Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"A magic gate?"

Theodore frowned as he looked at Count Valentine, who had come to report. He had considered the possibility that the conspiracy would fail and the royal guards would come to arrest him, and he had considered the possibility that the kingdom's ministers would bring men to besiege his residence. He never expected that his second brother would disappear into a magic door.

After catching his breath, he looked at Count Valentine in front of him. Apart from some bloodstains, there were basically no signs of battle on the man's body.

Theodore tried to control his body, but his hand holding the teacup was still trembling slightly. He had to force a smile. "Alright, Earl, you should go and rest."

With the count gone, a few seconds later, only Theodore and Uncle Musa remained in the reception room.

"These utter idiots!" Theodore slammed his teacup to the ground, the sound of the expensive cup shattering unable to drown out his roar. "How could there be such stupid idiots?"

"800 people, and they couldn't even keep 12 people with them. In the end, he even got away."

"Are they fighting with children's toys?"

As he spoke, he kicked the coffee table in front of him, and the coffee table was kicked over and fell to the ground.

"Your Highness, this matter is not over yet," Uncle Musa said hurriedly.

"How can it not be over?" Theodore said fiercely, his eyes filled with madness and fear, his whole body trembling. "My second brother has escaped, the previous plot has failed, and if others find out, what do you think will happen to me?"

"No, Your Highness," Uncle Musa said quickly, avoiding eye contact with Theodore, who was gripped by fear, "we can still do a lot."

"What can they do?" Theodore yelled at Uncle Musa. "With these useless idiots, these good-for-nothings."

"These people all took my money, they're all supported by me, but the goblins in the forest are more useful than them," he kicked a shard of teacup on the ground. "That's all my money."

"Your Highness..." Uncle Musa tried to continue persuading him, but the third prince ignored him.

"These guys keep saying that everyone is incredibly capable, and that they can go in and out of the Nightmare Forest seven times."

"But all they've learned is to hand over goblin ears; when faced with guards, they just cry and beg for mercy."

"They only hold me back. I should have fired them all and replaced them with a more reliable group."

"These good-for-nothings should all be executed, just like the Mello family back then. They should all be hanged."

"Your Highness," Uncle Musa called out loudly, frowning.

These words made Theodore pause, as if he had vented his anger. His shoulders slumped, and he became somewhat dejected. "I've been preparing for this for a long time..."

Theodore glanced at Uncle Musa and said slowly, "I never liked Grover from the start. Everyone was around him, everyone liked him, everyone said he was the natural successor."

"I've been planning for so long, selecting many nobles as allies, but I never expected to fail because of them in the end."

"Your Highness," Uncle Musa stepped forward, "things haven't reached the point of no return yet."

These words were like the voice of an angel, causing Theodore, who had been sighing with his head down, to slowly raise his head. "Old sir, is there any other way?"

He looked at Uncle Musa with hopeful eyes, not even noticing that his tone had become respectful for the first time.

Seeing that Theodore had been persuaded, Uncle Musa hurriedly recalled the case that the young master had mentioned before, and what the "prince" did afterward. It seemed that he went to see the king and tried to coerce him.

Yes, that phrase is "I want to control all the armies in the world".

"You need to see His Majesty the King immediately," Uncle Musa said in a deep voice, his tone firm and leaving no room for doubt. "Go see him now."

"Now?" Theodore was taken aback. "Wouldn't it be like walking into a trap if I went now?"

"No, on the one hand, we don't know where the Second Prince was teleported to by the magic gate. If it's far away, then you'll have to see His Majesty first," Uncle Musa thought hard, his mind racing, recalling all the secrets of the nobles' power struggles he had heard before. "No matter what, we have to face it. It's a matter of whether we stick our necks out or not. If we go to see His Majesty now, we also have the Queen's help. As long as we don't admit to it, we can manage."

"But if the second prince is teleported far away, then this period will be a vacuum period, during which you can do a lot of things," the uncle continued to explain patiently, and Theodore gradually calmed down. "Of course, the most important thing is to obtain command of the royal army. If possible, you should obtain His Majesty the King's seal."

"Father's seal?"

