It took a while for Julien to digest all the information.
I continued to eat, giving him time to process everything.
"So you want me to lead this organization of yours as its head strategist?"
"Yes."
"And you think I am capable enough as a strategist for something that’s going to operate on a worldwide level?"
"I do."
"So the aim of this organiz—D.X., I mean—is for you to rule the world from the shadows?"
"Yes."
My gaze wandered to the nearby nobles, who seemed to have taken quite a liking to the food.
"But by in the shadows , I mean—you are the eldest child of the Frosts from what I have heard, so wouldn’t it be better for you to use that to your leverage and use their resources for your cause?"
He drank some wine from the glass to sweeten his tongue.
"I don’t mean to question your decision... but it still confuses me."
Julien tried to explain, as he thought he might have offended me again.
I ignored his bowed head and gazed at the sky through the nearby window.
"My relations with my family aren’t the best, and my goal is my own growth. I don’t see any reason to let the Frosts benefit from it."
I smiled.
"And most importantly, if I create something like this with my name attached to it, the sources of our income would be limited to the legal side of business."
Julien’s eyes went wide as he processed my intentions.
"So you want to control the entire black market of the world. Make money from all the shady things that exist... hmm."
"Yes, that’s the gist of things."
"But wouldn’t we need more combat power to sustain everything? If we go by your way, we would be making an enemy out of everyone—be it the nobles or the criminals."
He paused. "For nobles, we would be criminals to be eliminated, and for the criminals, we would be unwanted competition."
Julien looked concerned as he raised his head to meet my eyes.
"We would need some elite fighters of the world for such an adventure; otherwise, the powerhouses of the empire will kill us even before we begin anything."
"And getting someone of such caliber who can stand against all those monsters— is there even such a person we can hire?"
His question was reasonable.
Why would someone strong enough to stand against the elites of the world work for us?
"And what if I say I have a perfect candidate?"
"You do?" Julien asked, clearly surprised.
I closed my eyes, letting the silence dictate the moment.
Julien waited for my response.
"Not only do I have his name, but at this very moment, he’s in Tamyr. I was planning to meet him after securing you on the board."
I exhaled.
The travelling had really taken its toll on my body. I was feeling quite tired; even my voice was a little hoarse.
Julien straightened up after hearing my statement.
I think he felt a little proud that I decided to recruit him as my first member.
Humans have to be subtly manipulated to lay the basis for loyalty.
Julien, being a kid, was easy to influence. Still, he would need some more time to become what he was in the game.
Age and experience can’t really be bought.
That aside, an even bigger hurdle awaited me.
The person that I was about to meet would be difficult to truly tame.
He would become my strongest asset, but I had to tread carefully, lest the negotiations backfire.
The person was none other than Arthur Dimitri.
One of the strongest living persons in the world.
He was at the peak of the Immortal rank, being an Immortal 7. Due to a damaged core, he couldn’t evolve his core to become a Sovereign.
But this didn’t stop him. With repeated practice and by boiling his body in death, he overcame the limitations of his rank.
Even at the Immortal rank, he could form something similar to a domain, thereby being able to force his will on nature even before becoming a Sovereign.
Due to his core being damaged, he had to increase his mana control to an insane level in order to sustain his mana reserves during prolonged battles. This led him to be able to fight Sovereigns and even defeat them, with a smaller quantity of mana compared to those monsters.
Arthur’s daughter suffered from mana poisoning. He tried his best to cure her, but fate had always been cruel.
She embraced death at an early age.
After his daughter’s death, he became blinded by anger against the world. His anger was misdirected—a stupid act.
But for someone who had lost his only family, it didn’t matter.
After losing everything that he held dear, he became a villain in order to make the world suffer in the same way that he had.
This led to the rise of a demon among mortals.
In one of the arcs, the protagonist decided to put an end to Arthur’s madness.
The hero, along with many other Sovereigns, had to band together to defeat Arthur Dimitri, despite Arthur being at the Immortal rank.
They had to use every card in their arsenal to end his life.
Still, after that devastating battle, many of the Sovereigns were injured to an unimaginable degree. The injuries they sustained during the fight took several years to heal.
Such was the existence of Arthur Dimitri, also known as the End’s Sword.
Every battle that he fought led to the total annihilation of his opponents.
And this very man would now become—
My sword. My shield. And also my teacher.
I knew only the basics of fighting with a sword or any other weapon.
I needed to train before entering the academy.
And he was the most suitable person to train me.
I was looking forward to our meeting.