Before and after the royal meeting began, Ayanokouji had investigated the backgrounds of all the candidates for the throne.
Except for Crusch, who had the support of the Karsten family, the person with the greatest overall strength was actually Anastasia. She not only owned the largest trading house in the world, but she also had an elite unit called Iron Fang and her two other younger brothers were deputy leaders.
Although they looked like harmless kittens, he knew that the three of them possessed immense power.
However, although Anastasia previously had the capital to compete with the Karsren family, as Ayanokouji annexed the Karsten family and accelerated its development, the gap between the two sides became wider.
And most importantly, it wasn't just that, but Anastasia's identity – no matter what level of power she had in the Kararagi State, it was limited to Kararagi, and her power couldn't be fully infiltrated, and for many conservatives in the Lugnica Kingdom, Anastasia was nothing more than an outsider.
Ayanokouji was sure that Anastasia also knew this, so she wanted to gain as much home advantage as possible.
But this played into his plan.
For Anastasia, in her own territory, Ayanokouji and his team's actions would be monitored by her. She could observe their movements better, and the initiative was in her own hands.
For Ayanokouji, this was a perfect opportunity for him to find Anastasia's weaknesses, and even find a way to completely defeat her.
At that time, he could also use commercial warfare to restrain Anastasia and completely remove her from the king selection.
Anastasia might be able to gain the initiative, but this also gave Ayanokouji a chance to penetrate deep into the interior, like a sharp knife thrust directly into the heart.
However, he couldn't show this, otherwise, Anastasia would realize the problem.
"Minato, let's go there alone? It's a bit too far." Ayanokouji said expressionlessly, "And it's too close to Kararagi. Could you have some strange arrangements?"
'Have you been noticed?' Anastasia thought to herself, but still said without changing her expression, "Sorry, I have absolutely no specific ideas. I just want to reduce unnecessary costs and risks, and I have been with Ayanokouji, you have achieved a cooperative relationship. If you come to Minato this time, I can use this opportunity to entertain you, just consider it as a trip."
Anastasia thought the other party was on the second level, but she never thought that the other party might already be on a higher level.
"So. In that case, it's hard to refuse the kindness." Ayanokouji nodded and said, and the two quickly reached a preliminary consensus on the price.
For him, such a price could be exchanged for the power of Puck, it was really beneficial.
❀❀❀
"I was actually tricked into doing this by this person."
This time, Anastasia raised her head and looked at the scenery in the sky, her eyes becoming more curious about Ayanokouji.
❀❀❀
"A character who is intelligent, cunning, and greedy. Such a character is not common in games, but because she is a little girl, she still has strategic value."
In another world, Katsuragi Keima raised his glasses and muttered to himself.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
Soon, Ayanokouji left Anastasia's house and returned to the palace in the royal capital.
It was already evening. The next agenda today was to meet the old fox Russell, but before that, he had to go back to the mansion to tidy up a bit, and he also needed to bring another one who was also a bit of a troublesome man.
"I told you, Otto, are you still not ready after this whole afternoon?" Ayanokouji walked to the door of a certain room, knocked on the door and asked.
"Sorry..." At last, Otto slowly opened the door and walked out.
At this moment, he had put on a neat suit, which seemed to fit him well. He put his hand on his stomach: "I should be ready, but I have a stomachache, not because of eating. It's caused by something wrong, but because of nervousness... I said to Ayanokouji-sama, do you really want me to go with you on such an occasion?"
"Yes, this matter is very important and related to you, so you have to follow it."
Ayanokouji's eyes focused on Otto's face. As he said, Otto was very nervous at this moment and his eyes were dodging slightly.
Otto remembered that he had been treated as a commodity by Russell and imprisoned in a dungeon, but now he had to talk to him on an equal footing.
He took a deep breath: "I'll adjust it again! Ayanokouji-sama, give me five minutes!"
"Yes." Ayanokouji nodded, then returned to his room.
He opened the door and saw a petite figure lying on his bed.
At this time, the Ryuzu clone named Omega, or the core of whose soul was named Echidna, was lying on his bed, holding a book in one hand, and the other hand took a snack and enjoyed it in bed without any hesitation.
"Echidna, you used to be a witch." Ayanokouji looked at the scene in front of him and shook his head helplessly.
"It's not easy for me to get a body! I couldn't eat so many delicious foods in the City of Dreams before, or should I say, I couldn't eat anything. Besides, I couldn't feel it at all." Echidna once again used her small hand to grab a handful of snacks and put them in her mouth.
"If I remember correctly, you should be my maid now."
"Yes." Echidna said lightly.
"Then you will clean the room for me later, and I will add a contract clause that doesn't allow you to eat in my bed. If you break it..."
