Chapter 63: Plan

A month has passed by like a breeze and Luke is currently in the lab inside the white castle with Spencer and Bell, who are looking at the large spatial pouches in their hands with shock.

"T-this...."

"So many... Where did you get all of these in a month?"

"A friend of mine got it for you."

Luke crossed his arms and looked at Spencer and Bell, who still had their eyes stuck inside the spatial pouches. They appeared to be taken aback. Luke just sighed.

'As expected of Tim, he is a fast worker when money is in front of him.'

Tim used up all the money Luke gave him for magic and witch supplies and also used some of the money from the 70 percent share of Luke's magic tools, but Luke didn't mind it. He had a ton of money in his pocket already. Then Luke spoke up.

"Are you two just going to stare at the pouches? Or maybe you don't like the tools and ingredients?"

Bell then blurted out in shock.

"No! This is more than enough! I-I'm satisfied! All the ingredients necessary for witchcraft are here, s-so... Thank you."

"It's great that you liked it. What about you, Spencer?"

Luke turned his head towards Spencer. Spencer just spoke with a blank face.

"I like it."

"....Glad you liked it. Now, Bell, there's something I'd like you to do."

"What is it?"

"I want you to make Zorst Potion."

Bell's eyes widened.

"Z-zorst, you say? That is a high-level health potion that only witches are aware of... How did you know?"

Luke and Bell stared at each other for a while. Luke then slowly spoke.

"Let's just say I read about it."

'It's true though. I read about it in the novel.'

Bell looked at Luke with doubt and suspicion. Luke just ignored his gaze and looked at him.

"Can you do it?"

For a brief moment, Bell paused. What Luke is asking for is not just any ordinary, highest-grade potion.

It's not easy to make Zorst Potion. It takes a lot of time and effort to make it. But still, for a human, Luke, to know about Zorst by just reading about it is unbelievable. Zorst Potion's ingredients and steps to make are not even written in any books. It's just passed on verbally. And now, he says he read it in a book? It's completely unbelievable. He must have a lot of knowledge about witches and have a very good information network to know this kind of top-secret information.

Bell finally realized what kind of man Luke was. He knows everything. That alone is enough to make people not underestimate him.

"I can do it, but what will you use it for? Is someone about to die?"

"Yeah, and we have to save her."

Spencer then butted in with a frown on his face.

"Who is it this time?"

"The princess of Thea kingdom."

"..."

"..."

The room went completely silent. Spencer and Bell blankly stared at Luke for a second before realizing what he had just said.

"Thea kingdom? You mean the cold kingdom of the north?!"

"Yeah, and the princess over there is dying, so why don't we go save her?"

Spencer and Bell looked at Luke in disbelief.

Thea kingdom, the kingdom of the North. The land there is always covered in snow and blizzards, and ordinary people, such as travelers, will die because of the extreme cold.

It is said that the rulers of the Thea kingdom were cold and ruthless for generations, just like their land. They have troops of white knights who are all at the level of the highest grade swordsman under the strict training and rule of their king.

Even though their land is not suitable for farming, the people there hunt animals in the cold mountains just to survive. They also exchange fruits and vegetables with the Flor Kingdom and weapons and armor with the Fairy Kingdom.

The Thea kingdom is also prideful of their home. Anyone who messes with them will perish at the hands of the white knights' swords and the king's wrath. That is why no one even dares to mess with them, even if it's something trivial. They are basically hard to deal with, but that's what makes them the supreme kingdom of the North.

And they also hated the empire's arrogance. More specifically, the empire's duke who felt like he's on cloud nine while controlling the young emperor and the empire. They despise people who take advantage of others, particularly young people. And because of that, there has been tension between the Arram empire and Thea kingdom for a while now. And that hate is what Luke is aiming for.

"Hey, dad! Are we going to save somebody again? I like saving people!"

Luke frowned and massaged his temples as he heard Nash's excited voice on his shoulder.

"Don't call me dad."

"No! I'll call you whatever I want, dad!"

"Haaa."

Luke sighed and Bell and Spencer just shook their heads. For the duration of the past month, Nash has been calling Luke 'dad' and Luke seems to be not happy with it. They then heard Luke's tired voice.

"I'm tired. Bell, when will you finish making Zorst Potion?"

"For normal witches who haven't done it before, it'll take three months max, but I can make it a month shorter."

Luke nodded.

"Then, two months huh? That's good enough."

Luke then turned around and walked out of the lab, leaving Spencer and Bell behind. Spencer and Bell quickly moved to arrange the tools and ingredients that they had received from Luke, and Bell started to prepare the cauldron.

Luke somehow knew what they were doing, but he continued to walk forward. He then slumped in his seat and looked at the clouds outside his window.

Beep, beep.

"Haaa...."

