From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

The vendors were yelling, the customers were yelling even harder, and the lost children were wailing on the street.The mooing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, the clucking and croaking of poultry all mingled together.

The dwarf craftsmen were concentrating on hammering the metal plates, stopping to take a sip of wine whenever they had time; the sounds of flutes, violins and dulcimer came from the corners of the square, as if bards and musicians were playing.

Ace was very familiar with this market. He was walking on the streets with the excited Elena beside him.

Several traders who were familiar with Ace looked at him with incomprehensible eyes. They felt that the warlock apprentice with a figure like a knight looked familiar, but the girl next to him was unfamiliar—it must have been another one.

This market is very familiar to Ace.

But today is not an ordinary time, because a big event is about to happen on Thanede Island.

"Two students... no, only one is my student." A woman's voice suddenly sounded, "Why aren't you in the academy?"

"As for the other one, are you a dropout from Ben Ad? Or a sorcerer's apprentice?"

Ace turned around and saw a beautiful woman.She is tall, has blond hair, wears a green dress with a low-cut neckline, and has a beautiful figure like a mermaid on the beach.

Beautiful women can make people feel relaxed and happy, but Ace felt like the hairs on his hair were standing on end in an instant.
Elena's face also turned pale.

"Ms. Margarita..."

"Name? Class? Who is the instructor?" Margarita's voice was cold. She was Aretuza's teacher.

As she was speaking, Ace suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his skin.

【magic!This sorceress actually wants to use magic in the downtown area! 】

"Wait, Rita." Another woman appeared behind Margarita and suddenly wanted to stop her.This woman has smooth and neat black hair, bright eyes and thin lips. She wears a short lavender shawl on her shoulders, trimmed with hazel dormouse fur.

"This is downtown!" the black-haired woman emphasized.

Ace almost wanted to cheer for this new lady, but Margarita ignored her, and the magic wave in her hand became even stronger.

With Ace's current knowledge of magic, he could easily recognize that it was a paralysis magic technique.

Ace squeezed Elena's hand tightly. If the female student who skipped class was caught by the teacher, she would definitely be beaten.His eyes rolled around and he began to look at the escape route.

However, before he could take action, something even more unexpected happened -

——An alchemy bomb swirled out of a small alley.

With a "boom", green smoke exploded, covering everything around it.Margarita took a big sip without any precautions, then screamed and almost fell to the ground.

"Tisaya——"

Violent magic fluctuations appeared on the black-haired sorceress, and the power of the elements extended from it.

She actually briefly resisted the magic-blocking gold powder!
Tisaya pulled Margarita out and blew away the fatal fog in front of her eyes with a raise of her hand.

However, there were only messy vendors and crowds in front of me.The halflings desperately protected the sheepskins they used to make wine bags, the half-elves hugged the dolls on their stalls tightly, and the dwarfs hurriedly knocked their malachite utensils into the boxes to prevent them from being broken by the running people.

There were no female students, no male apprentices, and no attackers throwing magic-blocking gold bombs.

Margarita coughed heavily: "Tisaya?"

The headmistress of the Magic Academy looked serious: "Let's go."
-
In a certain small hotel, House, who was wearing a hood, threw out a money bag and got the best room without any effort.

Ace placed the female student next door, and then looked at his companion whom he had not seen for a long time with a speechless expression.

"Magic-blocking gold bomb? Are you serious? Even if I get caught, I'll be fine!"

House silently took off his hood: "I saw that the warlock on the other side was about to use an attack spell, and his hand reacted uncontrollably... I couldn't tell whether the spell was fatal or not."

Ace sighed. From this few words, he could tell that his companion had experienced a lot during this time and had actually developed such an outrageous conditioned reflex.

"But I didn't expect it." Ace watched House take off his magic disguise and reveal his true face, "You have become a demon hunter now?"

He didn't hide his envy in his tone.

"Not only that, but also Milva and Levin." House showed a meaningful smile, "You missed our battle to restore the country, son of the knight."

