Chapter 151 - Breaking the Egg

The Arken Empire Crisis Response Headquarters.

A council convened during times of crisis to handle major matters that threatened the very foundation of the Empire.

It consisted of a total of five Supreme Councilors and conducted a post-mortem afterward to determine the course of events and identify those responsible.

The capital of the Arken Empire remained peaceful, having suffered no damage whatsoever.

That was because the monster advance had been wiped out in a single stroke.

As a result, many people regarded it as nothing more than a minor disturbance.

However, the truth was that an entire legion had been annihilated.

Alexander had attempted to send reinforcements, but those trying to avoid responsibility only made the situation even worse.

Using illness as an excuse to avoid his duty, Alexander made them genuinely ill.

On the grounds that they had created a plague within the Empire, he had not only the culprits but their entire families beheaded before having them cremated on the spot.

'No... I suppose they didn't suffer that much.'

Regardless, Alexander had been cornered.

It wasn't because an overwhelming battle or an insurmountable difference in military strength had taken place.

It was undeniably a blunder born of ignorance.

There was no escaping the blame and responsibility for it.

Ferda had been summoned as a witness to the incident.

"His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Alexander has been cornered."

"Not necessarily."

Isabella said so, and Ferda answered almost reflexively.

She tilted her head in confusion.

Wasn't this obviously a meeting to hold Alexander accountable?

Then why did he say otherwise?

"What do you mean?"

"This is most likely a trap laid for me."

"A trap for you, Your Excellency the Regent?"

Ferda explained what he believed their true intentions were.

"They'll start by talking about Alexander. They'll discuss how everything happened and make it seem as though they're trying to determine who was at fault."

"And then?"

"And then they'll suddenly claim that someone else bears the real responsibility. Who do you think that person would be?"

"The operations staff who failed to do their job... or..."

Isabella's eyes slowly turned toward Ferda.

"You, Your Excellency the Regent."

"That's how it'll probably unfold."

The higher the office involved, the more frequently such things happened.

And since it concerned the Crown Prince, there was little room for doubt.

Ferda had experienced this sort of thing countless times.

At first, the discussion would seem to proceed smoothly.

Then someone would imply that the real culprit was someone else, only to casually point a finger and ask whether he wasn't the true criminal.

At first, Ferda had responded with reason.

But as the atmosphere in the chamber grew increasingly heated, every bit of blame was piled onto him.

And what was the result?

'I cut off the head of the one who started accusing me.'

The room had become silent in an instant.

At the time, Ferda had already defeated the Imperial Archmage, so he had been in a position where he could act however he pleased.

Aside from the loudmouth who had been screaming accusations, no one else had been willing to risk their own necks to continue the fight.

'It would be nice if I could just kill them like back then.'

There was such a simple way to settle everything.

Unfortunately, he could no longer use it.

Ferda sighed inwardly in regret.

After hearing his explanation, Isabella pondered it several times.

"Of course, your rate of growth has become so unbelievable that even I find it astonishing. But even so, you're the Regent of the Grand Duchy of Valdrova and the mate of the Red Dragon. Are they really bold enough to do something so reckless?"

"Even if they don't intend to, that's probably how events will unfold."

The Empire knew Valdrova was easy to manipulate.

They had exploited that by throwing him a noble title, dumping a worthless fiancée on him as an excuse, and treating him like nothing more than a watchdog guarding the estate.

Now that Ferda had transformed that barren wasteland into fertile gold, it was only natural that they would find it offensive.

The Arken Empire desired absolute centralization.

It could never tolerate the provinces prospering.

"And if you look here, the answer becomes obvious."

"...Ah."

Ferda pointed toward the list of those summoned to the emergency council.

One particular name was written there.

President of the Cerdes Magic Association, Erdes Roton.

The greatest magical organization on the continent had involved itself in an Imperial affair.

After confirming the name, Isabella nodded in understanding.

"So Lady Erdes has actually joined such a troublesome meeting... She must truly dislike you."

"Apparently so."

He had wondered what right she had to involve herself in this matter.

Then he remembered that the one who had annihilated the advancing monster army marching toward the Empire had been none other than her.

The Seven-Circle Grand Mage, Erdes Roton, had rained down a meteor shower from the sky and completely devastated the twenty-thousand-strong monster army.

That alone was more than enough to earn her the right to speak.

'She may not wield absolute influence, but no one would dare ignore her.'

Knowing that Erdes had joined with the intention of crushing him, Ferda could not simply sit still.

'I need a countermeasure.'

And what did that countermeasure require?

'Information and strategy.'

Information was a weapon.

Strategy was martial skill.

The two complemented one another, and when perfectly balanced, they could produce extraordinary results.

'Is there anyone among us capable of handling something like this?'

Mori was the Slave Sage who possessed the Library of All Things.

