Chapter 315 - 280: Revealing the Truth, Plotting to Enthrone a King

Chapter 315: Chapter 280: Revealing the Truth, Plotting to Enthrone a King

On the map, the Territory of the Harvia Empire resembled a dormant beast, its fine ink lines tracing winding mountain ranges, rushing rivers, and a scattering of city markers.

"Here."

Jon extended a finger and tapped the heart of the Empire.

"We’ll start with this nation."

"Harvia, a latecomer among the human empires. Its ruler, fearing a challenge to his imperial authority, resists the entry of faith. This is not a wise move."

"While faith isn’t strictly necessary, a lack of it will only cause more people to fall into the embrace of evil creatures."

His fingertip traced over several areas marked with noble crests, circled in crimson ink, before finally stopping on the marker for Heta County.

"The tragedy in Heta County is the best proof of that!"

His words were well-reasoned, and the other two naturally had no objections, but they did raise their own doubts.

Claudio gazed at Jon, his voice low and steady.

"There’s no problem with the general direction of the plan, but... Jon, the path you choose... one misstep could lead you into an abyss."

"Purging the corruption of these foul beings is urgent, but if it ignites the nobles’ fear of ’divine authority overpowering imperial right,’ it could trigger a large-scale rebellion or even a civil war."

His long fingers unconsciously traced the exquisite icon on the map representing the Imperial Palace of Minsali.

"And chaos has always been fertile ground for filth to fester."

Sutton snorted heavily.

"The pointy-ears is right! Those noble lords, all decked out in gold and silver, have their heads stuffed with nothing but conspiracies and Gold Coins!"

"You think you can just take the followers of the Sun God and go banging on their doors? Ha! Believe me, they’ll band together in an instant, shouting pretty slogans like ’defending the Empire’s traditions’ while slinging mud at you and the Sun Church."

"So, Power! Kid, you need Power!"

Jon had already prepared for their questions. He raised a hand, signaling for the agitated Old Dwarf to calm down.

"Power is indeed crucial, Uncle Sutton, but forcing our way through with brute strength is too costly and will leave endless trouble in its wake."

"Master Claudio’s concerns are valid—we can’t be the spark that ignites a greater chaos. We must be the guardians of order... or rather, the shapers of order."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the serious faces of his two mentors, his voice clear and firm.

"My plan is to participate, not to oppose."

The firewood in the hearth crackled, and the dancing flames cast flickering shadows across Jon’s face, illuminating the confidence deep within his ice-blue eyes.

"This nation is at a crossroads of power."

"The King Selection Ceremony—this sword of Damocles hanging over the Empire’s head is both the source of conflict and the very entry point we need."

Claudio’s gray eyes narrowed slightly as he instantly grasped the deeper meaning in Jon’s words.

"The King Selection Ceremony... You mean, support a candidate, ride their momentum, and intervene in the core of power under a banner of legitimacy?"

"Precisely!"

A slight smile touched the corners of Jon’s lips.

"Rather than forcibly confronting the nobles’ deeply entrenched network as ’Purifiers’ and provoking a backlash, it’s better to proactively join their ’game’."

"We will select a candidate with potential and a clear stance, and pour our resources and Power into them—be it the construct forces from the Workshop, or the armed support and appeal to faith I can mobilize through the Sun Church—to help him, or her, ascend to that position."

Sutton stared with his small eyes, his ruddy nose twitching slightly.

"Prop up an emperor? Kid, that’s no easy task. Every one of those candidate Princes and Princesses is as cunning as a fox."

"Are you sure you can pick the right person? Don’t end up raising a viper that turns around and bites you!"

"There are risks, of course, Uncle Sutton."

Jon admitted frankly, his tone unwavering.

"But this is the path with the lowest cost and most manageable resistance. Once we succeed and the monarch we support takes the throne, we will have the endorsement of the Empire’s highest authority."

"At that point, purging the corruption, investigating its source, and mobilizing the entire nation’s resources for defense will all be logical and legitimate!"

"A purge ordered by the Empire’s supreme ruler, carried out from the top down, is far more efficient than us going from the bottom up, knocking on one door at a time. It will also be much better at uniting the Power of the entire Empire."

His gaze sharpened.

"We don’t have to be the ones wielding the butcher’s knife, becoming a thorn in the side of every noble. We just need to forge the sharpest, most precisely aimed sword."

"Wherever that blade points will be the doom of the foul beings and the fallen."

He paused, as if to let the weight of his words sink into the hearts of his two elders.

"And our involvement will ensure this sword is held in the right hands and points in the right direction."

"Then, this future ’sword’ of the Empire... whose hand will hold its hilt? Do you have a candidate in mind?"

The Elf Mage’s long fingers tapped silently on the oak tabletop, making a nearly inaudible sound.

"This is important."

Jon met Claudio’s gaze. An imperceptible glint flashed deep in his eyes before being replaced by a more deliberate calm.

’Of course, he already had someone in mind: the one once known among the players as "Big Sis Belina"—Belina Benest, the Empire’s third Princess.’

’Her demonstrated Power and charisma, as well as her skill in both suppressing internal dissent and waging external wars, made her an extremely suitable candidate.’

’But he couldn’t show such a clear preference in front of his two mentors.’

’Besides, he wasn’t sure what changes his arrival—the "butterfly" flapping its wings—would bring to the future.’

So, he just shook his head slightly and didn’t answer immediately.

"The choice of candidate will naturally determine success or failure, Master,"

"but the struggle for the throne is treacherous and unpredictable. Every candidate has a faction behind them. Showing a preference too early would be like lighting a lone lamp in the fog, attracting only unwanted covetousness and probing."

"We need more contact. We need to see the true colors beneath their masks, to see who can be forged into a true blade on the Empire’s anvil, rather than just brittle ambition."

"Only then can we make the right choice."

Claudio and Sutton exchanged a look. The firelight danced in their eyes, reflecting a mutual understanding and a hint of imperceptible approval.

What Jon displayed at that moment was not a reckless whim, but his usual caution. Whether it was confronting foul beings or stirring the deep waters of the Empire, he was leveraging his calm, which could see through the fog to the essence of things, to its fullest extent.

And so, without another word, they chose to trust him.

"Well then, that concludes the first topic for tonight—"

Jon naturally brought the topic to a close as well. He polished the newly acquired Red Eagle Seal Ring on his finger. With a slight thought, a ripple spread through space, and a strangely shaped object materialized in his hand.

"Now, for the second topic."

The object immediately captured Sutton and Claudio’s attention.

It was a stone tablet.

It lay quietly in Jon’s palm, its surface shimmering with a cold, bluish-white light that was neither metal nor stone. Its edges were exceptionally uniform, clearly not of natural origin. Etched upon it were incomprehensible symbols and patterns, their lines fluid and simple, yet following a logic completely different from the Rune systems of any known civilization.

They interlinked and spiraled, forming a series of extremely abstract images—resembling the trajectories of stars, or perhaps some kind of tangled Energy network, even faintly exuding the cold beauty of a precision machine.

Sutton’s ruddy nose twitched a couple of times, and his small eyes lit up with the keen glint characteristic of a Dwarf Artisan faced with a rare material.

Claudio, on the other hand, frowned, and the tapping of his fingertips faltered for a moment.

Seeing their different reactions, Jon’s expression remained unchanged.

"This is an unknown relic I obtained under the guidance of the Deities. It holds some kind of secret, but I can’t decipher it."

He pushed the tablet forward.

"Let’s study it together."