Everyone in the conference room was furious.

"Are those stingy bastards trying to declare war on us? Do they think we'll be scared of them? What a load of nonsense!"

"Are they so impoverished that they've gone insane? Do they think they stand a chance against our trade guild?"

"I think we've been too lenient on them, and they feel like we're a bunch of pushovers. If we don't teach them a lesson, they'll only continue to get more and more arrogant!"

"I think we should all stop sending out stock for now. It's not like any of our stock is making it to our clients anyway. Instead, we should organize our people and prepare for battle against those bastards from Zans!"

Everyone was very much in agreement with this proposal.

"Seeing as everyone seems to agree with this course of action, then let's begin." Mackney paid no heed to everyone else as he continued to swirl the red wine within his goblet, looking at ripples that flashed over the surface of the wine as he did so. "Gather your men and set off for Zans. This time, we're not coming back until we receive justice!"

"Yes, Boss!" everyone replied in unison.

These wealthy merchants had come here to discuss countermeasures against the robberies with Mackney, but seeing as they already knew the identity of the mastermind behind all of this, there was no need to discuss countermeasures. All they had to do was go and face the culprit directly.

"Tomorrow, we will gather our army outside Tellier and go after Onen! We'll make him regret ever crossing us!" Mackney set down the goblet in his hand as he abruptly rose to his feet, and his eyes resembled those of a fierce predator that was about to pounce, filled with irrepressible rage and ferocity.

Everyone else also rose to their feet, and their eyes were flashing with ambition and anticipation.

These wealthy merchants of Tellier had actually been waiting for a catalyst like this for quite a few years now, and on this occasion, it was Onen who had given them a reason to deploy their forces.

Only after everyone else had left did John Farody emerge from the shadows.

In contrast with his elder brother, Lucidy, John was quite thin with a pale complexion, but there was a subtle yet dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Father, I don't think this is such a simple matter," John said in a cautious voice.

"Why is that?" Mackney asked as he turned to look at John.

"Father, you know what Onen is like. If he had the courage and decisiveness to do something like this, he would've done so long ago," John said as he looked back at his father.

"Then who do you think it is? Who else would dare to do something like this?" Mackney asked as he pursed his lips in displeasure. "Besides, is it even important whether Onen is the one behind this?"

"What do you mean by that, Father?" Lucidy asked with a surprised look on his face.

"We'll have to make a move against those nobles in Zans eventually," Mackney said in a cold voice. "As for whether they're actually the ones behind this, that's not important right now."

"That may be true, but if there really is someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes, then we have to be on our guard," John cautioned. "What if the actual culprit's intention is to instigate a conflict between us and Onen by doing this?"

"Alright, then you tell me who this person could be," Mackney prompted as he turned to John with slightly narrowed eyes.

"At the moment, I think the likeliest candidates are Duke Eru and her cousin, Duchess Silon. Both of them could be responsible for this," John replied.

A disdainful look appeared on Lucidy's face upon hearing this. "Duke Eru is just a senile old man on his deathbed, I can't believe you still see him to be a threat. As for that debaucherous cousin of his, her attention is entirely focused on her male pets, so she won't be able to do anything."

John lowered his head and didn't argue with his brother.

After taking a moment to ponder the situation, Mackney decided, "John's concerns are not to be discounted."

Mackney had never quite been able to get a grasp on Duke Eru.

As for Sanfesa, Mackney was rather wary of her, despite her scandalous reputation. After all, she had ruled over the Delair Dukedom for many years, so she definitely had some tricks up her sleeve.

Lucidy didn't say anything further upon hearing this, but deep down, he held no regard for the likes of Duke Eru and Duchess Silon.

...

Meanwhile, Lia's trio was on the way back to Zans from Finklan, and while passing by Tellier, they could see that an army was already being assembled. Lia immediately realized that Erwin had made his move upon seeing this.

"Teacher, it looks like all of these mercenary legions are traveling toward the west," Joe reported as he turned to Lia, who was seated inside the carriage.

The elderly man seated beside him raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, then nudged Lia with his elbow as he asked in a quiet voice, "Looks like Mr. Erwin has already made his move, has he?"

Lia offered no response to this.

During the past couple of days as they were getting back from Finklan, Lia had already shared his and Erwin's ideas with the elderly man and Menpo. After hearing about their ridiculous vision, both the elderly man and Menpo were shocked beyond belief.

Only then did they understand why Lia had traveled to Finklan so urgently to hold that Five Summits Meeting. This was an incredibly grand vision that was going to destroy the foundation of the entire world, and it certainly wasn't just a simple matter of dethroning the Holy World Church.

After hearing the vision described by Lia, the elderly man had barely been able to catch a wink of sleep these past two days as he was constantly pondering all types of problems, problems related to political structures and law-setting. He knew that Lia was taking him to Zans for the purpose of addressing these problems.

Right at this moment, an enlightened look suddenly appeared on Menpo's face, and he abruptly slapped his own leg as he exclaimed, "Wait, I know who you are now! You're Elder Turan!"

He was paying no heed to the environment around him, nor did he know where their carriage was traveling toward. Instead, he was completely absorbed in his own thoughts prior to this.

