Before sunset, Noah returned to the Leiden household.
Maki, one of the maids, had been waiting at the entrance in advance.
When she saw him return, Maki immediately smiled.
"Welcome back, Lord Noah."
"Have you been waiting long? Thank you, Maki."
"N-no, not at all. Maki simply wanted to see Lord Noah sooner. Ah, forgive my rudeness. Master is waiting for you inside."
"Mm. I understand."
Noah went to the room where Leims was, knocked lightly four times, then opened the door and entered.
After going in, he closed the door and sat beside Leims.
At first, neither of them spoke. They simply enjoyed the fragrance of the tea in their cups.
A moment later, Leims finished his tea and asked, "How have things been lately? You haven't run into any trouble, have you?"
"No. I've mostly been spending my days studying."
"Mm... The Imperial Capital has been restless lately. I hear a group of criminals called Night Raid has been continuously assassinating people connected to the Minister."
The biggest incident in the Imperial Capital lately was not Zank the Beheader's case.
To put it bluntly, Zank had only killed some ordinary civilians who did not matter to the important people.
To those in power, Zank was nothing more than a pest.
If one was talking about major events, then it had to be the assassinations of the Minister's relatives and subordinates.
Because of these assassination incidents, the entire Imperial Capital had grown nervous.
People were afraid that simply going outside might drag them into some kind of trouble.
"You're worried I'll be assassinated, so you want me to move back home, right?"
"..."
Leims fell silent for a moment, then said, "I know you have your own methods."
He looked somewhat hesitant, as if there was something else.
Noah noticed that and asked directly, "Is there something else?"
Leims's breath paused. Then he slowly let it out.
"Actually, there is something i need. I don't know whether you can help."
Noah looked at him in surprise.
He had not expected this man to say something like that.
Leims had an unusual pride.
Calling it an inherited "illness" of the Leiden family would not be too much.
They were deeply solitary people.
Of course, that was how outsiders saw it. In truth, Leims simply did not want to get involved with people who would do anything for power.
To those who cared about status and career, Leims as the head of the Leiden family, was wasting his life in a minor post.
In their eyes, he had willingly fallen into idleness and wasted the hard work of his ancestors.
But in truth, Leims's father and grandfather had been the same.
His grandfather had once been a powerful civil official, but by his father's generation, the family had already retreated to a local office far from the court.
By Leims's generation, it could even be called a decline across three generations.
But that was the Leiden family's choice.
They had chosen to move away from the center of power.
The members of the Leiden family were extremely capable.
If this had been the reign of a former Emperor, there was no way they would have been allowed to hand over power and simply lie low like this.
There was only one reason they had withdrawn from power and retreated below the third line.
The current Empire was not worthy of loyal ministers like them.
They kept their noble status but did not interfere in politics or the military, nor did they join any faction.
They simply passed their days in a harmless post and enjoyed life.
Leims seemed like someone who should never run into trouble.
Yet now, even he had a day when he needed to ask someone for help?
Heh.
"I understand. No problem."
"The matter is..." Leims was just about to explain, but then he suddenly realized that Noah had already agreed.
Noah looked at Leims and said, "This is something you personally asked me for. If I had to hear the details before agreeing, that would be looking down on your dignity too much. It would also go against my own conscience."
He smiled faintly and poured Leims another cup of tea.
For someone as detached as Leims, Noah had very little he could give in return.
For many years, he had enjoyed everything that came with being the adopted son of the Leiden family. In almost every sense, he had been receiving their kindness one-sidedly.
And all of that had started because of a single letter.
He had always wanted to repay Leims and the Leiden family.
But Leims lacked nothing.
This man lived without worry, had no shortage in his life, and was in good health. He was almost like a god who had come to the human world just to experience life.
Noah had long since given up on the possibility that Leims would ever ask him for help.
So he decided.
No matter what the request was, he would help.
"Noah, you..."
Leims seemed moved, but reason still made him explain.
"You don't need to agree so quickly. This matter is not easy."
He sighed, looking genuinely troubled.
That was rare.
Noah could not help finding it interesting, because it truly was rare.
"Listen. Recently, an elder of mine plans to end his journey and return to the Imperial Capital. We only exchanged letters the day before yesterday."
Leims took out a letter and placed it on the tea table, then continued.
"That gentleman once chose to withdraw from politics and live outside the capital in order to preserve his life during his struggle against Minister Honest."
"But while traveling, he discovered that the situation across the Empire is far worse than expected. Some villages have even vanished completely because of poverty."
"He believes the Empire is in grave danger, so he intends to return and reenter politics."
By the time Leims reached this point, Noah basically understood.
In other words, this gentleman was an important figure from the conscientious faction. But during his political struggle with Minister Honest, his life had been threatened.
To avoid too much bloodshed, he had no choice but to retire.
He had not expected Minister Honest to be this ruthless.
Honest had almost played the Empire into bankruptcy!
To prevent the Empire from collapsing, this man had chosen to return to the fight against Minister Honest.
That was more or less the situation.
"This Minister is far too naive," Noah said, shaking his head.
Leims remained silent, clearly agreeing with him.
Although it was called "retirement," Minister Honest had definitely arranged spies to watch his old political enemy.
Now this man wanted to pick up a chess game he had already surrendered and continue playing.
That was far too optimistic.
Minister Honest would never let him return to the board alive.
The moment he gave up that game, he had already lost his chance to interfere with it again.
If he had quietly remained in seclusion, that would have been one thing.
But now that he planned to return, Minister Honest would definitely not let him go. He would send someone to kill him and remove the threat for good.
Leims sighed.
"Lord Chouri was my grandfather's closest friend. After my grandfather passed away, he continued looking after the Leiden family. It would not be an exaggeration to say that at least half of what the Leiden family has today is thanks to Lord Chouri's help."
It was only after Minister Chouri went into seclusion that Leims began corresponding with him.
If Chouri had still been active in politics, Leims definitely would not have involved himself so deeply with him.
"For the sake of the Empire, he is willing to place his life aside. I admire that kind of resolve, but it is already too late."
"I see. To put it simply, you want Lord Chouri to survive. Is that correct?"
Noah knew that Leims had always followed the Leiden family's teachings and placed great importance on the instructions left by his ancestors.
Among them, there was probably something about repaying Minister Chouri and helping him at a critical moment.
But this was clearly beyond Leims's ability.
Helping Chouri meant making an enemy of the Minister. Even the Leiden family could be overturned overnight if they angered Honest.
Even if his grandfather and father had left such instructions behind, if following them meant burying the Leiden family with Chouri, Leims could only choose to bow his head.
"It's interesting to see you troubled like this, but I'm not used to it. Don't worry. This is only a small matter. I promise you that Lord Chouri and his family will not be harmed, no matter who the other side is."
The moment Noah finished speaking, far above the Imperial Capital at an altitude of fifteen thousand meters, a sonic boom rang out.
Black Nightmare turned into a black line and shot straight toward the outskirts of the capital.
Seeing Noah tuck the letter away and rise to leave, Leims suddenly speaking with emotion, "This reminds me of a conversation we once had."
Hearing that, Noah thought back briefly.
Yes.
Even an Empire that had lasted a thousand years had reached the point where the whole building was about to fall.