The Azure Dragon Merchant Guild was one of the most famous merchant groups in the Hwan Empire.
And to maintain their financial power, they needed a corresponding military force.
Anyone who had some information in the Hwan Empire would know that there was something behind them, a formidable military organization.
And if they were martial artists or high-ranking officials, they would also know that the military organization was one of the four great martial clans, the Jegal Clan.
But the information that Eurius had told her was a secret that was treated as top priority even within the clan.
"I have heard of a word that circulates in the East, [Divine Jegal]."
Divine Jegal!
This word meant that the Jegal Clan had many descendants who were brilliant in their minds.
As the word implied, the Jegal Clan was slightly inferior to the other four great martial clans in terms of martial power, but they had many people who excelled in strategy or intelligence within the clan.
The Hidden Moon Hall was one of the secret information groups that the Jegal Clan managed.
Perhaps there were few organizations in the Eastern Continent that could compare with them in terms of information power.
Jegal Hwayoung looked at Eurius with a serious expression.
It was because no one knew that the Hidden Moon Hall was operated by the Jegal Clan, except for one information group that rivaled them in the Eastern Continent.
'Could it be that some unknown force deliberately spread our clan's information to this continent?'
Whether she looked at him with suspicion or not, Eurius continued his words.
"As I said before, I have a lot of interest in my ancestor, the Player. I also collect information related to him personally. And as I did so, I came to investigate you in detail."
"…"
"There's no need to complicate things. I'm just asking for a request from an information group, and you just have to answer me."
Jegal Hwayoung had nothing to say.
She thought that an imperial first prince from the Western Continent would at least know something about their clan, but the information about the Hidden Moon Hall completely caught her off guard.
"The conditions are the same. I will give you twenty percent of the Dite Mine's shares, and what I need is access to your secret technique, the Azure Dragon's Breath. And I'll add one more condition."
She sighed deeply.
It was pointless to stall any longer, as Eurius had already seen through her subordinates who were hiding themselves, and she decided that it was meaningless.
"I can't give you a definite answer about the Hidden Moon Hall. I'll have to consult with the headquarters."
"That's fine. But it would be better for both of us if you give me an answer quickly."
'You'll have to accept it anyway since you know everything, right?'
Eurius smiled inwardly and added another condition.
"For now, you're an information group, so you must have a lot of requests to handle, but first, take care of my people's security with your power."
"Security?"
"You know I have a lot of enemies, right?"
His enemies were of course the Grand Duke faction.
Eurius realized that the Grand Duke faction's full-scale resistance had started much earlier than he expected after experiencing this assassination attempt.
'I'm fine for now, but people like Marius who are officials are too vulnerable to assassination.'
In fact, he himself would have been killed long ago without the help of the system.
"So please secretly protect the key figures who belong to my faction. It shouldn't be too hard for you with your power."
He was able to survive despite being constantly threatened by assassination in his previous life thanks to their help. Of course, he had to pay a hefty price at that time, but it was different now.
"It's not really a request, but a mutual benefit, right? You want to settle down in this continent's northern region anyway and you'll have to negotiate with powerful people sooner or later."
The lifeblood of an information group was their clients.
They did things like collecting information, protecting targets and so on, but ultimately they needed powerful people who would give them continuous requests.
So Eurius's proposal was basically saying that he knew their identity anyway, so let's cooperate with him.
Jegal Hwayoung remained silent for a moment and then opened her mouth.
"It may be rude, but we have one question for you."
"What is it?"
"How much do you know about us?"
'Well, I've dealt with you for a long time in my previous life, so I've heard a lot of things about you.'
But he couldn't answer that way.
"I can't answer everything, as you know. But if I have to answer one thing…"
"…!"
Jegal Hwayoung looked at him with shining eyes and tensed up.
"The disappearance of the White Tiger Martial Sect! Isn't this related to your Sect's migration?"
"…!"
Her expression turned to surprise again.
Eurius had almost guessed it right.
"If you know that much, we have nothing to say. We'll contact our headquarters right away."
'Tsk, there must be something going on in the East, huh?'
Eurius clicked his tongue.
He pretended to know everything and act confident, but he actually didn't know anything about the situation in the East.
He didn't know why the Jegal clan, who had been living well in the Eastern Continent, abandoned their territory and tried to move here.
'But there was a quest.'
The destruction of one of the four great martial sects, the White Tiger Martial Sect! And another martial sect, the Jegal Sect, also tried to move their continent.
It seemed very suspicious and dangerous to go to the East right now. But Eurius had a reason to go there.
'Collecting legacies is important, but I have to do the quests anyway, so I can't help it.'
The problem was that it was not a good time to go to the East right now, and even if he went there, he wouldn't have much to do.
