Chapter 163: The Shadow of the Smith Family – Third-Person Perspective
The time goes back about 10 hours.
"Father! It's a big deal, Father!"
"It's noisy, Al. Am is the only one who makes a lot of noise. Don't just imitate your brother's bad things."
Toruo Norte Boden Smith, the upper-class noble who governed the largest territory in the North Continent, welcomed his second son who was flustered in his bedroom.
Before he went to bed, he put on a gown that could be seen as made of fine fabrics, workmanship, and craftsmanship, poured out enough wine for a common man to live for a month, and drank it all down.
Contrary to such a relaxed father, the second son, Al Norte Boden Smith reported the situation with a change in his expression.
"I apologize for the noise! But it's a big deal! My brother was kidnapped on the way home from the party!"
"I already know. I also have an eye on the criminal."
"Is that true, Father!?"
Toruo poured more wine into the wine and stirred it with a sigh. After wiping his mouth, he turned his gaze to Al.
"The White Wolves attacked and kidnapped Am, and they would not hurt the hostage for their purposes. Don't worry."
"I see, so the white wolf tribe took older brother… So, it's fine, right? The white wolf tribe and older brother have had a relationship for a long time."
"Probably."
Toruo exhaled in a grumpy manner.
The White Wolves would plan to break the status quo through Am. There weren't many ways to get it.
(They could simply talk to Amu and try to break the current situation with his power.)
(They will send Amu a mistress from the white wolf tribe, create a marriage relationship, and send him back.)
(Holding Am hostage and demanding a breakthrough in the status quo. This can be eliminated as an option because there are too many disadvantages.)
When Toruo was thinking, Al murmured as if his thoughts leaked.
"I don't think so, but my brother won’t team up with the white wolves and attack the castle… there's no such thing, right?"
"!?"
The second son's point was a bolt out of the blue for Toruo.
(Even if Am thinks badly of me for giving a bounty to the white wolves and treating them coldly, I don't think he would attack the castle…)
But Toruo couldn't let go of that idea.
(He's smart but naive. His personality is too simple. If that point is poked at…)
To make things even worse, Am was a B-plus class magician. After graduating from the magician school, he traveled around the world and trained, so his abilities may have increased. In addition, the guards inside the castle will also feel psychological resistance, saying: “I don't want to fight with Am, the next lord."
If he were to attack the castle with a group of white wolves with a high predisposition to magic, Toruo might be forced down from the top if he didn't do well.
Once you doubt, hesitation arises, which changes into a curse called suspicion over time.
“Tell the guards to strengthen the castle’s security and strengthen its defenses!”
The maid, who was waiting for his instruction, bowed and left the bedroom.
"Al will make arrangements to search for my brother. Is it good, father?"
"I don't care, do what you like. If you find him, bring him to me as soon as possible."
"I understand. Then excuse me for the night."
Al politely bowed to the nobleman and left his father's bedroom.
At the same time, he turned his back on Toruo, Al's mouth was distorted like an evil monster.
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Leaving Toruo's bedroom, Al walked calmly with his attendants in the dark corridor illuminated by magic tools.
(With this, I successfully planted the seeds of suspicion in my father.)
His mouth involuntarily relaxed at the fact that his plan was progressing smoothly. A gloomy smile steeped in the joy of intrigue.
(After that, if my brother and father dance well, the lord's seat will be in my hands…)
Al Norte Borden Smith aimed to replace his brother Am as lord.
However, Al was the second son. Furthermore, he had no talent as a magician and had been attending an aristocratic school in the North Continent for a long time. It was a school attended by children of nobles who had no talent for magic.
In this world, magicians have a high status. Therefore, the more aristocrats and royalty, the more they tend to dislike marrying anyone other than a magician.
If two people with high magic talent marry each other, the chances of having a more talented child will increase. That's why the older the bloodline, the higher the mana capacity.
Therefore, children who attend this school basically cannot marry nobles. From the surrounding aristocrats, they were existences that were seen as one step or two lower. At best, They could get married to an upstart merchant or an aristocrat below them.
In other words, he or she couldn’t succeed while attending this school. Because of that, there was a somewhat murky atmosphere in the school.
Furthermore, Al was the second son. Not a magician, not the eldest son. From the moment he was born, his life was determined to lose.
(Who would admit such a thing? It's wrong that you can't get the head of the family just because you're not a magician or the eldest son! I'm different from those guys at school who accept defeat from the beginning. Absolutely. I will rise to the top!)
Al made up his mind and quickly worked out a plan.
To kick down Am, the eldest son, and sat on the lord's seat himself, what was necessary was to gain internal support by making the second son faction a majority, and to gain the consent of the people and lower nobles.