"And I was just awarded the title of knight by the Duke not long ago..."

A wine glass was thrown straight over, and House easily caught it with his enhanced nerve reflex speed, admiring Ace's furious expression.

The joke was on, they joked for a while, laughed wildly for a while, and then slowly became quiet.

very quiet.They have a lot to say, but no one has figured out how to say it right now.

House took the initiative to put the wine glass back in front of Ace and fill it up.

Then he filled the wine glass in front of him, took out another wine glass, placed it on an empty seat, and also filled it.

With a "clang" sound, the sheathed lion-headed silver sword [Sward] was placed on the empty spot.

"The three of us haven't been together for a long time."

Ace pursed his lips and nodded.

"You and... this guy, the two of you have been following the Duke all the time. Isn't it hard?"

House shook his head: "You are still working as a spy here alone. Although you seem to be enjoying it-but the Duke did not let you participate in the war to restore the country, which shows that you have a more important mission."

"The Duke sent me here to contact you today. I need to know your information and discuss our future action plan."

Ace immediately began to sort out his situation: "The first purpose of the Duke sending me to Arethusa is to become the apprentice of the warlock Wigfortz, to find out his information, and to provide information for the Duke when he fights him in the future. convenient……"

House interrupted Ace first and said, "Wilgefortz will no longer pose a threat to the Duke. This step can be omitted and we will move on to the next one."

Ace looked in disbelief when he heard this: "I... I'm still working very hard..."

House looked at his companion who suddenly became gloomy and scratched his head.It can be seen that Ace really put a lot of effort into the first mission.But Ace quickly adjusted his mood: "The Duke has only given me two tasks in total. The second one is to get familiar with Aretusa and the students there."

"This is not easy for me as a man, but I still did it."

Ace showed a complacent look in his eyes: "I majored in portals under Wilgefortz, and now it has left its mark on various places in Aretusa. Classrooms, conference rooms, studios, dormitories, the beach, By the spring or in the woods, I can open the portal at any time to send people in or take people away."

"I have also established... deep friendships with the prefects, student representatives, etc. of all grades in Aretussa College. Now I can memorize the list of all current students!"

"No matter what the Duke wants to do, as long as it's against Aretuza, I can play the most critical role at any time!"

Ace's body erupted with a powerful aura at this moment.

House was expressionless and couldn't help but want to touch the hilt of the sword again.

"So the Duke's operation against Aretuza is about to begin? What exactly is it? Can I return to Cintra after it is completed?"

House closed his eyes after hearing his companion's inquiry: "You seem to be having a good time here. I thought you didn't want to go home."

Ace showed a "shy" smile, but his eyes were firm.

"Okay, okay." House was just joking, and his expression quickly turned serious, "I don't know what the Duke planned when he sent you out, but now - the Duke wants to destroy the entire fairyland. Nied Island, the Brotherhood of Dismemberment Warlocks and the Academy of Magic in Arethusa!”

……

Ace swallowed.

Not nervous, but excited.

He was not surprised, but looked as expected.

No matter how ambitious his sworn lord is, he takes it for granted, or in other words, Ace feels that only such a plan is worthy of Duke Lannister and his hard work in the past two years.

"Soon there will be a melee between multiple forces on Thaned Island." House said solemnly. "This will be a battle that is enough to destroy Thaned Island and destroy the Warlock Brotherhood. Duke Lannister plans Add another fire to it, and take this opportunity to recruit the wandering warlocks after the Brotherhood was disbanded to serve in Cintra."

"The Island of Thanede is the battlefield of the Duke and the Master Demon Hunters, and our operation is in Arethusa - the Duke not only wants warlocks, but also students. Your Excellency wants to build a kingdom of our own in Cintra Magic Academy!”

Ace nodded slowly and took a deep breath, but still couldn't suppress his excitement.

"I heard that the admissions standards for Aretusa are different now than before. Is that true?" House asked.

