“You are correct, Lakyus. So, Princess. Does changing the plan mean we are changing the place of attack as well?”

“Yes, Evileye-san. We will take all of them down tonight, in one fell swoop. If we take our time, it would only give the initiative to our enemy.”

Silence filled the atmosphere.

The only one participating in the plan was Blue Rose. Lacking the manpower, the plan was to attack one place at a time.

“Hey, Princess-san, didn’t you say we didn’t have enough people? Or did you find someone overnight? We couldn’t even hire any other adventurers.”

Ever since the creation of the Adventurer’s Guild, its motto was to defend humanity from other threats. So there was an unofficial rule that the Guilds would never take part in inter-human conflicts. If not, the Guilds couldn’t co-operate with each other in different countries.

There could be someone who was willing to do this kind of work if they asked around in the guild, but the guild had their own ways of applying pressure to enforce the unofficial rule. Punishments ranged from issuing a simple warning to being blacklisted from all requests and in the worst case scenario, expulsion from the Adventurer’s Guild. The adventurers who were kicked out of the guild and went on to take illegal requests were called ‘workers’. According to rumours, the Adventurer’s Guild even hired assassins to eliminate the worst of them.

Although Blue Rose was breaking the unofficial rule to fight against a human organization, Eight Fingers, it was being tolerated due to the fact that they were adamantium ranked adventurers.

“Even if we do bring in other people, utilizing the guards would be foolhardy. They already have their people inside the guards. Maybe for the final clean-up stages, but otherwise it would be risky.”

“Same with any of the nobles’ household guards. Who knows which one of them is one of their cronies.”

“The only ones we can trust are Gazef Stronoff and his warriors, no… I’m not sure if we can trust even his warriors.”

“It’s so hard to come up with a contingency plan because we do not know their true strength. But if this goes on, the entire Kingdom will rot away. We’ll just have to do our best under the circumstances.”

Renner nodded at Lakyus’ complaints.

Invasions from the Empire, an internal power struggle and now corruption as well. Climb could almost see golden sunlight radiating from the Princess in her efforts to tackle these issues no matter how bleak everything seemed. He truly thought that she would unite the Kingdom and bring happiness to its people, and he once again strengthened his loyalty to her.

All those who thought that she was just a pretty decoration, especially the nobles, angered Climb. But the angelic voice of Renner dispelled all his anger and he concentrated on the conversation once again.

“It’s just as you said. We will borrow the strength from a trustworthy noble.”

“You know one, Princess?”

“Yes, Evileye-san. I do not know many, but there is one trustworthy noble.”

“Eeeh? Who’s that Renner? I think you already know it, but if they’re not trustworthy, then it’s meaningless. There’s also no guarantee that they’ll send enough of their soldiers over either.”

“I have that covered. It will be alright. We’ll also enlist the help of the Warrior Captain.”

“Ah, the Warrior Captain.”

“If it’s the Warrior Captain, we can trust him. If the Eight Fingers already got to him, then there’s no saving this Kingdom.”

“Then Climb, call over Marquis Raeven immediately. We had a discussion earlier, so he should still be in the capitol.”

“The Marquis? I also saw him with the Prince earlier…”

Marquis Raevan indeed met every criteria they had set out, with the exception of trustworthiness.

He was one of six Great Nobles and his wealth could not be matched by any of the other nobles. However there was no evidence that the Eight Fingers had not already gotten to him yet. As a matter of fact, his wealth could have been attributed to working with the Eight Fingers. However, Climb quickly abandoned such thoughts. If Renner, his most respected master and the wisest woman, said so, then he would trust Marquis Raeven.

But unlike Climb, the rest of Blue Rose frowned at the name.

“Oi, oi, Princess. Are you sure we can trust him?”

“Rumors say Marquis Raeven is a turncoat.”

“A spineless man who’s constantly switching sides from the King’s faction to the Noble’s faction, who would do anything for a profit, even if it was for the Eight Fingers.”

“I don’t want the information to be leaked from there, Princess.”

Amidst the negative opinions, Lakyus clapped loudly.

"...Everyone stop. Hey Renner, Marquis Raeven doesn’t have a good reputation. Can we trust him?”

“It’s not an absolute guarantee. I also think he has been receiving a certain amount of bribes from the Eight Fingers.”

“Huh?”

Everybody had confused expression, but those who had their own suspicion asked.

“Diverting their attention with false information?”

“Used for assassinations. Give false information to focus the security elsewhere.”

Renner shook her head at the former assassins’ words.

“Tina-san, Tia-san, that’s not it. Even if he accepts money from the Eight Fingers, it doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to co-operate with them. Marquis Raevan was a better man than I thought… Climb, go get Marquis Raevan. He’ll meet with you immediately if you tell him that you destroyed one of the brothels and have captured the head of Eight Finger’s slave traders.”

Climb looked outside to check where the sun was. As it was still bright with morning light, it was still too early to request an audience. However, since great nobles were not the easiest people to have an audience with, it would be better to start early.

“Should we even talk about the head of the slave traders? I think it might be best to keep it a secret…”

Since even a great noble wouldn’t refuse a personal invitation from the Princess, Climb thought it would be best to reserve that fact as a card Renner could use.

“If we want to make him our ally, we must show our hand as well. It’s the best way to prove to the Marquis that we trust him.”

Climb nodded and bowed respectfully.

“I shall bring over Marquis Raeven as soon as possible per your orders.”