29 Chapter 27: Cleansing

After they took care of the terrorists, Kazimierz then had the opportunity to do something about the blackout.

"Wraith, are you done working with Dikaipolis?" Ash asked the squad leader of his ghosts.

"Yes, sir. Primed and ready." Wraith cut the call off and Ash nodded at their efficiency.

"What was that about talking to one of your ghosts?" Zofia asked and thought they would be taking care of people.

"It's nothing serious, just gonna change the perspective of the populace a bit. Some help for Dikaipolis you see?" Ash smiled at them.

Dikaipolis would be popular after the majors for sure. But there will still be hiccups against him. And Kazimierz's take over will be much smoother if he helps him a bit with the infected.

"So, what do we do now? Knights took back the cores of the cities and they'll surely repair it now." Mlynar looked at him for the next thing in their itinerary.

"Hmm, I guess we go and regroup and go to the Adeptus." Ash wanted to rub it in the face of Ioleta and so she would be indebted even further.

Them taking care of the terrorists before they could is a dishonor as a knight of the country. And she would definitely pull her hair out due to the complications of the matter.

They patiently waited for the other teams and they arrived at the capital.

"Come on, let's go." Ash went to the HQ of Adeptus and they walked in at Ioleta's office. Working with a light source.

"I've heard about it..." She sighed and felt the headache coming.

The KGCC would definitely rub it in their faces that the Adeptus wasn't able to protect the capital in the very 'sacred' majors.

Even though it was their fault in the first place, with no silverlance pegasi in the capital. It was bound to happen.

"Hmmm, you're in a pretty tough spot Ioleta." Ash sat down in front of her and he grinned.

"Rub it in more won't you? And I didn't expect you two to be in cohorts with him as well, Mlynar, Zofia." Ioleta squinted her eyes at them.

They looked a bit guilty because Ioleta was a good friend of their previous knight primus, Kirill. But it was necessary to change Kazimierz.

"I see, the Armorless Union as expected too." Ioleta saw Platinum who was carrying a compound bow. Already knowing that they were the ones who were assassinating people in the Adeptus.

"Yeah, it was a good deal." Platinum nodded at her nonchalantly.

"So, what do you think will happen now?" Ash smirked at her and she sighed.

"Okay, this would be a disaster. Please help us with this." Ioleta requested, because they will lose face.

"Hmm, I guess I can help you out. If you put Margaret in your chair. And let uncle here as the proxy. You can be his personal advisor at least." He shrugged and Ioleta sighed in relief.

"I see, thank you for this. We were just waiting for the inevitable anyways. It will be fine for Margaret to be the grand knight of the Adeptus. Mlynar will also do well, I know him enough to be confident about it." She nodded at Mlynar.

"Don't get nervous now old man, don't you think you'll make your father proud if you undertake this noble mission?" Ash smiled at him and Mlynar sighed.

"I know it would be for Kazimierz... I accept it already." Mlynar rubbed his temples.

"Good, good. And don't worry about the KGCC Ioleta. The Adeptus won't be part of the fallout of the terrorists." Ash smirked at her.

They left the place and were going to have a party in the Nearl household.

"Smart guy, the KGCC will be ashes after he is done with them. What a terrifying bastard." Ioleta sighed and called in for her adopted daughter.

"Viviana... Are you sure that you can do this?" Ioleta looked at her with worry. The old woman was too scared of Ash going too far in Kazimierz.

"If it's your will... But would the twin empresses accept? Especially because I'm an illegitimate child of a noble..." Viviana remembered her parents blurrily.

"Yes, Leithanien has been the cause of the blackout and terror attacks in the capital. Chances are, they would accept this for stronger ties." Ioleta already prepared another letter for reparations.

"I see. If Margaret Nearl and Degenbrecher are in agreement with it. Then I think there will be no problems." She was curious and thought the beacon of justice Margaret is fine with it.

"I apologize for putting you in this position Viviana, my daughter." Ioleta sighed.