"I know, I know!" Echidna pouted and cleaned up the remaining food on the bed with her hand, "By the way, Kiyo, are you going out later?"
"Mhm."
"Let me follow you too."
"Reason?"
"It's so boring staying at home all the time!"
"This is another vocabulary you learned from my previous memories."
"Of course." Echidna stuck out her tongue jokingly, "I've seen enough hills and green meadows for four hundred years, and I also want to go out and see new things."
"Actually, you just want to eat modern food." Ayanokouji revealed mercilessly.
"Haha, how could that be?"
"Honestly."
"That's true..." Because of the content of the contract, Echidna had no way to violate Ayanokouji's orders
"As expected, Donna, you are just an immature little kid." Typhon's voice also sounded in Echidna's mind at this moment.
"How many times have you said this..." Echidna was a little helpless, the last thing she wanted was to be treated like a child
Ayanokouji thought carefully and concluded that there was no harm in bringing Echidna with him, and it might prevent unexpected situations
"There's no harm in bringing you with me." He said slowly.
"Really?!" Echidna's eyes lit up.
The scene changed, night fell, Ayanokouji and his entourage had arrived at Russell's house.
"Long time no see, Ayanokouji-sama!" The first time Russell saw him, a warm smile appeared on his face, and it seemed that there was no shortage
But Ayanokouji was well aware that Russell's breath was a little fast, there was a little sweat on his forehead, he looked very nervous, and there were faint dark circles around his eyes.
As he expected, it was Russell who hired the bandits to secretly attack him, and who had always been peeking at the letters.
Although Russell had reached a cooperative relationship with him, he also felt that Ayanokouji, whose momentum was rapidly increasing, was a threat. On the surface, Ayanokouji helped him expand his market and protect his trade routes, but in reality, Ayanokouji was penetrating him little by little.
Russell was a smart man and naturally knew this. The reason why he was still willing to reach an agreement with Ayanokouji was because he wanted to gain enough temporary benefits from Ayanokouji's forces, and then find a way to get rid of him.
That's why Russell chose to secretly block Ayanokouji's letters and secretly read the contents of the letters before the other party sent them to get information about Ayanokouji when he came to the royal capital and the people who came with him.
Ayanokouji deliberately mentioned in his mind that he only brought unimportant personnel, which was a good opportunity for Russell to move.
And Russell was very careful, letting the servants who seemed to have nothing to do with him handle all the matters, and using various methods to ensure that even if their actions were exposed, they would not reveal themselves.
Russell received news yesterday that Ayanokouji had returned to the Royal Capital, which surprised him.
How could they break through the bandits?
These people are the ones with special powers.
Or did they not encounter them at all?
Russell also secretly sent people to check the situation outside the royal capital, but found nothing.
He initially thought that these bandits had the guts to take his money for themselves and did nothing, so he immediately sent people to track down those people. Russell would never let anyone take advantage of him. The personal information and family situation of these thieves were all under his control.
But from beginning to end, Russell couldn't find any evidence, as if they had disappeared from this world.
This made him a little worried, and if Ayanokouji really encountered bandits and survived, would he know that he did it
If it were someone else, Russell would think that he did it perfectly, and others wouldn't be able to know about him.
But if it was Ayanokouji, he couldn't guarantee this, because he couldn't see through Ayanokouji at all, so he could only invite him to his place as a guest, and test him on the grounds of expanding his business lines.
Last night, Russell tossed and turned and couldn't sleep all night. This was what Ayanokouji expected. Without enough rest and a panicked mentality, one wouldn't be able to make rational judgments.
He had even decided that if the other party really knew about him, he had to silence them.
"We've been waiting for a long time. Please have a seat, Ayanokouji-sama!" Russell immediately smiled and led Ayanokouji and the others to the dining table.
Otto was very nervous. After all, the man in front of him was the one who had imprisoned him. However, Russell seemed a little dazed at this moment and didn't realize Otto's true identity.
"Ayanokouji-sama, when you came to the royal capital, was your journey safe?" Russell said impatiently.
For Ayanokouji, such a question was the same as asking him. However, he was in no hurry to take action. He was now in Russell's house. If Russell was solved now, what would happen?
Ayanokouji didn't like trouble.
If the time was right, he would naturally let Russell withdraw from the game without involving himself.
"Thank you Russell for your concern. My journey was very safe." Ayanokouji said expressionlessly.
"I heard that the security situation around the royal capital hasn't been very good lately. Merchants are often robbed by thieves. Ayanokouji-sama should also be careful!" Russell pretended to be worried
"Is there such a thing? Thank you, Russell, for reminding me." Ayanokouji said slowly, but Russell couldn't get any information from his face.
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