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Idiot."

Amelia ground her teeth as soon as she received Harold's letter.

There is a time for everything. Being cautious is good, but seizing the right moment is also a skill.

Harold was certainly a capable man, but his characteristic caution was now holding him back.

"Now is not the time to be worrying about that. Jurgen said we'd take care of it ourselves. Bernap, what do you think? Bernap?"

Amelia, who had been staring at the letter, frowned at the lack of response and raised her head.

Bernap was just looking at her face with an ecstatic expression.

Amelia rested her head on her forehead, closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply.

'Ha, it's my fault. It's my fault.'

In fact, Bernap wasn't originally this stupid. When I first met him, he was actually quite intelligent.

But these days, I live without even thinking about it.

In a way, it was Amelia's fault. She planned everything, and Bernap only did what Amelia told him to do.

After he no longer had to think, Bernap spent his time looking at Amelia's face without any reason.

He said he did it because he liked it, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"Bernaf!"

Meow!

"Huh? Yep!"

Bernap was startled to his senses by Amelia and Bastet's shouts and wiped his spittle.

Amelia sighed again and spoke quickly.

"Harold is being stupid, so we should make the move first."

"Doesn't Count Desmond hate being deviated from his plans? If we do as we please, he will certainly not stay still even if we succeed."

"So, first of all, we need to ask permission."

"How?"

"I'll send false information to Harold. When my father gathers all his troops, there's really nothing we can do. He'll probably have a rough idea of the timing, so if we send false information at the last minute, he'll have no choice but to fall for it."

"Aha, then the shit rope will be burned and I won't be able to stop it any longer. Good idea."

"Yeah, and… … ."

Amelia continued with a cold look in her eyes.

"Once I succeed, I'll have to find a way to bypass Harold and contact the Duke directly."

At those words, Bernap swallowed hard.

Harold had always been open about ignoring Amelia, so their feelings for each other could not have been good.

Since they are on the same side and have the Duke behind them, there is no need to go to war, but it will not be easy to politically overthrow him.

But Amelia seemed to have a plan in mind.

Bernap considered asking what his plans were, but quickly decided not to.

'Even if I listen to it, it'll just give me a headache and be more work, right?'

As he kept his mouth shut and pretended not to know, Amelia picked up another report and asked.

"There are no problems with dealing with Jiselle, right?"

When I asked Amelia if it would be okay to trade with Giselle at the top of Actium, she agreed without much hesitation.

Because right now, it was important not to interfere with Jiselle, but to succeed in the rebellion and grow the upper class.

She was the kind of person who would not hesitate to join hands with the enemy if necessary.

Amelia asked without thinking, but Bernap hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Yes, as expected, we are purchasing food, materials, and daily necessities. However… … ."

"but?"

"They keep lowering the price by 1 gold."

"What? 1 gold? Not a few hundred gold?"

"Yes, 1 gold."

"why?"

"I don't know. I just asked them to lower the price. And only by 1 gold."

"… … ."

Amelia was silent for a long time.

'Is this kid trying to drug me?'

In fact, this incident was something Claude did to satisfy his personal greed, but Amelia had no way of knowing that.

Who would have imagined that so many crazy people would be gathered in one territory?

She shook her head, rubbing her forehead against the headache that was coming on.

"Leave that alone for now. And send someone to the capital to get some of Giselle's cosmetics."

"Huh? That… why?"

"I just wanted to see what it was like. They said it was effective, so I'll try it too."

Amelia had already obtained information about the Duke's evaluation of Giselle and what had happened in the capital.

Every time I thought about him, my heart raced, but I couldn't deny that Giselle had now become a big shot, even carrying the Marquis of Branford on his back.

"If I had known he had that kind of ability, I would have given him 200,000 gold instead of 20,000. He's annoying, but it's a shame."

Bernap asked, slightly uneasy at Amelia's subtle nuance in her remark.

"Then… … . Are you thinking of getting engaged again or something?"

Amelia is the kind of person who gets what she wants by any means necessary.

If he really cared about Giselle, he could have proposed the engagement again.

Amelia chuckled at Bernap's voice, which was filled with anxiety.

It probably wouldn't be easy to express your feelings like that.

"Fine. It's true that he's unlucky even though he's capable. I don't really like people who show off like that in front of me. And… … ."

Amelia was silent for a moment and then continued speaking softly.

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"There's no need to hurt my people because of someone like that."

At those words, Bernap's face brightened. For no reason, his heart started pounding again and his face became hot.

Although it was something I only heard occasionally, the words 'my person' somehow felt like they were something special said only to me.

Amelia sat down, held Bastet in her arms, poured wine into a glass and said.

"What are you doing? Get moving. Make sure you prepare for the operation without any mistakes."

"Yes! I understand!"

Bernap saluted with the aforementioned face and then stepped aside.

Amelia shook her head as she watched him leave in excitement.

"Is that really so good? Well… …. Bastet, what about you?"

Meow.

Bastet also rubbed her head against her chest and let out a pleasant cry.

Amelia sipped her wine with an incomprehensible smile.

* * *

Giselle, who laid the foundation for the trainee knights, kept pestering Claude without giving him a moment to catch his breath.

There was a pressing need to proceed with the next planned task.

"Haven't you heard from the slavers yet? What happened? Did they run off with my money?"

"Oh, you asked me yesterday too. I told you that they sent me a separate message saying that it would take more time. I guess they are being careful because the price is the price."

Even if you only move one inter-race slave, it costs a lot of money.

There were more than a few bandits and lords targeting them. It was understandable that they would make a lot of money if they could somehow steal just one.

In the end, slave traders had no choice but to do their utmost to protect their slaves.

Even the slaves of different races that Giselle requested were not just one or two.

