Chapter 242: Preparing a sacrifice

"This fate energy is the reason I had so much trouble in killing Bernado. Someone would come to save him at the last possible second. Because it's fated for them to not die by my hands?" Edwin wondered with a frown.

While placing his finger under his chin, Edwin further whispered, "The Heaven itself is going to try to save them?"

"Now, this is exhilarating." A thin smile appeared on his face.

"According to what Black Hurricane mentioned, the fate energy of the King was much greater than that of a Prince. The protection the fate provides the King must also be much greater."

"What happens when a Royal Prince tries to kill another Royal Heir? Would the Fate Energy activate against them? Or would it clash out, and the one with the greater Fate Energy would be victorious?" Edwin wondered out loud.

There were too many things to be considered after this information.

Bianca suddenly sent a spiritual message to Edwin 'My husband contacted me some seconds ago. He mentioned that he would be returning within this week.'

'I see…If I remember correctly, your husband was sent to protect the Crown Prince on the battlefield. Does that mean the Crown Prince is returning as well?' Edwin asked.

'Yes, master,' Bianca replied a second later.

In the Royal Palace, the King had summoned three Inquisitors.

They were Inquisitor Frog, Inquisitor Rat, and Inquisitor Cat, respectively.

"What did you find about the assailants? Tell me who attacked my son!" The King asked with a cold and domineering voice.

The Inquisitor Frog replied a bit later, "…Your Majesty, the clues on the scene indicate a fight occurred between 4-5 people. Moreover, one of the assailants is a demi-beast. The second one is a Flame Elementalist. And the third one remains unknown."

"There were also marks on the ground in the form of a straight line. This suggests the use of a rather strong flame technique. I believe that the Flame Elementalist is a peak 5 Star Warrior. Moreover, the energy fluctuations that remain behind give me a feeling that his energy is much stronger than normal," The Inquisitor Rat added.

"What do you mean?" The King's expression turned colder. He had a good reason to believe that this was done by a Royal Family Member.

Inquisitor Cat stepped forward and spoke, "Please allow us to investigate the Royal Family and find out where they were during the time of this event."

The King remained silent for a couple of seconds as he thought about the situation.

'I can't find a flaw in this logic. Only a Royal Family Member can resist the fate of another Royal Heir to some extent.' The King thought seriously.

'The sensors near the area sensed huge outbursts of energy from that position. It was filled with Demonic Ardor and Celestial Ardor. Did one of my children join hands with demons or celestials to kill his competitors?'

'Who could it be?' Now the King was truly suspecting it was someone within the Royal Family who did this.

He stared at the three Inquisitors kneeling down before him and spoke, "I give you my authorization to investigate my heirs and their faction. Do so discreetly. Don't use your powers as Inquisitors. Understood?"

The Inquisitors understood that although the King suspected it was someone from the Royal Family, he didn't want to make this information known in the court.

The courtroom was already rather tense, and it would get even more so after the ministers find out that the King was suspicious of them.

The Inquisitors knew that they had to use their personal contacts to investigate the Royal Princes instead of their identity.

It would be troublesome since finding the information about the Royal Princes wasn't as easy as it sounded. After all, no random man would be able to find it.

Fortunately, the Inquisitors had formed many personal connections who had no idea about their true identity.

They were accountants, servants, carriage drivers, jewelers, and so on…

The King allowed them to leave.

Meanwhile, he also activated his Voice Connecting Array Stone to send a message to his servant, "Activate the Sacred Star Prying Mirror. Also, get the sacrifices ready."

The servant asked on the other side, "Which sacrifices should we ready, your majesty?"

"The corpses of ten 5 Star Beasts," The King replied coldly.

"Ten corpses of 5 Star Beasts?!" The servant leaped in shock as he heard the order.

The King asked, "Will this be an issue now?"

"W-We will need 3 weeks or more to get those sacrifices ready. There are no 5 Star Beasts in this area," The servant replied with a nervous voice.

"Then find them! I will give you 2 weeks at most," The King's voice thundered at the servant.

The servant replied with a submissive tone, "…Yes, your majesty."

Edwin went to meet with Rein Schwarz. The man was more than happy to receive Edwin. Naturally, this meeting was occurring in secret.

Rein Schwarz didn't want to spread the information that he was meeting with Dark Shadow here.

It was Edwin who wanted to meet with him. The reason was naturally to extract information.

Edwin believed that acquiring information from Rein Schwarz would be much better than any other source.

Rein Schwarz was very happy with Edwin. He had suddenly received huge contracts from the Walsh Dukedom.

These new contracts could generate nearly 20% overall annual revenue of the Merchant Union. Many elders in the Merchant Union were pleased with Rein Schwarz's contributions.

They didn't know how Rein Schwarz accomplished this, but this showed his great skills. Even the President of the Merchant Union had never had such great accomplishments.

In the elections for the new President, the elders were more likely to support Rein Schwarz as their candidate for the President seat.

This was possible because Edwin had assisted the duchess with those arrays, and now the duchess returned the favor.

After entering his house, Edwin drank some tea with Rein Schwarz and spoke, "Looks like you are about to shift to another house. Well, this house certainly can't be considered good enough for the Merchant Union's President."

"You flatter me, Young Master Edwin. I am still just the vice-president of the Merchant Union. Until the results of the elections arrive, we can't say anything for sure," Rein Schwarz spoke humbly. However, he couldn't hide the massive grin on his face.

"Your contract with the Walsh Dukedom has increased your fame. As long as you handle it correctly, you are bound to receive more contracts from the other Noble Families. I strongly doubt someone can outdo you now as long you don't commit a blunder," Edwin spoke seriously.

"That is indeed true, young master Edwin," Rein Schwarz nodded his head in agreement. He then asked, "So, what is the reason behind today's meeting? I believe it wasn't just to congratulate me."

Edwin nodded and spoke, "I need you to introduce me to some of your spies within the Royal Family. I need information about the Royal Family."

"My informants in the Royal Family?" Rein Schwarz was puzzled at those words.

Edwin explained calmly, "As you know, the King has already conducted an investigation regarding his son's death. He is bound to have doubts over some individuals. We can sell this information to some ministers in return for what we need. Don't you think it's a good opportunity for us to earn greatly?"

Edwin's evil grin was contagious, and Rein Schwarz soon realized what he was talking about and had a similar expression on his face.

'I can also make them use their connections to sway the opinions of more elders. This is a great deal!'

Rein Schwarz didn't know that money had never been Edwin's aim. His true aim had always been to get information.

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A/N: Please follow me on my insta page: Reveriecreations04 (I will soon update things related to the upcoming manga of my other story on this page.)