Chapter 480
Chapter 480
Chapter 480
THUMP! THUMP!
A carriage hurriedly entered the Four Seasons Castle.
The person riding in the carriage was none other than Howard Draker, a member of the Cross Society.
He spoke with an anxious expression to the man sitting across from him.
"Souma, that information is correct, right?"
The man sitting across from him was Souma, the commander of the right-wing unit, the department handling information in the Draker Black Corps Division.
With brown hair and a gentle face, Souma's appearance made it difficult to imagine him as Draker's intelligence director.
He nodded at Howard's words.
"Yes, news has arrived that Zeke Draker has entered the Four Seasons Castle."
At Souma's words, Howard Draker's expression darkened further.
Howard, who had been a loyal servant, already knew that when the former head Arthur Draker was alive, he had marked Zeke as his successor.
If Arthur Draker hadn't died from illness, there was a high possibility that Zeke would have inherited the position of family head of the Drakers.
However, when Arthur Draker suddenly passed away from illness, the Four Seasons Castle became chaotic.
The elders who had tentatively supported Zeke Draker had other thoughts.
They were thinking of placing Kali Draker, the eldest daughter, as family head instead of Zeke.
Arthur Draker was an unprecedented family head who wielded the most powerful authority in Draker history.
The elder council, suppressed by such an Arthur Draker, had no choice but to remain silent throughout.
However, when tyrant Arthur Draker died from illness, the elder council tried to use this unexpected situation as an opportunity.
In these already chaotic times, they feared that if Zeke Draker, renowned across the continent as the Knight of Salvation, were to become family head, he might emerge with even more absolute power than Arthur Draker.
They planned to install Kali Draker, who was deemed relatively easier to handle than Zeke, as family head and manipulate her from behind through the elder council.
And Howard Draker was at the center of this thinking.
'We need to strike while Baron hasn't made any mention about the succession situation.'
While rumors circulated that Arthur Draker's will existed, given that Baron Draker, Arthur's most loyal servant, hadn't said anything yet, there was a high possibility that he hadn't managed to leave a will naming his successor.
Howard judged that even if there was a will, it wouldn't be impossible to overturn it if they gathered the elders' opinions and installed Kali Draker instead of Zeke as family head before then.
Moreover, with Zeke currently away from the Four Seasons Castle on a mission, he had been quickly proceeding with the plan while contacting the elder council.
He was about to sound out Kali Draker's side soon when he heard news that Zeke had returned to the Four Seasons Castle earlier than expected.
'I need to settle this situation before Zeke Draker contacts other elders.'
Upon entering the Four Seasons Castle, Howard quickly went to find the chairman of the Cross Society.
When he urgently opened the door to the chairman's office, Howard's face turned pale.
"Ah, Council Member Howard has arrived as well."
Zeke Draker was smiling at him while holding a teacup.
Howard realized he was one step too late.
'Stay calm. He just arrived at the Four Seasons Castle, so he won't know the situation.'
Composing his surprised face, Howard approached Zeke with a grave expression.
"Sir Zeke."
He grabbed Zeke's shoulder and spoke.
"How great your grief must be after hearing the sad news."
After hearing Howard's words, Zeke put down his teacup and opened his mouth.
"I was shocked when I first heard the news... but I thought I should quickly pull myself together since the stability of the Draker family is what's important."
Howard was internally taken aback by Zeke's words.
'Look at this guy. He's already talking as if he's the next family head.'
The chairman, sitting on the sofa nearby listening to Zeke's words, nodded with a solemn expression.
"Sir Zeke's words touch my heart. Truly a knight of the Drakers."
Hearing the chairman's words, Howard had to struggle to keep the muscles in his cheeks under control.
'That chairman. He clearly said he would support Kali Draker as the next family head along with me... surely he hasn't had a change of heart.'
It was difficult to judge whether he was just hiding his true thoughts and speaking superficially in front of Zeke Draker, or if he had really switched sides.
Zeke offered the seat across from him to Howard, who was standing awkwardly.
He looked at Howard and spoke.
"When the former head was alive, he kept Council Member Howard close. Did he leave any words before passing away?"
When Zeke suddenly asked about the will, Howard lost his composure and initiative.
Struggling to maintain his expression, he shook his head.
"Since it happened so suddenly... it seems the head wasn't able to make preparations."
The chairman nodded at Howard's words.
"The head was still young, so he wouldn't have expected something like this. Who would have thought such a great star of the continent would fall so futilely."
Despite his true feelings, the chairman mourned Arthur Draker's death with a solemn voice.
Zeke nodded and asked the chairman.
"Then how do you plan to proceed with the head's funeral?"
This was the funeral of none other than the Draker family head.
The proper protocol would be to hold it grandly at a national funeral level, as the continent's de facto ruler had died.
After contemplating, the chairman slowly answered.
"Well, following the previous customs would..."
But then Howard spoke up.
"Chairman. I have something to say about that matter."
The chairman and Zeke looked at Howard.
Having gained control of the conversation, Howard continued.
"Right now, the Drakers are at war with Jiemens."
Jupiter, one of the major cities in the southern Roman Empire.
Jiemens was regrouping their forces in Jupiter along with Castro Pollock's corps.
After reminding them of this situation, Howard carefully spoke to the chairman.
"According to intelligence, the Breaker Mercenary Group recently joined forces in Jupiter."
The chairman's expression darkened at the mention of the Breaker Mercenary Group.
"Is this true?"
Howard nodded.
The Breaker Mercenary Group was one of the three major mercenary groups in the Central Continent.
