The scene changed as Ayanokouji and the others arrived at the Karsten mansion by dragon carriage with Wilhelm as the driver.
This mansion was very large, even larger than Roswaal's mansion. However, the Karsten family mansion did not look luxurious but rather very simple.
At the entrance of the mansion, Crusch and Felix had been waiting for a long time.
"Long time no see, nya!" Felix raised his hand slightly like a mischievous cat while smiling.
"Welcome to the Karsten family. Today you are our esteemed guests." Crusch bowed deeply to everyone.
"Thank you, Karsten-sama, for your hospitality." Ayanokouji also nodded in response.
Due to Crusch's invitation, besides Felt and Rom, who were still on a mission, Emilia, Beatrice, and Rem also came.
"No need to be so formal, just call me Crusch." Crusch's face was full of smiles, "Everyone, please follow me."
Compared to Priscilla's arrogance and Anastasia's businesslike demeanor, Crusch at least seemed to have no issues with etiquette. This might be due to the Karsten family background.
While following Crusch into the mansion, Ayanokouji carefully observed his surroundings, trying to gather some important information from the courtyard. He noticed a large number of dragon carriages parked in the yard and previously investigated the collection of equipment.
Everyone soon arrived in the dining room of the Karsten mansion, and there was a very luxurious meal on the table.
"Please, help yourselves." Crusch said to everyone.
"Alright, thank you for your hospitality, Crusch-sama." Ayanokouji nodded.
He chose a seat near the window and sat down. From there, he could almost see the entire yard, Emilia, and Beatrice, while Rem stood respectfully behind.
Crusch was sitting at the head of the dining table, while Wilhelm and Felix stood behind her.
Ayanokouji directed his gaze and asked, "I wonder if Crusch-sama invited us to this banquet because you have something important to say?"
"The victory of Ayanokouji and Emilia against the Witch Cult earlier was a great and unparalleled achievement for the kingdom. Additionally, we have also heard about several kidnapping cases that have occurred in the royal capital in recent days. Thanks to your help, these issues could be resolved." Crusch said with a serious face, "As the head of the Karsten family, of course, I need to thank you on behalf of the kingdom."
Ayanokouji carefully observed Crusch's expression.
Judging by her appearance, the other party was telling the truth. Combined with her previous appearance at the meeting, it seemed that Crusch was not someone who thought deeply.
From this perspective, the threat posed by Crusch to himself was very limited.
However, Ayanokouji knew that the threat to Crusch was not from him but from the power of the family behind her.
The Karsten family was the second most noble family in the kingdom after the royal family. After all the royal family members died of illness for unexplained reasons, the Karsten family could be said to be the most noble existence in the entire kingdom, with unparalleled prestige, allowing Crusch to occupy a leading position in this revolution and have many supporters.
Not only that, because the Karsten family also had tremendous financial resources and influence. The number of soldiers under them exceeded hundreds, which was difficult for other nobles to match.
Although Crusch seemed to have a very simple mind, the power behind her made her still the biggest obstacle in front of Ayanokouji and Emilia. Crusch was still the biggest obstacle for him in this incident.
Even if Crusch did not antagonize Emilia now, as long as she was always a candidate for the throne, she would always be an enemy.
Enemies must be eliminated.
However, if possible, Ayanokouji very much wanted to take over the power of the family that Crusch had as his own.
He also knew that besides Crusch, the other two were also somewhat difficult to deal with.
Felix was the person with the strongest healing ability in the entire kingdom, and he was also a member of the Knights. If possible, Ayanokouji certainly wanted to take Felix's power as his own, then the power of strategic significance would be very high, and his identity as a Demi-Human also allowed him to gain the support of Demi-Humans in the kingdom.
But the relationship between Felix and Crusch was very close. It was almost impossible to bring him into his camp unless there was a way to change his memory, but this was not possible at this time.
So if necessary, Felix also had to be eliminated. However, considering his opponent had super healing abilities, the possibility that he had some kind of self-healing magic could not be ruled out, he might have to be fully prepared.
Wilhelm had very strong fighting power. The only one who could defeat him in the royal capital was the Sword Saint Reinhard. Even if Ayanokouji sent Bowel Hunter, there was no guarantee of victory in the battle.
He remembered that Wilhelm and Reinhard were related as grandfather and grandson, but their relationship did not seem good.
Was it possible to take advantage of this?
However, compared to Felix, it was not too difficult to get rid of Wilhelm. Poisoning, cursing... No matter how strong Wilhelm was, he was just an ordinary human, he would die.
As long as both of them were dealt with, the threat posed by Crusch would be completely eliminated.
But on the flip side, if Crusch were eliminated, how would Felix and Wilhelm react?
Ayanokouji was also a little curious.
