Chapter 1343
Wyatt Rodney paced anxiously around the room. After a few minutes, he summoned his trusted confidant, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes.
"Go, meet with Leon Merlin. Tell him everything you know. Make sure to clear our Rodney Family of any involvement. This incident has nothing to do with us. As for those fools, just because they're outside Neverwinter City's jurisdiction doesn't mean they can act so recklessly. This time, they've gotten themselves into serious trouble!"
The confidant, shocked, turned to leave. At that moment, Wyatt Rodney gritted his teeth.
"Use the name of our Rodney Family to spread some rumors. Let it be known that, regardless of who it was, killing the head of a material supplier's family is a violation of the rules!"
The confidant retreated in terror, not daring to utter a word as he saw Wyatt Rodney's furious expression.
Within half an hour, Wyatt Rodney's confidant used a teleportation array to arrive in Neverwinter City. The local Rodney Family members immediately pointed him in the right direction. Before Leon could find Dean Gandalf, Wyatt's confidant had already tracked him down.
"Master Merlin, please wait a moment. I represent the Rodney Family..."
Before the confidant could finish, Leon interrupted him with a frown.
"Rodney Family? Are you following me?"
The confidant was drenched in cold sweat and quickly bent at the waist.
"Master Merlin, please don't misunderstand. I came here on direct orders from Lord Wyatt Rodney, merely to inform you of certain matters. Lord Wyatt is furious about the recent events at the Gilded Rose—such blatant disregard for the rules not only harms the interests of the Gilded Rose, but also damages the Rodney Family's interests."
A glimmer flashed in Leon's eyes, but he simply watched the confidant without betraying any emotion.
"Oh? Go ahead, then."
The confidant let out a subtle sigh of relief and glanced around warily. Only after confirming no one else was present did he use magic to lower his voice.
"Master Merlin, in truth, our Rodney Family was deceived as well. One of our elders was misled into believing the Gilded Rose had no real strength, that it had simply stumbled upon an alchemical ruin, and as outsiders, they were trying to seize the Rodney Family's...
So that elder from our Rodney Family took action against the Gilded Rose. Afterward, things spiraled out of control, and it ended up like this. Lord Wyatt Rodney deeply regrets being deceived by the elder—not only did we suffer heavy losses, but we also lost the friendship of the Gilded Rose and Master Merlin."
And this time, those two wretches tried to seduce our Rodney Family again, but Lord Wyatt Rodney was not swayed in the slightest. He had planned to apprehend them, but their strength was formidable, and all he could do was drive them away.
Then, in the past few days, the Gilded Rose's material transport fleet was attacked, and a supplier family's head was assassinated. The nature of these acts is truly vile. Lord Wyatt ordered me to tell Master Merlin that those two wretches—at least Sky Rank Level 3—are from the southern part of Odin Kingdom. But we don't know which faction exactly; everyone we sent to track them was killed..."
After hearing all this, Leon quietly pondered. Southern Odin Kingdom? When did I ever offend anyone from the south? No wonder they're so brazen, doing things that harm others without benefiting themselves. They clearly don't care about local interests or losses. Besides, the southern and northern regions of Odin Kingdom have long-standing, deep-seated conflicts—many powers in the south and north are at odds with each other.
The confidant stood quietly by, waiting. After a few minutes, Leon glanced at him.
"Alright, I understand. You can go back now."
Hearing this, the confidant let out a small sigh of relief, bowed, and departed.
The Rodney Family was trying to ease tensions. To get this far was already quite an achievement—their posture was exceedingly humble. But Leon didn't need to make any overtures. If the Rodney Family truly backed down, there was no harm in softening relations a little. After all, they'd been established in Odin Kingdom for many years, with a solid network and considerable strength.
No sooner had the Rodney Family's people left than someone arrived bearing a gift.
"Master Merlin, this is a small token from Lord Reynolds. He hopes you will like it."
Leon looked at the thick book in his hands, a sly smile playing at his lips. He opened it to find intelligence reports on various factions—while not the most confidential, it was still a rare find for the Gilded Rose. If the Gilded Rose had to dig up this kind of information on its own, it would take ages.
This time, after the attack on the Gilded Rose, the Rodney Family was the first to get nervous, and now the Roosevelt Trading Consortium seemed uneasy too. The rivalry between the Roosevelt Consortium and the Lincoln Trading Guild was growing fiercer—at a time like this, even if they couldn't win over the Gilded Rose, they certainly didn't want to offend it further.
If the Gilded Rose really decided to ramp up its supply of Universal Cores to the Lincoln Trading Guild, the Roosevelt Consortium's situation would become even more dire. And given the circumstances, it's only natural for the Gilded Rose to suspect them...
Now, the Roosevelt Consortium had delivered a book like this, essentially declaring that they had nothing to do with the incident. What's more, the people targeting the Gilded Rose were listed within its pages—not spelled out explicitly, but with just a bit of effort, the Gilded Rose could cross-reference the data and narrow down the list of suspects.
Opening the book, Leon found it packed with detailed information—even the most famous members of each faction were listed, with descriptions of their appearance, strength, and traits. There were even portraits of many renowned powerhouses.
(Irrelevant line indicating chapter navigation—skip translation.)
Soon enough, Leon pinpointed a prime suspect in the book: the Rose Circle from southern Odin Kingdom. This faction was almost entirely female, with all their famous mages and sword saints being women. Yet there were no portraits, only vague descriptions.
The Rose Circle specialized in intelligence and assassination. Brothels, casinos, taverns—many places were secretly run by them. Anyone needing information could trade with the Rose Circle. Their assassinations were all different, sharing no patterns, but one thing was consistent: these people were utterly ruthless, stopping at nothing to achieve their goals.
Once, to assassinate a Sky Rank mage, a Sky Rank powerhouse from the Rose Circle disguised herself as a Title Magus and spent three years at the mage's side, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Their methods were cruel but never overtly bloody. Many times, their targets died without ever knowing the Rose Circle was involved. Compared to their peers in the Shadow Tower, the Rose Circle's reputation was far less notorious—at least they weren't as reviled. Anyone in need of intelligence would often turn to the Rose Circle.
Leon put the book away, already fairly certain—the two who visited the Rodney Family were Rose Circle agents. Stirring up trouble for the Gilded Rose, fanning the flames behind the scenes, and their ruthless tactics—all signs pointed to the Rose Circle.
Most importantly, only the Rose Circle could so easily send out two powerful Sky Rank Level 3 female mages to sow chaos. No other faction could field such formidable women with such ease.
After all, female mages were far fewer than males—especially among Sky Rank mages, women made up less than ten percent.
Ordinary factions would never send their Sky Rank female mages on jobs like this. After all, a transcendent female mage is the ideal target for many evil magicians.