A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

37 – Double Incline

Prince Rashed muttered as he looked at the rectangular steel box in front of him. As soon as he pressed the button, a refreshing breeze began to blow out. Rashed, who had been standing in the wind for a while, gritted his teeth.

“Damn it!!”

It wasn’t simply popular. People in the Karamba Empire, who had experienced air conditioning, now treated it as a necessity in their daily lives. Given the nature of the scorching heat that persisted every day in the Karamba Empire, there would surely be no shortage of demand for this item.

“Chief of Intelligence!”

Rashed urgently called for the chief of intelligence. As he hurriedly entered, Rashed Prince questioned him.

“How is the dispatch of spies going?”

“The security checks have become tight, so it’s not easy to approach. However, we managed to send a few people secretly. We plan to contact the merchants and workers settled in the Aylam Empire, as well as the spies we had previously mixed in with the doctors, to extract information.”

“We must hurry. If we leave Randor alone, Karamba might become a country that can’t survive without them. We must extract any information we can from them before they occupy the market any further.”

“Of course. Fertilizer production technology, dragon taming techniques, and large-scale teleportation technology for crossing the Laco Mountains. We will do our best to extract them.”

“Hurry. Now that it’s clear that the Shamans are not effective, what we are currently doing is the last remaining hope. If they fail, no one else can succeed.”

“Of course, Your Highness. We will do our best.”

The chief of intelligence disappeared swiftly.

Rashed immediately sent agents who had managed to sneak into the Aylam Empire through a lot of Ilam Empire coins earned from spice trading. With those coins, he planned to turn Karamba Empire people who had settled in Aylam into spies, eliminating any suspicion.

However, the plan did not go well.

“Sir… Chief of Intelligence.”

One month after the plan started.

“Nobody wants to become a spy.”

“What did you say?!”

Rashed Prince was taken aback.

“It was your orders, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was.”

The agent who barely managed to break through the tightened trade route inspections, due to the efforts of the chief of intelligence and Rashed Prince, looked at the man sitting in front of him.

His name was Ali.

He was a typical Karamba Empire person with rough skin and black eyes. He used to be a merchant in Karamba Empire, but now he lived by working as an interpreter for Lord Elond’s South Commandery.

This was a fast food restaurant owned by Lord Elond’s South Commandery. It was a place that didn’t stand out as it was very crowded.

“You used to work as a merchant in Dagamba for a long time. Ali. The ruler of Dagamba, Lord Lucius, greatly favored you, didn’t he? He said you had unwavering loyalty towards the royal family.”

“Well… There was a time like that.”

Ali picked up the hamburger that was delivered to him without much enthusiasm. He chuckled as he started to eat the burger, which was filled with various vegetables, patties, and sauces.

“This food is really delicious. By the way, what’s the matter?”

The agent wished he were a shaman. This agent, who had no special abilities and was simply a civilian filled with loyalty towards the Sultan, had been sent after all the shaman agents were caught.

The agent cautiously leans forward and speaks in the language of the Karamba Empire.

“The palace is in need of you. They want to entrust you with a very important and secretive task. Due to the many people who have testified to your loyalty, they have decided to entrust it to you. For the great purpose of the sultan…”

“No, thank you.”

Ali cuts off the sentence with a single word, as if there is no value in considering it.

The agent is taken aback.

“Ali? It seems like you don’t understand…”

“No, I understand perfectly. You intended to use me to extract various important secrets of the Ailam Empire, didn’t you? When I was in Karamba, I was known as a loyal person and had many connections as an interpreter. You must have thought it was a perfect fit.”

“That’s right. For the sake of the sultan…”

“No, sultan or whatever. I don’t do things like that anymore.”

The agent’s eyes show confusion. Ali continues, sipping on his hamburger.

“I lived my whole life as a humble commoner. Like most people, I grew up herding sheep in a strange meadow that allows herding only twice a year. My family couldn’t raise enough sheep and goats to sustain themselves with the grass from the meadow. So I went to Dagamba and worked as a merchant.”

Ali sighs. His eyes contain a hint of resentment.

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“I testified my loyalty to the sultan and did everything he ordered under Lord Ru’o, the ruler of Dagamba. I lived like that, and yet I lived fairly well. It was a system where ordinary commoners could never succeed. But here, it’s different.”

He earned a lot of money as an interpreter and could start various businesses with that money.

A city where the results are guaranteed as much as one puts in effort and investment.

That was the commercial city of Porto and the rule of Count Elond.

“I like this city. My friend, I don’t want to put it in danger.”

“Hey, Ali.”

“That’s why I won’t do it. I won’t inform the guards. But please consider this as my final loyalty for the Karamba Empire, which I once passionately served. If you approach me with the same proposal again, I will report you without hesitation.”

The agent cannot hold back and asks.

“Why? What turned you against us, Ali?”

“I got married here. Ailam Empire women. They are incredibly beautiful. It felt like meeting such a good woman for the first time. Well… I have a family now. I make a lot more money. I can live in a warm, spacious house. There will always be job opportunities.”