"It's for Kazimierz, I understand it. And this would work to my advantage anyway. I am originally from Leithanien after all, then good day." Viviana left with a bow.

"Hah, I just hope her introvertedness won't cause her much trouble... The people behind that man have such strong personalities." Ioleta got anxious, but the pieces has already been set.

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At the Nearl household, Ash went back to Paradiso for a bit to get some ingredients and he was hauling a container full of meat, produce, and seasonings.

"Ahhh, nothing like good old barbecue." He dropped the container on the front yard of the Nearl house.

"Ash, what in the world did you bring here?" Zofia was confused and he patted the container.

"These are, ingredients." He opened it up and a myriad of stuff was inside.

"Food?" Mlynar was also confused, but he didn't care anymore and just continued to read his newspaper, being an old man and all.

"Wow, so much food!" Maria looked excited for the feast they would be having.

"Boss, is that for us?" Platinum finally had a reaction on her face and she was waiting for a party because Exusiai hyped it up earlier.

"Of course it is, now let's start shall we?" Ash prepared everything by multitasking. Using his telekinesis in order to do it all in one sitting.

"Waw, boss Ash sure is efficient hehe~" Exusiai was drooling and the gluttonous Sarkaz twins stared at the grill that was being fired up.

Soon, the wondrous smell of meat was in the air, making the Lupos' ears twitch.

"Go on and enjoy." He smiled at them and left everything else to Sonus who is a responsible person, being a matriarch and all.

"Where are you going Ash?" Margaret stopped him before he went and he smiled. "I can't let you guys be the only one eating something nice, now can I?"

He flew to where he can feel there was a lot of originium and there he was Dikaipolis is already amassing tons of infected.

Ash dropped at the place with multiple containers and they got scared at the huge man that appeared suddenly, thinking that it would be a purge.

"Don't fear, he is my benefactor." Dikaipolis shouted and everyone nodded, looking at Ash curiously.

"You're gonna make me blush Dik." Ash patted him on the back and the Forte's eyes twitched.

Ash didn't waste any time and began to take out everything that he brought with him outside. Making the crowd gasp at the sight of fresh produce.

He prepared soups, curries, and tons of rice for them. "Dik, you handle things over here. I'm going to make more. Let the ones who just finished call more people." Ash ordered and Dikaipolis knew they were going to have a feeding program.

"Nii-chan, are those for us?" A child was drooling and went up to him, pulling his pants.

He crouched to the boy and saw his emaciated body, wearing rags. "Yes, yes it is buddy. Eat as much as you want to." He smiled at him and patted his head.

"Yatta! Mom! The big nii-chan said we can eat as much as we want!" The boy reported to her mother.

"You bet, you can also take some for later. Dik, this other container have crates inside of them for oripathy. Call for the ones with the most severe infections. It will help them against oripathy." Ash opened up another container with tons of stims.

"Sir..." Dikaipolis furrowed his brows and almost cried from the support.

"Don't go soft on me now, you'll be leading the infected in Kazimierz. We cannot take them to Paradiso anymore. Only combatants will be able to move now." Ash patted him on the shoulders.

"As a knight, your will shall be done." Dikaipolis nodded at him. Ash sped up the cooking process with his energy manipulation and Dikaipolis started calling out to those with severe oripathy and the hungry.

Ash went to the side and patted himself on the back for a job well done. Taking picture of the little boy from earlier that had sparkling eyes upon eating.

"Adele would really like the sight of this." He sent some videos and pictures to her on his little soup kitchen for the infected.

The boy waved at him when he saw him and he smiled.

"Sir is very kind." Viviana appeared behind him. Inspecting the large gathering of people there and the strong light source.

"Kind huh? You wouldn't say that if you knew everything that I did girl." He sighed, he was used to it and it didn't weigh on his mind. But of course he knew it was wrong.

Didn't mean that he'd stop it though. Some things can only be done with force. And people are really susceptible of it. i.e. their bodies exploding.

