Final Villain's Broken System: Geniuses Make Me Stronger!

Alaric glanced at the message once again, the contents of it causing him no small amount of worry.

The message was from Zephyr.

"Human, when I reached Tikka Town, I refrained from immediately completing your task. Instead, I began by gathering information.

"In the process, I’ve found something strange. There’s a rumor going around that the young lord of House Orlen can’t handle his territory."

CRACK!

The glass of water he was holding cracked under the pressure of his hand.

Of course, none of the shards pierced his skin, whether due to luck, the enhancement of his physique from the breathing technique, or both, no one knew.

Alaric’s expression hardened. Since his mother was away fighting at the border, he was the temporary head of House Orlen.

And this was a rumor attacking his capability as the temporary head of House Orlen.

Alaric very well knew the consequences of diminished authority and influence. Especially in this world which consisted of the Official path power system.

The strength of a person in authority who practiced the Official path power system depended on their rank of authority and also on the people under their authority.

A king with dissatisfied subjects would always be weaker than a king with a satisfied population, granted that all other factors were the same.

Of course, Alaric knew that rumors alone wouldn’t immediately destabilize the people under him. Otherwise, there would be no need for wars. Every nation would just engage in spreading rumors.

However, even though rumors alone weren’t enough, that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. Not to mention, he planned to practice the Official path power system as well in the future.

He couldn’t let anything happen to his base of power.

Alaric thought for a moment and sent a message to the baby dragon.

"Find out more about these rumors, and if possible, find the source of it."

There was silence in his compartment as the carriage continued moving forward towards the mansion.

Approximately half an hour later, his communication device vibrated again.

He glanced at the message from Zephyr.

"On top of the rumor that the young lord of House Orlen can’t handle his territory, another rumor has been going around that an unknown group entered House Orlen’s territory without anyone knowing about it.

"I couldn’t find the source of these rumors."

Alaric’s eyes narrowed. He directly contacted the steward of House Orlen and told him to check if the same rumor was spreading all across their territory.

He also told the steward to see if the source of these rumors could be found.

After doing that, he fell into thought.

According to the rumors, an unknown group entered our territory and we didn’t even know about it. That makes me, the current acting head of the house, look incompetent.

Alaric immediately thought of the only group of people he knew had entered his territory recently.

That group of sixteen people he encountered in the Moliken forest, consisting of one Knight and fifteen Squires.

Is House Yuglev behind this rumor?

But even if he assumed that House Yuglev was the culprit behind the spread of this rumor, what would they get out of it?

One must know that they had lost a Knight and fifteen Squires. Even a ducal house would feel the pinch, not to mention that House Yuglev was only headed by a Marquis.

On one hand he was confused about their intentions, and on the other hand he was also regretful.

As expected, no noble house would be stupid enough to demand the corpses back after admitting that the corpses were their people.

Alaric glanced out of the carriage, at the vast territory rushing past his eyes in a blur due to the speed of the carriage.

Wait... territory?

Alaric’s eyes widened.

In the Flenn Kingdom, if a house wanted to upgrade its authority, it had to go through three stages.

Merit, Territory Administration, and Treasury.

It wasn’t part of the Official Path power system, but rather something imposed by the Flenn royal family to keep the noble houses under them in check.

Using the excuse of two promotional stages of Territory Administration and Treasury, they would send their envoys to inspect the territory and treasury of the noble house to see if they were fit to have their authority upgraded.

All this while, House Orlen had performed admirably on the border, accruing plenty of merit, and also kept things in check back in their territory.

But it was the royal family and other noble houses which weren’t starting the process of promotion, because with how things were, House Orlen was bound to pass all the three stages, qualifying them for an increase in authority.

At that point the court would have no choice but to conduct the title upgrade ceremony at the border or send reinforcements to free up Marchioness Orlen.

Alaric instantly understood House Yuglev’s plan!

These rumors were merely the foundation. Next, they would use them to urge the court to begin the promotional stages of the title upgrade.

And during the territory inspection, it would be revealed that a group of unknown individuals had indeed penetrated into the territory, even having established a base in Moliken forest.

Since Alaric had no proof of their identities, he couldn’t throw the blame on House Yuglev.

There was also no use in claiming that the unknown group had been dealt with.

The group had infiltrated deep enough into the territory to establish a hidden base, and they were powerful enough to kill a beast as strong as a Knight before House Orlen finally eliminated them.

Normally, it would be a small issue, not significant enough to affect title upgrade.

But one must know that the royal family and majority of the noble house were like hounds waiting for the House Orlen to make a mistake.

And now, House Orlen had given them exactly that opportunity.

No one was stupid enough to sacrifice such a strong group merely to stop a ducal promotion. But whether Yuglev had intended this outcome or not, the opportunity had fallen into their hands, and they certainly wouldn’t let it go to waste.

Alaric rubbed his forehead even while he continued to use the Mana Channel Construction Orb to keep getting stronger.

What to do?

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!