Knock knock knock—
Bolent knocked on the door in front of him.
A deep voice soon came from inside the room:
"Come in."
Bolent pushed open the door with the documents in hand, then saw a figure with his back to him.
The figure stood in front of the window, one hand clasped behind his back and the other holding a cigarette. No one knew what he was thinking.
Hearing the movement behind him, the figure turned around and saw Bolent:
"Oh, it's you. Have a seat."
The burly man with white stubble gestured toward the seat beside Bolent with the hand holding his cigarette.
Bolent did not refuse. He first placed the documents on the desk beside the man, then sat down on the sofa.
The man's gaze was drawn to the documents. He glanced at the seal and asked:
"Is this your so-called... 'Sharp Blade' plan?"
"Yes, Chief of Staff. Everything is inside."
Bolent nodded in response.
The man Bolent had called Chief of Staff said nothing. He simply opened the documents and read them in silence.
He smoked as he read.
Bolent was not in a hurry and waited beside him.
The man sitting before Bolent was a Major General in the military's General Staff Headquarters and the military's Chief of Staff.
His name was Imon Hague, a legendary figure who was one of the few commoners to rise to such a position.
His prestige in the military was second only to Marshal Remus.
Bolent was now considered his subordinate.
Imon, the Chief of Staff, spent some time reading the documents Bolent had brought before setting them down and pushing them aside.
He did not comment on their contents or ask Bolent any questions about them.
Instead, he suddenly asked:
"Once we deal with those Traditional Faction members, do you want to come to the General Staff? I can guarantee that you'll have at least a Brigadier General's title by then."
Bolent smiled.
"Even if I'm not in the General Staff, am I not still working for you?"
"It's different." Imon shook his head. "In the Intelligence Department, there's a limit to what you can access, and you can't truly participate in military decisions. The General Staff is different."
Imon was right.
The Intelligence Department had only been established recently. Its predecessor was the Royal Family's Shadow Unit, which had always operated in secret. Only recently had it been brought into the open and renamed the Intelligence Department.
Its roots actually lay with the Traditional Faction.
If the marshal had not taken the Intelligence Department for himself, Bolent would never have become its director.
But even so, constrained by the struggle between the Reformist Faction and the Traditional Faction, the Intelligence Department's future had already been decided.
The people here would never be able to enter the nation's Core Layer.
If Bolent continued to stay here, it would hurt his future.
Bolent, however, remained calm. He smiled and said:
"We'll talk about it after everything is over."
"Then who knows how long we'll have to wait?"
Imon exhaled a smoke ring and spoke slowly.
Originally, the struggle between the Reformist Faction and the Traditional Faction should have been nearing its end.
But who could have expected the international situation to change so quickly? Falor and Inglis had simultaneously launched wars against Uno.
Under external pressure, Uno naturally did not dare allow overly serious internal conflict.
Unless...
They could resolve their "battle" with the Traditional Faction in a single day.
"So they still refuse to compromise?"
Seeing Imon's troubled expression, Bolent asked.
Imon shook his head. "Those damn nobles. Even at a time like this, they still cling to the key positions and refuse to let go. Hah... What a bunch of trash!"
There was disdain in Imon's words, along with a faint trace of anger.
Bolent knew where his anger came from.
Some people might find it strange. Why did Uno's military system always feel so bizarre?
The dignified director of the Intelligence Department held only the rank of Major General.
The Chief of Staff, Imon, was a general, but only the lowest-ranking kind—a Major General.
Going even lower, a battalion commander could actually hold only the rank of Second Lieutenant.
Berry held such an important position as director of the Frontline Medical Department, yet during her tenure, she was only a Lieutenant.
It gave people a very strange impression.
But in truth, it was not that the military did not want to grant them higher positions. It was because those higher positions were controlled by the nobles.
The nobles of the Duchy of Uno were highly traditional. They placed great importance on honor and absolutely refused to allow any commoner to sit above them.
Thus, certain official positions could only be held by nobles!
Even if the position was merely a title with no actual authority, they still could not allow anyone to sit above them.
Therefore, the military had three Lieutenant Generals, six Major Generals, eight Brigadier Generals, and twelve other generals of equivalent rank. Most of those holding important positions hovered between Major General and Brigadier General.
The positions of the three Lieutenant Generals and six Major Generals were almost entirely occupied by nobles.
Only one Lieutenant General who was loyal to the marshal could be considered an ordinary noble.
As a result, the highest rank available to generals holding other important lower-level positions was Colonel.
Even then, many of them were still nobles.
They did not work, nor did they care that they had no real power. They wanted only the honor—the "honor" that allowed them to hold themselves above others.
The so-called "honor of nobility."
This was also one of the reasons for Imon's restrained anger.
At a time like this, they still refused to let go of their own interests.
Did they really intend to wait until Falor reached the capital before they would know when to give up?
Thinking of those nobles made Imon's blood pressure rise. He took a deep breath and spent quite some time calming the blood rushing to his head before changing the subject:
"Forget it. Let's not talk about them... By the way, I noticed that you have more than one document here. Besides the 'Sharp Blade' plan using the Magic Orb, there's also the 'Fuse' plan?"
"Yes. We'll send spies and find a way to incite internal rebellion within the enemy nation, diverting their attention... I've already begun working on it, but suitable personnel are scarce at the moment."
Bolent replied.
Imon nodded and tapped the documents set aside with his finger.
"Fine. I approve both of your plans. Go ahead and carry them out. If you need anything, just let me know."
"With your word, I can rest easy."
Bolent stood and saluted.
Imon waved a hand. "Don't give me that. I have no problem supporting you, but I want to see results. Two years. If you don't produce the corresponding results within two years, both plans will be shelved for the time being."
"Don't worry, Chief of Staff." Bolent smiled. "It won't take two years. I'll definitely give you a satisfactory answer."
"You're not going to today's Tea Party either?"
In the bedroom arranged for Li Qi, Claudia looked at Li Qi, who was reading by the window, and asked helplessly.
Li Qi was wearing nothing but simple home clothes. Without raising his head, he said:
"There's no need. I don't want to see those nobles."
"But as a noble young lady, socializing at Tea Parties is essential..."
"Skipping one occasionally is fine, but you people seem to hold balls every day?"
Li Qi put down his book and looked at Claudia expressionlessly.
It was not that he could not accept attending Tea Parties or balls. After all, he was currently the young lady of the Angulo Family.
On his second day after arriving, in order to better fit his identity, Li Qi had attended a noble ball despite having ten thousand objections in his heart.
That day had been fairly pleasant. Although many male nobles had approached Li Qi to make conversation like peacocks displaying their feathers, he had selectively ignored the unpleasantness for the sake of the delicious food at the ball.
But then, when another ball was held on the evening of the third day, Li Qi's mindset underwent a subtle change.
Especially after he received invitations to something called a "Tea Party," an invitation to "enjoy the spring scenery," and an invitation to go to the theater to watch an opera together.
Li Qi completely lost his composure.
What the hell!
Did you nobles have nothing better to do all day?
If you weren't holding a ball, you were holding a Tea Party. Otherwise, you went out to have fun or watched an opera.
Thinking of how he had once risked his life on the front lines to protect this country, while the nobles in the rear ate, drank, and made merry like idiots every day, Li Qi felt increasingly unbalanced.
He even wanted to hack all those fools who lived off their accumulated wealth to death!
So Li Qi did not attend balls out of affected aloofness. He was protecting those nobles—and himself.
Otherwise, he was genuinely afraid he would lose control and kill them all!
Before you continue