Chapter 985: 0582 The Princess

「……」

Forget it, what’s meant to happen will happen anyway…

After hearing the hunched shadow’s question, the Scorpio Director couldn’t help but grit his teeth, then reluctantly spoke, under the gleeful gaze of a red-haired woman:

“This person behind me… is Leon Ryan, a Level-3 Cleaner dispatched by the Virgo Branch to assist us. Thanks to his help, this investigation was barely completed.”

Leon Ryan? Isn’t that the one who ate the Death Hound of the Border Guard…!

Upon hearing this name that had recently echoed throughout the organization, the hunched figure’s expression stiffened slightly, then quickly erased the admiration on his face and nodded awkwardly:

“No wonder—he’s that once-in-a-decade genius Cleaner who exposed Aquarius Director’s conspiracy. Olivia’s Virgo Branch truly is brimming with talent.”

“Just average, really… he’s not that great, hehe.”

Seeing that the “crime” of destroying the Kingdom of Coroc had been shouldered by the Scorpio Director himself, while he and the Virgo Branch not only escaped blame but actually gained immense prestige, the red-haired Director couldn’t stop grinning—she was practically itching to pull Leon in and kiss him deeply.

She’d been right all along: Leon’s proper “use” was fieldwork!

When sent on field missions, he’d use his exceptional competence to smoothly resolve crises, bringing immense glory to her and the entire Virgo Branch—while any messes he caused could be neatly dumped onto others to take the blame.

Oh my… this is just perfect, absolutely perfect!

……

Enough! Calm down right now!

After glaring at the gleeful red-haired Director, the weary Taurus Director spoke again:

“In any case, the Kingdom of Coroc is gone—its very territory has been reduced to ashes. The Twin Branch that was meant to be built there must now be relocated. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Can’t we rebuild it on the original site?”

The Pisces Director stood up and proposed:

“The people of Coroc still exist, and a direct bloodline of the royal family—the princess—still survives. Even if she doesn’t intend to reclaim the throne, her husband or future children might. Moreover, Coroc’s territory was never large—its core lands were barely the size of a single city. With our support, rebuilding the kingdom shouldn’t be difficult.”

“It’s not difficult—but the consequences would be troublesome.”

The Taurus Director shook his head, then elaborated on the Three Blood Oaths of the Executioners’ Guild and the current state of Coroc:

Jinniudongshiwenyanyaoleyaotou ， Zaigengxiangxidijianglexialuwanghuidesantiaoxueshi ， Yijikeluokewangguoxianzaideqingkuanghou ， Jixukaikoujieshidao ：

"In short, rebuilding the Kingdom of Croc on its original site would likely trigger the blood oaths again, and even with our support, restoring the kingdom would take a very long time—at least seven or eight years just to preliminarily restore its former scale.

Although we could certainly afford to support the 1.3 million citizens of Croc, continuously sustaining them for seven or eight years through extraordinary means would likely generate an overwhelming number of anomalies.

Given that the Twin Branch is currently in urgent need of reconstruction, we lack both personnel and time to individually eliminate these newly emerging anomalies, which would inevitably lead to massive casualties. Thus, this option is not viable."

"What if we integrate all the citizens of the Kingdom of Croc into the nearest Maybis City-State? That way, they wouldn’t be considered 'original inhabitants of the original site,' so we wouldn’t risk triggering the blood oaths.

Then, by elevating the original Maybis City-State into the Maybis Kingdom, we’d effectively reconstruct another Kingdom of Croc, giving the Twin Branch a proper location for reconstruction."

"Lady Pisces, that might not be advisable..."

Hearing this, Leon stepped forward to prevent someone from stealing the proposal at the last moment:

"Although Maybis City-State is nearby, it is merely a city-state, not a kingdom, and its population and territory are too limited to accommodate the 1.3 million citizens of Croc.

Moreover, the sole surviving Sixth Princess, Filia, along with the Croc citizens themselves, have their own ideas about their future and have no intention of rebuilding the kingdom. The Twin Branch should be relocated elsewhere!"

"Leon is right—this approach really isn’t suitable."

After Leon finished speaking, though unclear about what exactly he was aiming for, the red-haired Director cleared his throat and immediately stood up to support him:

"Leaving aside whether Maybis City-State would even welcome the Croc citizens, the blood oath alone is deeply concerning. I believe we should avoid rebuilding any kingdom primarily composed of the former Croc citizens.

As for the new Twin Branch’s location—why not simply choose Maybis City-State? Forget about elevating it to a kingdom; no rule states that a Zodiac Branch must be built within a kingdom—it can just as well be established in a major city-state."

"That doesn’t sound bad at all."

After pondering for a moment, the Pisces Director nodded slightly in agreement:

"Maybis City-State’s total population is roughly five times that of the Kingdom of Croc, and it has always warranted a medium-sized branch to handle potential anomalies in the surrounding region.

In the past, no separate branch was built because Maybis was too close to the Twin Branch, and Croc’s population was too small, so it was simply placed under the Twin Branch’s temporary jurisdiction. Now, relocating the entire new Twin Branch there would be entirely justified."

"Indeed, this arrangement is the most suitable."

"I second that."

"I have no objections."

"Then it’s settled. As for specific personnel assignments, we’ll decide once the Twin Branch’s cleanup agents wake up."

Having directly decided on the new Twin Branch’s location, the Taurus Director glanced at Leon, who had visibly relaxed, then at the smiling red-haired Director, and sighed before adding:

"Olivia, remember to notify the future queen and have her prepare to receive 1.3 million citizens—don’t let anything go wrong again.

Also, temporarily assign responsibility for the sole surviving Sixth Princess of Croc to you. I’ll send over a few life-saving anomalous items soon; for now, keep her under your protection until I’m fully promoted and the headquarters is fully unsealed, at which point we’ll transfer her properly... Any issues?"

"No issues! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished!"

……

Hmm... Is the moon full again?

Raising her head from the mountain of paperwork and gazing at the bright moon outside the window, Princess Veronica rubbed her sore eyes, then glanced at the calendar on her desk filled with appointments.

It’s been nearly a month since Leon departed on his mission. During his absence from the capital, my life has returned to a stagnant, uneventful pool—it’s strangely lonely.

Besides, I recall previous envoys mentioning that the people of the Kingdom of Croc have always been arrogant toward foreign envoys, even openly cursing in meeting rooms. I wonder if Leon will suffer any mistreatment during his mission to Croc...