While Eurius was troubled by an unexpected situation, there were more people in the southern desert who had similar worries.
'I need my own power. A force that follows only me, not my uncle.'
The second prince Leonhart was deep in thought in the huge camp set up in the desert.
'My uncle supports me because he wants the power of an emperor, not because he wants to make me the second like father.'
Of course, this camp was very solid. He had a rough idea of how he had gathered such a force.
In fact, it wasn't that hard for a superhuman of duke level to train elite knights.
The actual power in the continent was not only the number of soldiers, but also the quality and quantity of knight orders.
Even hundreds or thousands of ordinary soldiers couldn't catch a warrior who had reached the peak level.
'If I had to guess, my uncle has a secret force that is at least as strong as the imperial guard by now.'
The smart Leonhart realized that fact early on.
His uncle was a person who had sharpened his sword under his father for decades. He was like an incarnation of ambition who wanted the power of an emperor.
'And I'm also worried about my brother Eurius.'
Leonhart thought that he was inferior to Eurius in terms of talent.
'I can't help it with my personal power, but I need a force that is completely on my side!'
But this was not something he could solve right away. Even the knights who bowed their heads in front of him right now would value his uncle's orders more than his safety.
'But my brother is different.'
He also heard about Eurius' situation.
His uncle might be plotting something, but anyway, how could the barbarians in the north do anything to the empire?
In the end, they had fought together on the battlefield, so the knights in the north would surely be on Eurius' side.
'There's a huge difference between a force that someone else gives you and a force that you create yourself.'
This was his ultimate concern.
What would he do if he became an emperor with his uncle's power? He wanted to be a true emperor who ruled over everyone like his father.
'I'll have to sleep for a while and think more about it.'
Leonhart ended up staying awake until late at night when it was pitch black.
"I greet the second prince of the empire."
"…!?"
As he was about to turn off the light, Leonhart felt his heart sink. There was a masked man behind him without any sign!
"Who are you?"
But he was also a tough one. He didn't scream or make a noise in surprise.
He didn't come to harm him, judging by the fact that he didn't attack him right away.
'He also has some skill to fool all the eyes of the knights that my uncle gave me.'
The masked man, who was wrapped in black cloth and only showed his eyes, knelt down and opened his mouth.
"We are called the Order of the Desert."
'The Order?'
He had never heard of such a group before.
"Do you need a force under your command, Your Highness?"
"…!?"
'How did they know that?'
And what kind of people were they?
"That's absurd! What do you want from me…"
"We can offer you a personal force that is at least as strong as an elite knight order."
The masked man spoke quietly but confidently.
"…"
"Get out of here! Or I'll call the knights."
"We'll leave for now. But someday you'll surely come looking for us."
The masked man disappeared from the barracks without any trace. He was like a ghost.
'A personal force?'
It was a tempting offer, but who in their right mind would trust the words of a suspicious person who invaded their quarters at night?
But Leonhart couldn't get his words out of his mind. They must have wanted something from him too.
And judging by the fact that his uncle's knights didn't notice them at all, they were sure of themselves.
"Hmm…"
Leonhart's sleepless night seemed to get longer.
…
Meanwhile, in Samarqand, one of the trade cities in the south, there was another person who was furious because his expectations were wrong.
"Didn't you say six months? Do you know how much money I've given you during that time!"
"Calm down."
The old man who was ranting was none other than Count Wallace.
He thought that Eurius' life was in his pocket when he came here a year ago.
But what was the result?
"The first prince is making great achievements in the north."
He scoffed at first.
"Hmph! What does it matter if he's going to die anyway…"
But even after six months and a year passed, he didn't hear any news of Eurius getting hurt.
Wallace went to them with anger.
"Didn't I tell you to calm down?"
"Gah!"
The masked man who had been silent shot him a murderous look.
Only then did Wallace shut his mouth with a groan.
"Now we can talk."
The voice that sounded like a snake was still soft in tone.
"We admit that this is an unforeseen situation. But don't you think you're also at fault?"
"...."
The masked man continued.
"None of the three assassination squads we sent came back. This is a rare occurrence in the history of the guild."
'Did you give us the wrong information?'
The masked man questioned Wallace instead.
But Wallace was also dumbfounded.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on No'v3l--B1n.
"No, you were the ones who accepted the request! How powerful can a prince who just turned twenty be...."
"According to your information, this should not have happened."
Wallace felt like he was being blamed unfairly, but the masked man was confident.
