Enforcers of the Ursula kingdom are shadows of its royal past, and their duties are to lead and protect the most important assets and people of the royal family from behind the scenes.

Being that every reigning monarch only gets to sit for a duration of fifty years, the number of Enforcers continues to grow. Which was good, because the more powerhouses the royal family commands, the more they can protect what is theirs.

But they are now faced with a situation that has rendered them all powerless, even their ancient Ancestor, who has lived for almost a thousand years....

was currently speechless as the two looked to him for a way forward with their present predicament.

Adjusting in his seat a little, the veiled ancestor sighed deeply before speaking...

"Ebselon....

"Did you notice anything that stands out in particular ?" He muttered in his rough voice. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Nothing at all, honored ancestor.... Which leads me to believe that this Victor might be in collusion with someone who has crossed that level." Ebselon stated, carefully, selective of his words.

The level mentioned is the level beyond the Paragon realm. A half-step transcendent, just like their seated ancestor.

Having someone like that on his team with their vast experience and knowledge would explain to some extent how Victor has been able to accomplish all he has.

A sudden silence fell upon the room at Ebselon’s statement. But after a few seconds, the veiled ancestor shook his head from side to side before speaking again.

"Let me ask you. If you have the help of someone at or beyond my level... would you bother wasting time sneaking around like a rat ?"

"No... Ancestor..." Ebselon responded after a moment of thought as he shook his head.

"What would you do, then ?" The ancestor added.

"I would launch a proper attack with my entire accumulated force, putting this powerhouse in the lead and damn the consequences," Ebselon stated resolutely in response.

"Precisely."

"So, he couldn’t have someone that powerful on his side. And even Eridnor has cut all ties, denying any involvement with their attempted coup..."

"So, for all intents and purposes, that child of Malverin must be acting alone....or with a group similar to or lesser in realm than him." The Ancestor analysed thoughtfully as he stroked his shadowed chin, while Helion and Ebselon nodded in agreement.

They had reported the issue of the planned coup to the emissary of the holy sea present within their walls, Saintess Sylvarra, who, in turn, had delivered a message regarding this through her own means to the holy sea.

Their neighboring kingdom and long-time rivals on territory disputes had denied all claims of their accused collusion with the former grand vizier.

They had covered their tracks quite expertly, but the holy sea was still investigating.

So, Victor should currently have no help coming from the only other faction that might have a being on a similar level to the ancestor of the starfalls.

Therefore, the fact that he was able to accomplish this robbery twice in a row simply means he must have another means of accomplishing this impossible feat.

Neither Ebselon nor Helion had any concrete idea of how strong their ancestor really was because he had never gone all out in their presence....

But they doubted even he would be able to accomplish such impossible feats that the former grand vizier had pulled off twice.

Though none of them would ever dare to utter such daring thoughts out loud.

"honored Ancestor.... What if he has artifacts on a similar level to ours that he had stolen ?" Helion suggested this time.

"Hmm... though it’s unlikely considering how rare they are..... I think that’s the most logical conclusion.... But that’s by the way..."

"Wasn’t the young Naveer supposed to be on his tail ?..... "

"Well, considering he might have such powerful artifacts on him, it’s no wonder her attempts at apprehending him have seen no results for days," the Ancestor added as he sighed.

"Um, honored Ancestor. What do we do now? There is now an immediate issue that does not involve trying to capture Victor..."

"The Kingdom is now penniless..."

"And with the increasing drought, and our dependence on imported goods...."

"Once remaining stock begins to run out in different provinces... our people would soon begin to starve," Helion muttered solemnly, feeling the deep embarrassment for the fact that even as a king of a kingdom, he still wasn’t able to prevent the situation from getting to this point.

Something like this has never happened during the reign of any other king; he is to be the first king in the history of the kingdom of Ursula to lose all of the kingdom’s wealth and the protected treasures of the royal family spanning generations.

"Don’t despair, Helion. The unscrupulous child of Malverin will definitely be caught soon enough. I have instructed three others of your seniors to go after him.... We can’t continue to leave the matter to the young lady of the Naveers any longer."

"For now, though... I suggest you reach out to your potential in-laws, the Bouguise..."

"Being of a reputable lineage as well, I imagine their reserves are also impressive," he added.

At this, Helion’s expression turned complicated.

He had been looking for a way to cut out the influence of Duke Clavian from the royal line using the guise of marriage, after promising to have his daughter wedded to the Seer hero, but now he has to seek such favor yet again.

Seeing Helion’s reaction and hesitance, the ancestor offered calmly."Look at the bigger picture, Helion..."

"We will always be here.... And when the Bouguise’s offspring joins our ranks, he will be required to take the oath as well, so his actions, though still free, will be somewhat restricted....we have no choice."

"Not until that one is caught."

"As for the useless hero turned seer..... He wasn’t even able to see this new disaster coming. So what use does he present?"

"Still. Try and offer him something else that’s decent, to keep him tied to us.... It shouldn’t take much."

"But make it clear that his ambitious thoughts of marrying my dear descendant were kicked against after some deliberations."

"Is that clear, Helion ?"

"Yes..... honored ancestor," Helion replied respectfully. The ancestor’s mandate was final whenever he was forced to intervene in matters of the kingdom.

Just as they were about to conclude their emergency gathering, the door to the large room was pushed open as a frantic royal guard in silver armor, emanating the aura of the grandmaster realms, rushed inside before kneeling a few inches from Helion and Ebselon.

"Pardon my intrusion, your majesty!. But I bring urgent news!....."

"We just discovered that two royal guest rooms were also plundered this time!...."

"It’s been stripped clean, your majesty!....."

"Not even the carpets were spared!"