The Most Foolish One

"That's possible, but unlikely," Vina said after a moment's thought. "After all, siding with the Hero would bring them absolutely no benefit; no matter how much they try to please the Hero, they can't change their bloodline."

"Furthermore, if they have truly already pledged allegiance to the Hero, why would they suggest we inform the other Magic Creature?"

"The number of Magic Creature roaming around this Imperial City is outrageous. With so many powerful Magic Creature appearing together, I don't think this is good news for the Hero. Does he think he can kill us all?"

"From this perspective, there's no doubt that Ieta and Heloise really want the Hero to die."

"They don't care who killed the Hero or who became the new Demon King; all they want to see is the Hero die and themselves regain their freedom."

Vina gave her answer based on her analysis, and this answer clearly coincided with Atris's.

"What about Ieta's suggestion?" Atris asked again.

"That makes sense. The Hero goes without saying; the fact that he was able to snatch Heloise and Ieta from the eldest prince already proves that Hero is powerful enough. Although his power is waning now, we must still be wary of whether the Hero has any backup plans."

"Furthermore, the Hero is accompanied by members of the former Hero's Party: Scarlet Valkyrie Ekaterina, Ghost Archer Sylph, and Archmage Athena. All three have experienced long wars against Magic Creature, and their strength should not be underestimated."

"Besides, there were other women, and those women were not weak either."

"Moreover, the Hero is now the Pope of the Holy Church. When he leaves the Holy Church, they will definitely arrange for a large number of people to protect him. Even if we manage to kill the Hero, we will suffer huge losses. Facing the siege of other competitors, we probably won't be able to protect the Hero's body."

"How about we follow Ieta's suggestion and spread this news? When a large number of Magic Creature besiege the Hero, we can wait in ambush. All we need to do is take the Hero's corpse in the end."

"Never forget His Demon King's order: whoever can bring the Hero's corpse to him will be the next Demon King."

"Does it matter who killed the Hero?"

The first chapter, 4,000 words, is here. The second chapter will be released before 6 PM.

Chapter 491 The Most Foolish One

That's right, as long as the Hero's body can be delivered to His Majesty the Demon King, it doesn't matter who killed the Hero.

A smile gradually spread across Atris's face. As a Magic Creature, she felt no psychological pressure doing such a thing. Atris was certain that if she paid a huge price to kill the Hero, her younger siblings would definitely make the same choice.

"Your Highness, regarding Ieta and Heloise ..." Vina carefully chose her words, "After this is done, do you really intend to grant them their freedom?"

As Ieta's older sister, Vina absolutely did not want to see this happen.

"How could that be? What good would it do me to have two more subordinates who were once captured by humans?" A cold smile appeared on Atris's face. She knew exactly how to make the choice.

The Blood Elf Clan had pledged allegiance to her, and Vina wielded considerable influence among them, even capable of swaying the decisions of the entire Blood Elf race.

Atris knew perfectly well who was more valuable between Ieta and Vina.

As for Ieta and Heloise, they're just two pawns to be discarded after use... This is also the intention of the entire Snow Woman and Blood Elvenkind.

After all, having two prisoners within their own tribe was a disgrace to the tribe, and only when these two women were completely dead would this disgrace disappear.

On the other side.

Within the Imperial City.

The Commoners' District.

A large number of figures dressed in black robes gathered together.

Around the round table were a circle of figures, their pale, Wrath faces illuminated by the dim light of the kerosene lamp. A closer look revealed that almost all of them were nobles.

Moreover, they are among the few remaining high-ranking nobles in the empire.

The once powerful noble families, who could easily shake the empire's situation, are now reduced to just a dozen or so.

For these nobles, the Commoners' District were places they would never normally set foot in, as it would make them feel that their honor was being tainted.

But now they have nowhere else to go; recently, the aristocracy has suffered an unprecedented blow.

That guy Wadsworth has planted countless spies in the Nobles' District. If Wadsworth gets even the slightest bit of leverage over you, Wadsworth personal Imperial Guard will immediately show up at your doorstep and arrest you without a word.

Perhaps the initial cause was just a trivial matter, something insignificant, like seizing the property of commoners or killing a few. But that despicable bastard Wadsworth would use these trivial matters as an excuse to conduct a thorough investigation of the arrested nobles, and this investigation would immediately uncover a great deal of dirty work.

To put it bluntly, how many members of the aristocracy are truly clean?

Who among them isn't secretly harboring filth, committing murder, arson, and embezzling imperial assets...?

Once Wadsworth gets hold of this, the guillotine will be ready for you.

In the last few months, hundreds of nobles have been executed.

Almost every day, nobles were being beheaded; the execution ground had never been as bustling as it had been during this period.

Who could have imagined that the emperor, who had always tried to maintain a balance between the royal family and the nobility, would suddenly go mad? Many nobles fell silent, not daring to utter a word unless absolutely necessary, for fear that they might be the next unlucky ones to lose their heads if they were not careful enough to be targeted by the emperor.

