Important Intelligence

The next morning, Can Guang City was greeted by a thorough downpour after a long absence. Thunder rumbled in waves, and Bende was the only one left in the courtyard, soothing the frightened horses in the stable.

In the dining room, Li Si sat in his pajamas, lazily eating lunch.

Having pulled another all-nighter the previous night, Li Si had slept in that morning and had only just gotten up.

It wasn't his fault. If anyone was to blame, it was the rain—sleeping on a rainy day was simply too comfortable, carrying an inexplicable sense of security.

Just as Li Si was happily enjoying the special roast chicken prepared by his chef, Joyce placed a letter on the table.

Li Si turned over the thick parchment envelope. There was no signature on it, so he had no idea who had sent it.

Before Li Si could ask, Joyce answered in advance.

"Young Master, this letter was sent by someone Young Master Mora arranged. He said you would know what was inside."

Is this the intelligence I asked Mora to gather last time? It's finally here!

Li Si no longer had the patience to savor his meal. He wolfed down enough to fill his stomach, then took the envelope to the Underground Laboratory.

After clearing a space on the table piled high with experimental tools and draft papers, Li Si sat down, tore open the envelope, and began reading through the intelligence Mora had gathered for him.

Different types of intelligence had been organized separately on papers of various formats. Mora had truly put thought into Li Si's request.

"Changes among important kingdom officials? Nothing much has changed here!"

"Changes in the migration and distribution of wild magical beasts, as well as trade route adjustments? Not much use either."

"Recent movements of Earl Sharon's widow? What the hell did that kid Mora stuff in here?!"

The intelligence Mora had prepared covered all sorts of subjects. For instance, the trade route ledger had cost his family's merchant guild a tremendous price to compile. If it were sold to traveling merchants in urgent need of information, it could bring in a sizable fortune.

But none of it was useful to Li Si. These were not the things he wanted to know.

At the very end was the most detailed and important report: statistics on price changes for goods in the Fies Kingdom and several neighboring countries.

To ordinary people, this would be a weather vane for making money and striking it rich, but that was not what Li Si cared about.

Amid the dense data, Li Si quickly found what he had been looking for.

Within the Fies Kingdom, the prices of bulk commodities such as food, metal ore, weapons and equipment, and salt had risen steadily over the past half year. Compared to the same period last year, they had all increased by five to fifteen percent.

Meanwhile, prices for domestic luxury goods and real estate had declined slightly.

Several countries neighboring the Fies Kingdom showed similar trends, though their price fluctuations were all smaller than those in the Fies Kingdom.

Following the report was a recommendation from Golden Vine Merchant Guild intelligence agents, proposing that caravans increase the proportion of food, equipment, and similar goods they carried.

Li Si set down the report and stroked his chin, an inscrutable look in his eyes.

Now this is interesting!

The entire continent had been peaceful for a long time, so even though the Golden Vine Merchant Guild had noticed these unusual price fluctuations, they had not considered the possibility of war.

Look at these goods—food, weapons and equipment, metal ore, salt—every single one was an extremely important war supply.

If the fluctuations in food prices could be attributed to seasonal factors, then there was no reasonable explanation for the changing prices of weapons, equipment, and metal ore.

But Li Si was different. Although he did not know much about economics, he knew that war was the inevitable outcome. Working backward from that conclusion, it was easy to guess why these war supplies had become more expensive.

Someone was secretly buying up and stockpiling these crucial strategic materials!

At the same time, judging from the extent of the price changes, the main buying and stockpiling activities should have taken place within the Fies Kingdom, which in turn had driven changes in material prices in neighboring countries.

That was rather terrifying!

What kind of staggering amount of capital would it take to directly influence the prices of bulk commodities like food and weapons?

And this secret buying operation had not even aroused the suspicions of the Golden Vine Merchant Guild, one of the kingdom's top five merchant guilds.

This...

Li Si did not believe anyone could accomplish something like this without the cooperation and support of the kingdom's upper ranks!

So had the assassination at the Sacred Festival been planned by the kingdom's higher-ups?

Could it have been the king?

Li Si felt that was unlikely. If the king truly wanted to start a war, there would have been no need to provoke conflict through an assassination at the Sacred Festival, a method that greatly damaged the royal family's dignity and prestige.

If the king wished it, even a minor border dispute could serve as an excuse for war.

Suddenly, inspiration flashed through Li Si's mind!

Right—unless the king did not want to start a war, but someone wanted to create an irresistible reason that would force the King of Fies to launch a war of foreign aggression.

War could be used to divert domestic conflicts and vent the dissatisfaction among the noble class caused by the assassination!

Bit by bit, Li Si sorted out his thoughts, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

So the most important thing now was to find out exactly who in the kingdom wanted to push for foreign aggression, and why they wanted to start a war.

Li Si looked at the intelligence in his hand once more. The report Mora had sent him was very useful. He would have to thank him properly later.

So where could he inquire about news from the kingdom's upper ranks?

Very quickly, a figure appeared in Li Si's mind.

Damn, how did I forget about him?!

Ge Duo Street, Ya Er Adventurer Team Headquarters

The rain continued to pour outside. In this sort of weather, people stayed home to rest, and few ventured out into the heavy rain.

After all, in this age, even a minor cold could take a person's life.

The members of the Ya Er Adventurer Team were all in the villa as well, lazily enjoying this rare moment of leisure.

Lunbos was still drinking the ale that was as vital to him as life itself alongside some snacks. The recent subjugation mission had replenished his funds for alcohol.

Arsen, meanwhile, was maintaining his longsword and armor, carefully applying special lubricating oil to every part.

Elena and Ya Er sat side by side on the sofa.

"Come on, Sister Elena, just let me hold Little Black Cat again. I'll be gentler this time."

Ya Er looked longingly at the Little Black Cat curled up in Elena's arms, putting on a pitiful expression.

"You said the same thing last time."

Elena rolled her eyes at Ya Er and ignored her whining and cuteness entirely.

"You're so stingy! When I get one, I won't let you play with it either!"

Ya Er turned away with puffed cheeks and complained irritably.

Just then, Li Si pushed open the door and walked in. Hearing Ya Er's words, the corner of his mouth twitched.

Please don't. That bad-tempered red dragon... I really don't know how you managed to make the most vicious and brutal of the Five-Colored Dragons into your mount. Was it physical persuasion?

Seeing Li Si enter, Arsen set down his sword and asked, "What is it, Li Si? You came over in such awful weather. Is something urgent?"

"Don't tell me it's about the reward for the last mission?"

Arsen joked.

"Not that. There's something I'd like to ask you to help me with."

Li Si shook the raindrops from his raincoat and spoke to Arsen.

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