Although he had such thoughts in his mind, there was no change in his expression. As a result, no one could think of his inner thoughts.
❀❀❀
"This person! Crusch-sama sincerely invited him to her house! But he actually has such ideas! It is unforgivable, nyaaa!"
Seeing the scene in the sky, Felix was so angry that his eyes bulged.
"If this person named Ayanokouji Kiyotaka really came to this world, I would definitely kill him without mercy."
"As a competitor, I can understand this idea."
Crusch said very calmly,
"After all, we are just competitors... However, I cannot accept Ayanokouji using such methods!"
Her expression became more serious, and she was already feeling dissatisfied with Ayanokouji.
To expand his power, he used threats, bribery, kidnapping... all kinds of methods, which made Crusch very disdainful.
Moreover, she did not expect the noble officials in the royal capital to become so corrupt, and so many people would be captured by Ayanokouji.
There were even people in the Council of Wise who had done detestable things.
Presumably, when this scene unfolded, the royal capital would experience total chaos.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
"This is all Ayanokouji's work." Emilia immediately said.
"It seems you have gained an incredible supporter, Emilia." Crusch said with a smile, "But why didn't Roswaal come this time?"
"Because we were previously attacked by the Witch Cult in our territory, which caused very serious damage to the villages in our territory. Many villagers lost their homes, so Emilia entrusted Roswaal with the responsibility to resettle the villagers." Ayanokouji said slowly, transferring the praise to Emilia.
He was basically sure that Roswaal and Ram must be facing a special situation in the Sanctuary. Some time ago, he wrote a letter to the mansion and asked Frederica if Roswaal had returned. Frederica said that Roswaal had still not returned to the mansion. This was clearly an abnormal situation.
But in any case, Ayanokouji's focus now was the trip to the royal capital.
Everyone chatted for a while, and at this moment, a man dressed as a servant entered from the door: "Crusch-sama, Russell-sama is here."
"I understand, Wilhelm, please go and take care of it for me." Crusch nodded and followed Wilhelm behind her.
"Yes." Wilhelm answered respectfully, then quickly walked out.
Ayanokouji noticed that Wilhelm walked very quickly, and he leaned forward, as if he couldn't wait. Doa looked out the window. In the yard, a luxurious dragon carriage had entered, and a neatly dressed man got out of the carriage.
He remembered that man, whom he had met in the palace—Russell Fellow, who was in charge of accounting for the business group in the capital, but was actually a capable person related to the property of the capital both in the light and in the dark.
Russell was also one of the targets Ayanokouji wanted to win over, and his chamber of commerce also played a decisive role in the royal capital.
Wherever he was, there must be a massive transaction. Because he came to the Karsten mansion, it meant there was some kind of transaction between him and Crusch.
Crusch was buying a large number of weapons from Russell.
"Is Russell Fellow the one who claims to be an accountant?" Ayanokouji asked, pretending not to know much about it.
"That's right." Crusch replied.
"So, is there something going on between Crusch-sama and Russell-sama?" Ayanokouji continued to ask.
"We are preparing something very important, but it is not convenient to tell you now." Crusch said with a smile.
"Alright, then I won't ask anymore." Ayanokouji nodded and said, but he directed his gaze around to the outside window. At this time, Russell and Wilhelm were already chatting.
Even though they were far apart, he could see their conversation from this angle – he could tell what the other party was saying through the shape of their mouths.
"If Crusch-sama's plan succeeds this time, your tragic wish will surely be fulfilled." Russell said to Wilhelm with a smile on his face.
Ayanokouji's eyes narrowed slightly. There was no doubt that, from Russell's words, Crusch's plan was directly related to Wilhelm's tragic wish.
But what exactly was this relationship?
He carefully recalled, for Wilhelm, what was his greatest desire?
It was his wife.
Wilhelm's wife had once died in battle against a monster called the White Whale, and Wilhelm was known to love his wife deeply.
If this was the case, then Wilhelm's tragic wish was to avenge his wife and kill the White Whale.
After summarizing the abnormal behavior during this period at Crusch's house, Ayanokouji could almost conclude that what Crusch wanted to do was conquer the White Whale.
This made everything make sense. Wilhelm left the Sword Saint family and chose to serve Crusch. Crusch prepared a large amount of weaponry... all with the aim of conquering the White Whale.
Based on Crusch's character and the current political situation, she wanted to attack the White Whale not only to build merit and consolidate her position as the head of the Karsten family but also because there were people in the family who doubted her. She was undoubtedly very eager to do a good deed.
'Can I take advantage of this?'
At this moment, Ayanokouji didn't know much about the White Whale. He couldn't formulate a related plan yet. He would have to gather relevant information after he returned.
The banquet was still ongoing, Russell had also left, and Ayanokouji shifted his attention back to the banquet again.