Because she lacked the ability to think independently, she herself was merely a weapon.

'Besides, this situation is far removed from her expertise.'

Mori presented objective information based solely on data.

The logic that Olivia deserved forty-five percent of the credit for this victory had failed to gain acceptance.

This was not a situation where such logic held any importance.

What Ferda needed were informants capable of continuously monitoring developments and flexibly gathering intelligence.

One organization excelled at exactly that.

'Black Bandana.'

Every time he had dealt with them, they had proven their ability.

Not once had they failed to live up to their reputation.

If there was one problem...

'The compensation will be the issue.'

Black Bandana's fees varied according to the scale and complexity of the information requested.

Their skills were exceptional.

Accordingly, the larger the operation, the more exponentially expensive they became.

The scale of this incident encompassed nearly the entire Empire.

It also required penetrating into its deepest secrets.

They might demand an amount so enormous that selling an entire nation still wouldn't be enough to save another.

'If I make a half-hearted offer, I'll only reveal how desperate I really am.'

Even while standing on the edge of a cliff, one had to remain proud until the very end.

That was the battle Ferda had to fight.

"Wouldn't it be better simply not to attend?"

Luri suggested as she served him tea.

It was one of the options Ferda himself had also considered.

For the moment, he had consistently refused by claiming he was too busy.

Without the target of their accusations present, he believed they could at least buy themselves some time.

"Since it's a post-war conference, its importance is extremely high. It will be difficult to avoid it by claiming state affairs are keeping you busy."

"And if I lose my opportunity to defend myself, they'll only tear into me even more."

If someone bit into your flesh and you failed to bark, then you were nothing more than a lump of meat.

To survive, you had to bark.

Better yet, you had to bite back.

You had to assert yourself so thoroughly that they would never dare touch you again.

Just then, someone knocked on the open door.

"Your Excellency the Regent, may I come in?"

It was Zed's voice.

"What is it?"

"Um... Pindteeth said she wants to see you."

"Pindteeth?"

"I mean Garnet. The leader of Black Bandana."

Come to think of it, he had called her Pindteeth when they first met.

It was probably a nickname born from her sharp canine teeth and dark complexion.

What remarkably convenient timing.

She had appeared at the very moment he was thinking about needing her.

In any case, this was an excellent beginning.

There was an enormous difference between needing someone and having them come to you first, versus summoning them yourself.

"Tell her to come in."

Ferda prepared to receive his guest.

***

With Ferda's permission, Garnet entered the room.

"Greetings, Your Excellency the Regent and Administrator. Allow me to sincerely congratulate you on your overwhelming victory in this subjugation campaign."

Garnet bowed politely.

Thanks to Zed calling her Pindteeth, her prominent canine teeth were especially noticeable.

"You came to discuss the post-mortem?"

Ferda got straight to the point.

"Yes."

"So you already know that I'm the prey."

"Of course."

As the greatest intelligence organization on the continent, such information was trivial for them.

"So you've come to squeeze even more money out of me?"

"While it is true that we receive compensation according to the scale and depth of our assignments, the purpose of today's visit has little to do with business."

As she spoke, Garnet took out a book and placed it on the table.

"Would you please take a look at this?"

Ferda picked up the document and opened it.

The moment he saw the first page, he had to focus to suppress his shock.

The pages were yellowed with age, but the contents were unmistakably clear.

As Isabella read alongside him, she looked at Garnet in astonishment.

"These are the personal records of Black Bandana's highest-ranking executives, aren't they?"

It contained far more than just names and faces.

It detailed exactly where each person was, what identities they were living under, their complete histories, and even clues that could be used to track them down.

Garnet had exposed it all.

Calling it reckless wasn't nearly enough.

It was absolute madness.

There was no need to ask whether it was genuine or fabricated.

Garnet calmly said,

"With this, we have crossed the first stage."

"What stage?"

"Breaking the Egg."

The word secret was the shell that protected a secret organization.

Garnet had forcibly shattered that shell and exposed everything inside to the outside world.

Once what had been hidden was revealed, there was no turning back.

"To put it simply, Black Bandana is beginning its dissolution."

Once they abandoned secrecy, they lost their neutrality.

And once their neutrality disappeared, Black Bandana's very reason for existing disappeared with it.

"And starting today, we will reorganize ourselves into the Intelligence Department of the Grand Duchy of Valdrova in the Far East and swear our loyalty."

Ferda was taken aback by her declaration.

Judging from the expression Isabella stole beside him, she was thinking the same thing.

Why on earth would they do something like this?

"You're doing something incredibly reckless."

Ferda tossed the document back onto the table.

"What if I refuse? What crime have the people listed here committed that they should die?"

