Fifth Hundred and Sixty-Sixth Chapter: Appointment and Mission

Otto Losi returned home and locked himself in his room.

He didn't understand why things had turned out this way.

Since the King fell ill, Amperein seemed to be greatly affected. He had finally recovered a little recently, but his actions and words were different from before.

To be precise, he had become unfamiliar.

As a friend who had grown up with the prince, Otto considered himself to understand him very well. Amperein wasn't the kind of person who would be unscrupulous for power. Sometimes, he even thought the other party was a bit naive and not suitable to be a king who commanded the overall situation. Because of this, he planned to wait until Amperein was crowned king and then work with Belinda and Ouro to assist his friend in governing the government—the three families had always been following the King closely, ever since the establishment of Dawn.

Therefore, he still answered "yes" without hesitation.

But Otto discovered that Amperein didn't care about his answer.

The other party asked that way only out of a habit born of unease.

And he hadn't considered this point—the three families were indeed willing to support the Moa royal family, but what if His Highness didn't need their support?

Now that he realized this, he felt that Amperein was becoming more and more distant from him.

Otto sighed. Perhaps he should take the initiative to do something.

But what should he do?

The royal physician and alchemist were helpless with His Majesty's illness. He knew nothing about treating diseases and had no way to fundamentally solve Amperein's worries.

Advise the prince to cheer up?

He had already done this enough, but it proved useless. He probably couldn't bring His Highness back on his own.

The three families must unite. Only by working together could they possibly find out the reason for Amperein's actions.

Thinking of this, he suddenly stood up and walked out.

"Young Master, it's very late. Where are you going?" The butler asked, catching up with him as he passed through the hall.

"To the Tokat family. I won't be back tonight!"

...

He arrived at the Tokat family's territory with ease. Since the two were extremely familiar with each other, no one in the large earl's mansion stopped him. Otto walked straight into the training hall and, as expected, found Ouro Tokat sparring with a servant.

"Yo, what brings you here?" Ouro took off his sweaty headband and threw the wooden sword to the servant. "Wanted to have some fun but didn't dare to go in, so you decided to drag me down with you?"

"I need to talk to you."

He pulled Ouro into the adjacent rest room and explained his thoughts and plans. "What do you think?"

"Find out why Amperein has become unfamiliar?" The latter curled his lips. "Sorry, I'm not interested."

"Hey, you—"

"He's a prince, the heir to the Dawn Kingdom. He won't always be our friend, you understand?" Ouro shook his head. "And Amperein is twenty years old, not a seven-year-old child. If he's acting up, do we have to go and coax him? If he doesn't want to talk, he doesn't want to talk. I don't want to go poking around."

"Don't you plan to assist Amperein Moa anymore?"

"It's called assisting if His Highness needs us. If he doesn't, it's called being intrusive."

Did he also see this? Otto felt a chill in his heart. "But the three families have always followed Moa—"

"The three families?" Ouro smiled dismissively. "Since Andrea died, it's just you and me." He turned around, waving his hand as he walked out. "Since you're here, I'll take you to 'Scarlet Dream'. Otherwise, you're always worrying about this and that. I'm tired just watching you. Let your energy out and you'll be fine."

"Andrea didn't die."

Ouro's footsteps stopped instantly.

*Sorry*, Otto said silently in his heart. He had promised to keep this secret, but he had failed to keep his promise.

"Andrea Quinn didn't die," he repeated. "I saw her in Border Town in Graycastle."

Ouro turned around instantly, rushing in front of him. The force was so great that he almost pushed him against the wall.

"You said wh-what? Is-is this true?"

"I saw it with my own eyes. She's with Roland Wimbledon."

"Together..." Ouro's eyes widened. "You mean together in that way?"

"I don't know," Otto bit his lip. "But she became a witch, and only Roland is willing to take in witches in all of Graycastle."

"Wait, a witch?" he asked in surprise. "What happened back then?"