The Advancing Breaker Mercenary Group
The Enduring Kalam Mercenary Group
The Valiant Brothers Mercenary Group
These three mercenary groups boasted the largest scale in the Central Continent.
Zeke also knew well about the Breaker Mercenary Group.
'In my previous life, Liam absorbed this group and other medium-sized mercenary groups to create the Stone Mercenary Group.'
And later, he would acquire both the Kalam and Brothers Mercenary Groups to earn the unprecedented title of Mercenary King.
However, that was in his previous life, and even just considering the current Breaker Mercenary Group's scale, they could crush the regular knight orders of any medium-sized kingdom.
The fact that such a Breaker Mercenary Group had joined the Jupiter faction meant that Rom , which was facing them, could be under more pressure than before.
Although Leo and Carus had somewhat managed to wrangle the empire's lords with Duke Craven’s support, things were still unstable.
As the Drakers, who were helping Rom and confronting the Jupiter side, they couldn't help but be sensitive to this war situation.
If Rom were to switch back to Jiemens' side, they might try to strike at the vacancy left by Head Arthur Draker.
Howard continued.
"If the Breaker Mercenary Group has sided with Jupiter, other mercenary groups might make similar choices. Having a large-scale funeral in such an urgent situation would only buy time for our enemies to replenish their forces."
The chairman nodded with a stern expression at Howard's words.
Zeke guessed what intention Howard had in bringing this up.
'I thought Howard would try something in this gap, but he's making too much sense, which is strange.'
Then Howard continued speaking.
"As a council member and knight of the Drakers, what I want to tell the chairman is that considering we're at war, we should minimize the head's funeral and strike Jupiter as soon as possible to sweep away the Jiemens group that's eyeing the Drakers' back."
Even the chairman showed a slightly surprised expression when Howard suddenly made this argument.
Until just before, he had been arguing that they should maintain the current balance while reorganizing the Drakers internally.
Then Howard's eyes gleamed as he got to his main point.
"I would like Sir Zeke Draker, the Guardian Knight of the Drakers and renowned Knight of Salvation, to take on this mission."
Zeke put down his teacup at Howard's words.
"Are you saying I should lead the knights to attack Jupiter?"
Howard shook his head at those words.
"Not attack, but liberation. Just as you liberated other cities."
This time he spoke looking at the chairman.
"Chairman, please give Sir Zeke the position of commander-in-chief and prepare for all-out war with Jiemens and Castro Pollock's remaining forces. That's the only way to show that the Drakers remain strong even after the tyrant's death."
Zeke finally noticed what intention Howard had in bringing this up.
'This guy is trying to send me outside by using this method.'
In the current situation, if Zeke goes to attack Jupiter as commander-in-chief, it would be difficult for him to participate in Four Seasons Castle affairs.
Moreover, Jupiter is the largest and most heavily defended city in the empire apart from Rom .
Even leading the Draker knights, it would be practically impossible to defeat the imperial army defending inside the city in one go.
'A normal siege would involve at least a year of attrition warfare.'
For a plan Howard came up with spontaneously, everything fit together quite well.
The chairman wore a deeply troubled expression after hearing Howard's words.
Having served as chairman of the Draker family for over ten years, he immediately noticed what Howard was aiming for and had to contemplate.
If he gave Zeke the commander-in-chief position, he would have to choose Kali instead of him, and if he did the opposite, he would side with Zeke and oppose Howard.
While the chairman was struggling to make a decision...
"I'll do it."
Surprisingly, Zeke answered first.
The chairman asked in surprise.
"S-Sir Zeke. Are you really saying you'll accept the commander-in-chief position and attack... no, liberate Jupiter?"
Zeke nodded.
"The citizens of Jupiter are suffering just like Rom's citizens, so I believe it's a knight's duty to save them as soon as possible. The late head would have wanted this too."
Zeke making the sign of the cross for the head was the very image of an exemplary knight without a single flaw.
Even Howard was taken aback as he hadn't expected Zeke to answer so readily.
'Zeke Draker, there's no way he didn't understand my intentions.'
Howard felt more uneasy precisely because Zeke was going along with his intentions.
Zeke slowly stood up and spoke.
"Thank you for trusting me with this important family matter. Of course, this needs to be decided after hearing other council members' opinions and getting council approval, but if entrusted to me, I will do my best. Then I'll take my leave."
Zeke gave a polite bow and left the chairman's office.
The dumbfounded chairman and Howard couldn't speak for a while after Zeke left.
Then the chairman spoke first.
"Council Member Howard. Suddenly sending Zeke Draker to Jupiter... what are you thinking?"
Howard stroked his chin and turned his thoughts over at the chairman's words.
He turned to the chairman and spoke in a low voice.
"First, we need to send Zeke Draker outside Atlas. The longer he stays here, the more council members will waver in their hearts."
The Knight of Salvation Zeke Draker, with his overwhelming reputation.
They needed to be wary of shortsighted council members increasingly supporting Zeke Draker.
He looked at the chairman and spoke.
"I have a plan. First, please tell the other council members to approve this matter."
After contemplating Howard's words, the chairman soon nodded.
"Very well. SIGH!, This time, we must prevent another dictator like Arthur Draker from becoming the head of the family by any means necessary."
* * *
'Hmm, so that's it. Not too different from what I expected.'
Having left, Zeke used the power of Soul Sword Technique to eavesdrop on the conversation between Howard and the chairman.
Zeke fully grasped Howard's intentions and planned to use them against him.
'Howard Draker. I'll have to set the stage to deal with this traitor.'
A cold smile spread across his lips.