It was a problem that was bound to take time as it had to be gathered from numerous branches.

"That's why I strongly advised you to quickly gather the dwarves and send them first. Even if it meant putting off the other slaves."

"That's… … . Phew. Those people whose lifeline is credit, they must be on their way. They'll be here soon."

Claude tried to say something to the grumbling Giselle, but held it back and tried to calm him down.

"Send someone to check how far they are and tell them to come back as quickly as possible. There's no time."

"Okay, I understand."

Claude, who had been severely criticized by Giselle, stepped back helplessly.

"I'll have to ask again tomorrow."

Jiselle smiled and headed to the training ground.

Although he was the busiest person in the territory, he never missed training whenever he had free time.

Knowing the strength of my enemies, I couldn't waste a single moment.

Kuung!

"Whew, whoosh."

Heavily armed with heavy armor, Giselle held her sword and took a deep breath.

This armor was specially ordered by him, and was made from solid steel, much thicker than normal armor, and weighed hundreds of kilograms.

Drrrrrr.

That wasn't all. There were chains all over Giselle's body.

At each end of the chain hung a heavy weight.

It is a practice of practicing swordsmanship by wrapping one's entire body in a weight that is so heavy that it would be difficult for an ordinary person to breathe, let alone move.

Kuung!

With every step you take, a heavy sound echoes throughout the area.

Jiselle slowly swung her sword, feeling the weight pressing down on her entire body.

Even when swinging the sword, he doesn't swing it carelessly.

It's not training, it's just torturing the body.

Ugh.

He moved the sword to the optimal position without shaking, paying attention to even the movements of his fingertips.

After completing one movement, move on to the next movement, and if the movement is even slightly disturbed, repeat that movement dozens or hundreds of times.

It was a training method that an ordinary person would never be able to follow, but for Jiselle, it was something she had always done.

Through these efforts, he surpassed his talents and broke through his limitations.

'yet again.'

Knock knock knock.

Every time I moved, pain shot through me. It felt like my muscles were screaming under the weight.

'Hang in there!'

Jiselle gritted her teeth and endured it.

Because we know that muscles grow stronger and firmer as they tear and recover.

Moreover, thanks to the new regenerative powers he gained after returning, most wounds healed in an instant.

That is, even at this very moment, Giselle's body was growing at an incredibly fast rate.

Of course, the bigger and more numerous the wounds, the more mana was consumed, but Jiselle trained while handling the affairs of the estate while her tired body recovered.

Knowing that if she relied solely on her regenerative powers and did not rest, her body would eventually break down, Jiselle always pushed herself to the brink.

His experience thus far has told him instinctively when and where to stop for best results.

'Just a little more.'

However, although the effect was certain, it was a painful training that could not be accomplished with just a little perseverance and mental strength.

Whenever she felt like stopping and giving up, Giselle constantly whipped herself by reminding herself of the reasons why she had to be strong.

In my previous life, I gritted my teeth and endured all the pain with the sole intention of revenge.

And now.

The determination not to lose anything precious was what sustained him.

Because there were countless people targeting him.

The first enemy you have to deal with is Harold Desmond.

If you want to seize the hegemony of the North, you have no choice but to clash with him. On the other hand, he will also target Jisel to get his hands on the North.

Harold must be gnashing his teeth even more because he can't move right now.

And Amelia Leipold would also be after Giselle.

'Amelia is the most important variable in conquering the North, a double-edged sword.'

In terms of potential alone, he may be a more dangerous enemy than Harold, but he can't be eliminated right away. Targeting Amelia now would be a loss.

The priority was to grab the enemy's attention and buy time.

'If you can't get rid of it, you have no choice but to use it as much as possible.'

When I trampled on Leipold in my previous life, I happened to learn of Amelia's ambitions and plans.

If you use that point well, it could become a big variable in the future situation. Getting rid of her is the next thing.

'Because there aren't just those two enemies.'

Even if you defeat them, there are more dangerous guys lurking behind them.

First of all, the Duke of Delphine.

The Duke's faction, the most powerful force in the kingdom, was also an unavoidable enemy for Giselle.

It was clear that Raoul and Count Balzac would have considered themselves a danger.

And… … . Aiden.

He, who had been one of the top 7 continents in his previous life and had driven another top 7 continent, the Mercenary King, to death, will also come to see Jisel one day.

With the unknown powers he referred to as 'us'.

'I must reach the level of my previous life as soon as possible.'

To deal with this many enemies, great strength is needed.

Taking over the County of Cavaldi and obtaining iron ore was only a means to establish a foundation for continuing to fight them.

'I have to become stronger so I can save at least one more person.'

So, Jiselle could not give up this painful training.

The mana-generation method used by Jisel boasts explosive power. The disadvantage of being unstable and therefore having limited controllable amounts was greatly alleviated thanks to the poison consumed by Blood Python.

Now it was time to train his body to withstand the explosive force.

"Hoooo!"

He swings his sword again.

I could feel my muscles tearing as they reached their limit.

'It's a shame, but I guess I'll have to stop here today.'

As Giselle put down her sword and took a moment to catch her breath, her regenerative powers kicked in and her torn muscles healed.

He clenched his teeth to endure the pain, but inwardly clicked his tongue.

I once again felt regret for the dedicated training space I had created when I was the mercenary king in my previous life, where I even invited wizards.

If we could use a method that makes the space itself heavy and stimulates the muscles of the entire body, the training efficiency would be much higher than it is now.

'I'll have to ask Vanessa later to cast some wide-range gravity magic.'

A few days of pestering Claude, tearing muscles, organizing paperwork, and pestering Claude again.

Finally, the news that Giselle had been waiting for arrived.

"The dwarves have arrived!"