matter only now!”

“I apologize. We were trying to confirm if the information was accurate…”

The subordinate wore an apologetic expression and broke out in a cold sweat.

In fact, it wasn’t that the information was slow.

It was just that Ethan’s movements were unbelievably fast and relentless.

When one thing is confirmed, another breaks out. When trying to confirm that, something new comes up. Although the Twelve Families’ information network was certainly reliable, there were still procedures to follow when confirming such outrageous information.

Although they had streamlined the procedure for quick information acquisition, Ethan’s movements were so relentless that this information gap occurred.

“Just who is this Ethan Whiskers? I heard he was the top instructor at Ivecar Academy. Wasn’t he said to be as talented as Claudie from the Hyde family? Moreover, Overth also talked about Ethan Whiskers.”

Overth Scriabin had seen Ethan at the new teacher training seminar not long ago.

Ethan’s overwhelming skills, which seemed unbelievable, had hit Overth hard.

Because of this, as soon as Overth returned to his family, he sought out the marquis and talked about Ethan Whiskers.

He said that they should bring him to their side by any means necessary.

He also said that if they couldn’t bring him in, they should deal with him somehow.

Marquis Scriabin thought there was a lot of exaggeration in Overth’s words.

Therefore, he just listened half-heartedly and didn’t think about moving right away.

“That was just recently. Until then, there was no mention of his relationship with the princess or His Holiness the Pope.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But… now he has the protection of the princess and His Holiness the Pope, and on top of that, he gets into a conflict with Marquis Dren of the Twelve Families, blocks their attack without any casualties, and even kills Marquis Dren who attacked first?”

As confused as Marquis Scriabin was, the reporting subordinate was also quite confused.

He was the head of the Wild Grass, the information group of the Scriabin marquis family, and had collected and analyzed numerous high-level pieces of information until now.

In his more than ten years as the head of Wild Grass, he had encountered various incidents and individuals, but this was a first.

“I apologize, Marquis.”

“No, no. You don’t need to apologize. Even I, who’s just hearing it, can’t believe it.”

After hearing the full story, it was clear this wasn’t the subordinate’s mistake.

Marquis Scriabin, rubbing his forehead, let out a deep sigh.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s an unbelievable incident.”

The marquis, mulling over the situation, let out a hollow laugh.

Last night, the two families pointed daggers at each other, and the Twelve Families’ Marquis Dren fell.

It meant that the dagger of the Whiskers family, which wasn’t even on their radar, was much sharper than the dagger of the Twelve Families.

“So one of the pillars of the Twelve Families has fallen to a mere provincial noble.”

“There’s one more thing, Marquis.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes, Yerica von Hyde is alive. She’s even serving as Ethan Whiskers’ bodyguard.”

“What?”

For a moment, Marquis Scriabin’s eyes wavered.

Various memories and information related to Hecate quickly flashed through his mind.

“Surely, they’re not seeking revenge?”

“There’s no such indication yet, but when compiling the information, the survival of Hecate’s granddaughter, Yerica von Hyde, and the death of Marquis Dren seemed inevitably connected.”

Marquis Scriabin quietly closed his eyes.

If such circumstances were involved, this incident couldn’t be overlooked.

***

The Marquis Dren family had several heirs.

The number was as many as three sons and two daughters, and they had been in conflict for the successor position since childhood according to the marquis’s orders.

“We must take revenge! This is obviously the work of that Ethan Whiskers!”

“Do you have evidence?”

“Evidence? Did you just say evidence? You bastard! Father has passed away! No matter how much we don’t get along, we should be united in avenging father!”

“Do it all you want if you’re so keen. Father attacked first anyway. We just lost!”

Due to the long-standing succession struggle, they had lived more as rivals than siblings.

Therefore, even with the marquis’s death, their opinions weren’t unified. Rather, they each had different thoughts.

“Brother is right. This isn’t something to view emotionally. Father didn’t just pass away. He was defeated in a fight with Ethan Whiskers.”

“Father’s direct guards, the Dragon Knights, also died. We all know how strong they were, right? Besides, you all received the report, didn’t you? They said Ethan Whiskers didn’t come with a large force, but just one bodyguard.”

That meant that just two people had broken through all of the marquis family’s defenses.

“Is there anyone among us who could do such a thing? Even among our subordinates?”

Everyone kept their mouths shut like dumb witnesses.

“There’s one more problem.”

The third son, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.

“The issue of the poisonous gas flowing out from the mine that burst open recently. Even father couldn’t handle it. Now that father has passed away, it’s become our problem.”

There was a big problem in the marquis’s territory right now.

The underground mine.

When it was discovered, everyone praised this territory where the marquis’s domain was established as a blessed land.

A deep underground mine.

Moreover, it wasn’t just any mine, but one where various high-value ores were abundantly buried.

According to the dwarves belonging to the empire who were called to check, adamantium and diamond were buried there.

With these two ores known for their hardness buried there, the marquis family immediately started mining operations.

But there was a big problem.

The dwarves said that powerful poisonous gas was spewing out from deep in the mine.

That alone was a headache, but there were also those who claimed to have seen ghosts in the mine.

They said that suddenly something white would possess their body and make them move as if entranced.

The marquis dismissed this as a ploy by the dwarves to extort more work costs and thoroughly ignored it.

Eventually, an incident occurred. A dwarf killed another dwarf and massacred human workers.

When that dwarf came out of the mine and regained his senses, he was interrogated. But he said he had no memory of it.

This problem had occurred recently.

While the marquis was racking his brains trying to solve this problem, he suddenly died, so the task remained unresolved.

“I heard that poisonous gas is seeping up from inside the mine. Not only that, but now there are people who have seen ghosts outside the mine too?”

To handle the situation, they needed a leader.

But the problem was that everyone present wanted to be the leader.

“I’ll do it first.”

“Why should you do it, brother?”

“Why should you do it, older brother?”

“Then who’s going to do it!”

“I’ll do it.”

“No, I will.”

“Father said he would seat the most suitable person as the heir, not that he would seat us in order of age.”

Amidst the commotion…

“A guest has arrived. You should come out quickly for now.”

Since a clear successor hadn’t been determined, the chief administrator didn’t know who to present as the representative.

“Lord…Ethan Whiskers has come with our Nightwalkers bound.”

“He came with the Nightwalkers bound? We already sent them!”

“It seems the first force was sent along with the letter of protest.”

The chief administrator, who had turned pale, took a deep breath.

“He has come leading a large force, so you need to respond quickly. If I may offer advice, now is not the time for you to fight among yourselves.”

***

The five siblings each led their troops to the entrance of the marquis’s territory.

As the chief administrator said, the opponent had come with an enormous force.

Of course, those who seemed to be of high caliber were very few. But with Ethan Whiskers at the center, his presence was tremendous.

And behind him were the bound Nightwalkers. The situation was completely opposite to when they visited Count Whiskers’s territory just yesterday.

Seeing the five Dren siblings who had come out each leading their troops, Ethan shouted in a loud voice.

“The bloodline of Dren, kneel before me and apologize for this incident immediately!”

Grind-!

The five siblings, without anyone being first, gritted their teeth.

No, one of them was just pretending to grit their teeth.

Ethan didn’t miss that reaction.

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