Chapter 242 Investigation Results, Power Struggles, Black Market, Last Stand...
The Arcanis family banquet lasted for more than twenty days, and apart from the night Neil's engagement was announced, he did not appear in public again.
Ray and Edmund's covert investigation never stopped.
With the information provided by Neil and the help of Elf Trade, they uncovered many previously unknown facts.
First and foremost is Miss Anne from the Toland family.
The Duchess had four siblings; she was the second oldest and married the heir to the Arcanis family. Later, the Duke succeeded to the title, and she became the Duchess.
She has a younger sister and a younger brother.
My younger sister also married into a noble family and had two sons and a daughter.
Her younger brother studied at the church from a young age and now works at a church in the royal city.
He was originally an adjutant in a church in a nearby city, but when war broke out and things got bad, his family used their connections to get him transferred back to the capital.
Her brother inherited the title of Marquis of the Toland family.
He had several children. Of course, he also had several illegitimate children, all of whom were well raised in the countryside.
Miss Anne was one of the illegitimate children.
However, her mother was very favored and died too early, so she was brought back to the manor and raised by the Marquis.
Even if the Duchess and her sister-in-law had a very good relationship, her sister-in-law would never allow her own daughter to marry Neil.
However, in order to help her seize control of the Alcanis family's power and wealth, they had to choose a marriage partner who was presentable in terms of status or anything else.
And that's how Anne Toland came to be.
Because Anne wasn't her biological child, and given the grudges and resentments between women, the Marquise didn't discipline her very strictly.
This has led to her current personality, which appears to outsiders as overly lively and lacking in manners.
Ray and Edmund were furious when they found out.
In the eyes of those people, both Neil and Miss Anne were nothing more than two pawns to be used and discarded.
Human greed is the most terrifying thing.
Some people will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
There's nothing new under the walls of the capital. Upon closer examination, very few noble families are entirely clean.
The Alcanis family was known for its extravagant lifestyle and lavish spending. This was evident from the lavishness of the banquet that day.
This was especially true during the Duke's lifetime; he squandered vast sums of money on the Colosseum and indulging in sensual pleasures.
Such ostentatious behavior will eventually lead to the depletion of wealth. The empire's rewards for nobles and ministers are limited, but the duke's gold coins seem inexhaustible.
Following this line of investigation, Edmund focused his investigation on the wealth possessed by the Arcanis family. He did indeed uncover some information.
The Duke's family has a lot of illegal assets.
Traces of the Arcanis family can be found in the Colosseum and some casinos in the royal city.
After the Duke's death, the Colosseum business was taken over by a branch of the family, but the casino business was controlled by the Duchess.
She used various methods to cultivate a group of thugs and started lending money at exorbitant interest rates in the casino.
After the war began, she also partnered with her own brother to start a business reselling food and weapons.
From these observations, it's clear that she is a very capable and bold woman.
"I can't believe such a thing happened."
Lei couldn't help but sigh.
Throughout history, war has always been the most lucrative source of wealth.
If they can't even let go of money like this, aren't they afraid of earning it but not being able to spend it?
But when he thought about their social status and the complicated and chaotic kinship relationships in the royal city, Lai began to feel relieved.
"To put it bluntly, that group of people is a community with shared interests. It will be quite difficult to take her down and rescue Neil in one fell swoop."
Edmund analyzed. He was so worried that he downed a glass of wine.
"Is there any news yet about who will be the new king?"
"Ray asked," Edmund shook his head.
"Let the Regent manage it for the time being. There are recommended candidates for the Second and Fourth Territories, but neither can convince the other."
"What about the third territory?"
The Third Territory, Speth, is right next to the Great Forest of Eton, the territory where the small village is located, and the first home of Ray and Neil.
"You know that."
Edmund looked very tired.
"Speth is in the midst of war and does not have the energy to recommend suitable candidates."
According to the Vatican's calculations, the starting point of this demonic attack was in the Great Forest of Eton.
Theoretically, the first battlefield should have been near Rosen Town, but for some reason, the demons chose to launch their first major attack on the orc territory.
Lai still vividly remembers the scene of the small mountain village being attacked by the demons.
The goblin Hru stole the elder's wooden staff and then returned to the small mountain village with dozens of people, launching a surprise attack on the innocent villagers.
Shortly after that, news spread throughout the city that the demon army was attacking.
Upon closer reflection, the demons' recurrence was actually foreshadowed. It's just that everyone had too much faith in the power of the boundary markers and ignored it.
There was another reason why Ray suddenly asked about the new king.
The policies implemented by a new king after his ascension to the throne often have varying degrees of impact on the various powerful families. Few rulers can tolerate their subordinates using war to amass wealth.
He was considering the possibility of using someone else to do his dirty work.
As for which knife to borrow...
This issue still needs to be discussed.
"Have you found any information about that illegitimate child?"
Ray thought of the young man who had deliberately bumped into Neil at the ball.
"Um."
Edmund handed Rye two charcoal sketches, and he immediately recognized the man in the sketch as the young man at the ball.
"His name is Gavin, and he was born only six months younger than the heir of the Arcanis family. His mother is this Lady Ida."
Ray had already seen the second portrait that was underneath.
As luck would have it, it was another familiar face.
"Lady Ida stayed with the Duke after she came of age, and he was very fond of her while he was still alive. Later, she gave birth to a child, and the Duke found an excuse to bring them to live in a side hall of the castle."
Duke Arcanis hardly ever tried to hide this fact; almost all the nobles and officials of some standing in the royal city knew about it.
That's why Edmund was able to find out so many details.
"It seems that the Duchess's position is not as secure as it appears. Otherwise, she wouldn't have allowed her husband to have so many illegitimate children."
