Epic Of The Demonic Sage

About a week had passed since Lucius had recruited the three assassins: Arius, Cohen, and Carlyle.

About three days after making an agreement with them and giving them the mark of obedience, Lucius had upgraded both of their gifts. Once that was done, they too were a bit overwhelmed by the new power, but not as much as Arius.

This led Lucius to believe that the specificities of a gift might differ far more than earlier. Keeping that in mind, he let them get acclimatized with their new gifts for two more days before sending them off on the mission.

Their mission was rather simple, which was to cause trouble and tension for Viscount Drew. The same as Arius, Cohen and Carlyle didn't ask any extra questions about why they were doing this, either.

And along with Arius, they too agreed to do several jobs for free. They were especially pleased when Lucius told them that their gifts could be taken to another level in the future. This had excited them even more.

They had already gotten a taste of power, and now they would want more. Of course, uncontrolled there would be a grave problem. But for Lucius, who had put the marks of obedience on them, they were tamed hounds.

If he wanted to, he could kill them in less than a second and all it would take is a mere thought. With this assurance, Lucius had far fewer things to worry about.

Currently, Lucius was sitting in the dining hall while eating lunch with the rest of the family.

Lita and Gabriel of course, didn't know of Lucius's little recruitment and it was something that he wanted to keep off the books anyway. 

"How are things going with your work at the reeducation center?" Gabriel questioned.

"Things are going rather well. It's actually the more moderate criminals that have responded to the counsellings better than the petty criminals or more dangerous criminals." Lucius answered.

"Oh? Anything special?" Gabriel asked.

"A lot of them are already repentant about their crimes and are willing to reform. After going a little bit more counseling, they will be ready to be re-educated." Lucius replied.

"Hmm… I see. Well, our crime rate has certainly gone down due to the new reforms so I guess that's a plus size. You just keep on doing what you do now." Gabriel said.

"I will." Lucius nodded his head.

"I head the brewery is going rather well as well. There is a chance we may get to increase our profits soon as some merchants are about to establish a sales agreement with Viscount Drew's territory." Lita suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, Lucius's ears perked up.

"Oh really? They don't know about our involvement, right?" Lucius asked.

"Yes, it is all going swimmingly. And with Alessa's introduction to the noble circle, the reputation of Humble Blaze has only risen even more.

Apparently, it was actually people from Viscount Drew's side that contacted our merchants showing their interest in buying the wine." Lita replied.

"I see…" Lucius said as a few thoughts flashed by in his mind.

"And how's the response from that territory?" Lucius asked.

"Well according to the information the merchants gave us, a few unranked nobles have already tried humble blaze there and are very pleased with it. In fact, I'm sure the wine made its way to Viscount Drew, that pest as well. 

After all, without his approval, there is little chance the local merchants would have been able to ask for official sales permission. And since the Humble blaze is a product by a different noble, the Viscount doesn't really have much he can disagree on." Lita replied.

Lucius nodded his head, and it was almost the same as he had expected it to go. The only difference from his initial expectations was that the response came far quicker than he had thought.

'I estimated it would take at least six months for the perpetration of Humble blaze in the market of Drew territory. Seems like I underestimated just how much nobles of this land like good wine…' Lucius thought to himself.

Only the sound of utensils clinking against the plate could be heard for a bit as the family continued its meal. Lucius took a bite of bread and his gaze lingered on it a bit.

"Perhaps this method might really work…" Lucius muttered to himself.

"You said something?" Gabriel, who heard a little bit, asked.

"Oh? Yeah, I would like John or Alessa to inform me when the sales agreement in the territory of Drew is complete." Lucius replied.

"Just that? Sure." Lita replied.

Lucius nodded his head but Kiana, who was sitting on his side, looked at him, knowing that some new idea must have sprouted in his mind now. Over the past few months, she was starting to learn about the mannerisms of this 'new' Asher.

After the meal was over, the servants took away the empty plates and the family returned to their duties. Lucius headed to the lab in the mansion and Kiana followed him. Once they were inside, though, she spoke.

"What is it that I need to do?" Kiana asked.

"Oh? You already know I wanted to do something?" Lucius asked with a chuckle and a little surprise.

"You wouldn't have asked Aunt Lita for that otherwise." Kiana replied.

"Mmhmm… I see. Well, I do have something." Lucius said.

"What is it?" Kiana questioned.

"Do we have any informants in the mansion of Viscount Drew?" Lucius asked.

"Hmm… we don't really have anyone that can spy and get information on him. We do have some that are in the outer territory though," Kiana replied.

"We don't want anyone to spy on them. I don't want an informant at that level. Rather, I just want a simple person who can get us information about what the man eats and likes to eat." Lucius spoke.

"Huh? Just that?" Kiana asked for confirmation.

"Yes, just that," Lucius repeated.

"Then that will be far easier. We don't even need to spy around for that, any servant will tell that information.." Kiana said.