So he wanted to establish a cooperative system with the Jegal clan, who had a wide network in the East.
Information was everything, wasn't it?
His biggest advantage, his previous life's knowledge, was also a kind of information.
"And I'll wait for your access to the Azure Dragon's Breath until you settle down here properly."
Jegal Hwayoung frowned.
"But as you know, it will take more time than you think for our headquarters to move here."
"If I can't wait any longer, I might as well go there myself. I have some plans for that."
He had already thought of how he, the first prince, could go to the eastern continent.
It was impossible now because of the pressure from the great sects, but he had to go there someday for the sake of the quest.
"Anyway, if I help you, your speed of moving your base to this continent will be much faster. Don't you think so?"
"…"
"Then let's end today's deal here. I hope you have a good answer from your clan."
Eurius left the room in a flash, leaving them dumbfounded as he did in the first negotiation.
Jegal Hwayoung remained silent for a long time after he left.
"My lady, what are you going to do?"
Jegal Geon spoke to her and she finally opened her mouth.
"Send a letter to the main house as soon as possible. It's not our decision to make."
She had a doubtful expression on her face. What was that first prince doing in this faraway western continent, knowing their sect's situation?
Of course, his background was completely different.
***
'It was a bit of a gamble for me, but I'm glad it worked out as I expected.'
Eurius sighed with relief inwardly.
The memory of his previous life was a double-edged sword when dealing with smart people like the Jegal clan.
He had no way to explain how he obtained the information. But he had a lot of clues given to him and he managed to get a satisfactory result from this negotiation by putting them together.
'Smart people tend to make their own conclusions if you just give them some evidence.'
This was also their weakness.
They were too clever to think that he was bluffing.
The information about the destruction of White Tiger Sect and the Hidden Moon Hall was not something that could be obtained by chance according to their common sense.
'If I can get their cooperation, it will be a great help for my future moves.'
The Jegal clan's Hidden Moon Hall was an information organization that possessed a Player's secret weapon, and also had outstanding martial arts skills.
They were useful not only for escorting him, but also for many other purposes.
'If I want to fight against those cultists in the dark, I need an information organization too!'
He had also hired them in his previous life when his power was declining.
He didn't know why at that time, but it seemed that the cultists' influence was strong in the south.
There were many unresolved issues left, such as the Players, the cult, the south, the east, and the four great sects, but he hoped that the answers would come out as he solved the Player's quest.
And the next day, Eurius received a very welcome(?) guest.
"Your highness! It's been a long time."
"Count Wallace! You came all this way ahead of time. What's the matter?"
On the surface, Wallace was still one of his guardians.
Eurius greeted him with a seemingly happy expression.
"Haha, I heard that Your Majesty has achieved great feats and I couldn't contain myself."
"You'll see me soon in the capital anyway. Aren't you pushing yourself too hard for an old man?"
'And you must have been curious about how I'm still alive.'
Eurius sneered inwardly, but he kept up a friendly conversation.
He had a rough idea of why he came.
But there was another guest who came to see him besides Wallace. Wallace introduced him with a warm smile.
"Haha, this person is one of the influential people in the desert kingdom that I trade with. He wanted to see Your Highness so badly that I brought him along."
The young man greeted him with a bright smile. He looked like a nice person at first glance.
"I greet Your Majesty, the first prince of the empire. You can call me Jamir."
"Haha, Your highness may not have heard his name before, but he is quite famous in the desert as the seventh prince of a kingdom."
Wallace added an explanation.
In fact, what the empire called the desert kingdom was a collective term for the numerous kingdoms that existed in the southern desert.
However, unlike the north, they formed alliances and cooperated with each other to counter or trade with the empire.
Some of them even relied on the natural environment of the desert and opposed the empire as a coalition, but what Wallace meant by the desert kingdom was a few wealthy kingdoms that traded with the empire.
"It's rare for a prince to come all this way to this northern region. What brings you here?"
Eurius expressed his doubt.
It was true that Stefan was only the entrance of the north, but it was still quite far from the south.
It was natural to wonder why a prince came here.
"Haha, who in the continent doesn't admire Your Highness fame these days? I happened to get to know Wallace through Ryan Trading Company and came to see you."
"That's too much praise. I just got lucky and made some achievements."
'Look at this?'
Eurius was incredulous inwardly, but he responded cordially. He said he came to admire him, but he obviously had other motives.
He had a habit of unconsciously checking the stats of people he met for the first time.
[Al Jamir]
Job: High Priest (???Cult)
Strength: C+ Agility: C+ Intelligence: A+ Spirit: A+ Force Aptitude: ?? Force: ??
Disposition: Lively, Innocent, Fanatic
[Traits]
???