"It's good that you and His Majesty the King can understand this. This is my passion; if I can make a name for myself here, I can bring glory to my family and live up to the ancestors of the Albert Family."
Lock said with emotion, and at this moment, he truly resembled a typical kingdom noble, appearing to take the prosperity of his family as his responsibility and striving tirelessly.
But Lana and Lakyus both knew that his goal was not so simple; the man before them intended to rule the entire Kingdom.
"I hope you achieve your wish," Lana said with an innocent smile, offering her blessing, as if his actions posed no threat to the Royal Family's rule.
"Thank you, Princess Lana."
Although Lana's words were somewhat insincere, Lock was still very happy to express his gratitude to her.
After settling the matters of the Royal Tournament, Lock and Lana continued to chat about ordinary things.
These were mostly daily trivialities, such as hobbies and diet.
Lakyus occasionally chimed in from the side, and the three conversed happily, appearing to be enjoying each other's company.
It was not until noon that Lock, seeing that it was getting late, stood up and took his leave: "Your Royal Highness, I have greatly enjoyed our conversation today, but I have some matters to attend to now, so I must bid you farewell."
Lana did not try to keep him, as their relationship was not close enough for such a gesture. "If you have other matters, please go ahead."
With that, Lana rose and escorted Lock to the door, watching the two of them disappear down the corridor.
Once Lana's figure was completely out of sight, Vier turned to Lock and asked, "Master, it seems Princess Lana is quite wary of you."
Lock's face showed a hint of disdainful smile; after all, he was the one plotting to seize her family's power, so even if her attitude was a hundred times more nervous, it would be perfectly understandable.
But what did it matter? They simply had no power to resist him.
Even if they had received unexpected support now, it was not their own power in the end, and therefore, not to be feared.
She was merely a puppet, and her attitude was not important.
The key lay with the person behind her, Ainz, the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
"Vier, today's matter is not as simple as you see; I fear our Princess has already allied with demons."
"Demons? Are you referring to those who attacked our Knight Order?" Vier asked alertly, finding it somewhat unbelievable. Princess Lana was human; how could she be involved with demons?
Lock chuckled softly and said, "Perhaps it's a case of 'like attracts like.' Our Princess is not to be trifled with. Living in a Royal Family, with ambitions to reform the Kingdom, but having long lacked support, this feeling of wanting to change fate yet being powerless is probably something not everyone can understand."
"Perhaps she is now utterly disappointed with the entire Kingdom, her heart filled with darkness, making it not so difficult to understand why she would be easily swayed by demons."
Lock explained to Vier, while also sighing internally. Under normal circumstances, Princess Lana would very likely have become the Queen of the Kingdom.
After all, the Old King was a wise monarch, and if he had enough power to unite the entire Kingdom, with the Princess's intelligence far surpassing that of the other princes, passing the throne to the Princess would have been most appropriate.
"Then, Master, does the matter the Princess discussed with you contain some kind of conspiracy?" Vier asked worriedly, connecting it to the demon attack on the Knights.
Their previous actions were so secretive, yet they still encountered enemy attacks. Perhaps they were now under enemy surveillance, which was very bad indeed.
Lock smiled confidently, not worried about it, and instead reassured her, "It's alright, I already have a plan for this."
Considering the combat power of the Great Tomb, their current strength in the capital was completely insufficient; they needed to mobilize more power and seek other assistance.
"Vier, go notify Catherine and tell her to bring Annea and Shirna to the Royal Capital quickly. I need to make a trip to Theocracy to request a high-level combatant from them." Lock's face showed a mysterious smile. Perhaps this time, they could have a good play with the Great Tomb.
Not the small skirmish with Ainz last time, but the kind where brains get splattered.
It had been a long time since he had fought a max-level combatant to the death, and Lock felt a thrill just thinking about it now.
In the Princess's chambers.
Seeing Lock's figure completely disappear from the room, Lakyus immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Being in the same room with that man was truly terrifying.
It made her recall the scene from yesterday, that feeling of having her life casually manipulated, which still sent shivers down her spine just thinking about it.
"Lakyus, are you alright?" Lana asked with concern.
"Eh, I'm fine." Lakyus first gave a faint smile, responding to her friend's concern, then her expression slowly darkened, and she said seriously, "Lana, until this matter is settled, I hope you avoid meeting with Baron Lock as much as possible. He is too dangerous!"
Lana looked at her friend's solemn expression, knowing that she was concerned for her.