Lei took a sip of warm water.
No, there are other reasons.
Ray put down his water glass and looked at Edmund.
What's the reason?
"The late Duke of Arcanis was a notorious warmonger with a very aggressive style of doing things."
He had built up some businesses in his youth, and it was because of these that he became engaged to Miss Torland and successfully inherited the title.
But in the next ten years, everything changed. Or rather, he began to show his true colors, and no one could control him anymore.
"Ha. A wolf in sheep's clothing."
Edmund swirled the wine in his glass.
That's about it.
"Garvin poses a threat to Neil."
"That's what Lei said."
"I know that if things go wrong, we can..."
Edmund made a gesture with his hand as if to kill someone.
"We shouldn't do this unless absolutely necessary, it's too easy to attract attention."
"Well, he's not worth my personal attention. Even if we don't take any action, he'll cause trouble for himself."
"How so?"
Edmund scoffed.
"He's no better than his father; he's not exactly a peaceful man. No, he's even worse than his father; he's a complete good-for-nothing who only knows how to have fun."
His mother, Lady Ida, was a shrewd and calculating woman. However, her social status was too low, and her family could not offer her much assistance.
After the Duke's death, he was sent directly to the countryside.
After all, she was the Duke's most beloved mistress, and the Duchess couldn't go too far. Doing so would also damage her reputation.
Mrs. Ada is unlikely to cause any trouble.
Edmund shared his opinion.
"Not necessarily. I saw her at the banquet that night. She was with a man with a somewhat sinister face. I don't know who that man is."
"His face was sinister."
Edmund pondered for a long time but couldn't find anyone who fit the description.
"The Duke's mansion is living too well right now."
"That's what Lei said."
Edmund looked at the young man sitting opposite him. The study light shone on the back of Ray's head, casting a dim shadow on his profile.
What do you want to do?
"We don't need to do it ourselves, we can do it like this..."
After several meetings with Edmund, Ray finally figured everything out. All that was left was to proceed according to their plan.
Although they couldn't rescue Neil directly, it did have some impact on the Duchess's business, causing her to loosen her control over Neil.
There are banquets in every household in the royal city almost every day, and orders are never lacking. Lai's strawberry business is booming.
Later, the business of other fruit vendors had some impact on strawberry sales, but Lai's wallet was still bulging.
The longer a war drags on, the less valuable money becomes.
Out of uncertainty and worry about the future, Lai took out six thousand gold coins from the dwarf shop and stored them in the pendant and two rings, just in case.
It's better to carry more gold coins with you, otherwise you won't be able to withdraw them even if you have them once you reach a place without dwarf shops.
Lei and his family's daily lives were mostly occupied by the strawberry business.
On the last day of the year, based on the expenses and income records in several ledgers, Ray gave the information to the staff at Victor Manor.
—The four adults of the Chern family received a share of the profits in addition to their salaries.
Lai has seen everyone's hard work over the past year, especially during this period after the strawberries ripened.
It wouldn't take much; Lai only needed to use one-fifth of the total profits, and that would be enough for them to live a very good life.
Ray originally intended to contribute one-third, but Cher refused.
He then stopped insisting and planned to compensate them materially.
A busy year has passed, and the first day of the new year is still spent in busy harvesting work.
Lai bought plenty of all kinds of ingredients; he didn't need to buy vegetables, as he could take care of that himself.
He wanted everyone to eat well this month, because there would be a lot of work to do after spring.
Despite Saiya's various unreasonable actions, the two elves managed to stay until the New Year.
Finally, the Elf Queen could no longer tolerate it and sent someone to fetch Seya, at which point he reluctantly bid farewell to Laiyi.
"Lay, I'll come back to visit you again! I'll bring you fruit wine and fruit then. If you need anything, you can send me a message through the Elf Trade Center. You can also ask them for help if it's urgent."
"good."
Lei had nothing to give Seya, so he brought him a lot of hot pot base ingredients, catering to Seya's tastes. He also wrote down the recipe for tomato broth on a piece of paper and gave it to him.
Seya and Tata parted with great reluctance.
Despite their bickering and commotion, the friendship between the elf and the little monster was still very deep.
Tata's father didn't say when he would take him back; he could go back to the Elf Kingdom with Seya. But unsurprisingly, the little monster chose to stay at Victor's Manor.
This time, Lei did not push Tata away.
The villa at Victor Manor is very large, and the yard is also very large, enough for the little monster to run freely.
After Seyia and Sio left, the manor became much quieter.
It took everyone a long time to finally adapt to life after Seyia and Xiou left.
February is here in the blink of an eye.
February is the transitional period between winter and spring, when the weather is at its coldest and most unpredictable. Ray simply had Vincent close the grocery store, saving him the hassle of going back and forth every day.
The thousands of strawberry plants in the greenhouse are almost ready for their final harvest, and they've been busy for a while now.
Finally, Ray used magic to ripen all the fruit, and after everyone worked together to harvest them all, the strawberry picking season came to an end.
The next planting will be in August or September of this year.
After weeding out the strawberry vines, everyone can have a good rest for a while.
The next task is spring planting.
In the royal city, crops are harvested twice a year, and the planting time is earlier than in the small mountain village. However, the manor land does not have that need, so planting a little later does not matter.
It's no wonder humans are such adaptable creatures. After more than half a year, Lai had already adapted to the pace of life in the royal city.
No matter what, life goes on; being delirious doesn't mean you're dead.
Regardless of the external situation, when it's time to cultivate the land, people will still brave the dangers to continue farming.
Because what is sown is grain, but what is harvested is hope.
War never makes people give up their most basic pursuit of survival.
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