Otto Losi slowly recounted Andrea's experiences. Watching the other party's mixed expression, he felt a hint of schadenfreude in his heart. *Who told you to immediately believe the Quinn family's story about her falling off a cliff? It's too late now that you know she's not dead. She won't be with me, and she won't be with you.*

"So that's the purpose of her father creating the cliff accident..." Ouro sat down on the ground, looking dejected. "Damn, why didn't I think about digging up the grave and taking a closer look?"

This guy... is too much! "Cough cough, that's why we need to bring Amperein back even more."

The other party rolled his eyes. "Huh? What does this have to do with that?"

"Of course it does! Think about it. He's putting the alliance treaty on hold and won't say why. Eventually, the joint combat plan set by His Majesty will fail. Once the Church launches an attack, we can only resist alone—if they attack Dawn first, you'll lead the Knights to meet them, right?" Otto asked.

"Of course, it's my duty."

"And then you'll be defeated and sacrificed. Won't you not see Andrea then?"

"Uh, that seems to make sense—no, why do you think I'll definitely lose?" Ouro shouted, unconvinced.

"Even the Wolfheart Kingdom, which has fierce and resilient customs, couldn't turn the tide. How much better can you be?" He ignored his friend's protests and continued, "Conversely, if the Church attacks Graycastle first, Roland will have to fight off the invaders, right? If he dies, Andrea will most likely die by his side. If she's captured by the Church, her fate will only be worse. But if the two countries can support each other, making the Church afraid to move, neither of you will have to die on the battlefield. There will be a chance to reunite in the future. Do you think the alliance is important?"

"...Important."

"Without bringing His Highness back, there will be no alliance. Do you think the two are related now?"

"They're related."

"Then are you in?"

Ouro said decisively, "I'm in!"

Two hands clasped tightly together.

*******************

Yokoe dragged his tired but refreshed body back to his lodging. As soon as he opened the bedroom door, he heard a voice say, "I've finally waited for you to come back."

He was taken aback. He was new here. Who would sneak into his room to ambush him? Could it be Denise's son-in-law? Before he could decide whether to escape or beg for mercy, the other party lit a candle. In the light, he realized that the speaker was Hill Fox.

"You almost scared me to death, you know?" Yokoe exhaled. "Can't you wait until tomorrow to talk about anything?"

"No one will notice me coming here at night," Hill spread his hands. "I'm used to being cautious. Please understand."

"It's alright." Although the other party was a guard, he was assigned to him by His Majesty Roland after all and couldn't be treated as an ordinary servant. "Since you're here, just say it."

"Now that a large number of Wolfheart refugees are pouring into Dawn, it's a good opportunity to recruit them. You can treat it as a business, mainly buying craftsmen, literate people, and those with special skills. All the money needed will be paid by His Majesty, and you'll receive five Silver Wolves for each person you recruit."

"Please, I can't do business! Chatting with Denise is just a way to get her to talk. You don't really want me to sell people, do you?" Yokoe rubbed his forehead. "And the slave trade mainly takes place on the border between the two countries. As an ambassador, it's not convenient for me to go there!"

"This is His Majesty's intention," Hill said calmly. "You don't need to leave Glow City either. Merchants will always resell slaves over here. It doesn't matter if the price is a little higher. It also saves you the trouble of screening them. As for not knowing how to do business... you can ask Denise Payton for help. She's a well-known noble merchant here. It's not difficult for her to transport refugees to Graycastle. Once a transport line is established, it will be very beneficial to us as well. For example, in case of danger, we can disguise ourselves as merchants and evacuate at any time, which is both discreet and safe."

Yokoe opened his mouth wide. "Have you been to the Dawn capital?"

Hill shook his head.

"Then how do you know so much?"

"While you were out 'expanding your relationships', I inquired about it on the street."

"I thought you were a capable knight, but I didn't expect you to be a shrewd merchant," Yokoe admired.

"I'm not a warrior, and I'm not a merchant, but I can protect your safety at critical moments. This is also the mission His Majesty entrusted to me."

"Then you are..."

"Just an ordinary... acrobat," Hill smiled.

Ermu said

Thanks to dear friend fcs31 for the reminder. I have made detailed revisions to the initial contact between the Dawn envoy and Tifico.