Luke took out the magic communication device from his pocket. Luke's face turned serious. It is the magic device that he got from Lina's mother. They must have discovered something.

Without a word, Nash connected the magic communication device with his magic, and Tina's serious face appeared. She seemed to be angry.

· Boy, the empire is worse than I thought...

"What is it? Did you find something?"

· The empire... Those bastards. They do slave trading.

Luke's face darkened. Slavery is prohibited and illegal throughout the continent due to its cruelty and discrimination against poor people. And the empire, the so-called holy land, is now doing slave trading.

"Those bastards.."

They primarily trade children that are from slums or orphanages. We followed where the carriage filled with slaves was heading, but unfortunately, the empire had prepared all sorts of traps which slowed us down. We still had no idea where the carriage was going.

Luke frowned.

"They are really cautious about this... Damn it, I have a hunch about what they'll do with the slaves."

Tina's eyes widened.

· Wait, you don't mean-?!

"It's just as you thought. They could have used slaves to create withered souls."

Children's souls are pure and clean, meaning that the more pure the soul is, the purer it will be when it becomes a withered soul. To create withered souls, the person that'll die must be at least at the level of a killer with unpure intentions and deep regret to the point that their soul would want to stick in the overworld. So, Luke could guess that those children and innocent slaves that they caught were forced to do bad things against their will. Most likely, they killed each other in the hope of being freed.

Tina's face darkened. Anger started to rise within her. Now that she knows such cruel people exist, as a mother, hearing children being slaughtered to create impure withered souls is an unforgivable sin. Just imagining her daughter being caught, then being killed, makes her bloodlust go crazy. She then heard Luke's voice.

"Please calm down."

Tina sighed and calmed down. Her expression has returned to normal, but her eyes are still red with rage. Luke noticed this and asked.

"Where did the empire get the children? Even though the empire has slums, it is impossible to create that large number of withered souls with just the slums of the empire."

Tina's face darkened again. She then spoke in a cold and scary voice.

-The person with whom they are negotiating is... Baron Paul Durg of the Reece Kingdom.

Luke's eyes widened and his hands then started to shake. It's not shaking because of fear, but because of anger.

'Who would have thought that that bastard was the one also responsible for the slave trade? And not to mention, of all places that the empire could trade with, it's the Reece kingdom. Is the empire looking down on us?'

"Where's their trading spot?"

· In the slums at the edge of the northeast part of the kingdom. Duke Norman Wervey's territory.

"Are they accomplices?"

· No, Duke Wervey has no idea at all. But he and Baron Durg have a connection. According to rumors, Baron Durg's daughter will soon be engaged to the Duke of Wervey.

"Tch, so that's how Paul managed to slip by the slaves without getting noticed. He is using Duke Wervey."

· Correct.

Luke could feel rage boiling up inside of him, but he stopped when he felt a murderous aura beside him. He then noticed Nash, who had his fur standing up in all directions and a deadly gaze. He seems to be mad at the fact that they use children to make withered souls.

Luke calmed down and looked at Tina with cold eyes.

"Thank you for informing me. Please notify me if you discover anything new."

· Don't worry, now that I knew how much of a garbage the empire is, I want to help you to take it out.

Luke nodded and Tina ended the call. Luke sighed and massaged his head. He also patted Nash's back to calm him down. He felt a headache brewing in his head.

--------

Lance looked at Luke's extremely serious face on the other side of the screen with seriousness. He doesn't know what is going on, but one thing is for sure: it will be bad.

· Can you stop staring and start to tell me what's on your mind? You looked stressed out.

Luke took a deep breath before saying what he had just learned from Tina in a low voice.

"Your highness, there is someone in the kingdom doing slave trading."

Lance was silent. Luke looked into his eyes and saw the anger burning in Lance's eyes. His expression is dark too. He looked like he'll murder someone. Luke can also feel Lance's animosity from the other side of the screen. Unlike Tina's anger earlier, it was nothing compared to Lance's anger. It's understandable, though: if someone is doing such atrocious acts under his nose, how could he not be angry?

· Who?

Luke looked at Lance's face for a moment. He then signaled Lance to calm down.

"Calm down first. I have a feeling that you'll charge to the person responsible right away when I tell you who it is."

· It's obvious that those kinds of people needs to be eliminated.

'What are you? The terminator?'

Luke sighed. Lance is completely angry. If Lance couldn't control himself, then his plans would be destroyed.

"I have a plan, but I need your help to carry it out."

· What plan?

"I'm sure you'll like this one. You can eliminate evil and have a new member of your faction. And it's a strong one."

Lance's face crumpled. He seemed to be hesitating. This made Luke upset.

"Your highness, you don't trust me?"

· It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that whenever you do something, it'll end up being a disaster or it'll be something big instead of being minimal.

"...Is that how you see me?"

