Fredrinn Firecrown: The Weakest Villain

When Roland mentioned that Fredrinn was merely pretending to be a degenerate fool, he flashed his nephew an embarrassed smile. "You won't beat up your uncle for the things he said, right?"

Hearing this, Fredrinn laughed in amusement. "You're thinking too much, Uncle Andre."

Andre smiled. He then turned his gaze to Roland and asked. "By the way, why did you guys come here? I don't think you came here just to visit me."

"Actually… we are headed to the capital." Roland's face suddenly turned serious. He looked around and when he noticed that a few people were passing by, he sent Andre a knowing look.

Andre noticed this and immediately understood his intentions. "Let's talk inside my office."

However, he realized that the door was destroyed. He scratched his head and muttered. "Let's find somewhere more quiet. I know a place on the lower floors. Follow me."

Andre brought them to the 15th floor of the tower. On this floor, there were a lot of cafes and restaurants, but only Advance Magicians and above were allowed here so the place was relatively quiet.

The place Andre chose was a small cafe that mainly served tea, coffee, and pastries.

"I own this shop. Sometimes I go here when I become sick of my empty office." Andre said the moment they took their seats.

"No one else is here. You guys can speak freely now but before that… Who is this gentleman?" Andre stared at Argus. His knight armor was too flashy for him to be just a normal bodyguard so he was curious about the old man's identity.

"Uncle, this is Sir Andre. He is a Void Tempering martial practitioner who works for our Firecrown Household." Fredrinn gave a short introduction.

Argus nodded at Andre to show him some respect.

'Void Tempering?!' Andre almost fell off his chair. He never thought that the old knight he ignored earlier was actually a powerful expert at the Void Tempering realm!

"Sir Argus, I hope I didn't offend you earlier." Andre apologized nervously. He might be a respectable Master Magician, but in front of a Void Tempering powerhouse, he was nothing.

"There's no harm done. You don't need to apologize." Argus calmly replied while waving his hand.

"Thank you for your magnanimity, Sir Argus."

"Ahem! Now, tell me why you are headed to the capital…" Andre looked at Roland quizzically.

Roland leaned closer to him and muttered. "We will request His Majesty to promote the household into a dukedom."

Andre was no longer surprised. He adjusted his glasses and said. "Even if we have Sir Argus, there's no guarantee that His Majesty would agree to your request. For a household to become a dukedom, there are a lot of factors that you need to consider. Having a Void Tempering martial practitioner is just one of the requirements.

We also need a Master Alchemist, a Master Array Maker, a Master Magician, and a Master Blacksmith. However, if we had two Void Tempering experts, that would change things…"

"We do have another Void Tempering expert, but he is gravely wounded…" Roland sighed while shaking his head.

"Are you talking about Sir Alfred?" Andre asked. He was one of the few people who knew about Alfred's identity.

"That's right…" Roland nodded.

"You guys don't need to worry about that. Sir Alfred has already fully recovered, but we can't expose his face for the time being. He had some conflict with a supreme household so we better not publicize his identity." Fredrinn spoke.

Andre and Roland were both happy when they heard that the old librarian had finally recovered, but when they heard the latter half of Fredrinn's words, their faces turned grim.

"Did Sir Alfred tell you something?"

Fredrinn nodder. "Yes, but it's not the right time to speak about it. I will let you know once we return home."

"Then what should we do? We don't have any Master-rank figures in the household other than Andre." Roland frowned. He didn't think that promoting their household to a dukedom was this troublesome.

"I might be able to help you with that. I have some capable friends who are still unaffiliated. If we can bring them to the household, we would have no problem with promotion requirements." Andre was a Master Magician so he had a lot of connections with the elites of the kingdom.

Fredrinn already had another plan for this matter, but since Andre was willing to help, he no longer said anything. As a former player, he knew the identities of some lowkey Master-rank figures. These people were hermits who focused their attention on their personal growth. Alice who would become famous in ten years was one of them.

"How confident are you, uncle?" Fredrinn asked.

Andre rubbed his chin. "To tell you the truth, I'm not very confident. Those people are prideful individuals so persuading them to join us would be difficult."

"I see." Fredrinn nodded. It was understandable. Master-rank figures were Nascent Soul realm martial practitioners who were also skilled in their professions.

"Don't worry. I'll try my best to convince them."

"Then we will stay here in Arcane City temporarily. I'd like to speak with them as well. Please send them the invitations, uncle." Fredrinn wanted to make sure that the people they chose could be trusted. He could see people's favorability so it would help them in sifting out those with negative intentions.

"Alright. I'll inform my friends right away. Stay here. I'll make some calls." Andre stood up and went out of the cafe.

Looking at Andre's back, Roland suddenly said. "What if we can't convince those people?"

"Father, other than cultivation, what makes someone strong?" Fredrinn asked him a question instead of answering.

Roland frowned. "That would be position…"

"That's right, but there's one more thing… Money… If you have enough money, you can even conquer the world." Fredrinn let out a wicked smile.

'What is he cooking up this time?' Roland stared at his son's sinister smile with a strange look on his face.