The Unusual Scapegoat

Katonia.

Inside the living room of the 12th Imperial Prince's residence, there was a strange and momentary silence. It was as if the air inside the living room had suddenly become heavy and serious.

Boom!

Handal who was sitting in the main seat of the living room suddenly threw away the glass of wine in his hand.

"Damn it! I swear I'll grind the bones of that bastard to ashes and make him regret that he was ever born."Handal madly uttered. He swore to never let this go!

His face was gloomy, and his piercing cold eyes were like a knife sweeping across the people in front of him.

The uncontrollable anger soaring inside him suddenly made the atmosphere in the living room extremely suffocating.

As if that wasn't enough that bastard caused him to lose an exceedingly useful and loyal follower today, but there was also a rumor going around that he was the one that schemed against Count Bertrand and got his family executed.

They also believed that it was his people that looted the Count's residence and stole all of his money the night before.

Many of the nobles that supported him were already calling him as they felt uneasy. Even though he didn't scheme against Count Bertrand or got him killed, he didn't have any proof to prove his innocence.

In the eyes of the nobles, he was the mastermind. To make matter worse, not too long ago, the 3rd Imperial Prince was trying to get Count Bernard's support, but he rejected him.

This kinda complicated things and made him seemed even more guilty as some nobles started to speculate that Count Bertrand had secretly betrayed him which he later found out and got him killed because of that by using the hands of the honest and straightforward 13th Imperial Prince.

At this moment, he truly regretted his action. If he knew things were going to blow out of proportion like that, he would have never tried to assassinate the bastard within Count Bertrand's territory and using one of his maidservants.

He was simply too hasty and now he was paying for that mistake dearly. He also realized that the little bastard had changed and wasn't the same anymore.

Before, even when he sent people to kill him, he would simply kill the assassins and didn't even bother to look for the person truly responsible. However, it wasn't the case anymore.

Not only that, but he also seemed to have become more talkative and cunning. Now, he always had this devious expression on his face as if he was up to no good.

"Albert, did your people find the person who had broken to the Count's estate and stole all of his belongings?" The prince glowered as he questioned sternly, his voice was sonorous and forceful like an angry beast.

Upon hearing the 12th Imperial Prince's question, Albert's expression suddenly became ugly as he said with an apologetic tone."I am sorry your Highness but we haven't found the culprit yet."

"That person seemed to be an experienced thief, not only he had evaded all the magic traps set within the mansion, he also didn't leave a single trace behind."

"Even the knights on duty that night didn't see anything. It was as if that person was a ghost."Explained Albert.

"Damn! You are all useless. I am surrounded by a bunch of useless people. None of you can even accomplish a simple task." Yelled out Handal angrily. His expression was quite unsightly at this moment.

As everyone believed that he was the one that robbed the Count blind, finding the true culprit was the only way to prove his innocence. Yet, even after spending hours looking for that damn thief, they couldn't find him.

That thief was so hateful that he even stole the floor tiles of the mansion and the Count's gold teeth out his mouth. Just thinking how people believed that he was that kinda thief made Handal even more furious.

Meanwhile, Alberts and the other personal knights of the 12th Imperial Prince were quivering lightly.

They could tell that Handal was extremely angry. They all lowered their heads, looking down. Their manners were respectful, but they didn't know what to say.

At the same time, they all had an anxious and worried expressions on their faces. They didn't dare to make the slightest sound.

.....

While Handal and his people were racking their brains about the identity of the thief and looking for him everywhere, the culprit Mikhail sat lazily in his room while going to his loot.

As he was in a hurry last night, he didn't have time to check them.

At this moment, there was a small mountain made entirely of treasures within his room. Various dazzling lights brilliantly shone from all of the treasures as if there was a rainbow within the room.

There was an ocean of gold coins and numerous types of gemstones in the color spectrum. There were weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and even gauntlets. There was even a handful of purified Ether stones.

Aside from that, there was also a handful of books that contained skills and magic spells. The whole room was ornamented with numerous rare treasures.

"That fat pig was indeed wealthy. Yet, I heard he was extremely cheap." Mikhail murmured to himself as he was looking at the mountain of treasures in front of him.

This amount of treasures and gold bricks piling up on top of each other in his room was enough to drive many people crazy. However, Mikhail still had a calm expression on his face.

He slowly reached out his hand and picked up one of the books before he started reading it. Once he was done, the cold and mechanical voice of the system suddenly rang out within his mind.

[You have acquired the Skill' Beast King Sword Art'(Lvl1)]

With the help of the system, Mikhail only had to read through a skill book once before everything was engrained within his mind.

After that, he only needed to spend some time practicing that skill to raise his mastery level.

Once Mikhail was done with the first book, he picked out another one and start reading it again. And once he was done, the same thing happened.

[You have acquired the Skill' Fear'(Lvl1)]

However, Mikhail didn't stop there as he continued to read more skill books. However, he didn't touch the magic spellbooks. Unlike the knight Skill books, the magic spell books took more time to learn.

[You have acquired the Skill' Aura Concentration'(Lvl1)]

[You have acquired the Skill' Illusionary Sword Art'(Lvl1)]

Just like that, Mikhail buried himself within his room as he was learning all types of new skills to increase his battle strength.