35. Planning 2.

Aside from everything Jarvis made mention of, the bandits were also smuggling and trafficking illegal goods in the city.

"I think the nobles hired these bandits a long time ago, enabling them to blend in with the people of the kingdom and giving them the chance to easily gather information and intelligence about the city's operation and weaknesses."

Orion nodded his head in understanding. It was easy for him to see that the nobles had been planning this revolt for years and they had been really patient while doing so as well.

When they realized that Lucretia was ill, the nobles decided to use the opportunity to assert their control over the capital.

The nobles also used the bandits to manipulate the population against the prince by spreading false rumors about how useless he was.

Since the king was dead, and the heir to his throne was a useless son, the people would be fine with anyone taking over the throne, as long as it wasn't the infamous, 'Useless Prince Of The South'.

It was easy for the people to believe the false rumors spread around the capital. After all, not everyone had seen or heard from the prince ever since he was born.

"What of the people?" Orion asked.

Since a lot of people had lost their lives to the dungeon illness, thousands of people in the city would be suffering a lot as the bandits made their lives even more difficult.

"The people are hungry and angry for good reasons," Jarvis replied. "It's easy for them to see that the royal family can't do anything about the bandits, and anyone who tries to escape the city will be killed as well."

The corner of Orion's lips curled into a smile. He understood what the nobles were trying to do.

With the bandits gaining control over the city, they would then bring over their own soldiers to rid the capital of the bandits, making them seem like heroes to the people when most feared that hope was already lost.

If the nobles became successful in their plans, no one would be against them if they were to end the royal family and take over the throne.

'This just meant that the noble in charge of the others was a cunning, patient, ambitious, and very dangerous person,' Orion thought to himself before recalling something important Jarvis mentioned earlier.

"If the people are hungry, does it mean that the farmers are not able to sell within the city?" He asked.

"About that, young master. It seems the trade between here and GreenHaven is still ongoing. The bandits also seem to not be interfering with the trade between the two cities."

Orion couldn't help himself from chuckling a bit because now he was certain that the Lord Of GreenHaven was definitely one of his enemies.

Also, he was certain that some of the farmers in the city had sold their loyalty to the nobles.

With this in mind, Orion took a mental note to take care of the farmers once he was done 'taking care' of the bandits.

"What of the slaves in the city?"

"The slaves? Do you mean the beastmen?" Jarvis was taken aback by Orion's question. He hadn't expected Orion to care about the slaves in the city.

"Yes."

"Well, ever since the emperor ordered every royal family to arrest every beastman in their respective kingdoms, the beastmen developed a strong aversion towards the human race."

Ever since the demons took control of the beast continent, many of the survivors fled from the continent to seek refuge in the human, elves, and merfolks continents.

However, when the beast-men arrived at the human continent, it wasn't long before most people within the empire started to fall ill before dying of a strange illness.

Since no one knew the cause of the illness, and it just happened to spread across the empire exactly when the beast-men arrived in the human continent, the emperor thought it would be better to make sure all the beastmen were apprehended and turned into slaves due to the assumption that they might actually be colliding with the demons to take over the human continent next.

However, nothing changed even after the beastmen were turned into slaves. And since there was no substantial proof as to who caused the unknown illness, the emperor couldn't give the order to eliminate all the beast-men in the continent.

All these allowed the beast-men to develop a deep hatred towards the humans, with neither the beast-men nor the humans knowing that the cause of most of the deaths in the continent was actually due to the miasma oozing out of dungeons.

"I see," Orion pondered a bit after listening to everything Jarvis had to say about the beastmen. He had a plan for the future which would definitely involve the beastmen race and he was certain the emperor wouldn't approve of it.

He was certain the emperor would even decide to turn him into an enemy for going against the direct orders he gave to all royal families across the empire.

However, Orion wasn't worried about this. The Hearthstone kingdom belonged to him and it housed three of the most important women in his life. And as a result of this, their protection was of utmost importance to him.

If the emperor wished to make an enemy of him for a decision he would make in the future, then Orion was prepared to face the consequences of his actions.

Leaving all these aside for now, Orion found it strange that the Royal treasurer, who was normally in charge of taxes in the city, had not reported or made a complaint to Lucretia or maybe Jarvis ever since the bandits were in charge of receiving taxes from merchants and other wealthy people in the city.

It was strange for the Royal treasurer to act this way, at least, unless he was already working with the nobles.

And if this was the case, it meant that Orion simply had one more name on the list of those he had to kill.