The Missing Chesspiece

The capital of Grimhale, Heimvar, since its foundation, is a place for nobles and royalty. Here they meet and plot. For the current emperor, there are two internal problems at hand he has to resolve. First, the opposition. One might think, that the current ruler of Grimhale has an absolute influence on his subordinates, however, it is not true.

The absence of open conflicts does not mean no of them exists. The most recent example is related to the revolt of slaves in one of the three richest cities in the entire empire, Manliv. The city is known for the abundance of minerals, so the number of slaves needed to excavate these mines is not low. At first glance, nobles are not mentioned here, however, the main participants of this event were armed to the teeth and suspiciously organized. Also, it has just happened that the nearest force to the place of revolt was no other than devout followers of the emperor. In other words, the emperor's trusted troops. It is important to know, there is no such thing as paranoia for the ones in power. If something happened, it is meant to target you.

Looking at the entire picture, one can find, that about half a year ago there were quite a lot of dealings related to weapon trading in Manliv. The one responsible for most of them was the Gustav family, the giant among the nobles.

Tracing this to the origin, one year ago Gustav family without a rhythm or reason requested the emperor to allow the creation of their branch and trading on the territory of Manliv. They argued that Manliv was not secure enough. Such a foolish request was refused.

Speaking of this. What are the benefits of the revolt for the Gustav family? First, in the shortest amount of time, they made quite a lot of money on trading. The family likely acted as the mediator between Manliv's merchants and other nobles who had an excessive amount of equipment.

Also, as they almost exactly are the ones who ignited the rebellion, they now had an upper hand at requesting the same conditions they asked one year ago from the emperor.

The second internal problem is just one person. Cleus's family Mark Cleus. He is an unshakable head of this family. Even the Cleus family with its council of old fogeys itself cannot restrain him. However, thinking about him and the recent news, the emperor almost laughed. Mark lost an important piece and can pressure him no more.

All esteemed and influential people know about the dilemma between Mark and the emperor over one of his consorts. Sadly, the version they know is just a deception.

Emperor's beloved consort didn't cheat. She didn't even leave her chambers and in fact, was originally used as a sacrificial pawn by the emperor to get rid of the dissidents. From one side, others will be less suspicious as the emperor's prestige will take a hit. From another side, in his rage, the emperor can freely clean unruly nobles including Mark Cleus himself. All was going as planned before the bastard son of Mark Cleus appeared.

This child looked like the emperor himself in his childhood... as a result of a curse. Though rare, curses do exist. Unknowingly how, Mark Cleus just found one and put the checkmate in their fight. A similar curse was described in one of the biography books of the founding emperor. All damage done to this child will be felt by the emperor. If this child dies, the emperor will die too. However, to do this to his own child... Mark Cleus is cruel. Finding himself restricted, the emperor tried to steal the child secretly, however, till now he had no success. For almost twenty long years he lived in fear of dying. However, who could have known, that this chess piece will run away by itself one day? Moreover, to his shock, his strongest confidant Rein Beavor, who was ordered to lead the escapee to the emperor, said that the man is stronger than the knight and is at least of the grand knight caliber! There are only three confirmed grand knights in the empire and no one of them is sided with any power! To kill these monsters almost all known means are useless, so it is better to just leave them alone.

Today, the emperor is ready to meet with the one named Cain face-to-face to know if this man will side with him. Otherwise, he will have to constrain the grand knight with all his might while not killing one... The thought sent shivers down the emperor's spine.

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Right in front of me is the man known as Julius Grimhale, the ruler of the Grimhale empire. The man looks like he is in his forties and had the oppressive demeanor of a tyrant. Honestly, I assumed that the one named Rein lied to me and even now I am kind of suspicious. However, this place, which looks exactly like the emperor's chambers proves me wrong. Anyway, it doesn't matter as I have absolute confidence in my powers. Am I arrogant? Not at all.

「Name: Cain Chaser」

「Body Talent: Spirit Gray. Upgrade Cost: 3000 talent points」

「Description: Modified Talent. Terrific! You have the talent that doesn't belong to the human species. Of course, it is true as long the infinite universe is not taken in calculations. As you have ten years before the funeral right now, becoming a high-level mob on this planet is a possibility for you!」

「Talent Bonus: Blessed By Nature, Spirit Physique (Low-tier), Spiritual Eyes」

「Fire Element Talent: Gray. Upgrade Cost: 500 talent points」

「Water Element Talent: Gray. Upgrade Cost: 500 talent points」

「Wind Element Talent: Orange. Upgrade Cost: 2000 talent points」

「Earth Element Talent: Gray. Upgrade Cost: 500 talent points」

「Other Talents: Closed」

「Wind Element Talent: Orange. With current speed, it will still take you about five hundred years to comprehend the element fully」

「Current Talent Points: 8024 (0.01 p/s)」

First, I incorporated the breathing method into my daily life. It became my instinct by now. As result, my daily output of Talent Points equals 864 points. During the road to the emperor which took a week by horse, I also killed some of the animals. With my current comprehension level of the wind, I can freely accelerate myself nearly twice my original speed. Additionally, it is not hard to send the concentrated air bullet to kill the enemy, on the condition the distance between us does not exceed twenty meters. Anyway, I can't count how many ways to kill are at my disposal by now. It is even possible to create a vacuum zone, however, with my current comprehension, it is possible to create it with only one meter in diameter. All in all, The stronger my comprehension is, the easier it is for me to interact with elements. As I am currently focused on wind, my comprehension of other elements can be neglected.

My regeneration is absurd, as long as I am not killed in one strike, there is no way to capture me.

My body strength equals the power of over twenty knights, where every knight is like ten regular soldiers. I am really not that arrogant. Though, I prepared some plans just in case.

Looking at Julius, I decided to solve most of my problems by using his hand. So, I have to at least try to create a show of goodwill. Opening my mouth, I finally began to speak. Hope you will take my offer, Julius. Otherwise, I will have to use a more drastic approach.