· Yeah, a walking disaster, as I called it.

Luke looked at Lance's playful smirk in disbelief. Luke just sighed and suppressed his urge to throw the magic communication device. It also seemed that Lance had calmed down. Who knew that he would calm down by just making fun of him?

"Anyways, the one responsible for the slave trade is Baron Paul Durg."

Lance was silent. He didn't seem surprised at all. Actually, he looked like he sort of expected it. Luke then continued speaking.

"They are using Duke Wervey's territory to conduct slave trading."

Lance frowned.

· Are they accomplices?

"No, actually, Duke Wervey has no idea that the slave trade is happening in his territory. Baron Paul seems to be using his daughter and Duke Wervey's engagement as an excuse to come in and out of his territory. Pretty crafty, huh? His daughter is marrying a Duke with a lot of power, and he's taking advantage of the Duke's land while he's at it."

Lance sat back in his chair and started to think.

· It seems like the kingdom's security is more lax than I thought.

"You focus too much on the southeast and southwest territories that you have no time to check out the north."

Lance frowned and glared at Luke.

· Hey, don't say it that way. I feel like you are saying that I'm irresponsible.

"Your highness, you are not irresponsible. But it's true though?"

Lance sighed, realizing what Luke had said. He was so busy preparing for the war that he tossed other matters aside.

· Haa... What am I supposed to do then? Ignore the war? That will make me more irresponsible.

"Calm down, you're fine the way you are, your highness."

Lance looked at Luke as if he was looking at a plate filled with food that he didn't like.

· Stop speaking to me like that. It's creepy.

"...I was just trying to calm you down. Anyways, back to the topic. Your highness, do you want to know who Baron Paul is trading with?"

Lance looked at Luke's face with a serious face.

· No need to tell me, it's obvious already. If it is the northeast, then it should be the Arram empire, since they are literally next to each other.

"As expected, the kingdom's future sun and glory is truly a smart man."

· Stop spouting nonsense. Anyway, where did you get all this information?

"I have someone doing it for me. She is a super reliable source when it comes to gathering information. And I know what you are thinking but sorry, I can't introduce or lend her to you."

· Tch, stingy bastard. Anyway, what's your plan?

"Plan? Hm... Go there and completely destroy everything?"

Lance sighed and attempted to stand up from his chair. He knew this jerk was planning something like this. There was no way it would be anything decent. He shouldn't have his hopes up.

· I knew it. I should be the one to do it-

"Wait, wait!"

Luke stopped Lance. He heard Lance sighed and sat back on the chair. Luke then looked at Lance as if he was upset. Lance sighed and rubbed his temples.

· If you want me to listen to you, you should have started with a decent topic, not by completely destroying everything.

"Fine, fine. Anyway, I planned to go there, but I needed a reason. I can't just barge in there can I? And I can't also say to Duke Wervey 'Hey! Can I save all the slaves and orphans trapped in your territory without your knowledge?' Can I? That's ridiculous."

· But that exactly seems like your style, though.

"...Anyway, can you get some sort of job for me as an excuse? Like checking if the mansion walls are still sturdy or maintenance checks..."

· All of your examples are stupid.

"It's just an example. And I was just joking. Anyway, as an excuse, I came up with an idea."

· What is it?

Luke stopped for a moment before speaking.

"I heard that Duke Wervey has been nagging you to go to their mining sites so that you can see how much their territory has flourished for a while now."

Lance frowned and Luke smirked.

· That guy's mother didn't like me from the very beginning. She was rooting for the third prince. And the mama's boy, Duke Wervey, just follows her around. They must have intended for me to be discouraged by the fact that I had only a house of knights and Noah as my main supporters. They thought the knights' house was pointless because it had been peaceful for a thousand years. They're not wrong, though. These days, money is more important than anything.

Luke looked at Lance and smiled.

"But knights are important though? Especially... When war is just around the corner."

Lance and Luke both smiled at each other. Their smiles are wicked and mischievous. Nash, who was quietly listening from the beginning, was looking at the two people, smiling at each other with a weird expression.

'They look exactly the same! No fair! I want to be like dad too!'

Nash then started to smile like them, but he failed horribly. Luke didn't notice this and just looked at Lance directly.

· Okay then, I'll send you there on my behalf. You need to go there three days later. Come here until then. You need at least a small envoy if you are going there on my behalf."

Luke frowned.

"Can I just take Liam? Us two will be fine. An envoy is too..."

· Stop complaining, it's your plan after all.

Luke sighed in defeat.

"...Fine."

Luke and Lance talked about other things before hanging up. Luke sat back in his chair and sighed. He then frowned.

Beep! Beep!

'Fuck, who is it this time...?'

Nash connected the call and a surprising face appeared in front of Luke. Luke was taken aback by the person in front of him.

"Why did you called me... King Ruth?"