Malcador's Greed, I Gave So Much, Yet Still

It was not enough to satisfy his appetite.

The first day of the last month of 895.

The Emperor had already set out from Terra, heading for the eastern reaches of the galaxy.

At the intersection of the First Avenue and Second Avenue surrounding the palace-city, in the villa rented by Count Ballard of House Brobey, who wore a silk robe, he stood on the second-floor stairs and looked down at the guests below.

As the territory of the Imperium of Man continued to expand, the Great Crusade developed steadily, the great Emperor spent more time on Terra, and he and the Sigillite began supporting them in speaking out, rents for real estate in prime locations rose by the day.

The location Ballard rented cost as much as one million three hundred eight thousand four hundred Aquila Coins per month.

But Ballard still maintained the exorbitant rent expenditure. Aside from not wanting to be far from the center of power, the security costs he saved were also why he had decided to continue.

Over the past ten years, more and more nobles had adopted crude and direct assassination methods to resolve political disputes, and the cost of hiring excellent bodyguards had climbed higher and higher.

No one knew when it had begun, but after the first noble's blood splattered across a Hive Spire, the retaliation had only escalated.

Fortunately, up to now, no assassination had yet occurred in the area around the palace.

Ballard looked at the bustling crowd in the distance, took a goblet of fine wine from a servant's hand, and walked toward the steps.

His two personal bodyguards followed him as well.

After Ballard descended the stairs, he immediately walked toward Viscount Reinildo, the patriarch of the ancient House Rigo.

Suddenly, from the shadow of a marble