Count Alvis Arman

Alone in the room, he took a seat on the nearby chair with a soft cushion and ponder the possible involvement of Kurosawa in Lot's retirement.

I thought my missing amulet is the most pressing matter but I was wrong.

If the second implication proved to be true then the Royal Family is in trouble.

Apart from the reason that the public knows about the sudden disappearance of Kurosawa from the Edo Kingdom, there's a dark gruesome truth behind it that even the majority of the nobles didn't know about.

Count Alvin was fortunate to learn the truth. Thanks to the network intelligence he secretly established when he was appointed by his father and succeeded him as the head of his family.

As a Count, Alvis belongs to a few nobles that do not join any political parties, those that oppose and support the royal family.

Those nobles that belong to any of both parties gain more benefits than those who didn't not. Resulting in Count Alvis being called a fool along with other few nobles that didn't join political parties.

Although he was belittled by other nobles that have a higher social standing than him, what they didn't know is that Alvis holds more power and influence than them.

His Intelligence network can rival the royal family. He was able to block and feed the intelligence network family any information that can disrupt his way of living. But by doing that, he is risking a lot and spending gold. By bribing the least loyal to the royal family.

Threatening them is not an option, people tend to be more aggressive when they are threatened, mostly if the said people are backed by the Royal Family.

What should be done to lure those people and feed them the wrong information? Gold.

Running his Network Intelligence is a tedious task and costs him too much. But thanks to the information he can gather, he was able to earn more than the costs. So it's a win for him.

As a head of network intelligence, describing running the said network as tedious is out of his character as the head. He should have lots of people that can run the management. But that's the problem, the people. His subordinate.

Although his subordinate is loyal to him, they lack talent. Which is management. So all the hard tasks fall under his responsibility.

That was why he was both shocked and glad that his people were able to produce a satisfying report. It is not a hundred percent fact but it is progress.

And the report itself is also delicate and highly confidential. Assuming what was in his mind is all true, then the Edo Kingdom is in peril.

He then turn his gaze to the window just across from where he was sitting.

It's already late. I should have gone to bed now. He thought and proceeded.

Morning came, and Alvin Arman was awakened due to the sunlight that fixated on his face. He also heard a few birds chirping.

His gaze turns to the side table near his bed and looks at the small clock that was placed on it.

"It's already 7:00 AM in the morning, huh? Guess my age is already making a toll on me."

Apart from his age, he also thought the long journey from the Capital to West Town made him wake up late. As a middle-aged man, he always wakes up before the sun rises on the horizon. It is rarely he was woken up late.

He gets up as there are a lot of things that need to be done.

After an hour, he went outside of his room.

Count Alvis was greeted by his Captain who bow his head to him.

He nodded his head as an act of acknowledgment and started to walk towards the dining room.

Count Alvis was glad that no maids or servants waited for him outside his room. The Town Chief already knows what's needed to be done and not.

Upon entering the dining room, the Town Chief stood up and greeted him.

After the greetings, he waves his hand to start the breakfast.

During their breakfast, the Town Chief reported a lot of things. Through these reports, he learned a lot, no, more than one thousand heroes are lining up to partake in the mission.

He already anticipated this. Not only the rewards are generous but whoever found the missing amulet, will be knighted.

Now, being knighted has lots of perks. Although they are called heroes, they do not hold any perks that the knight has. The population only respected them. That's all.

The reason is the passage of time. When the first batch of heroes suddenly arrived, they were given a warm and grand welcome. All the royal families around the world treat them with respect and reverence, and so does the population of the world. It is because they are the prophesized beings that will get rid of evil lurking in the world.

Every hero has given the right to choose where they want to stay. Many kingdoms and nations offer something that is hard to refuse. It is because in every corner of the world, the monsters are powerful and every day, those monsters overpowered them.

But when the heroes keep appearing in every corner of the world, and so the warm and grand welcome becomes dull and dull until no kingdom gives them perks anymore.

Until now, every day, a new batch of heroes will appear. So people lose interest already until no one gives them too much attention.

But everyone around the world, until now. They respected heroes. It is because these heroes are good at killing monsters. And the burden was lifted off the shoulder of authorities and royal families.

Although there was a time when the appearance of heroes was suddenly banished without reason. All the renowned and new heroes become missing and no one can find them.

And it is connected to why he was here in the West Town, recruiting heroes to find the missing amulet.