Similar to the elderly man, Menpo had also been struggling to sleep these past two days. Of course, the vision described by Lia was naturally an extremely astonishing one, but what was truly keeping Menpo up at night was the identity of the elderly man. He felt as if he had seen this man before, but he couldn't remember who he was no matter how hard he tried. In addition to that, Lia hadn't made any effort to introduce the elderly man to Menpo, so he had been left to ponder this problem on his own for the past couple of days.

He felt as if the name of the elderly man was constantly on the tip of his tongue, but he was unable to grasp it, and that was driving him insane.

Thankfully, he managed to get his answer before he went insane.

"'Sermon of the Universal Lord' was amended under your guidance, right?" Menpo asked as he stared intently at the elderly man. "Finally, I finally remember who you are now..."

Indeed, the "Sermon of the Universal Lord" that Erwin had read was actually an amended edition that had been revised several dozen years ago. Prior to that, the original edition was even more bizarre. If Erwin were to be made aware of this, he would be truly stunned by the elderly man's imagination, although the current edition was already quite a farce in his eyes.

"I recall that you used to be an elder as well. What happened?" Menpo asked as he cast a curious gaze toward the elderly man. "Where did you go all these past years?"

"He went to go write crappy poems for money," Lia scoffed with a derisive look in his eyes.

"I'm no elder, I'm just an old man who retired long ago. So many years have already passed, why are you bringing up the past now?" the elderly man grumbled.

It was clear he didn't want to talk about why he had retired as an elder of the Universal Church.

It naturally wasn't appropriate for Menpo to pry any further, so he could only nod sheepishly in response.

Joe was driving the carriage, and upon hearing that the elderly man was the main editor for the revised edition of the "Sermon of the Universal Lord", he wanted to ask the elderly man about some of the details in the book, but he refrained from doing so as Turan clearly wasn't in the mood to talk.

Only now did Menpo finally direct his attention toward the scene that was unfolding up ahead. "All of those mercenary legions seem to be in quite a hurry as well. Where are they going? Is there about to be a battle?"

It was clear that Menpo's question was a very idiotic one.

"Don't worry, if he really is as intelligent as you proclaim, then he must've planned things out thoroughly in advance. He wouldn't have set things into motion without devising a sound plan first," Turan consoled with a smile at the sight of the hint of unease that had crept onto Lia's face. However, his smile was rather mocking in nature, and it was unclear whether he was mocking Lia's lack of composure or the insufficient grasp that he had on Erwin.

"You're saying this is all a part of Mr. Erwin's plan?" Menpo asked as he turned to Turan with a surprised expression. Only now did he realize what Turan earlier words had entailed.

"I certainly hope so," Lia said in a grim voice.

"I have a feeling that he would've set things into motion regardless of whether your trip to Finklan proved to be successful," Turan said as he turned to Lia with a smile.

"Why do you know him so well?" Lia asked as he turned to look back at Turan.

"He's willing to sacrifice countless lives for a revolution, he certainly wouldn't be opposed to using us," Turan replied. "Setting that aside, you're running around like a headless chicken precisely because you want to be used by him, isn't that right?"

"He's the one who needs us," Lia replied in a cold voice.

Turan merely gave a disdainful harrumph in response, clearly unconvinced by Lia's reply.

...

Due to the eagerness of the wealthy merchants in Tellier to strike at Count Onen, the mercenary legions were traveling very quickly, so quickly that the horse-drawn carriage that Lia was in was completely unable to keep up with them.

The carriage was already almost falling apart at the seams after traveling for consecutive days, and it was now carrying a bunch of miscellaneous belongings from Menpo. If Lia were to order Joe to keep up with the mercenary legions up ahead, the three of them would most likely have to walk the rest of the way back to Zans.

Right as their carriage was gradually being left behind by the convoy of mercenary legions up ahead, a small group of people on horseback converged toward them from behind in a stealthy fashion.

The four people on the carriage were all clergymen who were useless in a fight. There was a retired elder, an incumbent elder, a bishop, and a missionary, none of whom could provide any resistance in battle.

Thus, they could only look on helplessly as the group of around a dozen people on horseback began to surround them.

Joe's attention was focused entirely on driving the carriage, trying to find an opportunity to break out of the encirclement. Of course, it would've taken nothing short of a miracle for that dream to come true. This was a crudely constructed and maladroit carriage that was filled to full capacity, and there was no way that it would have the speed or maneuverability to outrun these horse-riders. If he were to accelerate any further, the entire carriage would soon be completely detached from the horses, leaving Lia's trio far behind.

Menpo was the more courageous one of the trio. He had picked up a silver javelin and had risen to his feet inside the carriage, shielding the two elderly men with his body while glowering at the horse riders outside.

However, in reality, his heart was fluttering in his chest as well. Never did he think that the silver javelin that he had brought with him would come in useful so soon. Unfortunately, this javelin was nothing more than a decorative weapon, and Menpo had no idea how to use it. If he were to actually wield it in battle, there was a greater chance that he would impale himself rather than his opponents.

Right as Menpo was pondering what to say to the bandits on horseback, their leader, a man riding on the back of a unicorn, sprang up into the air in a lithe and graceful manner, landing in front of Menpo in the blink of an eye.

"You... I..." Menpo could only stutter incomprehensibly in the face of this drastic turn of events.

Fortunately, the two elderly men behind him were more calm and collected. Turan laid a hand onto Menpo's shoulder before firmly forcing him back down into a seated position. Both he and Lia wanted to hear what the bandit had to say.