Ali throws the last piece of the hamburger into his mouth and stands up.

“Why do you betray us? When we treat you so well.”

The agent watches Ali’s back as he walks out of the fast food restaurant with a vacant look.

“These merchant fellows are quite quick-witted. They are not suitable for being spies. Fine. Then approach the working class.”

The intelligence chief receives the news and approaches a different class.

But the working class rebels much more fiercely.

“Work for the sultan? For the Ailam Empire and Count Elond. And put Porto at risk? Hell no! Lord Randor is the one who fed us, sheltered us, built us houses, and treated us well! Do you think we would betray him?”

The Karamba Empire was overflowing with people and lacking in food. The working class, who were the lowest level of society there, were notorious for not receiving proper treatment. But when they came here and pulled carriages, cleaned, and worked in factories, they were able to live with dignity.

The labor class also had no reason to betray the Aylam Empire.

“Seo-rik! It’s him! He convinced us to become spies!”

They even actively reported to the security guards, leading to the capture of several agents. The head of the intelligence agency was so infuriated that he clenched his fists.

“Damn it! This is why these worthless lower-class people who can’t be taught! Approach the doctors! They hold important positions in the Aylam Empire! If they have intellect, they will surely listen to our requests!”

Now the only trustworthy people to the head of the intelligence agency were the doctors.

Another agent went to secretly meet the doctors.

They were the last hope for the head of the intelligence agency and Prince Rashid.

However, the doctors had no intention of engaging in espionage.

“Leza. Hey, it’s for the Sultan.”

Leza, also known as a doctor, was skilled enough to have treated nobles multiple times in Crescent Triangle and had been completely loyal to the monarchy and empire. The agent, who desperately tried to explain and give him the assignment, was met with reluctance from Leza.

“I would rather not. I apologize.”

“No? Why?”

“I hope the Aylam Empire does not perish.”

“Are you planning to betray the empire?”

“Well… You could say that, but the treatment we receive here is on a different level than Karamba. In Karamba, we were just treating commoners, but here, we are pillars of the empire’s healthcare system. We also provide active technological support from Matap. Many new medical devices have been created as well.”

Leza shrugged his shoulders.

“I have my own ambitions. I don’t want to ruin the way we are treated here. I apologize, but I will refuse.”

In the end, no doctor was willing to engage in espionage.

For the head of the intelligence agency and Prince Rashid, it was exasperating.

“This is driving me crazy! Everyone has been blinded by money! They have become so weak-minded under Randor’s manipulation!”

Rashid had to take deep breaths to calm himself down, suppressing his anger.

For the first time, he felt a formidable wall.

He had always lived a prosperous life as the Sultan’s son.

“Randor… you bastard!”

All because of that nerdy glasses-wearing Randor.

But Prince Rashid had no time to be angry.

While he and the head of the intelligence agency were wasting time trying to plant spies within the Aylam Empire.

“Your Highness! Something big has happened!”

“What now?”

“It is said that Sydah and Refrigerator have once again been released in the market! It is more popular than air conditioning!”

“What is this again!……”

The second bomb was dropped on the Karamba Empire.

“Princess Karia. These are the new candidate routes for trade, which we have confirmed by sending the villagers for two months.”

“Hmm. Tamir Khan. Good job.”

Karia nodded to Tamir Khan and carefully examined the map. In the meantime, she felt a strange expression pass by as if Tamir Khan’s elementalists were paying attention to a certain area of the Laco Mountains.

“Tamir Khan.”

“Please speak.”

“Why is this part of the exploration area, the Turea Mountain part, not included?”

Tamir Khan sighed at her words.

“A horde of monsters resides there.”

“A horde?”

“At least tens of thousands of monsters. There is a large natural cave at the bottom of Turea Mountain, and there are reports that tremendous monsters are inside that cave. Because of the danger, we deliberately avoided that part.”

Karia shook her head as if she couldn’t understand.

“A horde of monsters? Since monsters eat much more than ordinary animals, it’s unlikely for them to gather and live in such a narrow cave. If they live like that, their food will quickly run out, and they will start killing each other. Unless there is a source of nutrients, it’s impossible.”

“We couldn’t understand the reason either. However, according to the wind elementalists who were given reconnaissance missions, there is a huge mana reaction at the entrance to the cave. They said it seems to be related to something.”

“Mana reaction? Although it’s rare, there is a possibility that monsters can gather like that if there is an extra-large source of elixir…… But, could it be?”

Elixir.

The substance used as the fundamental fuel for all magic engineering technology.

There are only two known large-scale elixir sources within the Empire. One was the palace. All the magical equipment in the palace used that elixir.

And the other was located near Matap.

And the two large-scale elixir sources were both…

“The monsters boiled over and became usable only after the large-scale extermination operation!!”

Karia and Tamir Khan stared at each other blankly.

“Hurry, let Randoor and Selene know about this!!”

Once again.

It was a moment when an unexpected jackpot came.