"The assassinations of the KGCC and members of the Adeptus? It matters not, their deeds are already known to me through my mother." Viviana sat down with him too.

"Quite an understanding person you are, Viviana. I could say the same about you. Donating your proceeds to charity so the rural areas will have an education." Ash looked at her.

"Ahhh, that. I just don't see the sense on why I would want so much money. Especially when all I want is peace and quiet. Read my books and the like." She chuckled.

"Reading huh? Peace and quiet while reading is surely a guilty pleasure. But how adult of you." He laughed.

"Indeed, people my age tend to want all the glory and fame. Tell me, sir Ash, why?" Viviana stared at him and he shrugged.

"It's quite the same with what you want really. Terra is geopolitically unstable. And I want my family to live in a place where there is no fear of war." He looked up and sighed, remembering his promise to Hans and Emma.

"No infected would live in fear of being killed and ostracized. No child living on trash like them. No egomaniacs that want to rule the world. And to do that, you have to bear down your strength on them all." He shrugged.

"I see... You surely aim high." Viviana was amazed with his determination. He would surely be an enemy of entire empires later.

Yet he does not slow down, does not tremble in fear. "I wish I would have a goal as grand as you." She got depressed a bit, her life was just going with the flow.

"And what's wrong with that? Not everyone has to have the drive to be the best. Be the most amazing knight in the world." He patted her on the head.

"Is that so? But compared." Viviana got shushed by him and he smiled. "Nobody can be compared to me Viviana. After we take care of the KGCC, my empire would be the scope of Kazimierz and Leithanien."

He gave a cheeky smile and Viviana went wide eyed. "That's... That is true. Your territory would be unmatched. And you still look young too." Viviana observed him.

"Well, I just turned sixteen. So I'd be the youngest functional emperor in history I guess." He shrugged.

"Indeed, your name will be jotted down in history books for thousands of years at this rate. Now I want to read your biography." She chuckled and he snorted.

"I'm still too young for a biography missy. How about you come with me for a little part? You were second place yeah? Dikaipolis can handle things here." Ash stood up and offered his hand.

"Sure, sir Ash. It will be an honor." She held his hand and eeped after he jumped and flew right back to the Nearl household

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Next morning, the chairman of Rose Papers Union was killed off and the media was now in control of Ash.

And the very first thing they did, was to report that the KGCC was the one responsible for the blackout and terror attacks.

"Breaking news, the KGCC was apparently having a political struggle with the Adeptus. Resulting in the deaths of many people at both sides." A news anchor reported.

"What a nasty move, I don't think anyone can recover from that." Mlynar looked at Ash with a frown.

"It is what it is uncle, this is for the best. We'll take over KGCC now. Take the honest ones under our wing and make sure they don't have any plans of their own." He grinned at him.

"Wow, you guys took over Kazimierz that easily huh? It's kinda scary what you can do..." Zofia was in awe.

"It's a combination of mistakes from Kazimierz really. With Armorless Union out of the way, the KGCC is without any power. With the campaigning knights outside, we can do everything freely." He shook his head with a sigh.

"Honestly, are the Adeptus stupid or something? Pulling the campaigning knights out of the capital when the majors happen? It's so clear that the KGCC want them out for nefarious purposes." He groaned at Ioleta's stupid ass decision.

"Well, it might be due to politics right?" Maria chimed in and he patted her head for trying to learn more about those kinds of things.

"Sure, but they're the ruling body of Kazimierz too. And giving them free reign to the capital just because they don't care about the majors resulted in all of this really." He explained why the KGCC grew so powerful.

"Ugh, enough of this in the morning. Let me read my newspaper." Mlynar groaned and began to read his paper with some coffee.

"Ohh! Ohh! There it is live! An execution!" Lappland pointed at the television and Margaret was standing right there.

"Margaret's famous now eh, she's in TV!" Degenbrecher chuckled.

"Before we proceed, miss NTR knight has something to say." A reporter pointed a mic to her.

