Krissen, the ghost butler hovering beside Duke Morissent, was no weakling despite being a ghost. He had reached Mid-Level Legendary.
Duke Morissent stretched, waved away the maid massaging him, then asked the ghost butler, "Have you contacted our people in Black Forest Port? Any new developments?"
"Sir, there's been no progress yet," Krissen replied. "Dean Sost is still hesitating. He seems interested in our proposal, but he doesn't trust us."
"Naturally. Given the empire's size and strength, anyone who works with us will be on edge." Duke Morissent chuckled. "But they all come around in the end. They can't resist the benefits of working with us. Such is ugly, greedy human nature."
The ghost butler said nothing, offering no opinion on Duke Morissent's words.
Then Morissent's expression turned serious. "The people from the Nature Church said there's a problem in the Rune Federation. What happened?"
"There's been an unexpected complication," the ghost butler answered. "A mysterious mercenary has appeared over there. They can't gauge how strong he is, and he's disrupted their plans."
Duke Morissent frowned. "Tell them to pick up the pace. They must complete the plan ahead of schedule. Otherwise, they know the consequences without my having to spell them out."
"Yes, Your Grace." The ghost butler acknowledged the order and slowly vanished.
The next morning, Hicaros emerged from Dean Sost's room with a forced smile. Ever since Green had planted a strand of Death Psychic Energy in her brain, she had felt awful. Her head seemed to ache faintly, and she felt as though someone was watching her every moment.
Dean Sost was accompanying the visiting Duke Morissent on a tour of Black Forest Port that day. With time to spare, Hicaros went to see someone.
She entered an inconspicuous little shop in Black Forest Port's commercial