"I told you that I'll let you chew the Fonias family."
"You did…"
The Marquis looked at the board with his arms crossed, and the Lord of Mirxa did so too.
"I was too focused on the enemies outside that I let the situations inside get this bad."
"It isn't your fault, Mirxa. The Fonias have been killing this country from the beginning."
"That's not true!" Marcin intervened. "The Fonias family had a history of being righteous and just! We built this country together with the Schwarz family."
We all gave him a look, and turned away.
Things like that didn't matter in front of facts. Even if they had any righteousness, it was true that the Fonias were killing this country and they were killing it for a long time now.
We had to move against that before anything else.
"I managed to unearth two of their operations, which you might already know."
"I may have some clues."
"One was a money lending web. It was complex and involved the entire half of the country that wasn't already in the Fonias' hands."
"Money lending… I had managed to track a few of their payloads, but was it that big?"
I pulled out a document from under my desk and placed it in front of them.
They flipped through the documents and hummed.
"Dorking industries. Chair Merchant Group. Iliekballz's constructions, all of them were long since taken over by the Fonias under the guise of money lending.
"They forced them into taking a loan and then made business impossible so that the loan couldn't be repaid. They would then quickly take over the business, rebrand a little, get rid of the obstructions they placed, and make a big profit from a proven model."
"Horrendous. What's the second one?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtI pointed at the lower half of the board, it was pinned with sketches of a bunch of people that I had brought over to my territory.
I had learned more lessons that I would like to admit from Dantalian. Whether it was to trust people or myself, from what I worked toward and what I worked for. Just like those, I had also learned how lies weren't just your own, but could also be told for others.
And so, I was going to hide just and just the identity of the people that the sketches belonged to.
Everything else I was about to speak was the truth that I had learned from Bathym.
"A drug trade. Niche, for people with a lot of influence."
They nodded.
"But there is something deeper. The faces of the people you see here were all working for the Fonias' drug trade."
The Margrave laughed.
"You're showing us pictures of dead men. The vice leaders of guilds, the masters of knight orders, the workers in the secretariat, and even the Royal Physician…"
"They won't just die, right? Someone had to go kill them."
The Marquis shook his head at my words and then looked at me.
"Are you telling me?"
I nodded.
"It's a step more complicated. These people are all ones that got addicted to normal drugs, they still had a mind of their own. And these people were then given a different type of drug that did not give them hits but instead made others' minds foggy and open to suggestions."
"That is…"
Marcin squealed again, and Meryl put a hand on his back. She gazed at me and I shook my head. If they wanted to they could leave, it would do nothing but change my opinion of them.
It didn't seem like Meryl planned to though.
"Son, let me get this straight since this is quite a big thing."
The Marquis sighed and the playful Margrave was now stiff.
"All these people had been drugging their seniors?"
These bastards were not gaining money or connections through this drug trade.
"The reason the Fonias couldn't be brought in front of the law wasn't that they were brought off. But the people were all too drugged up and couldn't do that. Their brains were tampered with."
The Margrave shook his head.
"No human drug can do that. Neither magic nor sorcery can manage something like that!"
Well, Spirit Magic could, but these lesser beings had no way of knowing that.
"Good point," I smiled and snapped my fingers.
A thud rang.
"Eek!" Marcin screamed in surprise, as the head of the demon that Irina had killed in her room fell on the table.
The others all stared at the protruding horns.
This was going to be slightly problematic for my pro-demon propaganda, but I had ways to make up for it with Bathym.
"What is this?"
"It is possible with a demon's authority."
The Margrave started laughing, but his was a derisive laugh this time.
"I've heard your achievements, kid. But I guess they all underplayed you."
"Couldn't have done it alone."
The Marquis slightly flinched again.
Then, he raised his hand and reached out for me. I could only watch as he gently placed his hand on my cheeks and smiled.
"Eugene, you've grown up."
My eyes widened slightly as my mind started rushing around. I almost remembered my parents as Yujin from the previous world.
Heaving a loud sigh, I slapped his hand away.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Enough, thanks."
I hurriedly turned toward the two of the Fonias twins and narrowed my gaze.
"You two are going to be the most important if we want to change things. Will you work against your own family, or are you planning to leave it in someone else's hands to the end?"
Meryl clenched her fists and shook her head.
"We'll help."
Marcin did so too, nodding.
"We'll do whatever you need."
I smiled at those words and looked back at the Marquis and the Margrave.
"So? You guys wanna get promoted?"
The Marquis leaned back and laughed.
"We're going to change the structure of this country, huh?"
"It has always been my duty to keep this place safe from its enemies. It's about time I point my blade inside."
A smile fell on my face. I slowly reached into my desk again.
"You can take whatever you need except the Fonias themselves. That family belongs to me and my cousins right there."
What Charlotte didn't.
I gladly would.
I placed two arm bands of the Dark Moon and pushed it toward them.
"Here, you can use this and get in touch with anyone from the Dark Moon Bandits."
"Dark Moon!?" The Margrave screamed.
Oh right. Didn't he have some animosity with them?
"I am the Dark Moon now," I said. "They'll give you whatever you need."
The two of them grinned.
"Bring things to justice. Leave the crimes in my hands."