Charles paused in surprise as he heard those words.
"What about the losses?" He then asked while looking at the entrance and soon frowned.
A moment later, he subconsciously raised his hand and covered his nose as a strange smell assaulted him.
"What is that foul smell?" While asking, he walked past them and moved towards the entrance.
On the other hand, Duke Michael and others glanced at each other, turned around, and followed after him without saying a word.
Meanwhile, Charles walked out of the castle's keep, looked at the empty castle walls and burned garden, and widened his eyes.
"Most of our elite knights are no more, Your Highness. We still don't know about the exact number of losses. Only one-tenth of our knights are still alive, and most of them are in critical condition." Duke Michael finally answered.
"Others are dead?" Charles's tone turned colder.
Simultaneously, he looked at Duke Michael and soon noticed that he had already stored his Goddess's Shield and the mysterious sword into his space ring.
But just as he was about to cast the [Curse of the Overlord] spell, he suddenly thought of something, activated the [Foresight] skill, and checked the future.
'Hmm? Casting the spell would expose my identity?' He subconsciously shifted his attention towards Nash and noticed that the Demon Sorcerer was still wearing the mysterious divine necklace around his neck.
What made Charles to be shocked inside was that he appeared more cautious than before.
'This guy still hasn't lowered his vigilance. Did he notice something? It seems I've to wait for a while.'
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While he was thinking, Nash sensed someone's probing power, turned his gaze towards Melody, then towards Charles, and felt something was off. But before he could track it, Charles frowned deeply and asked.
"What happened here? Tell me everything in detail." His voice was abnormally cold. Although Prince Julius was a carefree character, he wasn't an idiot for not discerning the circumstances.
On the other hand, Duke nodded his head and started narrating the whole battle. He told him about how Baron Daniel killed the Saint Knight, how he transformed into a Flame Demon, how he massacred the soldiers, and finally about the battle between them and the Flame Demon.
"Do you have any plan on how to solve this situation? Do you plan on taking revenge, Mr. Duke?" Charles asked, turning his face solemn.
Meanwhile, Duke Michael went silent for a moment and then nodded.
"I'm planning on sending some elite assassins to Baron's town and assassinating all his remaining soldiers. I won't let this off easily." Deep anger and resentment appeared in his tone.
Upon seeing his reaction, Charles gave him a sharp look, shook his head, and spoke.
"You've failed me once again, Mr. Duke. You still haven't understood the difference in strength, do you? Haa, we are the ones who started this whole mess. To obtain the Pioneer Knight's legacy, we killed Baron Daniel's father and mother, caused chaos in his territory, and even tried to kill him. But now, he obtained the legacy and has even grown stronger. Not even a Saint or Rank-4 Sorcerer could beat him in one on one battle. Currently, he is way above our league. If you recklessly attack his people, he might massacre the whole territory of yours."
"His Highness's words are right. That Baron. No, that flame demon has too many mysterious abilities. If not for my divine necklace, I might have died there." This time, it was Nash who spoke those words.
Surprise flashed on everyone's face. At that moment, Charles knew that this mysterious Demon Sorcerer was telling the truth.
'So, he mostly relies on his artifact during the battle, huh.' But that necklace artifact became the biggest obstacle for Charles's plan.
"What's your plan, Your Highness? Do you have other methods to deal with him?" While he was secretly observing Nash, Duke Michael took a step forward, walked towards the bailey, and asked.
"You are not thinking properly. It's not a good thing to make another enemy. What we need to do right now is not to escalate the conflict but to solve it. I may not be an expert in politics, but I knew how to solve the problems. Our main opponent is not this rural Baron, but my brothers." Charles stated as he followed after him.
"B-But... What about this Baron? Let him roam freely in our territory?" Melody interjected their conversation and asked.