"Thank you for the warning, Lakyus. I will be careful."
However, some things could not be avoided simply by knowing them. Just like if she hadn't met that person, she would probably have had to obediently marry Lock and become a political sacrifice.
Since she now had such an opportunity to change her fate, she had to seize it firmly.
Perhaps many things would have to be sacrificed for this, but she would gain even more, especially… Climb.
"I'll go see if the pastries are ready. Wait for me here." Lana's face showed a sunny smile, but the moment she turned around, it became twisted and frightening, though unfortunately, no one saw this.
In the forest outside the Royal Capital.
Demiurge swayed his metallic tail, a cunning smile on his face as usual.
Before him was Aura, wearing a white vest, full of energy.
"Aura, how are the preparations for the magical beasts coming along?"
Aura patted her chest and confidently replied, "No problems at all. Five hundred ground-type magical beasts, 300 flight-type magical beasts, all according to your requirements, with an average level of around LV50."
"What about the most crucial one?"
"The Swift Hunter Owl, LV68, is a specialized speed-type magical beast. I'll arrange for it to appear later. It just needs to snatch the target into this forest with unreactable speed in an instant, right?"
Demiurge nodded in satisfaction and said, "Exactly. There's no need to get too entangled with the enemy; just achieve the goal. But be absolutely careful not to accidentally kill the target; otherwise, I'll be very troubled."
"I understand! I'll control it well then," Aura said.
However, she then tilted her head and asked, somewhat puzzled, "By the way, Demiurge, why don't we just directly capture the King? He should be the highest-ranking ruler among humans, right?"
Demiurge's cunning smile held a hint of a sage's foresight as he explained to her, "You are right, the King is indeed the highest-ranking person in the entire Kingdom in name. But unfortunately, he does not hold the actual ruling power of this Kingdom, so in that human's eyes, his value is far less important than the Princess. If we capture the King, the other party will most likely let him die in our hands. In that case, the other party will use the Princess as an entry point to seize control of the entire Kingdom. I don't want to simply benefit our opponent."
"That indeed wouldn't be good. I believe that only Lord Ainz can rule this country and even the entire world."
Aura nodded in understanding, then thought of the ruler of the Great Tomb, the last of the Supreme Beings; only he was worthy of the Guardians' actions.
"Precisely. However, somewhere in this world, there are still individuals harboring ill intentions towards Lord Ainz and all of Nazarick. Let the Kingdom become our tool to find all of them!"
Demiurge slowly raised his head, looking at the azure sky. One day, this world would prostrate itself at Lord Ainz's feet.
Theocracy's Holy Capital.
Chief Priest Raymond, who was handling Theocracy's affairs, sat in his private office. On the desk in his office, stacks of paper intelligence reports were laid out before him.
Raymond picked up one of the reports, his expression somewhat grim.
This was intelligence from the Water Scripture's intelligence personnel, based on the description of the vampire in E-Rantel—Shalltear—who had located Ainz Ooal Gown's stronghold.
It was indeed as Lock had said; what should have been a flat wasteland had now become an area of rolling hills.
In its center, a building resembling a tomb entrance had also appeared.
Out of trust in Lock and fear of that vampire, Theocracy was currently conducting irregular, intermittent remote surveillance in the guise of passing travelers, not daring to conduct overly obvious reconnaissance.
But this was merely a temporary solution. To eliminate this world's threat, Theocracy needed a more reliable method.
"I hope that Baron's plan is truly effective."
Raymond leaned back in his chair, thinking wearily. The previous battle between the Black Scripture and that vampire had terrified Raymond indeed.
The opponent's strength was truly too frightening.
Especially now, according to the Baron, the opponent had become much more vigilant after the last incident. They had even guarded against the mental control effects of the divine artifact, meaning they could no longer use the 'World Item' against Ainz Ooal Gown.
Just as Raymond was worried about the future of Theocracy, the necklace around his neck suddenly reacted.
"Long time no see, Chief Priest Raymond."
This familiar voice immediately made Raymond react.
"Baron Lock? Is there something you need?" Raymond asked in surprise.
Lock's relaxed laughter came from the other side, but his words made Raymond's expression stiffen, "I've run into a bit of trouble from Ainz Ooal Gown. So I've come to you for help. I'd like to borrow a God-kin from Theocracy, the one in your deepest layer. It's a good opportunity for us to re-evaluate just how strong the opponent truly is."
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