A day ago, at the Free Guild Headquarters.
Yuuki was leisurely reading manga, while Kagali sat nearby, restless.
"Kagali, what's wrong with you?"
"The connection with Footman and Tia seems to have been blocked. I... can't sense their positions right now."
"What?!"
Yuuki's expression immediately became grave. "Being unable to contact them at a time like this is not good news!"
Clearly, an unknown accident had occurred in their plan.
Yuuki was well aware of Footman and Tia's strength. With the Walpurgis underway and the Demon Lords away, there weren't many beings who could defeat them.
Even if they faced the Saint Hinata, they could definitely escape if they couldn't win. But now, they couldn't even be contacted; the situation was not optimistic.
While the two were in a state of uncertainty, Kagali received another piece of bad news.
"The connection with Laplace has also disappeared."
"How can this be?!"
Yuuki frowned and said thoughtfully, "It seems our plan has been exposed, and someone is targeting us."
As soon as he said this, Kagali clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "We must find them. I absolutely cannot let anything happen to them."
One thing worth praising about the Neutral Clowns is their loyalty; they never abandon their companions.
"Don't panic yet," Yuuki said calmly. "Since the opponent has already set their sights on us, they'll show up sooner or later. What we need to consider now is how to respond."
"What do you want to do?" Kagali asked.
"First, we must find out who is behind this, and then we can think of a way to break the situation. We can't let the opponent lead us by the nose like this."
"Since the opponent hasn't killed Footman and the others, they clearly have some concerns. It's also possible that their target isn't them, but..."
Yuuki took a deep breath and continued, "It's no longer safe here. To be safe, we must find a new place to stay."
"Alright, I'll listen to you." Although Kagali was anxious, she could only reluctantly agree.
The two then left the Free Guild Headquarters, planning to hide in the shadows and slowly investigate the situation.
But at noon that day, the Soul Corridor connecting to Clayman disappeared, which meant that Clayman was completely dead.
Kagali found it somewhat hard to believe. Although she had been mentally prepared for Clayman's end, she never expected him to pass away just like that.
This made her worry about the safety of Laplace and the other two.
But after investigating for a day, the two found no clues.
Just as Kagali was feeling extremely anxious, Draco arrived at the Ingrassia Kingdom.
When he passed through the barrier and entered the city, he immediately noticed that Yuuki and Kagali were not at the Free Guild Headquarters.
He had already expected this.
Draco was in no hurry. Laplace and the others' lives were still in his hands; he didn't believe Kagali wouldn't take the bait.
So, he handed a letter to the receptionist at the Freedom Association and told her to pass it to their Grandmaster.
Having done this, Draco returned to Nazarick and quietly waited for the prey to come to him... somewhere in the Farmus Kingdom.
In a dark room, an old man was coughing weakly.
He raised his palm and looked at an emblem on a ring in his hand.
The surface of this emblem was carved with strange patterns and emitted a faint blue light, making people feel a sense of awe and fear.
This emblem belonged to the highest honor of the Rozo Clan.
The old man murmured softly, "The Rozo won't be defeated so easily..."
His eyes gradually became sharp, and his cloudy pupils shot out an intense cold light, as if they could freeze the surrounding air. "You all... shall pay the price..."
The blonde girl beside him hesitated for a moment but couldn't help but advise, "In this kind of situation, you need to stay calm, Grandfather."
Looking at Mariabelle, the hope of the Rozo Clan, Granbell regained his composure.
As long as we still have 'Greed,' the Rozo have not yet failed. It's too early to risk everything and burn our bridges.
He put down the ring and closed his eyes to rest.
Mariabelle looked at the old man, whose life was flickering like a candle in the wind, feeling nothing inside. Although she was nominally Granbell's granddaughter, her soul belonged to another world.
Like Rimuru, she was also a Reincarnator.
But unlike salarymen like Rimuru, Mariabelle was a Ruler of ancient Europe in her previous life, possessing the memory of dominating the world as a sovereign.
In her previous life, she used her intelligence to control global finance; even war was just one of Mariabelle's means of gaining profit.
Mariabelle's glory was built upon piles of white bones, a fact she did not deny.
And so, she lived out her glorious life.
Coming to this world, she was equally fortunate.
As a princess of the Rozo Royal Family, she had a noble birth and was naturally destined to be one of the rulers of the Western Nations.
The memories of manipulating finance in her previous life, combined with a strong desire to dominate, granted her the authority of the "Greedy One," one of the Great Sins Series.
She became the strongest member of the Rozo Clan immediately upon birth.
The authority of the Unique Skill "Greedy One" had the ability to dominate the opponent's desires, manipulate their will, and make them act according to her commands.
There were two methods of operation.
The first was to use her own desires to overlay the opponent's desires, giving the opponent the same objective, subtly turning them into her aid.
This method had a weakness: it could only be activated during close-range dialogue.
Moreover, the effect was like a slow-acting poison, requiring a lot of time for the influence to become complete.
The second was to use the authority of the Rare Skill "Greedy One" to forcibly dominate the opponent.
It required no time, instantly injecting her own "desire," and could even directly destroy the opponent's self-consciousness, turning them into a manipulated puppet.
But this method was extremely dangerous.
Depending on the magnitude of the opponent's desire, a certain amount of time would be required.
Even if it was only a few seconds, a powerful being like Demon Lord Rimuru would have enough time to kill Mariabelle.
Thus, Mariabelle, after her birth, used her skill to control the servants around her and learned the language and knowledge of this world from them.
Through this understanding, she still believed that she would rule the world.
After all, the economic civilization level of this world was very low, and relying on her past life's experience, dominating the world through economic warfare would be effortless.
The prerequisite, however, was that she was currently still an infant, and she needed to act cautiously until she grew up.
Until she was three years old, when she met her grandfather, the Ruler of the Rozo Clan.
Unlike others, Mariabelle sensed Granbell's terrifying strength.
Although her authority could invade Granbell's body, a powerhouse like him would not give her such an opportunity.
Under Granbell's pressure, she revealed her identity.
She had thought the other party would try to eliminate her, but to Mariabelle's surprise...
The other party did not strike her down; instead, he brought her back to the core of the Rozo Clan.
When Mariabelle learned of Granbell's wish to unify the world, the two immediately hit it off, sharing their secrets with each other.
Granbell told her the truth about this world, and Mariabelle taught Granbell the experiences from her previous life.
The Hero and Greed formed an alliance, and through their powerful partnership, the economic lifelines of the Western Nations were quietly controlled by Rozo.
It wasn't until Rimuru's appearance that their original rhythm was disrupted.
Kagali
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