"Yes, only in this way can you control the situation. His Majesty the King's health is failing now. If you seize power ahead of time, you will have the final say on what happens next." Uncle Musa nodded heavily.

"Will this really work?" Theodore hesitated, not expecting that it was now his turn to "appear" in this grand drama.

“Your Highness, there is currently a power vacuum in the capital. All the troops have been deployed to deal with the Grand Duke of the North. But I think the Duke has no intention of rebelling; he only wants to rescue the eldest prince,” Uncle Musa stared intently into Theodore’s eyes. “If he wanted to rebel, he would have done so when he met His Majesty. So once the Grand Duke of the North achieves his goal, he will leave the capital immediately. Then the guards will return to their posts, and that will be the real catastrophe.”

After listening to Uncle Musa's analysis, Theodore frowned and clenched his fists several times, as if considering the consequences of his actions.

"No matter what, we'll inevitably clash with the second prince's supporters in the future, and in the end, it might be a matter of force to decide who is the king. However," Uncle Musa paused, noticing Theodore's eyes narrowing slightly as he paused, and he knew the other was tempted, "but by obtaining the royal seal in advance, we can publicly declare ourselves the rightful heir, and the second prince a rebel."

"You should understand the difference here." After saying that, Uncle Musa smiled slightly.

"You're right," Theodore exhaled slowly, then straightened his back and stretched. "I never expected that someone as mere island merchant would be so knowledgeable."

"I think you should know that battles break out between tribes in the Saros Islands. These political intrigues are nothing to us." Uncle Musa shrugged, indicating that he was on the side of the Third Prince.

"Very good. I never expected that you would be the one to help me in the end, sir," Theodore smiled. "Perhaps this is the favor of the gods."

After saying that, he glanced at the wrecked ground, smiled nonchalantly, and said, "Just like you said, war seems unavoidable. I remember you mentioned you could provide healing potions, right?"

Uncle Musa nodded. He had come to see the Third Prince under the guise of trading healing potions, but that was just a pretext. His real intention was to extract information and benefits from the prince.

"Then I'll pre-order 50,000 bottles of healing potion from you," Theodore said casually, as if that many potions were nothing to him.

"Fifty thousand?" Uncle Musa's pupils contracted. This was no small sum, and the other party's tone sounded more like he was offering a benefit. "Yes, Your Highness, I will prepare it for you."

"No rush," Theodore waved his hand, seemingly unconcerned about the number of potions.

Come to think of it, if war hadn't broken out, then the cost of buying the medicine could be dealt with later, since he would most likely have power by then, and it would be up to him whether the government made the purchases or simply defaulted on the debt; but if war had broken out, then 50,000 bottles would simply not be enough.

"I'll go see my father right now," Theodore straightened his clothes, then didn't look at the mess on the ground again.

Uncle Musa added from behind, "You'd better take Count Valentine and his guards with you, and bring a lot more people, since the second prince has a magician by his side."

"You're right," Theodore nodded, a hint of resentment flashing in his eyes. "I tried to recruit her before, but I was rejected. Yet, she turned out to be Grover's magic advisor."

"In the end, Grover was saved by the magic gate," Count Valentine had mentioned earlier when recounting the events, adding that the magician among the adventurers said that the "magic gate" was no ordinary spell. "Agatha, you bloodline sorcerer, you really were a huge mistake on my part."

After letting out a soft sigh, Theodore didn't turn his head. He simply told Uncle Musa, "Wait for him here," then strode open the door to the reception room and walked out.

"Is this alright?" Uncle Musa muttered to himself, seeing that he was the only one in the meeting room. He didn't know how things would develop, but he felt like he had done something wrong.

…………

"ah--"

Grover, who had fallen to the ground, cried out from the arrow wound in his shoulder. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled to his feet.

Ignoring the fact that his movements aggravated his wounds, he began to look around. It seemed to be an underground cave, and a light was shining in the distance, which was probably the way out.

He had previously risked his life to pass through the magic door "composed" of adventurers and arrive at this unfamiliar place, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

The good news is that he survived.

The bad news is that we don't know where we are.

"We'll just have to go out and take a look," Grover sighed, slowly moving towards the outside.

After walking a few steps, he noticed that the cave seemed to have been carved out by humans. "Strange, who carved this place?"

