Chapter 12: The Plot in Hiro City

"Young Master Hughes can reach such an extent!"

"Duke, how can you let Young Master Hughes refine the anti-magic stone? That's a perilous path."

"Yea it's a shortcut, but this shortcut doesn't lead to a bright future!"

The dark clouds from Napoleon dispersed quietly, and the atmosphere in the study immediately eased up.

The nobles were now in a great mood after knowing that they did not have to fight Napoleon to the death for the time being. They all expressed their concern about Hughes' choice.

"That was his own choice. He has grown up, so I can't really interfere with him."

Norton put on a helpless expression. He did not intend to tell these people that Hughes had already mastered the magic circuit.

It was too terrifying to have mastered the magic circuit at the age of fifteen.

If Hughes could successfully master the training method of the anti-magic stone like those holy magister in the anti-magic Research Institute, he would become the most important asset of the Smith family.

Smith would never expose Hughes unless it was a life-and-death situation.

In this world, strength was the most important thing. All those below the ninth-tier mage-god were mere mortals.

Due to political interests, Napoleon could tolerate a group of nobles who wanted to rebel.

Because the way these people played did not surpass the rules of the power struggle.

But the tier nine mage God was different.

It was an existence that could single-handedly take on the entire world.

The gap between the tier eight Saint Magister and the tier nine mage God was even greater than the difference between them and mortals.

The current rules of the game could not restrain a mage God at all!

Once a mage God was born, the world would go through a real shuffle.

Everyone would become powerless chess pieces, except for the rank nine mage God who would play chess outside the game.

"Sigh!"

Norton let out a long sigh and abandoned the distracting thoughts in his heart.

"I called you here today mainly because I want to talk about something."

"Napoleon has already made a move against us. Although now is not the time for us to retaliate, we cannot just sit back and wait."

"From today onwards, everyone set aside their businesses in the city for the time being. We will first remove the nails in the army."

…

While Norton was in a hurry to discuss matters with his men, the other people in Hiro City were not idle either.

The nobles who had joined with Napoleon VII were busy discussing how to make the parade bigger and to ensure that the interests of their aristocratic families wouldn't be damaged.

The representatives of the lower class also gathered together and discussed how to use this incident to push away the greedy hands of the nobles above their heads and get a greater share of the cake on their plates.

As the person behind the scenes of the entire incident, Napoleon VII naturally did not sit idle.

"Duke Mark, I heard that the people in the city recently are somewhat dissatisfied with the way I, the Emperor, Act. I wonder what you think of this."

In a side room of the imperial palace, in a tea room.

The Emperor, Napoleon VII, held a cup of black tea and looked at Mark Oscar who was sitting in front of him with a smile.

"His Majesty has a discerning eye. The people are just bewitched by scheming men. On the day the truth is revealed, the people of the imperial capital will definitely understand His Majesty's painstaking efforts."

Mark Oscar was an experienced politician. Before the Emperor had expressed his stance, it was simply impossible for a cunning fox like him to express his stance.

"I can't say that I have a discerning eye. I just feel that the child, Hughes, is rather pitiful, so I wanted to help him. I also didn't think that such a situation would raise."

After drinking a mouthful of tea, Napoleon VII returned to his seat and asked with a faint smile,

"Duke Mark, you are a well-known wise man in the Imperial City, and also my most trusted friend. I want to ask you, should I take back my orders this time?"

He's forcing me to express my stance?

He wanted me to lead the charge?

Last night, Mark Oscar guessed Napoleon VII's plan.

Then he gathered his men and made corresponding preparations in advance.

He also informed Lucian in advance, telling his useless little son to train hard and prepare for the duel in a few days.

He had thought of everything, but he did not expect Napoleon VII to be so desperate this time.

Before everything was clear, Napoleon asked the nobles of the internal affairs system that he represented to make a statement.

For a moment, he was actually a little flustered.

However, such a fluster did not last for long.

Mark Oscar quickly sobered up from the fluster.

The faction that he was in was the civil service system of the Imperial City while Norton was in the military system that Norton. The two sides had always disliked each other!

Now, Napoleon VII was going to deal with Norton and take back the military power.

His faction of civil service officials, would certainly gain a lot of benefits from this battle.

Napoleon VII was such a smart emperor. How could he let them only take benefits and not put in any effort.

The arrow was on the bow, and had to be fired!

Mark Oscar made a decision immediately.

He would test the emperor's attitude. If the emperor was not too determined, then he would wait and watch the battle. If the emperor had no concerns, then he would stand on the same line with the Emperor and directly draw a line with Norton's side.

"His Majesty's words are golden and will make no mistakes. I think His Majesty does not need to withdraw your orders. After the examination, the people of the Imperial City will naturally understand His Majesty's painstaking efforts."

Mark Oscar bowed slightly and said slowly.

"Hmm, Duke is indeed worthy of being a famous wise man in Hiro City. This patience is truly rare."

"Alright, this time I will do as you say. I will not withdraw my orders."

As soon as his voice fell, Napoleon VII slowly stood up and said with a faint smile,

"But it's hard to go against the will of the people. I still have to give an explanation to the people of the Imperial City."

"How about this, you will host the exam this time. You must make sure that Hughes gets a result that everyone is satisfied with!"

Napoleon VII deliberately emphasized the word 'satisfied'. Then, he looked at Mark Oscar with a smile on his face.

As expected, he is still forcing me to declare my position!

Couldn't he wait a little longer? He couldn't even wait for a few more days!

Despite the resentment in his heart, Mark Oscar still maintained his original deference on the surface.

"Thank you for Your Majesty's Trust. I will definitely not betray your Majesty's trust this time."

In the end, Mark Oscar still agreed to Napoleon VII's request.

He knew that if he did not agree today, his Oscar family would definitely not gain any benefits from it once the Smith family has collapsed.

Would he be willing to be Napoleon's Lackey? There were too many people who charge in instead of him.

If he did not grasp this opportunity, he would be pulled down from his position as the Home Affairs Minister.

Different from the tulip family, the Bauhinia family only managed to rise rapidly in these twenty years and return to the ranks of the empire's top noble families because of the support of Emperor Napoleon VII.

Without the support of the emperor, his position would soon be replaced by those nobles who were eyeing him covetously.

"Mm, you can go back. I'm a little tired."

Napoleon VII put down his wine glass, turned around and walked out of the side hall.

When he left, his face was full of smiles.