As time ticked away, two days had passed since her conversation with Trig. Yet, still, no one had come looking for her. Freya felt that this operation was likely a bust. Playing harmless hadn't brought cooperation; it had, in all probability, brought death.
After all, with Trig's meticulous nature of leaving nothing to chance, he would have definitely approached Freya beforehand to lay things out. There was no way he would wait until the day of the coup to seek her out and push her onto the throne.
After some thought, Freya made an incredibly outrageous decision. She immediately went to the palace, found the King, and got straight to the point: “Trig wants to rebel! He was the one who sent people to steal the Rank Seven potion. His goal was to trigger a city lockdown and then launch a coup d'état!”
Hearing this, the King was completely dumbfounded, his face blank. “Wh... what? What are you talking about?”
In reality, Freya's current move was to lay the groundwork for her next simulation. Since the 'harmless' plan had failed, her next step would be to have Law Freya intimidate Trig and force him into cooperation.
However, the advancement ritual for the Rank Six Arbiter was completely bottlenecked. The most ideal scenario would be for Law Freya to drink the Rank Five potion, commit no crimes for nearly ten years, and then successfully advance. But honestly, a Rank Five probably wouldn't be enough to match Trig.
Therefore, Freya needed to increase her bargaining chips. 'Information' was an excellent choice. For instance, if Law Freya could directly lay out his entire plan, personnel assignments, and secret strongholds the moment she confronted him, her chances of success would rise significantly.
As for how to get this information? Wasn't Freya working hard on that right now?
Only now did the King snap out of it. “Trig rebelling? How is that possible? He is the most loyal person to this country I have ever met, bar none!”
Freya countered, “But his loyalty is to the country, not the royal family! To make this country stronger, he is willing to do absolutely anything—and that naturally includes replacing you and ruling as the new king.”
The King was still somewhat incredulous, but Freya spoke with such conviction, and the matter was so critical, that it wouldn't hurt to investigate regardless.
Thus, the King immediately summoned his confidant and ordered him to contact the royalist faction nobles in the city, telling them to watch out for Trig and help investigate.
Normally, these royalist nobles would definitely be on Trig's must-kill list. However, since Trig hadn't launched his operation yet, these nobles also swung into action upon receiving the King's command.
However, an incredibly absurd thing happened at this moment. There was a certain noble family that had put on such a good performance that the King believed they were loyal royalists. In reality, they were not. Trig, whose ability to read people was far superior to the King's, had already persuaded this noble family to remain neutral during the last simulation.
But in this simulation, on this very day, while this noble family was minding their own business at home, Trig's people suddenly paid them a visit. After a round of loaded verbal sparring, the family promised to remain neutral.
Then, not long after Trig's people left, the King's envoy arrived. The envoy said directly: “Trig might be plotting something. Pay close attention and be extremely careful. If you hear any rumors, report them immediately.”
Good heavens, this absolutely terrified the nobles. Although the envoy's words were completely straightforward and plain, the fact that the King's man arrived right after Trig's man left and said such things made it impossible not to overthink.
In the eyes of this noble, the words clearly translated to: 'The King already knows about Trig's plan and your little scheme. He is giving you one last chance now, so don't make the wrong move.'
The noble couldn't help but curse inwardly. Damn that Trig! He promised the plan was highly covert, yet the King knows everything! You bastard just wanted to drag me down with you!
If he played dumb now and claimed to know nothing, he would probably lose his head the very next second!
No matter how he looked at it, the King was giving him one last chance despite knowing he had already strayed. If he fell back into line, they might turn a blind eye and pretend nothing had happened!
Thus, the noble immediately spoke up: “I know! That traitor Trig just came to see me, wanting me to remain neutral in the upcoming coup. Under the threat of his strength, I had no choice but to pretend to agree. I was actually just about to report this to His Majesty, but I didn't expect you to arrive first!”
Hearing this, the King's envoy was completely dumbfounded. What on earth?
Wait, wasn't Trig's coup still unconfirmed? Well, it seemed it was definitely confirmed now.
Still in a daze, the envoy brought the noble back to the palace and presented him to the King. After listening to the noble's explanation, the corner of the King's mouth twitched. He finally understood—this guy was a complete fence-sitter.
What did he mean, 'just about to report to the King'?
If his envoy hadn't arrived just in time, there wouldn't have been any report at all.
But this also proved that Freya's words were true. After some thought, the King chose not to act against Trig immediately. Instead, he looked at the noble before him and said, “I will give you a chance to redeem yourself. Go, find out what Trig's plan is, where their base of operations is, and who the participants are. The more detailed, the better!”
The noble wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. This task was essentially ordering him to act as a spy and infiltrate the coup team around Trig. It was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous task, but he had no choice but to do it. As risky as it was, there was still room for maneuver. If he dared to refuse right now, he would truly die on the spot!
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Only after the man withdrew did the King look at Freya beside him. Indeed, Freya was still there. The King said, “My child, how did you find out about this?”
Freya put on a thoughtful expression and said with some uncertainty, “Um... I'm not entirely sure either? It's just that after meeting you a few days ago, I kept having nightmares when I went back. I dreamed about this very thing, so I came to see you.”
The King murmured, “A dream?”
In a world with extraordinary powers, this explanation was actually quite plausible. Although the exact reason remained unclear, the King couldn't help but smile. “It is all thanks to you this time, my child. You are truly my little savior! If not for you, I wouldn't even dare to imagine what would have happened!”
Freya, however, silently grumbled in her heart: You don't dare to imagine, but I already know everything. You'll die, and I'll be dragged to my death by you too.
...
Rate on N.U.
