Soul of Searing Steel

Joshua believed in the assumption made by 03.

The Artificial Intelligence lady did not know how to use words like ‘suspect’ and ‘perhaps’. She rarely processed her logic in that regard, in fact, she almost never did that. However, because she had been spending time in contact with the humans, 03 had learned how to use those words now. However, that did not mean the nature of her logic would change.

Her suspicions and assumptions were in fact one hundred percent accurate. She subtly told Joshua about it. Though the truth would never change.

“Dead?”

Joshua cocked his head as he looked towards the west side of the main city. He looked at the first residential house that Alphonso Carlos lived back in the day. “Speaking of which, it has been two years.”

It had been two years since Joshua had transmigrated into this world. During these two years, he had changed a lot of things. He had changed the fate of many as well. Even though Joshua did not deliberately protect or guard anyone or anything, only a few died because of him. Or perhaps there was not even anyone. Alphonso was the first.

Two years was not long. The warrior could still remember the winter where the first snow had fallen in the land of the North. That day was the day he was greeted with a reminder by the middle-aged businessman for the first time. Alphonso had a good personality. He was ambitious, courageous, decisive and also an eloquent speaker. Joshua always felt reassured leaving his industrial business in Alphonso Carlos’ hands. The warrior could clearly see that the man was faithful and responsible. Most importantly, he was loyal. He would never betray Joshua. So as time passed by, the warrior gave more authority to Alphonso.

However, he died. Perhaps that was the reason why he ended up dead in the first place.

No one would have targeted an ordinary businessman, assassinated him and hid his death. Even though Joshua was not much of a thinker, he could clearly tell that someone was definitely plotting against the Radcliffe Family.

“More than a week ago, I was still at the Sacred Mountain. Emperor Israel had also left the premises.”

Joshua looked at the streets that were filled with pedestrians as he spoke calmly. It was unclear how he felt about the current situation. “Master Nostradamus was back at Winter Fort Academy carrying out a research on the Black Plague with the mages from the Imperial City. The Kaos family’s strength had been divided because Brandon headed to Moldova. Indeed, this is probably my weakest moment from the perspective of some people. It is the best timing to cut off my limb now.”

03 did not say a word at all. The Artificial Intelligence could see that Joshua was not angry at all. The heartbeat of the warrior was steady and calm. He was breathing calm and firm. The blood in his veins was filled with life. All the vital signs of the warrior were normal… to the point that 03 felt a little scared.

“Alphonso was just an ordinary man. His strength was so weak that he could be ignored. Killing him was easy. Most of the clues could be wiped away simply by using fake reports and concealed transmissions over time.” Without noticing 03’s expression, Joshua continued to babble, “But why? Why would someone hold a grudge against me?”

His voice was deep. The atmosphere turned heavy.

A sense of horror that came from the soul—the basic instinct spread deep in the Artificial Intelligence.

03 could sense that there was an invisible energy surge that she could not detect interrupting the signal of her magic projection, causing her body to ripple like water as her body began to distort.

That was merely the spiritual waves coming from the warrior. He had unintentionally agitated the shapeless elements and magic energy in the atmosphere as he was enraged for a split second before he calmed himself again. The warrior had even unintentionally activated the elements and the magic energy, causing the temperature in the tower located on top of the liege’s residence to rise significantly that it even caused phenomenal magic lights like an aurora to appear.

Just when the magic projection of 03 was about to disperse, Joshua turned around and noticed it. He immediately reached his hand out and helped the Artificial Intelligence lady to stabilize her body. After the agitated elements had been calmed as Joshua had also calmed his emotion, the strange phenomena in his surroundings vanished without a trace. He smiled apologetically. After stabilizing her body, 03 continued to talk calmly, “Joshua, there are always a number of people holding a grudge against you.”

She did not mind the small accident caused by the warrior. Instead, she felt a sense of relief. She then levitated towards the warrior and told him, “Radcliffe is one of the exclusive ore suppliers for the Five Armies of the Emperor. In other words, you have taken most of the profits in that industry. It is actually pretty understandable that the other merchants of ore mining would hold a grudge against you. That’s the first reason. The second reason is that the family industry of yours is undergoing an enterprise transformation as you’re ready to take over the entire industry of production. Any older merchants who do business related to weapons and armors will definitely see the Radcliffe family as a thorn in the flesh.”