"Kazimierz, my countrymen. The KGCC has corrupted our land for far too long. Extortions, murders, sexual assaults, bribery, etc. Greed has swallowed its chambers whole!" Margaret released her arts.

And even if it was mid-day, her light arts shone brightly. Blinding those who were nearby.

"But fear not! We have put these evil to justice! I the new grand knight of the Adeptus would make sure that it will never happen once again! For the light heeds me! And I... Am here." Margaret nodded at the executioners.

The very first one was Czarny, he had dead eyes from the harassment of Ash's ghosts.

He was chuckling like a madman, going insane from lack of sleep. He was hallucinating all the time and was suffering from severe psychosis.

His head rolled after a silverlance pegasi lopped his head off. And the people who were agrieved personally cheered at his execution.

"Look at that, people are cheering at his execution personally. I'd say if that many normal people wants you dead, then it's quite deserved." Ash pointed at the TV and the Nearls can't complain.

And due to conspiring with terrorists, the majority of the KGCC board members were killed. With Shining and Ash's ghosts forging proof of course.

He blamed it all to the KGCC so they won't have any fallout with Leithanien.

And right after, they helped Mlynar and Margaret to be the grand knight of the Adeptus.

Being the new head of state concerns a lot of work. And Mlynar was grumbling while he was doing tons of paperwork.

"Stupid papers, I should just slash this all with my sword and arts." Mlynar grumbled.

"Shut up old man, do you know how much paperwork I do? It's at least several times much more than that. I get reports all over the world." Ash was wearing glasses and was teaching him how to do his job.

"He got you there uncle." Margaret chuckled and Ash slammed a stick on their tables.

"You too Margaret! If Mlynar is unable to do his work, you will have to step in. Focus woman!" Ash yelled at them and their back straightened.

"Yes sir!" They started checking the papers again and he nodded at them.

After a few hours of working, the two were slumped on their desks. Especially now, because there are tons of work to be done.

With the terrorist attack and the KGCC in shambles. It was probably the time with the most workload on their shoulders.

And it wasn't even the full amount. Because Ash and Shining are taking care of the KGCC. Absorbing all the companies taken to Asmodeus enterprise.

"Ahhh, my newspaper. I should read my newspaper." Mlynar reached out to his morning paper, with bags under his eyes.

"Ugh, Ash is such a slave-driver... This should be much easier with our enhanced physiques. Why is this so hard?" Margaret groaned on her table.

"You tell me... And I'll be the one left to do this all alone later." Mlynar snorted.

"Shut up Mlynar, now you know what I go through." Ioleta was drinking tea, refreshed that she isn't taking care of the fallout of Kazimierz being in Ash's palms.

"Yeah, yeah, it's your retirement we get it. You were getting old." Mlynar waved her off and read his paper.

"Tch, insolent brat. Why in my day, young people had respect and-"

They ignored her speech and Mlynar took a sip of coffee. And while reading, he suddenly choked. Sputtering it out, coughing and hacking violently.

"Uncle? What's the matter?" Margaret looked at him and he calmed down his breathing.

"Look at the news now!" Mlynar yelled and Margaret opened up the TV.

"Breaking news, here we have the emperor consort of Leithanien. Asmodeus Naumann-Leithanien. Arriving with the twin empresses to sign a treaty." The reporter showed the trio, in front of some papers for a treaty.

"Why are you so surprised?" Margaret gave her uncle a weird look. But she noticed that Ash was lethargic.

"Today will be forever in history. As the twin empresses and his majesty Asmodeus sign the treaty. And the bond between the two countries would be strengthened even further with his marriage to Viviana Droste, a grand knight of Kazimierz." The reporter announced.

Margaret choked on her saliva and stared right at Ioleta. "Heh, I might be old brats. But I'm still smart. Good thing the twin empresses agreed." Ioleta grinned at them.

And Ash, while shaking hands with diplomats was confused as hell.

"Why does this happen to me all the time? Why do they want to marry off people to me?" His eyes twitched while someone congratulated him in his engagement.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.