After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

"That Ain, he inexplicably brought so many people into the village, and the woman who came to see him even beat them up!"

"Could it be that he..."

“Alright, alright, alright!”

The orcs grew irritated and began to growl.

"Mr. Ain has helped us. Why would he wait until now to do something bad? Do it! Everyone who can fight, get out and patrol. Hurry!"

Aize came to his room.

At this moment, the unconscious Sheen had been placed on the bed, and Villian began to perform a surgical procedure to carefully examine his physical condition so that she could prepare the antidote later.

Outside the bedroom, Aize sat together with Constantine and Uriel.

Uriel asked impatiently:

"Who is that witch?"

"Great Witch Villian."

"Big……"

Uriel's expression froze at the overly frank answer.

My brain seemed to have crashed, and it took me several seconds to react. Then I stood up quickly.

"Isn't that one of the Thirteen Leaders, your target this time? What the hell happened?!"

Aize sighed:

"Calm down, this is a long story. Anyway, she's trustworthy for now, so don't worry. Besides, what exactly are you looking for me for? What happened?"

Yuriel breathed a sigh of relief, sat back in her seat, glanced at Constantine, and said:

"The situation on your side is more important, so tell me."

Constantine nodded and began to recount what had happened in the past few days.

From the withdrawal order from the Holy City, to the abnormal actions of the orc army, to Duke Brian's flattery and Leah's complete obsession, etc.

After listening, Aize fell into deep thought.

The silence lasted for several minutes - a rare moment for Aize.

Finally, he raised his head, smiled and said:

“…I understand, I understand everything!”

Chapter 117 Brian's Ambition

Constantine and Uriel looked at each other and asked in confusion:

"Understand what?"

"I finally know what Duke Brian is planning."

He stood up, took a blank piece of paper, picked up a pen and began to draw on it. After a while, a simple map of the kingdom appeared on it.

This skill of hand-drawing maps was one of the things Uriel admired most, and it would take forever to learn it.

"Brian's goal is to kick Heidi out and take the throne himself. That's for sure. What do you think is the biggest obstacle to achieving this goal?"

Constantine and Uriel exchanged glances, and the latter asked tentatively:

"Is it the princess? Heidiarte?"

"Wrong, it's the other Grand Duke."

The power of the royal family has declined to such an extent that it can be ignored.

The reason why it has been able to survive for so many years is not because of its own strength, but because it took advantage of the mutual suspicion and checks and balances of power among the dukes.

To put it bluntly, everyone wants to be king, but whoever dares to take the lead will be attacked by everyone and eliminated.

Just like a certain Grand Master in a famous book in Aize’s original world.

The first bird to stick its head out gets shot.

The Duke who lost his patience and assassinated Heidi two years ago ended up like this.

"For Brian, the most crucial issue is how to eliminate other competitors. All plans must revolve around this."

As he spoke, Aize picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

"As far as I know, among the four remaining dukedoms in the kingdom, the other three, excluding Brian, have a secret agreement. This states that if something happens, they will act together, forming an alliance to force the royal family to abdicate, and then resolve the power distribution issue internally."

He swiped his hand across the map and landed on the location of the royal capital. He then raised his head and smiled mockingly:

"If the alliance of the three dukes wants to force the palace, they must bring their troops to the capital. By then, all their elite troops and trump cards will be gathered near the capital."

"Just imagine, if at this moment, Tafia suddenly fell, and an orc army marched straight into the capital from Tafia, what would happen to the armies of the three dukes?"

In the previous brutal war, the kingdom lost considerable territory.

Now, as long as they cross Tafia, the gates of the royal capital will be wide open, and nothing can withstand the orcs' flood-like army.

The result is that the two powerful forces will collide head-on in front of the royal capital.

"The Duke's coalition can win—after all, the orcs' elite were wiped out in Gerloth, and what they've organized now is just a mob. But it was a pyrrhic victory. After this, they will no longer be able to stop Brian from ascending to power."

That's why he wants to control Tafia.

Because he had to ensure that the orc army would not make too much noise when passing through Tafia, causing the dukes to discover anything unusual.

That's why he needs Sheen to be alive.

Because someone had to take the blame for Tafia's fall—and it couldn't be him, so it had to be Sheen.

As for Heidi, he probably wanted to get the document of succession from her.

After all, usurping the throne is not a nice thing to say.

Brian also needs some legitimacy to clear himself of the suspicion of colluding with the demons.

Uriel and Constantine stared at the map for a long time before finally nodding.

Constantine then asked:

"But if that's the case, why would he send his troops to Tafia? This plan never had any chance for his troops to appear."

Not only did he not have a chance to play, he could even be said to be asking for trouble.

When Tafia fell, it was Sheen who was to blame.