'If it was according to the information, there was no way they would fail the mission. Even if they did, there should be some survivors!'
"But don't worry too much. As I said before, nothing is impossible for us."
"Ahem, are you sure this time?"
Wallace was also cautious, feeling that he could be in danger if he provoked these scary people.
"Of course. We will pay more attention this time."
"That's good to hear...."
"However!"
The masked man got to the point.
"We won't take any advance payment, but you have some responsibility too. If this request succeeds, we will have to charge more!"
When Wallace saw the amount that he demanded, he sighed deeply as if the ground was collapsing.
'If I hire these assassins twice, I will be ruined.'
The masked man who watched Wallace leave was not in a good mood either. He had received a lot of criticism from the upper echelons of the guild.
'There won't be a next time.'
If it wasn't for his achievements so far, his head would have been cut off without any excuses.
'This time, I will squeeze out as much money as I can and make sure to hit the target.'
He started to write a report to send to the upper echelons.
[Target – Empire's First Prince Eurius: Grade: Special, Level: Upgraded to Special]
…
"Your Highness, thank you very much."
The manager sent from the central government bowed his head repeatedly to Eurius.
The reason why the level of the attackers was quite high this time was because their target was a village that was being developed into a small city.
They defended themselves inside a sturdy wall made of bricks, not a simple fence, so the damage was not big.
Of course, the biggest reason was that Eurius quickly killed the enemy leader.
"The barbarians are very aggressive. They even attacked a development site that is almost a city size, not a pioneer village near the mountains!"
"We were also surprised. We had some knights stationed just in case, but we never received such a blatant attack before."
The manager wiped his cold sweat.
He had been working on various places from the northern road construction and was used to crises, but this was the first time he faced such a large-scale attack with outstanding warriors.
'Is it related to the change of the tribal chief?'
Eurius was lost in thought on his horse as he returned to the fortress.
"Give me a piece of jerky."
Chew chew.
This was a recent habit of Eurius.
He felt a salty taste spreading in his mouth as he reviewed the situation once more.
First, it was hard to find Nuada's tribe at the front line.
Second, for some unknown reason, the chieftain who unified the north had changed.
Third, the immigrants' momentum was more aggressive than before. There could be many reasons for this, but nothing was certain at the moment.
'And this means that a proper battle will soon break out, even if they attack us at this frequency.'
[The Northern Great Conquest War]
In his previous life, this was a boring war that lasted for over three years and ended with a peace treaty with Nuada.
Even if the population of the north was not large, the existence of a chieftain who gathered several tribes made their scale considerable.
And with Nuada, an outstanding leader, joining them, the north of his previous life had resisted the empire's forces for three years.
'I don't know why, but Nuada hasn't shown up yet in this life.'
Eurius didn't expect that Nuada was dead or weaker than before. He had seen him in his previous life as a strong man who could overcome any situation.
Then there was only one way. Since he had to fight a large-scale war with the northern immigrants anyway, he decided to go there himself and meet him.
'If he doesn't want to show up on his own, I'll have to go and find him.'
By now, Eurius's reputation in the north was solid enough that he didn't need to say anything. If a war broke out soon, he would go straight into the enemy camp and meet him.
"The fortress is in sight."
"Can we rest a little longer this time? I'm definitely tired."
Linfield gave a bitter smile at Eurius's whining.
'Your highness, we trust you even if you rest for more than a year from now on.'
Similar conversations were already going on among Anderson Duke and his staff.
"The level of provocation has long been crossed."
"It's not just a frontier settlement anymore. This is serious."
"We might have to prepare for a full-scale war with most of the northern barbarians."
Count Anderson also made up his mind and gave an order in a serious voice.
"Request additional knight orders and troops from the central government. There are ominous signs here, so we need to be prepared!"
And Eurius and Count's predictions were right.
It didn't take long for things to explode.
"Huff! Huff!"
"Open the gate!"
It was the sound of a scout knight squad returning.
They looked very exhausted from running their horses without resting, but there was no time to waste now.
"The barbarians have gathered a huge army at the entrance of the mountain range!"
'It's here.'
The Duke and his staff had determined expressions.
"How many are there?"
They were surprised by the next words of the knight, even though they were prepared.
"It's not clear yet, but it's estimated to be at least in the thousands!"
Was there ever such a large-scale invasion?
The Northern Great Conquest War that Eurius had predicted had begun today.