However, these nobles were used to being arrogant, and none of them could tolerate such humiliation, nor did they want to die for no reason.

Under this oppression, a large number of nobles gathered together to discuss matters that absolutely could not be known to Wadsworth, because the Nobles' District was full of the emperor's spies. They dared not hold their meetings in the Nobles' District and could only arrange them in the Commoners' District, which they would never normally approach.

At the gathering, seemingly convinced that Wadsworth couldn't monitor the place, these nobles vented their pent-up frustrations almost unrestrainedly, spewing out all sorts of filthy insults and even curses from the mouths of these self-proclaimed noble and elegant upper-class individuals.

Much later, the matter finally came to the main point: how to overthrow Wadsworth's rule.

At this moment, the noise around them suddenly subsided. The noble class held great power, and each nobleman trained his own private army, which they could use to swagger and bully commoners.

However, compared to the emperor who controlled the entire imperial army, this small number of private soldiers was insignificant.

"How about we find Hero?" a nobleman suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.

This seems like a good idea. The Hero's strength is quite good, and a powerful force has already gathered around Hero. Qin Chu is now also the Pope of the Holy Church, and he controls all the power of the Holy Church and the original Earth Mother Church.

If they could truly win over the Hero to their side, they would immediately have more assurances in overthrowing Wadsworth's rule.

Just as a group of nobles were envisioning a bright future where, with the help of the Hero and the power of the Church, they could overthrow Wadsworth and regain their wealth and power, one noble suddenly poured cold water on their hopes. "But why should the Hero help us?"

"He's Hero, isn't it only right that he helps us?"

"That's right. Hero is to protect the people of the Skyvault Continent. Now that Wadsworth is so brutal, as Hero, he should take the initiative to stand up."

"Otherwise, what right does he have to continue being Hero?"

"Don't forget, he's just an outsider from another world. Without the title of Hero, he's nothing... If all of us nobles refuse to acknowledge him as Hero, then the glory, status, and power he enjoys now will surely vanish, and perhaps even the Church will kick him aside."

"A person who has lost the title of Hero is of no value to the Church."

"Doesn't the Hero like women? If all else fails, why not just kidnap a few pretty women from the Commoners' District for him?"

A group of nobles were making a ruckus here, as if they had firmly bound the Hero to their chariot.

Although some nobles frowned, clearly knowing that things would not go smoothly, they couldn't say anything more given the current high spirits of the crowd.

If it weren't for the need to unite all the nobles to fight against the emperor, I really wouldn't want to cooperate with such a bunch of incompetent teammates.

Even more foolish and incompetent individuals suggested mobilizing the common people. Although the common people were all stupid and worthless, their sheer number was overwhelming. If all the common people could be mobilized to resist the tyrannical rule of Wadsworth, that would be a powerful bargaining chip, since these common people dared not rebel against the nobles.

The few nobles with any sense could only sigh helplessly at the suggestion of these foolish companions. Ironically, these very fools were also the loudest voices, drowning out all dissenting opinions.

Don't these idiots understand the current situation?

Don't they understand that commoners dislike nobles more than royalty? After all, royalty lives in the palace and rarely interacts with commoners, but it's different for nobles; conflicts between nobles and commoners happen almost every day.

The number of commoners who died at the hands of nobles was hundreds of times greater than the number who died at the hands of royalty.

Worst of all, that cunning fellow Wadsworth has recently executed a large number of nobles, which has directly led to Wadsworth being seen as an incurable madman by the noble class, but as an unprecedentedly wise man by the common people.

Moreover, Wadsworth allowed commoners to trespass into the Nobles' District and loot the homes of executed nobles, all of which subtly enhanced Wadsworth's reputation among the common people.

Under these circumstances, it would be virtually impossible to incite civilians against Wadsworth.

Moreover, if commoners dare not rebel against nobles, how could they possibly dare to rebel against royalty?

Looking around the meeting, more than half of the nobles were discussing excitedly, as if victory was already in their grasp and the advantage was in their hands. They had even begun to discuss sending someone to persuade the Hero the next day.

The remaining nobles exchanged glances, all able to see the helplessness in each other's eyes. These old foxes increasingly felt that cooperating with this group of fools might lead to disaster at any moment.

Almost at the same time, Wadsworth summoned all his children to the Imperial Palace; all of them were present except for Carol, who was staying at the Hero's Palace.

During this period, not only the nobles lived in fear, but even the princes and princesses were no exception. Almost everyone lived in constant fear, afraid that they might accidentally offend their fathers.

The current king killed several of his sons and daughters, and no one would suspect a thing.

Now, suddenly summoned by their father, they were all pale-faced and trembling with fear.

