I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Gedo Street, adventure team villa.

Lis had just left the alley and went straight to the villa, pushing the door open and entering.

It was just noon now, and the adventure team members were all enjoying lunch in the dining room.

Seeing Lis walk in, Ya'er and others who hadn't seen him for a long time were quite happy.

"Haha, Lis, come sit over here and have a drink with us!"

This was the toast invitation from Lunbos, who was holding a wine glass and drinking merrily.

"Long time no see!"

This was the greeting from Ailina, who was feeding meat to the Little Moon Spirit Leopard.

"Lis! Did you bring me something tasty?"

This was the soulful inquiry from Ya'er.

"Lis, long time no see, I heard you became the disciple of Lord Judgement Flame, congratulations!"

This was a sincere blessing from Arsen.

"Is it the Judgement Flame I know of?"

Lunbos put down his wine glass and looked at Arsen with some surprise.

Ailina, while petting the cat, also turned her gaze over, clearly she and Lunbos had just heard the news.

"Yes, the one from the Royal Magic Academy of the Feis Royal Family, the Legendary Mage."

"The news travels that fast?"

Lis was somewhat helpless, but he was also aware that Arsen was definitely among the first to know.

"Impressive, Lis."

Ailina knew what being a Legendary-class strongman meant. Their Elf race, occupying the Great Forest in the south of Fanor Continent, did not have many Legendary strongmen publicly known.

Ya'er, with her small mouth slightly open, looked at Lis with some surprise.

She naturally recognized the Legendary Mage, Fran Stephens, having even been brought by the King to meet him.

However, the first time Fran saw Ya'er, he was somewhat speechless. What's the point of bringing me such a warrior-in-the-making? Wouldn't it kill me if you expect me to take her as my disciple?

Of course, Ya'er didn't know what Fran was thinking, just remembered him as a strongman who looked very young but spoke quite maturely.

Lis was taken as a disciple by Lord Stephens?

Ya'er knew from her father that this Legendary Mage had very strict standards for accepting disciples, and several people her father wanted to promote were harshly rejected by him.

So... does that mean Lis might break through to become a Legendary Mage?

Ever since Ya'er had shown her extraordinary Talent, people around her had been focusing on her, pushing her towards the goal of becoming a Legendary Warrior.

She demanded the same of herself, and although she often appeared carefree, at times, Ya'er unavoidably felt some pressure and loneliness.

Suddenly hearing Lis was on a similar path, Ya'er felt an indescribable feeling in her heart.

...

The members of the adventure team hadn't seen each other for a long while, so they had a good time catching up. Lis also brought out some desserts and cakes he had prepared in advance to share and had a few good drinks with Lunbos.

This was a good time to relax; after all, having spent the recent period immersed in the lab, Lis needed to relax his tense nerves and adjust his Status.

After enjoying lunch together, Ya'er took Angela from Lis's shoulder and carried her away, as she just loved adorable things.

Lis ignored Angela's pleading eyes. After all, they were both girls, so what's wrong with a little closeness?

Lis called Arsen into the room, and the two of them sat down with a cup of raspberry juice.

"How's it going with the hidden mastermind pushing for war, any results on your end?"

Lis didn't bother with preliminaries and cut straight to the chase.

Arsen wasn't surprised; he had been prepared for a private conversation since Lis had called for it.

"Some progress. I had the Radiant United Commerce investigate privately about the secret acquisition of food, weapons, and those sorts of supplies."

"The results are somewhat strange; the reason for the price hikes of these items in Bright City isn't due to someone hoarding them, but rather a general increase in the procurement prices nationwide."

"So, does that mean the person operating from behind the scenes is making a big move, and not just within Feis territory, but even in the neighboring countries as well?"

Lis asked, although he hadn't paid attention to this issue in his past life, he could still roughly estimate it.

After all, it was preparation for launching a war, and the scale was quite significant.

In Bright City, the Second Prince likely hadn't made any moves, probably out of fear of being noticed by the upper echelons of other kingdoms. So he didn't procure these materials in Bright City, but the prices had still risen slightly due to the increases in the surrounding areas.

"Yes."

"Have you found out who is behind this?"

Lis sipped his juice and asked.

"..."

Arsen's expression grew troubled, and he didn't answer directly.

Lis understood; it seemed that Arsen and Duke Hade had a rough idea that it was the Second Prince's doing, but it was not easy to say it outright.

After all, with such a large operation, if one hadn't noticed beforehand, that was one thing, but as the Radiant United Commerce, second only to the kingdom, had taken considerable effort to investigate, it was certain that some clues would have been unearthed no matter how well-hidden.

As long as it was confirmed that the Feis Guild was behind the manipulations, guessing the identity of the mastermind behind the curtain was relatively simple.

However, it was strange; if they really knew who intended to instigate the war, why had Lis not heard anything about it by now?

Logically, Duke Hade would surely have reported such matters to His Majesty the King, and Lis had seen Duke Hade by His Majesty's side, looking quite intimate, last time he visited the Royal Palace. There should have been plenty of opportunities to speak.

Then why hadn't there been any news regarding Second Prince Yatean? According to Mora's intelligence, his covert actions hadn't ceased.

It couldn't be that Duke Hade hadn't reported to the King, so...

Was His Majesty the King not willing to act, letting the Second Prince make trouble?

What was happening, wasn't our King opposed to war?

Lis felt a headache coming on, sensing that the situation was beyond his expectations.

Although he no longer had to worry about his personal safety, this matter related to the progression of the 2.0 version [Total War] storyline and also concerned his plans to recruit players. Thus, Lis paid close attention to it.

But based on Arsen's demeanor, it seemed he wouldn't divulge anything else relevant.

"Do you know where the food and weapons being secretly purchased have been sent?"

Lis didn't continue to inquire about the mastermind but instead changed the subject.

Seeing this, Arsen breathed a sigh of relief.

Honestly, keeping things from Lis wasn't his idea but his father's order.

He felt somewhat guilty inside, after all, it was through clues provided by Lis that they had discovered this intelligence.

Fortunately, there was no need to keep Lis in the dark about other intelligence. Arsen replied promptly:

Experience tales at empire

"Most of the materials have been transported to Duke Baird's Domain and Duke Rame's territory in the eastern part of the Kingdom, with the rest stored in some central cities within the Kingdom."

As expected! They've set their sights on Boditch Kingdom as the first target of the war.

War was definitely on the brink of breaking out!

Seeing the King behave in this manner, one wonders why he changed his mind, tacitly allowing Second Prince Yatean to stir trouble behind the scenes.

It's just unknown what exactly our King His Majesty is thinking; is he aware that Yatean plans to assassinate Nobles during the Sacrificial Festival?

As for stepping forward to prevent the war forcefully, Lis had no such intention.

Even if he stopped the war this time, what could he do if it broke out again for another reason?

After all, the Human Kingdoms on the Fanor Continent were already sitting on a powder keg.

Even the Church of the Gods had given up on mediating, waiting for the war and chaos that would envelop the entire continent to come.

His power alone was still far too small.

War was coming fast!

Lis silently thought to himself.