The remaining reasons were mostly related to interest. After Joshua listened to all that, he was not surprised. Any noble and merchant would have many competitors, also known to be enemies. Before the Imperial Kingdom expanded further, everyone had a fixed share of profit. The only way to strengthen oneself was to take the others’ shares.

Same goes to his industry. Back in those days, the warriors and Alphonso had been robbing the market share of the old merchants who had been in the industry for many years. That had certainly caused dissatisfaction among most of them. Once Alphonso was dead, the Radcliffe family be in an uproar. Naturally. Others would replace the spot of the ‘arm that wields a sword’ in the market and take the shares.

During the time between Alphonso’s death and his death was discovered, a large chunk of shares had been taken away by the people responsible for Alphonso’s murder. The longer Joshua waited, the more he would lose.

Other than profits, 03 had also mentioned a few more reasons that were related to politics.

There were existing conflicts. For instant, the conflict between the royal family and the aristocrats, the conflicts between the civilian mages and the nobles’ academies, the conflicts between the local nobles in the Imperial City and the nobles from other places, the conflicts between the northern factions and the southern factions, the contradictions between the new generation and the old generation of the nobles, the conflicts between the military nobles and the traditional nobles, the disputes among the industrial nobles… In the Imperial Kingdom where forest and mountains were everywhere, each territory had all sorts of disputes among the factions. For instance, among the four territories in the North, some of them chose to side with the royals while some other chose to side with the churches they believed in. Some of them had close relationships with the royal mage Association while some only wanted to commit to becoming a local tyrant in their own territories.

The hearts of men always varied. Due to the growth of the Emperor’s sons and daughters, many of them had spread their own wings and gone separate ways. Some of them even supported the other princes under the table. Those who have motives were also considered to be a big faction on its own.

“The Radcliffes have attracted the attention of the entire Kingdom because of your active involvement in many significant events across the world. That has undoubtedly gained us great fame. However, at the same time, we will become the target of many others. Joshua, you must not underestimate your own reputation. Perhaps the death of Alphonso Carlos was caused by one of your own followers in order to get your attention. That is also one of many possibilities.”

03 kept explaining to the warrior as she floated beside the warrior. Joshua reached out his hand and gestured for 03 to sit on his arm. He turned his head to the side and looked at the A.I lady. Then he furrowed his brow. “Is it really possible that they’re capable of doing such a thing just to get to me?”

“Of course it has already reached that extent.” 03 nodded her head slightly and sighed. “How many Supreme-tier champions are there in the Empire? And how many are there across the entire Mycroft Continent? You’re the youngest Supreme-tier Champion there is in the entire history of the world. You will definitely cross into the legendary-tier in the future. Many do not have the guts to offend you. However, there are still a small number of people who are brave enough to test your patience.”

“In the eyes of those people, this may just be a small test. For them, it was merely an assignation executed upon a manager who was sent by a Supreme-tier champion of a superior noble family to the Imperial City to handle things for him. Perhaps they believed that it was just an insignificant loss to a Supreme-tier champion from a powerful noble family that will never trigger a retaliation too great for them to handle. Perhaps they also wanted to see the strength and the response you and your family would give. Then, they could finally plan their next move.”

“Next move?”

Hearing what 03 said, Joshua burst into laughter. “Will it not cause a retaliation too great for them to handle?”

After that, the warrior was quiet. He just looked in the direction of the Imperial City was with his cold eyes as he sneered.

—Of course not. There would never be a ‘next move’ for them.

The Artificial Intelligence who was sitting on the arm the warrior blinked her eyes multiple times when she heard the warrior muttering to himself. Then she smiled quietly.

—Those people do not understand you. They think that you were just an ordinary noble, a regular warrior. They think you are just an ordinary man who can be tested, predicted, and pondered upon .

They could not be more wrong than that. 03 was thinking as she looked at Joshua’s eyes which were gradually growing brighter by the second, blazing like two flames. 03 knew that the look on the warrior’s face—he was deadly serious about something. His rage burned like the fire from the depths of hell as his power was charging up.

The Artificial Intelligence felt sympathy for those arrogant humans who had provoked the warrior without knowing who exactly they were up against. She felt pity for them for being ignorant and reckless because they were ignorant bastards who were going to meet their deaths soon.

—They did not know what they were getting themselves into.