However, if Am was assassinated, he would not gain the support of the people and the lower nobles. If the base was not solid, the top will easily collapse. You can imagine what happens to a house with a rotten foundation. History is full of examples of similar failures.
So, Al aimed for the collapse of both his father and eldest son.
While Amu was away from the North Continent at the Wizarding School of the monster Continent, he bloated his father's desires. It was the simple job of stimulating his complex with words, like pouring poison.
His father, Toruo, had a terrible complex that he was "from the Northern Continent" despite being an upper-class aristocrat.
Toruo was an upper-class aristocrat who boasted the largest territory in the North Continent, but to the aristocrats of other continents, he was nothing more than a "North Continent Country Aristocrat".
As much as a child could see, his father hated it and had a complex.
Therefore, every time Al returned from school on holidays, he would tell his father, ‘Father is not a vessel that can fit in the North Continent’, and `No matter how much you suppress it, talent will seep out. People who understand it won't let it go'; and ‘the insight of a genius can't be understood by ordinary people.'
Gradually, Toruo began to think, ‘I'm not going to end up being such a rural aristocrat!’ ‘My talent is something that can be demonstrated in a wider place!’ He started to think that he thought of it himself from the beginning.
After that, like a snowball rolling down a slope, his self-esteem grew at an accelerated rate. And Toruo tried hard to be recognized by the nobles and kingdoms of other continents.
The acceptance of new penal colonies, preferential tax treatment for other continents, priority rights for foreign ships, etc. If you push too hard, the distortion will go to the weak. The people will resent their superiors if they give them too much burden. It becomes the path that leads to a Dark Lord.
Al made his father a recognizable villain. Even if my father was overthrown by this, the people would rejoice and cheer, and no one would complain.
The next thing to deal with was Am, the older brother. He would have him leave the North Continent temporarily.
In the meantime, he solidified his base, bringing in ministers, middle and lower nobility, castle guards, and subordinates, into his camp. To buy time, he recommended his brother, who was about to graduate from the magician school, to go on a journey to train as a warrior after graduation.
He exchanged letters with his older brother Am. Thanks to that, he was able to get a rough grasp of Am's current situation.
Am was concerned about an orphan of the white wolf tribe, but the opponent was an A-class magician. In that case, to become stronger than her, even after her graduation, he should not return to the North Continent and go on a martial arts training trip.
Am did not doubt that even after he graduated, he did not return, but traveled around the world and devoted himself to training.
Luckily, Al received a request for assistance from Mertia, the powerhouse of the monster Continent. They wanted him to capture two white wolves, a couple named Coola and Aril, and hand over their ‘rings’ along with their identities.
In the event of success, a large amount of money will be provided as a reward, said the messenger who approached him.
Without any hesitation, his father snapped at this story as if it were just a chance. Toruo happily started hunting the white wolves, but the strategy of simply throwing in a large number of soldiers fails.
Of course, Al was the one behind the scenes to make the operation fail. In the wake of this failure, Mertia’s messenger gave up on his incompetent father. Then contacted Al and started negotiations. He secretly formed a partnership with Mertia.
With the help of Mertia’s Golden Legion, the Seekers, and the silent assassins, he established a secret soldier corp. He would prepare the strength and power behind the scenes.
And to make his father Toruo's position even worse. He forced the Adventurer’s Guild put a large bounty on the white wolves.
The white wolves were a rare minority that coexists with the giants in the Northern Continent. They did the management of the Snowy Mountains. They deliberately caused small snowslides to reduce avalanches. They were the first to announce that the giants had strayed and headed for the city, helped the townspeople who were injured in the snowy mountains, and the white wolves chased after escaped sinners… They were beings who knew this snowy mountain inside and out.
Because they put a large bounty on such a precious existence, the adventurers and the townspeople who were in trouble with money changed their colors and chased them.
As a result, a rift formed between the residents and the white wolves. The damage caused by the giants increased, and much distress, injuries, and problems occur in the snowy mountains. Their hatred was directed at the white wolves and his father, the current lord.
His father carries all the sins and bad rumors. Al himself didn't bear a single stain.
The blazing fire was already been prepared.
After that, when his brother Am, who returned from warrior training, saw the current situation… Am had been close to the white wolves for a long time and had a strong sense of justice, he would move to overthrow his father, who was an obvious evil.
If his brother and father, luckily enough, fell together with that. Or, even if one survives, Al will let his Secret Soldiers (though his father mistakenly thinks they belong to him) kill him.
In addition, there was the backing of the great power, Mertia. If he succeeded, it would be certain that he would take the seat of the lord.
AL went around the idea, made some changes to the plan, and confirmed it again.
(All right, a little more, a little more and I'll get the lord's seat. I won't let anyone say anything like I am a loser anymore.)
He screamed in his mind as his eyes filled with flames.
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