"Yes, there are more than just warlock apprentices in there." Ace confirmed House's question, "Aretuza's etiquette and general education courses are also famous in the North, and they can cultivate 'qualified ladies'. So this place will also It accepts many daughters of wealthy businessmen, scholars, bankers, and even minor nobles, and they can become students here as long as they pay an annual tuition of 1500 crowns and an additional 200 crowns for tuition and miscellaneous fees."

Ace shrugged: "The nouveau riche families who lack foundation cannot find qualified etiquette teachers like those ancient nobles, so they love this place better than Cowburg - this is how Elena next door to us was sent here. .”

House muttered: "Hell, a total of 1700 crowns? That's enough to hire a master demon hunter to kill all the water ghosts in Sinte!"

Ace complained very cooperatively: "We can also add ghouls."

"But this money is used to support female students with real magical talents. The dean and teachers often pick up some girls from outside - they don't have to pay tuition."

House nodded, understanding the current composition of Aretusa.

"When the operation officially begins, we will mainly rescue those girls who are truly talented. We should also rescue as many other 'preparatory ladies' as possible. This can earn a lot of good reputation for the Duke."

"As for how to distinguish them, I leave it to you." House looked at his companions, "You are the key to this operation."

Ace showed an excited smile, and the two attendants raised their wine glasses, touched them gently, and drank down the wine in one gulp.

"Where is the Duke?"

House spilled the wine in front of the lion-headed silver sword on the ground: "My lord, there are always things more important than us."
-
"In other words, the money of all the wealthy businessmen, nobles, and military officers in the city is now deposited in your bank." Lann summarized the report just made by the dwarf banker Morna Giancardi.

"At the same time, the mayor here and even the mayors in the surrounding areas will hire you to help calculate all the city's financial details, including taxes?"

"Yes, things like winter camp tax, poll tax, chimney tax, real estate tax, etc. Some time ago, there was also the 'inhuman race tax' - because of the damn Scoia'tael, the country wants us to pay to help them deal with us. Compatriots.”

"But now because of you, the North has a new understanding of non-human races, and the last non-human race tax has been cancelled." The dwarf banker bowed slightly towards Lann, "I sincerely thank you."

"Kings and nobles are arrogant about money. They blindly trust their armies, but they ignore the power of these little jingling cuties."

Lann said leisurely: "I firmly believe in your words, Mr. Giancardi."

"So you already know this information, how does that help you?"

"No, it's not 'what's helpful to me', but 'I'm here to help you'." Lann looked at the dwarf's gray eyebrows and wrinkled forehead, "Let me give you a piece of advice: get your family's family together as soon as possible." Withdraw funds from Goth Velen."

The dwarf's hand fidgeting with the paper on the table suddenly froze.

"Ah...what news did Duke Lannister receive?"

Lan shook his head slightly: "The power of money is infinite, even on the battlefield - I agree with this. Just like Mr. Giancardi, you can indirectly understand the city, the kingdom, and even the north through the fluctuation of prices and the increase and decrease of taxes. political trends."

He looked at the dwarf banker and said word for word: "But I am the one who controls the direction."

This sentence is loud and clear.

The dwarf banker suddenly did not dare to look at those dark golden lion eyes.

"what."

The dwarf banker suddenly sighed: "Ah... this is really amazing news. If you hadn't had the lead ring, I would have doubted whether I could have saved my head after receiving such amazing news."

He then laughed: "You have saved a large amount of property for my family, Duke Lannister. Since you don't need help, but we can't repay the favor... Please let me do what I can for you. ,please!"

Lann looked at the ugly smile of the dwarf banker in front of him. He was indeed very different from Yarpan and the others.

So Lan also laughed: "It's okay now, but maybe I really need some help in the future - I heard that you also have banks in other large cities in the north, and some families are even providing services to the south?"

Lan's smile was sincere: "As I said before... I believe very much in the power of money." (End of Chapter)