According to his late grandfather, the most prized information in their family was passed down, generation from generation about the missing amulet.

This amulet holds a massive wealth and ancient artifacts that hold great power. It is said the first generations of kings of the Edo Kingdom intended to give all this wealth and artifacts to the lone hero who defended their country against a massive invasion of monsters.

After the invasion, the hero disappear and so the King passed down the legacy to his predecessor, but due to some unfortunate events, the missing amulet, the map that will lead to the location of this wealth and artifacts was lost.

This information is only known to specific people, the Arman Family, the Royal Family, and some handful of nobles.

And when he learned that Mel, known previously as Lot who is the Captain of the Second battalion of the Edo Kingdom was here, he decided to do the recruitment there.

And since Mel is not affiliated with any guild, he decided to recruit heroes instead of recruiting powerful adventurers.

As to why he is very interested in Mel?

According to his network intelligence, Mel is related to the royal family. He is actually the son of the late king. But since his mother is only a maid in the palace, the King can only give him a proper education and training.

Mel doesn't have the power to compete with the princesses and princes for succession.

The Royal Family kept this a secret.

So if the second implication that the network intelligence gathered proves to be true, then Mel learned something that made him quit.

Kurosawa, huh?

This man is the powerhouse of the Edo Kingdom and yet the King banished him. And he knows the reason why he was banished.

So if the reason why Mel quit the service and retired to a far removal place away from the capital is to meet Kurosawa, then the Royal Family is in trouble.

Thinking of this, he let out a loud sigh,

The Town Chief stop talking and asked him in a worried tone.

"My Lord, is the food not to your taste?"

Count Alvis smile and answered "No, it's not that. I just remember all the paperwork I left in my estate. Anyway, where is the Chef? I want to give him words about this food. It is definitely delicious."

Hearing this, the Town Chief merrily laughs and proudly gives his opinion.

"It is indeed, that is why his restaurant is always full pack with people."

"Do you think if I offer him a job as a chef in my estate, he will agree?"

"If it's you who asked, I doubt he will refuse your offer, My Lord."

The Town Chief quickly orders one of the maids to call Mel.

After five minutes, the maid returned with Mel and another handsome young man.

Count Alvis intently examines Mel and the young man beside him.

"Mel, good thing you are here. Our Lord told me that the food you cook is the best."

Count Alvis gets the napkin and wipes the corner of his mouth.

He then stood up and stride towards the duo.

Mel and the young man bow their head.

"I learned that your name is Mel. I also learned that you are the previous chef that cook the food we ate the last time we are here."

Mel answered in a respectable manner "What the Lord said is true."

Count Alvis smile.

"Because the food you cook is delicious, I want to extend my gratitude and give you some rewards."

And then the Captain hearing this stride forward to them and bring the cloth bag that has gold coins inside.

The Captain extended his hand and give the cloth bag to Mel.

Mel hesitates to receive the cloth bag.

Seeing his hesitation, Count Alvis urges him.

"It is only a small amount. You can accept it. Consider it as payment for a job well done. Besides, after we finish the thing we needed to finish, I want to hire you as the exclusive chef on my estate in the Capital City. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Mel's gaze becomes gloomy.

It didn't escape the sharp eyes of Count Alvis.

As answered, Mel shook his head and respectfully decline "My Lord, I cannot accept this payment. The Town Chief already paid the wages so there's no need for this. And apologies if I may offend you but I cannot accept the offer you have given to your humble servant. I have a daughter and cannot leave her here alone."

Count Alvis becomes disappointed but he refuses to give up now. If he can leash Mel right now, there's a high possibility he can learn about the location of the missing amulet. After all, he was sure that Mel know something about it. He was a son of a late king for goodness sake!

"Then you can bring your daughter alone."

"Your humble servant is very grateful for your offer but I cannot accept it. Please forgive me."

And Mel bows his head 45 degrees.

Count Alvis cannot help but shook his head in disappointment.

"If that's what you want. Anyway, if you change your mind, tell me right away. We will be staying here until we finished our task."

"Thank you for your understanding, My Lord!"

"That's enough. Here, take this cloth bag."

Mel was about to decline again when suddenly, the young man beside him interject.

"My Lord, thank you so much. As the apprentice of my master, I will take it for him. My master is just shy because he is not used to receiving rewards from others."

The young man extended his hand and took the cloth bag.

After taking the cloth bag, he bows his head 45 degrees, and once again, he thanked Count Alvis for his generosity.