What puzzled the princes and princesses was that this time, their father did not get angry as before. Instead, he issued an order without accepting any objections, directly assigning all the princes and princesses to the front line against the Magic Creature, making them members of the army.

The next day.

Qin Chu have finally returned.

Both Big Saya Oo and Little Saya, who had been guarding the bedroom, breathed a sigh of relief.

The two women were quite curious about where Qin Chu had gone and why he had become so weak, but neither of them said anything, only reminding Qin Chu to be careful.

Inside the palace, Antasia had everything prepared.

She longed to return to the Ice Grand Duchy immediately, and just yesterday she received another message from her mother. Although in the Message Magic, her mother told her that everything was fine in the Ice Grand Duchy and that she didn't need to go back.

But from her mother's voice, Antasia could sense the terrifying pressure and torment her mother was bearing on her shoulders; the situation in the Ice Grand Duchy must be many times worse than her mother had described.

Perhaps her mother's reluctance to let her return stemmed from her unwillingness to let her perish in the ice along with the entire duchy.

The more this happened, the more worried Antasia became about the situation in the Ice Grand Duchy.

Inside the palace, Qin Chu had summoned everyone and was arranging tasks.

Ekaterina, Sylph, and Athena remained at the palace to oversee the situation with Rosweisse. This woman seemed to have recently entered the Endless Sea, and it was unknown whether she had died there or was affected by its Endless Sea power. Athena couldn't even contact her.

Carol had been frowning the whole time. Although she had been living in the Hero's Palace, the princess was well aware of what was happening in the Imperial Palace. The conflict between the nobles and the royal family had become increasingly sharp and intense.

Perhaps before long, before the effects of the infighting within the Holy Church have even subsided, a civil war between the nobility and the royal family will break out.

Carlos didn't want to see this, but he was powerless to stop it.

"Violet, Norma, you two stay here too. The Holy See's Veranika side might still need support," Qin Chu said after a moment's thought.

Violet and Norma both nodded, having no objection to Qin Chu's arrangement. Both Violet and Norma were extremely powerful, especially Violet. With Phil from the Earth Mother Church also present, having two super experts stationed in the Imperial City meant they could handle any unusual events that might occur.

"Antia, Heloise, Ieta, and... Angelica, the four of you and Antasia will come with me to the Ice Grand Duchy."

As for the matter of the Little Saya, Qin Chu had already made arrangements.

These two Dark Witch are a last resort; they won't be needed unless absolutely necessary.

Angelica's little face was Crimson; she was overjoyed, as this was the first time in a long time that her master had taken her along on an outing.

After giving him a few more detailed instructions, Qin Chu left with the five girls.

Upon arriving at the gate, they were surprised to find a luxurious carriage parked in front of it, and a short, stout man dressed in fine clothes was stepping down from the carriage.

Although the atmosphere in the Imperial City has been tense and the situation delicate recently, this nobleman is still unwilling to lose the air of an upper-class person; nobility and elegance are indispensable.

He held a gilded cane, wore a top hat, and even had a monocle hanging pretentiously on his nose.

Upon seeing Qin Chu appear, a smile immediately appeared on the man's face. He removed his hat from his head and placed it between his chest and abdomen, his obese body bending slightly, a very difficult movement for him. "Ah, esteemed Hero, it's been many days. You are still as magnificent as ever."

Qin Chu racked his brains, and it wasn't until several seconds later that he realized what was happening, and a professional smile appeared on his face, "Ah, it's Pol Bohr... You're still as prosperous as ever."

He was just a minor viscount; if it weren't for his spherical physique, Qin Chu probably wouldn't have remembered him at all.

Pol's smile grew wider and wider. Although they had only met once, the Hero still remembered him. That was the weight of being a viscount.

What a bunch of useless fools! They clearly want the Hero's support, yet not a single one of them is willing to come and discuss this matter with Hero. Don't those idiots understand that whoever accepts this task becomes a bridge between the Hero and the noble class?

Overthrowing Wadsworth in the future would be a great achievement, and would bring considerable benefits.

I really don't know how those good-for-nothings ever became earls, marquises, or even dukes.

His slightly arrogant gaze swept over the women behind Qin Chu... What a bunch of ill-mannered monkeys! They didn't even know to bow to their esteemed viscount.

There were even two filthy Magic Creature among them.

If it weren't for the fact that he was Hero, such disrespectful behavior alone would have warranted whipping.

However, out of respect for the Hero, he decided not to bother with these foolish women; after all, Pol Bohr was quite clever.

That said, these women are really quite beautiful.

The Hero's life is truly wonderful. I wish I could enjoy it like that someday!

Seemingly sensing Pol Bohr's impolite gaze, the girls' brows furrowed instantly, and displeasure appeared on their faces.

"Ahem..." Just then, Pol cleared his throat, his arrogant gaze sweeping over the women once more. "Hero Excellency, could you please have these women leave? I have something important to discuss with you."