When the plot-skips players into the game world

Glass Island, White Queen District.

The mansion of Minister of the Navy Dewes Ramos was here.

Like the Moriarty Family, the Ramos Manor was not far from the Moriarty Manor, both being from the Founding Families.

Their ancestor was a hero second only in bravery to Lancelot named Ranmarock. He fought valiantly until the end in the fiercest battle against the Giants, sacrificing his life with honor. After the Crown Lord's ascension, he became one of His Knights.

If Avalon had nobility, then the Ramos Family would surely count as the highest tier.

It was precisely because of the gallantry of the Ramos' ancestors that their family had controlled the navy or the army for hundreds of years. The head of their family would always become the commander of an entire military force—indeed, the previous Guardian of Avalon was the uncle of Dewes Ramos.

Old Dewes was walking in the garden, pruning the plants with his gardening shears in hand.

With white hair and a straight back, his stern face was full of wrinkles. Although no one had provoked him, the corners of his mouth were turned down slightly, making him look as fearsome as an angered lion.

It was not that he couldn't afford a skilled gardener, but he always felt that their designs didn't suit his taste—though he couldn't articulate specific requirements, he just thought there was something off about their pruning here and there. In short, he was never satisfied no matter how it was changed.

In the end, he had to do it himself—not that he was particularly good at it, but at least it was not uncomfortable.

"I suddenly have a bad feeling, Sheldon."

The old man began speaking slowly.

His Chief Secretary Sheldon, following behind him, also had a sturdy and tall build. He appeared much younger than Old Dewes but was at least in his fifties, with obvious wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes.

Sheldon thought for a moment, "Are you referring to that matter in the department recently?"

His words were ambiguous enough, yet clear to Old Dewes.

"Sometimes I also wonder if what we're doing is right," the old man said slowly, with his back to the secretary.

"I didn't cooperate with Tommy when he was rising to power because I saw him as nothing but a bastard orphan with impure blood; and when that pig Charles invited me to work for the Irisflower People, I didn't deign to join him either... Not for any particular reason, just pure disdain," he continued.

Perhaps it was disdain for Charles who once had a strong and tall body, only to become a fat pig who struggled to walk; perhaps it was disdain for his once dream to change Avalon, but who immediately gave up at the first sign of hardship...

Or perhaps it was simply because Charles Drost was sought by the Star Antimony People since he was the "cheapest" one. To work with him would lower his own standards.

He was not a pedantic Knight, nor was he opposed to becoming a "noble."

But it had to be the Star Antimony People themselves who came to him, with an offer high enough—an Earl's title wouldn't be too bad.

Not that they wouldn't show their faces and just send Charles to recruit him.

Who did they think he was? A lackey to that pig Charles?

In turn, it was precisely because of the trouble Charles caused for himself that now forced him to act decisively.

When Charles had tried to recruit him, he considered giving himself an out and therefore did not report the matter. Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire

After all, Star Antimony was aggressive at the time, aiming directly at Avalon, and the Irisflower People seemed to have an odd stance. The Avalon royal family was also being cursed consecutively, appearing completely defenseless; alchemy had been open for many years, with huge investments resulting in no good outcomes; the future sovereigns all seemed to be without prospects, and Old Meg also appeared close to death.

Seeing this ship about to flounder, he had to prepare to jump ship.

—Who could have imagined that Charles would be caught alive in a blink of an eye!

He even capitulated, willing to spill those secret reports for survival—

Couldn't you, that damned pig, just die?!

Old Dewes shrewdly deduced that the sudden improvement in Star Antimony's diplomatic stance and the Irisflower People's near treasonous friendliness must have had a reason.

Most likely it was because Star Antimony didn't manage to carry out the assassination successfully, allowing Drost to be securely and covertly detained.

It meant that the entire Star Antimony intelligence network within Avalon could potentially be exposed, and Star Antimony had to act amicably to buy time for an urgent withdrawal.

Old Dewis couldn't have failed to confirm this intelligence with his colleagues, but he was certain that Minister Drost wouldn't have invited just him at the time.

Recently, the Supervisory Court has been arresting people, and those arrested haven't resisted fiercely, presumably because they've been caught with some real leverage against them.