But if Brian's army stood by and watched Tafia fall, then Brian would never be able to clear himself.

"Why would he send troops here? It can't be... really to support Lady Leah's expedition, right?"

"Forget about the joke, it's disgusting to listen to...but the question is indeed a good one."

Aize looked like he wanted to vomit, but then he nodded in approval of his subordinates' cleverness.

"Brian is colluding with the demons, and they're willing to help him ascend the throne at any cost. That's certain. So, what's the price?"

Constantine and Uriel both shook their heads.

Aize smiled lightly and said:

"have no idea?"

"do not know."

"In fact, I do not know."

"Ah?"?2

In the surprised eyes of the two, Aize smiled and waved his hand:

"I don't know exactly what he promised the demons, but I believe it must be a price so high that it's almost impossible to pay."

There is no free lunch in the world, let alone the throne.

For Brian, the demons will have to pay the price of an entire orc army this time. What they ask for is so expensive that it is unimaginable.

It is not impossible to directly demand that the kingdom surrender to the demons - although this is difficult to do.

"The most important things when lending money are, first, the principal, and second, the collection method. If I were a demon, I would never agree to such a plan without some leverage to force him to repay the debt. What do you think this collection method is?"

Brian has been colluding with the demons for many years, and he has countless evidence against him.

Correspondence, cooperation between the two parties, etc.

But these are obviously not enough to overthrow a grand duke who has ascended the throne.

The demon clan officially recognized him as a traitor?

Well said, who will punish him then?

The king of the Kingdom of Arte is already one of the highest rulers of mankind. No matter if it is the church, the empire or other human forces, at best they are on the same level as him.

Some people within the kingdom may make a fuss about this, but don't forget that the prerequisite for Brian to ascend the throne is to cripple all his competitors.

They were no longer able to oppose him before he ascended the throne, so how could they expect him to find something to use against them to turn the tide after he ascended the throne?

nonexistent.

Therefore, the debt collection methods used by the demons will inevitably be more direct.

Aize's hand once again fell on Tafia on the map.

"If the demons occupy Tafia, even if Brian ascends the throne, the capital will be under constant threat from the demons, and his throne will be unsettled."

If Brian refuses to acknowledge his debt after ascending the throne, the Demon King only needs to send any one of the thirteen leaders and their armies to Tafia, and Brian will have to carefully consider the consequences of not repaying his debt.

"In other words, Tafia isn't just a springboard for the demon army to backstab the Duke Alliance; it's also an IOU held by the demons. If I were Brian, I'd definitely want to tear up the IOU after I got the money."

Constantine was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said:

"In other words, when the orc army crosses Taphia and fights the Duke Alliance, Duke Brian's army will seize the opportunity to retake Taphia to prevent themselves from being threatened by the demons in the future."

"I can also shut down the retreating orc army and gain some reputation while doing so, as a first achievement for my ascension to the throne as the new king..."

Having said that, Aize sat back in his seat, sighed deeply, and then revealed an undisguised smile of contempt.

"I guess in his original plan, his army would not come to Tafia at all, but would hide in the territory of Marquis Deanz in the south. Unlike Sheen, that guy is his brother-in-law and his most trusted confidant, so he seems like an accomplice.

As a result, because they couldn't find my whereabouts for a long time, in order to search for my traces in the vast Central Mountain Range, they went to great lengths to transfer people here... Tsk tsk tsk, really, doing such a half-baked thing."

It’s a beautiful idea and the arrangements are thoughtful.

There's just one problem—taking the Demon King for a fool.

The internal struggles among the demons will only be more intense than those among humans. Anyone who can sit firmly on the position of the demon king must be powerful and extremely cunning.

Would such a person honestly suffer such a loss?

You're taking it for granted. He must have prepared some backup plan to prevent the table from being overturned.

But Brian is normal, a typical aristocratic mediocrity with high aspirations.

Moreover, there is no need for the Demon King to come this time. Aize will deal with it before this happens.

Thinking of this, he sighed and asked:

"You two, what are you going to do next? The situation is urgent. If we want to report to the Holy City, I'm afraid it will be too late."

Yuriel was stunned for a moment, and her expression suddenly became very unhappy. She said:

"Why are you still saying this at this point? Why are you trying to be so pretentious? If you have an idea, just give us an order. Or do you think we won't listen?"

Constantine nodded in agreement.

Aize smiled embarrassedly:

"Well, after all, I'm no longer a hero, so my status is no different from that of a commoner. I still have to ask about the procedures..."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense and tell me what to do."

Aize nodded, looked at the map in front of him and fell into thought again.

Then he said:

"No matter what, the Knights of Anlin Plain must withdraw immediately. Otherwise, if the orcs launch an attack, their few men will be killed without a burial place."

Constantine said quickly: