"I remember this kind of tactic. A hundred years ago, our nobles loved targeting commoners like this. The commoners usually fell for it."
"Without nice clothes, fine jewelry, or respectable status, they couldn't fit into the circle. In the end, they were cast out and isolated."
"Even the Grand Duke of Ansu suffered from it a hundred years ago."
"These were the common threads. I dug deeper and uncovered the symbols."
"Their Symbolic Literature."
"I used three strategies—controlling epidemics, suppressing bandits, and land reform—to conduct a thorough purge of my Controlled Area. I discovered many cults, gangs, and merchant guilds in hiding. Putting all the clues together..."
"I found out how they infiltrated us."
"Honey traps. They heightened people's desires, seduced them into performing Evil Sacrifices, and kept them immersed in indulgence and desire. They preyed on the people and ate them."
"And I had someone helping me. She had excellent connections, and I also gave her a few hints."
"Yuffie."
Yuffie said, "I'm sorry. The Empire's intelligence really is inadequate."
"You... Mother, what would you say about what happened to you back then, the circumstances at the time, and Father's situation?"
"I can only say... the measures solved the problem temporarily and kept the Empire from being destroyed on the surface, but its intelligence network was riddled with holes."
"Our education and Cultural Propaganda have problems across the board."
"The vampires of today were also created when the Demon Race tempted Lothair and Louis into researching them."
"That caused problems across the board in education and Cultural Propaganda."
"The vampires of today were also created when the Demon Race tempted Lothair—
And then... Lynn."
Lynn said, "I think there's an unseen hand behind both the hidden enemies and the Anti-Augustus Alliance being formed abroad."
"Even if my republican system