"That is precisely what Breaking the Egg means. If you break an egg and what emerges is an immature chick, then it simply dies. Black Bandana's teams will have no choice but to disband and scatter."

Garnet spoke of that immature chick as though it had nothing to do with her.

They were the greatest secret intelligence organization in existence, operating across the entire continent.

Their collapse would be no different from an entire nation disappearing.

'So even the order of this was carefully planned.'

Had she first declared her loyalty before offering up their identities, Ferda would have been far more suspicious.

As things stood now, he could only believe they had already resolved themselves for whatever came.

"So if Black Bandana is dissolved, you're asking me to accept you as my retainers?"

"No. We will swear our loyalty, but if all we wanted was cumbersome noble titles, none of this would have happened."

"Then what do you want?"

"Are you familiar with the Shadow Knights?"

"I know them well."

Knights who transcended chivalry in order to protect chivalry.

Unlike ordinary knights who became the public face through honorable wars and duels, they operated in the shadows, carrying out assassinations and acts of sabotage.

And every knight denied their existence.

Most felt deep disgust at the contradiction of calling such people 'knights' while fully aware of what they were.

The remaining few understood their necessity and respected them, which was precisely why they were forced to deny them.

Ferda belonged to that small minority.

The honor of knights and the brilliance of the crown exist because there are those who silently guard them from the shadows.

"When the light grows stronger, the shadows grow darker as well. Beneath absolute power, filthy and despicable schemes are constantly at work. That is the role of the shadow division."

"So you wish to become the shadow division of the Grand Duchy of Valdrova?"

"Yes."

"I find that hard to believe."

To be precise, he simply couldn't understand it.

People like them possessed no honor.

They could never truly grasp visible power, and the moment their trail was exposed, they had to be discarded without hesitation.

It was not a duty one could endure through a mere sense of responsibility.

If responsibility was truly what drove Garnet, then she needed to convince Ferda.

"This is the karma of our family."

That was Garnet's answer.

"The founder of Black Bandana was Mendel Bandana, the first Director of Intelligence of the Arken Empire. I have come here to inherit his will."

Just in case, Ferda contacted Mori through voice transmission.

Anything recorded on paper—even the most classified documents—could not escape the Library of All Things.

—The name Mendel Bandana is recorded from before the founding of the Arken Empire. After that, it was never recorded again in any form.

So he had truly existed.

And the fact that he had never earned even a single page in history meant he had willingly accepted the filth of his work with honor.

Ferda's question naturally moved on to the next point.

"And what exactly was that will?"

Mendel Bandana had carried out dirty work for the Arken Empire.

Yet Ferda currently wished for nothing more than the Empire's collapse.

Wouldn't that render his ancestor's life's work meaningless?

"The founding ideal of the Arken Empire was to create a land for humanity. My ancestor said that one day, that purpose might become distorted, and when that happened, it would have to be corrected."

The Empire's current slogan had become the arrogant declaration:

'There is no land we cannot conquer.'

"Just as my ancestor foretold, the Empire gradually began to change with each passing generation. We advised them time and again and showed them the will of the people in an effort to correct their course, but we failed."

The Empire grew stronger.

And with that strength came increasing arrogance.

Wasn't the ultimate result of that arrogance the fact that they now treated dragons like obedient dogs?

"So, because they refused to listen, you're planning to take revenge on the Empire?"

"Not revenge."

Garnet answered without hesitation.

"We're here to help it."

"If stagnant water trapped inside a jar has become so rotten that it can no longer be drained through an opening, then the proper course is to shatter the jar."

One thing was certain.

Her objective was the same as Ferda's.

Once again, Ferda found himself deep in thought.

Still...

He could feel himself leaning toward accepting her proposal far more than before.

'They're information brokers.'

Information brokers who had sworn never to sell lies.

Their reputation had been built by refusing to allow even the slightest falsehood.

That was exactly what Ferda feared most.

If he stood beside them trusting only in the towering reputation they had built...and that very foundation collapsed beneath him...

Would he be able to remain rational when caught in that chain reaction?

Ferda asked one final question.

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because you'll have no choice."

Garnet answered firmly.

"The Empire will use this incident as an excuse to begin interfering with the Far East in earnest, and that interference will inevitably slow your progress. You may have held your ground until now, but you won't be able to keep doing so forever."

Building a nation was like stacking stones into a tower.

The higher it rose, the harder it became to build further.

Yet it could collapse in an instant.

Evil spread easily.

Goodness was difficult to preserve.

"If you fail to withstand that pressure, then we will die alongside you."

A neutral secret organization had abandoned both its neutrality and its secrecy.

Ferda could easily use that fact as leverage against them.

By exposing their own weakness, they had willingly bound their fate to his and intended to prove themselves through their abilities.

That was why Garnet had boldly chosen to break the egg.

"So..."

Ferda looked directly at her.