The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 169

Chapter 169: The Evil God Cult’s Shadowy Schemes

“Message from Klaus.”

At the royal castle, where Nicholas had been preparing for the international conference, a note arrived from Klaus: “Ran into the Yggdra Empire’s emperor, so we’re heading back together.”

The identification badges nobles carried could display simple text, just like the magical tools national adventurers used.

Among close nobles, this allowed for quick exchanges like that, so Klaus occasionally messaged his former guardians like Nicholas and Douglas.

“Klaus? What was he doing in a place like that?”

King Kings IV showed surprise at the report and turned to Nicholas for confirmation.

“Apparently, he was out for a casual walk with his friend, the national adventurer.”

“Carol, right? I remember assigning her to hunt Chrome Beasts near the northern highway.”

Marguerite’s face twisted into a bitter grimace as he pieced together why Klaus had been there.

“From what I hear, a huge swarm of monsters including minotaurs and ogres popped up on the highway. He took them down and that led to saving the emperor.”

“Monsters like that showing up at a time like this? No way!”

Highways stretched out from Stesia in all directions, linking to the eastern, western, and northern countries, plus the southern port.

For trade’s sake, they cleared monsters regularly. No one would’ve missed multiple high-rank ones like that.

“Could it be the Yggdra Empire staging it themselves?”

“No, that doesn’t add up. Faking a crisis to gain an edge in the conference? Even if they meant to smear us, they wouldn’t stick Klaus on as their escort.”

The battle had been real, and royalty had faced real danger.

It didn’t seem worth risking their own lives for a plot.

“But won’t they suspect Stesia now?”

The incident happened inside Stesia’s borders.

Wouldn’t they wonder if we’d deliberately skipped clearing monsters just on that northern highway?

“We can’t know for sure, but this is a mess.”

The conference had a ton of topics to cover. Bringing in this kind of bad bl00d would tangle everything up from the start.

“Either way, our jobs stay the same. Get ready to welcome them.”

At King Kings IV’s words, Nicholas and the others returned to their tasks.

★

“The attack on the Yggdra Empire delegation succeeded, and we managed to take a few knights’ lives.”

“Good work.”

Broy’s lips curved into a smile at his subordinate’s report.

“With Yggdra knights dying on Stesia’s highways, this’ll blow up into an international crisis for sure.”

The four-nation summit had prompted Stesia to clear monsters from the highways.

But the Evil God Cult had foreseen that and hidden monsters in the forests, lying in wait for their target.

It had taken real effort to drive them out with the Black Dragon and position ogres and cyclopes on standby, but Broy savored the payoff.

“Still, for unleashing that many monsters, the damage seems awfully light…”

According to the report, only about two knights had died. They’d thrown every high-rank monster they could gather at them, so it should’ve been way more.

Broy stroked his chin in thought at his subordinate’s words.

“You’re right—we prepped ten B+ ranks. Even if they didn’t wipe out, half dead wouldn’t be surprising.”

That horde should’ve been a nightmare.

“Think the first prince had his full guard detail?”

There’d been intel about Yggdra diverting personnel to a new dungeon they’d found.

Word was they’d sent most of their elites there, but maybe the info had been off.

“Ah well, doesn’t matter. Knights did die—that’s fact. Yggdra won’t back down over national pride, and Stesia’ll push back on compensation. Either way, it’ll spark a fight.”

That alone would gut the conference. Starting a major summit with this kind of rift made calm talks impossible down the line.

“Don’t let up—fire the second and third arrows too!”

“Yes, sir!”

At Broy’s command, his subordinate left to carry out the next plans.