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"The reason why Duke and I planned on sacrificing the Grime Plains was to get the Pioneer Knight's legacy. Although the Grime Plains is a fertile land full of resources, you can't compare this land to the legacy. If we had gotten the legacy before Baron, I might have had a chance against my brothers. My younger brother has the support of the Light Church, while I have none. Only some self-centered nobles, naive masses, and some loyal knights are with me." Charles paused for a moment and then added.
"Meanwhile, my elder brother has all other royal family members' support. Even Lord Drake is showing his full support to that good-for-nothing elder brother of mine. If not for the little bit of support from my mother, I would've died long ago."
A bitter look appeared on his face as he said those words. Before Nash or Duke could say something, he walked towards the opposite building and continued.
"We'll send an apologetic letter for conspiring against Baron Daniel's family and compensate him with some amount of gold coins. If possible, it's better to pull him to our side."
"N-No, Your Highness. He might be an otherworldly being and most probably a Higher Demon from the Abyss." Nash instantly opposed his idea.
"Why? Do you think that he will kill us without any morale? Or, are you afraid of the Light Church's wrath?" Charles asked mockingly.
A strange silence appeared at the keep's entrance.
"He massacred our soldiers, Your Highness. Even if he did it without any choice, he isn't a trustworthy being. Moreover, the anonymous person also said in the letter that he possessed a mysterious enslaving ability." Duke Michael added.
On the other hand, Charles sharpened his gaze towards Duke and asked coldly.
"But why do you trust this anonymous person so much? Did he tell all information about this Flame Demon? He didn't, right? If he had warned us about the telekinesis and the black flame abilities, we would've minimized our loss to a large margin." He paused for a moment and then added.
"Think logically. Why did Baron Daniel rush to our mansion all of a sudden? During the past three months, he didn't lay a finger on the hundreds of our elite squad either. That guy had many opportunities to harm us. But why did he come here after three months? To kill us? I don't think so. What would he gain from killing us? Not only his action would infuriate my family, but it might also alert the Light Church."
"What if he wanted to enslave you, Your Highness?" Nash asked as he recalled Baron Daniel's abilities from the anonymous letter.
'Damn it, just when I mislead the Duke's thinking in a different direction, this guy once again spoiling my plan. Well, if I say something against this point, he might get suspicious of me.' He maintained his calm look and responded with a nod.
"Yes, we can't rule out that possibility. In truth, I wanted to ask my mother whether she has any artifact that could block mind-related spells. Otherwise, I won't feel safer in the future." He quietly shifted the topic.
"I'll ask her once I return to the capital, Your Highness," Nash answered. At that moment, Melody showed a hesitant look on her face and soon spoke.
"I have a suspicion that this anonymous person doesn't want Baron Daniel to meet Lord Duke or His Highness. There are too many mysteries about this person. What if he manipulated us to attack Baron Daniel after seeing a future vision? What if he is a supporter of one of the other two princes? There is a high chance that he might be one of the Light Church's Prophets."
'Good girl.' Charles secretly gave thumbs up for Melody and added a few more points.
"Unknown enemy is more dangerous than a known enemy. As long as we take precautions against this Baron, we can resolve this issue. First, send an apology letter and some gold coins to Baron Daniel and wait for a reply. Tell him that everything that happened here is a misunderstanding."
"As long as we pull him into our faction, we'll get a powerful ally. As for your revenge, you can put some heavy tax on his territory once the civil war ends and deal with him using diplomatic means."
Duke Michael, Melody, and even Nash got impressed by his idea!
"Then, I'll go back to the capital and see if I can get any mind spell blocking artifact from your mother, Your Highness." Saying so, Nash turned around and went back to the keep.
Meanwhile, Charles, Melody, and Duke Michael went to see the wounded knights and started assisting them. While doing so, Charles also found an opportunity and cast the Rank-5 [Curse of the Overlord] spell on Duke Michael.
After that, everything went smoothly.
It didn't take long for Charles to get complete control over Duke Michael.
On the other hand, Nash bid farewell to them and returned to the Royal Capital of Aetas Kingdom.