Editor : Amethyst00



"Ugh. Is it because I'm not used to this? I feel totally drained. If I marry Eliza, I guess I'll have to attend social parties like this often?"

Back in his room, getting ready for bed, Carl made a smug expression.

"Hmph. The life of someone who rose to success overnight is tough."

He put a hand to his forehead and struck a contemplative pose.

But only briefly—he suddenly grabbed his hair and crouched down.

"Tough, my ass! Why do I have to suffer threats of assassination?!"

Carl wore a miserable expression.

It wasn't enough that he became a hero without asking for it—he even entered a relationship with a woman far out of his league and gained a rosy future.

He still sometimes wondered: Is this really right?

But happiness didn't come alone.

Even though Carl hadn't done anything particularly wrong, he still made enemies.

Becoming the son-in-law of the Hergin family without any powerful backing was a big deal in itself.

"This isn't even equivalent exchange."

Carl let out a deep sigh and stood up.

Then he sat on the sofa and crossed his arms.

He had only realized the danger of assassination two days before the meeting of the noble houses.

While at Lumene, Carl had steadily laid the foundation so that he could support Leo and his other friends.

As a result, he successfully opened his own store in Lumeria City.

Carl had a talent for quickly reading the tide of battle and deploying forces efficiently to push heroes' capabilities beyond their limits.

Just as importantly, he excelled in supply logistics, which are crucial in battle.

Heroes wield tremendous power.

And so, they consume massive amounts of resources in every battle.

'Well, efficient fighting is a mark of strength too…'

Hero candidates often fought from a disadvantage rather than a favourable position.

And battles typically dragged on for a long time once they started.

No matter how overwhelming the firepower, if efficiency faltered, one could quickly become combat ineffective.

That's why combat efficiency was so important.

Of course, none of those who fought alongside Carl were inefficient in combat.

'The problem is, even with efficient combat, they're potion-guzzling beasts.'

In that respect, Carl's supply capability was perfect.

No one who had gone on missions with Carl had ever been let down by poor logistics.

'Even if I make bad decisions in command, I can't afford to mess up supply.'

So even now, Carl paid close attention to money.

Though his business in Lumeria City was self-sustaining just two years after enrolling at Lumene, his identity as a merchant remained vital.

'Because, like it or not, potions, weapons, magical items—all come from money.'

On that point, he never relied on his friends.

Some of them were from prominent families, but Carl believed that, as a supporter, the value lay in what he prepared and provided.

And through his business, Carl had built something else.

'An independent intelligence network.'

At first, he worked closely with the Lumeria City intelligence guild.

Given its central location and proximity to Lumene, the guild had world-class capabilities.

But Carl judged that wasn't enough and built a small but independent network.

'Another money-eater, but still…'

"Boss, there's intel that prestigious summoner families from around the world are planning to assassinate you."

"Huh?"

Thinking back to two days ago, Carl managed a bittersweet smile.

'Whew, anyway…'

Carl slapped his own cheek.

'If it's Leo… he probably knows already, right?'

Solving the assassination threat itself wasn't particularly hard.

Carl's intel network was competent, but it was still relatively new.

If even he knew, then surely some among the great noble factions had noticed suspicious movements.

Besides, one of Carl's friends was the emperor of the Xian Empire, which ruled the underworld of this world.

'Xia might know too. If I just grab one friend and complain that someone's trying to kill me, the problem would probably be resolved.'

Carl crossed his arms.

But he didn't intend to rely on his friends.

'Leo wouldn't intervene unless I specifically asked him to.'

It might seem cold, but Carl didn't feel slighted.

'He probably believes I can handle it myself. Or maybe… he doesn't think this is a serious threat to me at all.'

Carl felt cold sweat down his back.

'Leo's expectations of me are growing unreasonably high lately…'

Had he worked too hard?

He felt a bit of regret, but set the thought aside.

'Anyway, I'll handle this alone. No point causing a fuss. Still, I really am well-liked, huh?'

If he told Elena, even that sharp-tongued senior would be genuinely furious.

"What? Someone's targeting my slave? They must die."

Then she'd probably save him with a sweet smile—only to exploit him afterward.

'But this is also a Hergin matter.'

He couldn't entrust Hergin's internal affairs to outsiders.

Thinking that far, Carl stood up and opened the window.

'And there's no way Hergin doesn't know about this.'

Though Eliza seemed unaware.

"Freyna, you there?"

Carl called out to Freyna, who should've been at Lumene.

No response.

Tilting his head for a moment, Carl spoke again.

"I know you're there."

"…"

"If you don't show yourself, I'll ask Eliza to show me your childhood photos—"

ZAP!

"What the heck! What!"

Landing at the window with a slightly red face, Freyna was met by Carl's delighted expression.

"Thanks for the hard work!"

"Sigh… Seriously, why did Father assign me to be your bodyguard…?"