Old Dewis didn't know when Charles would start to betray him, but he knew that eventually, Charles would spit out his own intelligence, sooner or later.

So, he really only had two paths to choose from.

One was to hurry up and die, to pass on the headship of Ramos Manor to his descendants before being betrayed—a dead man can't be pursued for merely an issue of stance and allegiance. After all, he hadn't truly made any serious mistakes.

The other was to fight to the bitter end.

To find a way to grab some dirt on the opposition, or make something up if he couldn't, and ultimately reach a stand-off—I won't mess with you, and you don't mess with me.

Actually, some had chosen the first path.

This winter, some old Knights of his generation passed away, not because of the cold weather… but due to suicide out of fear of their crimes.

—All of this was a chain reaction triggered by Minister Drost's arrest.

But there were others who still harbored a hope of avoiding disaster.

Old Dewis didn't do so, simply because there was no one in the Ramos family at present who could take over. There weren't many promising individuals among his descendants, the most talented and most hopeful to take his place was his grandson. And he was still too young to be the head of the house, let alone a minister.

The Minister of the Navy wasn't like some messy "Department of Care of Magical Creatures Minister" that one could become with just the Queen's authorization, nor was it a position like agriculture or trade, where anyone could take up the role, often even those who knew nothing about the field.

If he wanted his grandson to inherit his position as minister, he would at least have to promote him to the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy. That was the bare minimum.

However, these were peaceful times with no war—promotions during peacetime could only come with seniority. And under such circumstances, Her Majesty the Queen was still encouraging "non-Path of Authority members to join the military." This meant that he also had to allocate some promotion spots to non-Authority Transcendents to ensure that they held a certain proportion in the navy's high command.

And if he couldn't pass on the minister's position while alive, he could only pass it to several generals below him, following regulations.

Although it might only be a temporary custody on paper…

Once passed on, and after he died… it would be seen whether his incompetent descendants, who struggled even to reach the third Energy Level, could keep it securely. If they could, it would possibly never be passed back.

The position of the Guardian had already been lost, and if he couldn't hold onto the military minister's position, the Ramos family would be in name only—if not actually extinct. At least the Moriarty Family still had wealth accumulated over generations through their commerce, while the Ramos family only had connections in the military.

If even that was lost, all they would have left would be a permanent seat in the Round Table Hall.

For this reason, he had to start taking action.

"Following the results of our discussion, after obtaining this intelligence, we should choose to immediately make part of it public—the part that implicates Aleister as a Star Antimony spy. We can use this method to reduce Aiwass Moriarty's influence,"

Old Dewis said slowly, "But I'm thinking… is there no other way?"

Now that Her Majesty Sofia's life was not long for this world. The Arbitration Hall had already ordered the ministers to be on standby at home, indicating that it would be in the next few days.

Once they get this news published in the newspapers, spreading it all over Avalon, a week-long mourning period would immediately ensue.

During this time, Aiwass couldn't possibly argue about the details in the newspapers—that would only annoy people. After all, the evidence they had was solid and recognized by the intelligence departments of three countries. It wouldn't be enough to convince the public to dispute every detail solely based on the evidence provided by the Supervisory Court.

After a week, the matter would effectively be settled. People would have formed a fixed impression, and it would be too late for him to make a retort.

Then, they could negotiate with Aiwass… just keep the Department of Care of Magical Creatures as it is, not doing anything, and they would also do nothing.

"But I feel a bit uneasy today. I feel like something is about to happen… I think this plan is not safe enough."

Old Dewis furrowed his brows deeply, "Because after all, this is just about getting rid of Aleister and making people doubt Minister Moriarty for betraying Avalon's interests for love, feeling that this young minister is unreliable. But if we can't get more leverage on him, it's hard to completely stop his actions, only adding public opposition to his efforts. If he truly doesn't care about his reputation or the Moriarty Family's business, it might just end up provoking him completely.

"So, I'm wondering… Is there a possibility that we just hand over this letter directly to Minister Moriarty? We just retain a copy… and then sell out those old conspirators together."

The old man squinted his eyes, his dangerous gaze flickering incessantly: "That way, we could protect the Ramos family and get others to cough up something…"

"…Sheldon, what do you think?"