Its scary these days . Yeah . New heads are hung every day! They deserve it . How dare they attack the count when he feeds them? Yeah, I know . Red Moon was evil . Oh, I heard their families have been routed out too . Yeah, I heard . I heard anyone who helped them are being taken away too . The Ainos is up to the task, they dont miss anything . I hope I dont get involved . You wont . Lord Joonb.u.m doesnt accuse the innocent . Right . They were suspicious from the start . They were nothing like real merchants . All the a.s.sa.s.sin groups, including Red Moon, were being routed and executed from within the land . There were too many enemies . The n.o.bles from neighboring countries approached with friendly faces but they used a.s.sa.s.sins to attack from behind . Because of this, there were countless a.s.sa.s.sins or groups with foul intentions disguised as commoners or merchants . It took quite some time to find out who was hiding . With the help of citizens report, the Ainos were able to pinpoint them . Lets stop talking about that . Oh yeah, did you hear about that? The mines? Oh . Yeah, I heard the area around the waterway is littered with iron . That doesnt bode well . Huh? Why? Iron means weapons . What will you do if you hear theres an iron mine nearby? There might be a war . There was nothing definite, but their life long experience told them that a possible war was coming . It was also what the count was most afraid of . They increased taxes again . Marquis? Shouldnt we be allowed a duke? And what is this request? This is preposterous . This is outrageous . We have been sending more crops than before . They are BORROWING it, but we all know that they will not pay back any! And the tax on the iron? They are insisting on sending people to work on the iron, but we already have the Magnos! I think they are waiting for us to refuse . Yes, they want us to refuse so they can come after us . The old advisors of Count Brant Khalodian voiced their thoughts . He glanced at all their faces . They are old… and less energetic . These were people that had stayed with him for a long time . They fought against the monsters of the Khalodian Mountain Range to protect their land, but they were now old . Some had even been with the counts family when his grandfather was the count . Brant shook his head and turned to his stepson . Now, hes young . Unlike his old advisors, Joonb.u.m had young people next to him . Jackson and other young, powerful knights that sat next to him . Im envious . Brant grew envious at the sight . His advisors were busy talking among themselves while these young, powerful men kept silent . He is so capable . I wish I could just give him my position right now . He loved his stepson very much . He was so proud to have such a son by his side that it made him instantly smile every time he looked at Joonb.u.m . Joonb.u.m blushed as he noticed the count smiling at him . Ugh, Father please . His stepfather was very loving . Too much, in fact . What do you think? Count Brant spoke in a low voice . His advisors instantly stopped talking and turned to Joonb.u.m . Their reactions varied; some looked uncomfortable and others antic.i.p.atingly of what Joonb.u.m would say . They have not changed . Joonb.u.m sighed at the sight of those people . They were mostly blood-related to the count, and most of them did not approve of Joonb.u.m being the rightful heir to the count especially when there were the twins . I dont want it, but we have matters to attend to first . The problem was imminent . There were enemies everywhere, and even their own kingdom was now turning their back on them . We have two ways . Joonb.u.m spoke out . Oh? Go on! Go on! Brant answered, intrigued by what Joonb.u.m would say . Joonb.u.m then glanced at all of the people around and continued, Its easy . Either we agree to their request or fight . Thats it? Then, whats your choice on that? The count asked again instead of his advisors who were trying to speak . Silence fell in the room for a moment, which Joonb.u.m broke in a firm voice, We will fight . To the end . Hmm… All of the counts advisors couldnt even open their mouths to object as Joonb.u.m glared at them . Brant, however, was astounded . We have a monster! He looked at Joonb.u.m again and made up his mind .