"You could always stop being a Shadow if you don't like it."

"Hmph."

Despite his words, Freyna scoffed.

"So? Why did you call me?"

"I'm thinking of tracking down the family that ordered my assassination. Want to help?"

"How'd you know? Did Chen Xia tell you?"

"I found out through my own intel network!"

"Wow… you even have something like that?"

Freyna clicked her tongue.

She had also learned from her father that someone was trying to assassinate Carl.

That's why she'd been assigned to guard him just in case.

But it was beyond her expectations that Carl would find out on his own.

'No wonder my sister chose him.'

Freyna was impressed.

"Well, I doubt they'll do something as crazy as sending assassins directly into the Lewellin family."

Families like Lewellin had their own internal Shadows.

No matter how skilled the assassin, trying to kill someone within Lewellin territory was suicide.

To that, Freyna scoffed.

"You never know. There are plenty of idiots who don't know how scary the world is."

"True enough."

Carl shrugged.

"I'd love to investigate every suspicious family, but… that's not easy either."

The noble houses weren't weak.

As powerful influencers in their own regions, they wielded enormous local power.

Without solid proof, it was difficult to take action.

Freyna clicked her tongue and stepped into Carl's room.

"Father told me not to inform my sister, just to keep watch."

"Yeah. That sounds like him."

"Don't you feel resentful at all?"

"Not really? He probably believes I can handle this. And if I can't solve something like this, I'm not fit to assist the future head of the Hergin family."

'He really understands Father perfectly.'

Liking Carl was one thing—but proving he had the capacity to become the Hergin heir's partner was another.

Of course, if Carl asked for help, the entire Hergin family would move at once.

'Though Father said Carl wouldn't ask for help.'

Freyna recalled her father's words.

"That Carl boy has a surprisingly manly side to him."

"Carl-sunbae?"

"Yeah. He won't just lean on the woman he loves—he'll refuse Hergin's help."

"That Carl-sunbae?"

"Why are you so distrustful of your future brother-in-law?"

"I wouldn't say distrust… he just doesn't seem all that bold most of the time."

"You could just accept help from our family."

"We're not even engaged yet. It'd be shameless to ask."

"Even though this happened because of our family?"

"Yeah. Which is why I need to prove I'm worthy of being Eliza's partner."

"You're always more competent than I expect, Carl-sunbae."

"Hmph. Thanks for the compliment."

'Though if you're too competent, Father will work you like a dog…'

But she didn't say that, so as not to dampen his mood.

"Let's start by narrowing down the families that would resent me the most."

"Carl-sunbae, aren't you going to rest?"

"Freyna. The acting student council president can't rest until all the work is done."

"…"

At his words, Freyna thought:

'I'm never joining the student council.'

"Good luck."

"Where do you think you're going? You're helping too."

"But didn't you just say you weren't accepting help from the Hergin family?"

"Yeah. Not from the family. I need your help, Freyna."

"Let go! Let go! You think it's okay for a young lady of Hergin to stay in a man's room late at night?"

"We're going to be family soon."

Carl smoothly blocked her escape.

"You can come in freely, but you can't leave."

"You're the one who called me here!"

Freyna protested, but Carl ignored her.

Having endured enough from Elena, Carl had learned how to work people.

In the end, Freyna wasn't freed until dawn after being worked to the bone.

bl

"His Majesty, King of the Ermean Kingdom, has expressed his position that a formal protest must be lodged against the Arhi Kingdom!"

"We agree completely!"

The next day.

As the meeting of noble houses got underway, the representatives raised their voices in anger.

'Wow, they're even more blatant than I expected.'

Representing the Hergin family, Carl sat dumbfounded, muttering inwardly.

Beside him, Eliza clicked her tongue quietly.

As expected.

More than half the families present issued a joint statement demanding sanctions against the Arhi Kingdom.

There were several topics on the agenda, but Arhi was clearly the priority.

At that moment, Elena, who had been silently listening, finally spoke.

"This council doesn't exist to represent the voices of kings, does it?"

In response, the head of the Zeltian family, who had been vocally pushing for sanctions, snapped back.

"Acting Head of the Zeron family! Don't side with Arhi! We also have a motion regarding the Zeron family's administration of Lumene!"

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Biased school management!"

"Biased?"

Elena tilted her head, puzzled, and the Zeltian patriarch's face twisted with irritation.

"Yes! Last year, a student with no qualifications was promoted to third year! That's a violation of fairness!"

At his words, several eyes turned in one direction.

Carl, receiving the gazes, gave a bitter smile.

'Guess I'm the hot topic at this meeting too. Now, how do I calm down Elena-sunbae, who's about to lose her temper? As for Hark-sunbae… yeah, no chance.'

Carl shook his head at the sight of Hark, blatantly sleeping during the session.

His eyes turned to a gray-haired man attending as an aide to the Zerdinger family.

'I'm counting on you, Leo.'