"This is the Third Prince?"
The local knights whispered amongst themselves with shaken hearts. Everyone knows that the Third Prince of the Seirende Empire was thrown away to the battlefield because of his low magic aptitude.
But standing before them was a man, viciously strong and intimidating.
A man, who even by standing in the battlefield would have a presence that will strike the hearts of both allies and the enemies in awe. A man, who as soon as he pointed his sword forward, would cause his soldiers to be calm and the enemies in disarray.
How could he be this capable?!
"Do not let your thoughts wander when you are on the battlefield! Why the shock? Do you think that after all these years, His Highness would stay as he is when he is but a child?" Another member of the Blades chastised the shocked knights.
Upon hearing the him, the knights felt ashamed for he exposed their thoughts towards Leon. They obediently swallowed their questions and suppressed their desire to engage in a discussion. The mission at hand should be finished first.
The fighting only lasted less than an hour, soon all the members of the Spectre, as well as their accomplices in northtown were apprehended. The key people were temporarily spared for interrogation, of course, all of them had taken a sip of Leon's thousand deaths elixir.
"Release the signal." Seeing that the threats were already either eliminated or contained, Leon ordered the local knights captain.
"Yes!" The captain obediently responded. He ordered the assigned knight and released the flare in the dark sky.
Boom!
As soon as the red ball of light exploded, distant booming sounds were also heard in the various points of the whole Sevila Territory.
"Now to the next part of the plan, lock the whole territory up and ensure that there would be no accomplices roaming around the territory." Leon reiterated his orders to the crowd.
During the planning week, Leon and the rest of the upper echelons of the Clearing Operations team coordinated with the target territories about the details of the operations. The leaders of these territories would then be responsible to brief their forces and carry out the plan as soon as the Clearing Operations Team ordered.
"Yes sir!" The rest of the knights replied.
The forces in the northtown are divided into five groups, each have a member of the Blades guiding them. The first four will go around the town in four directions and ensure that no one connected with the Spectre escapes.
The last group would stay in the casino to handle the matters of the captives. They have already called doctors and herbalists to check the physical conditions of the captives. There was also a team in charge of gathering information about their identities so that they would be able to send them back to their families.
It was a busy night not only in the northtown but the whole territory of Sevila.
Intimidating knights riding horses roamed around the town, villages, forest and fields in search of suspicious people. These men knew that the people they were hunting were vile people that could potentially harm their immediate families, that is why, they were merciless and thorough in their search.
The search and lockdown lasted for three whole days.
Although the people were startled at first, they became more cooperative as soon as they witnessed that the missing people who had been the talk of their villages and towns were slowly coming back one by one.
Baron Sevila also did his duty to officially announce in the whole territory what really transpired after the three day search. He did so according to Leon's orders.
Since there were still two remaining waves of operations, the suppression of the events happening on the targeted locations were also vital to the clearing operations.
After a week, sixteen Spectre hideouts and territories were thoroughly cleansed from the vile threats. There were also a total of sixty five identified middlemen and accomplices captured for interrogation. They were all executed in the plaza and had their bodies displayed at the gates of the territories.
"Your Highness Third Prince, we deeply thank you and your team for helping us get rid of the Spectre!" Baron Sevila gratefully bowed in front of Leon in his study.
His aged eyes were filled with admiration and goodwill as he looked at Leon in a different light.
"It's my duty, all of this is for the betterment of our Empire." Leon responded camly.
"Indeed! We will always be grateful for your mercy and kindness! By the way, Your Highness, what would be your next course of action, considering this information?" Baron Sevila's response was not filled with superficial flattering. Instead, he had genuine eyes and a thoughtful expression and he conversed with Leon.
In the table, there was a stack of documents that were neatly arranged and given to Leon.
Leon looked at the stack of documents with calmness in his eyes, he didn't scan through the content of the documents as he appeared to already know what it was.
"I'd like you to produce two original copies of this document. One would be sent directly to my Father Emperor, one would be taken by me to be sent to General Farauld."
"As you wished, Your Highness!" Baron Sevila replied obediently.
"Uhn, Also, kindly indicate in the opening letter that the matter might involve the temple. As for the other matters, I have already briefed you but until Phase 1 ends, I recommend you to remain vigilant. Keep your territory on guard. My team will have to go to the next territory immediately for the second wave." Leon added as his face looked grim.
Knowing what Leon meant, the Baron also showed deep apprehension in his face. He nodded with a grave expression and respectfully exited the study.
Leon was then left alone in the room. But his expression remained unrelaxed as there was a sense of uneasiness that was creeping in the back of his head. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't put a finger on what was wrong.
He lingered for a while before he subconsciously held the necklace resting in his neck. Immediately, a trace of fondness bloomed in his alluring yet dangerously cold face.
"To Eli.." He mumbled as he fed a wisp of mana in the red stone pendant of the necklace.
The red stone shone in a bright red light, pulsating vigorously. After a few seconds it stopped pulsating and a steady faint red light remained in the gem.
"Leon…" A calm and soft woman's voice was heard coming from the stone. Leon couldn't help but smile tenderly upon hearing this voice, one week passed by so slowly.
Although he had a choice to contact Eli on a daily basis, he was afraid that it would worry her more if he did so. Thus, he decided to contact her only when the mission finished, in this way, he could always bring good news to her and not leave her to worry.
He was afraid that Eli would overthink, because he would not be around to calm her down if that happens.
"How are you?" His low magnetic voice replied, it was as relaxing as the sound of the rushing of water on the calm lake.
"We're doing fine… But Leon, it's been days, how are you? Is everything back there alright? You are not injured are you? Please do not lie to me!"
Eli's voice sounded worried and agitated. Leon could actually imagine Eli's scrunched face as she said these words.
His future little wife was indeed a worrywart. Oh, how sweet this feeling is!
"I am fine and well, the first wave progressed rather smoothly. In fact, the whole operation ended earlier than expected."
"..." There was no reply from Eli's side for a few seconds, but then Eli's voice sounded again, this time with a bit of sternness and certainty, "But I can feel that something is troubling you."
A helpless chuckle escaped from Leon's mouth as he replied, "Ah.. I really couldn't hide anything from you. How could you be so spot on?"
"It's a woman's intuition. Never underestimate it." Eli said lightly, there was a tinge of pride in her tone.
"Hahaha, well that really seemed to be the case… But yes, although everything went smoothly, I couldn't help but feel that it was uneasily smooth. It bothers me that the matter was resolved in our hands way under our control." Leon decided not to hide his troubles anymore.
"Hmmm… Maybe… You can use that uneasiness as a reminder for you not to let your guard down… Besides, it is too early for you to say that something's wrong when it is only the first territory you inspected." Eli carefully chose her words. She was not well versed in the art of warfare so she could only express her opinions as a typical corporate woman.
"If you saw that it was the same even after the second wave, then it's time for you to deeply look into the matter. Of course, it would be better if you could communicate it with Godfather Eugine and His Majesty Emperor."
"Umm, that's true." Leon replied with a smile, what Eli told on the latter part made his mind clearer.
If the first one was a fluke then he would take this worry as just him being overly vigilant but if it still happened on the second wave…
A flash of coldness appeared in his crystal blue eyes. "I'll make sure to tell them." He replied to Eli with an understanding tone.
"Uhn!! By the way, our Little Han will be a month old in two days~~~" Eli's excited voice turned Leon's gloomy mood into a happy one.
"I feel like our child grew up really fast.." He said with an indulging tone, his eyes were filled with love and helplessness as he uttered in resignation,
"Ah.. How I wish I could be there to celebrate with you two..."