Grover used the dim light to survey the surrounding stone walls, and as he walked, he gradually arrived at the entrance of the cave.

When he arrived at the entrance, what he saw there left him speechless.

Several stone coffins were parked at the entrance of the cave. They looked quite old and must have been there for some time.

"Who was buried here?" Grover frowned, then moved to the front of the sarcophagus, wanting to see if there were any clues.

As soon as he came to the front, his eyes widened and his whole body began to tremble involuntarily.

"Ayara, Fitz, Vollar, it was you... it was you..."

Grover reached out towards the sarcophagus, wanting to push open the lid, but his injured shoulder prevented him from doing so. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He leaned against the outer wall of the sarcophagus, slumping down.

"Who was buried here?" Grover frowned, then moved to the front of the sarcophagus, wanting to see if there were any clues.

As soon as he came to the front, his eyes widened and his whole body began to tremble involuntarily.

"Ayara, Fitz, Vollar, it was you... it was you..."

Grover reached out towards the sarcophagus, wanting to push open the lid, but his injured shoulder prevented him from doing so. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He leaned against the outer wall of the sarcophagus, slumping down.

"I never expected that you would be the ones to protect me in the end," he said, not wiping away his tears, but looking around at the coffins. "I thought I was about to succeed, but in the end, I still have to rely on you."

The stone coffins stood motionless at the cave entrance, with only Grover's murmurs echoing inside. Beside Grover, in front of a small tombstone, was a name inscribed: Ayala Mora.

The tombstones in front of the surrounding stone coffins were also engraved with corresponding names. After seeing those names, Grover sobbed even harder.

"I thought about avenging you, and I thought that if I became king, I could find a way to change all of this, but I still failed." Grover's shoulders trembled as he leaned weakly against the coffin wall.

"Whoosh—" A gust of wind blew in from outside the cave, stirring up the dust on the ground.

Grover had to raise his hand to shield himself, but this action aggravated the wound on his shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth.

"You have not failed yet, Your Highness." A light, airy female voice drifted on the wind, as faint as a young girl's whisper.

"Is that you?" The whisper made Grover's eyes widen. Ignoring his shoulder injury, he forced himself to look around, but after looking around several times, there were still only a few stone coffins around.

"Ayara, is that you?" Grover asked several times in a row, until finally his voice became as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"I haven't failed yet..." he murmured repeatedly, as if talking to a friend.

Finally, Prince Grover straightened up, looked around at the sarcophagi, and said, "Perhaps you are right, I have not failed yet."

"I don't know who buried you here, but please wait a little longer. I will definitely come back and give you a proper burial. I will never leave you in this cave."

After saying that, Grover hugged his shoulders and tried to walk outside. He wanted to see where he was and then figure out how to deal with what would happen next.

As he walked away step by step, a laugh soon echoed through the cave.

The voice was neither male nor female, but it sounded very smug.

…………

"Laugh, what are you laughing at?" Charles looked at Agatha in front of him with annoyance.

The other person covered their mouth, unable to suppress the smile on their face.

At this moment, Charles was sitting on the phoenix egg, so hot that he had taken off his shirt, but he still couldn't stop the sweat from pouring down his head.

"Is this really the only way to hatch this phoenix egg?" Agatha smiled and went to the side to pour Charles a glass of cool water.

"How would I know?" Charles sighed. "Uncle Musa said that Vivian's two teachers said that a constant temperature is needed, and the phoenix must sit on the egg to have some kind of spiritual communication. Only after the phoenix hatches will it recognize its master."

"Did you feel the telepathic connection?" Agatha smiled and handed over a cup of cool tea.

"My feelings? My ass!" Charles said bitterly.

The temperature was high, and he didn't know how long he would have to sit on the phoenix egg, and he didn't feel anything at all. Xia Er even wondered if those two old mages were talking nonsense.

"It's alright, just enjoy it, no, feel it." Agatha laughed a few times, then quickly ran away.

"You'd better hatch quickly. Angel feathers are already stuck all over the area. If you don't come out soon, I'll boil you." Charles looked down at the "giant egg" under his buttocks, his brows furrowed.

As if it had heard his words, the phoenix egg remained motionless.