Perhaps Azaroth's words were too surprising for Tronte that he remained speechless for some minutes.
Azaroth took a sip of his tea once again as he stared at Tronte. He had expected such a reaction from this guy.
The words he had spoken earlier weren't a boast. This was what he really wanted to do. However, if he tried to do it alone while keeping Tronte in the dark, it would be impossible.
If Tronte came to know of it later, he might even hold some suspicion, and distrust would worm its way into them.
This was not an ideal situation at all. So, Azaroth decided to tell him the truth straight away and see what he decides.
"Are you drunk? Or are you intoxicated by the tea? The fuck are you thinking. You want the Glerian Kingdom to wage war upon us? Don't you know how those bastards have treated their newly acquired territories?! We will willingly seek death only to be denied by it as well." Tronte spoke with a harsh tone as he stared at Azaroth.
Azaroth calmly placed the teacup on the table. He looked at Tronte in the eye and spoke, "I naturally know of this as well. But why should we be scared of some bunch of people who will just rot in some wasteland, along with other corpses?"
"… I don't follow you." Tronte spoke with a blank look in his eyes.
Azaroth calmly spoke, "Tronte, what do you think would happen if I run away?"
Tronte remained quiet as he heard that question. His silence seemed to be a response that Azaroth counted on, and he continued, "I will be hunted. This family won't leave me alive no matter which country I go to. Also, do you think that any person in the world would be willing to go against the Rhodes Family for me?"
"But the Rhodes Family might leave you alone," Tronte spoke those words with a feeble voice.
"Do you even hear yourself? Even you don't believe this. Also, Tronte, I know some secrets about the Rhodes Family. Some secrets I never shared with you. Something I should have never known. The Rhodes Family might go to the ends of the world or even beyond just to make sure I keep my mouth shut." There was a sharp tone in Azaroth's voice.
"You know of such secrets?!" Tronte exclaimed out once he heard Azaroth. He never considered that the Rhodes Family was hiding such a big secret.
Azaroth gave him a gentle smile and asked him, "I can give you a hint. Why do you think that the Rhodes Family is one of the only families to have a 6 Star Warrior? Why is it that the number never changes no matter how many generations have passed?"
Tronte's eyes widened with shock, and he immediately raised his finger, placing it on Azaroth's lips, "Don't speak anymore. I never heard anything."
The gentle smile on Azaroth's lips widened slightly as he heard Tronte, "You are quick on the uptake. I thought a few more hints are necessary."
"You are bathing in the fire, and you have the mood to joke around?! Do you know how critical this information is?! If someone from your family finds out that you gave me a hint to this information, you will be slaughtered. They will feed your body to the dogs!" Tronte showed a worried look as he stared at Azaroth.
Meanwhile, Azaroth was analyzing Tronte with a relaxed look. If Tronte observed carefully, he would see a tint of purple light flash in Azaroth's eyes.
'The emotion he is displaying… It seems genuine. He really is worried about me. At least I can trust him a little. If manipulated carefully, he can be an excellent right-hand man.'
"Alright, now keep your hands off me." Azaroth swats off Tronte's hand and then spoke ahead, "This was the situation if I ran away from the Rhodes Family."
He added with a serious look, "And if I continue to remain in the Rhodes Family, I believe I don't need to tell you much about that. If you don't even have this much information, your connections are a little too low."
Tronte nodded his head, "In the past, once the Family Head of the Rhodes Family is decided, all other heirs will suddenly vanish. It's clear that the Rhodes Family killed them all to prevent any future obstructions."
"Not quite, but close. Anyway, this is one reason why the family makes sure there is enough hatred between us all. If there isn't, they create it." Azaroth spoke with a grave expression.
Tronte suddenly realized something and spoke, "I see now… That's why you want the Glerian Kingdom to wage war upon the Sinyalian Kingdom. You want to shake off the Rhodes Family's influence using the Glerian Kingdom."
Azaroth nodded his head, "That is correct."
"Damn. If the Glerian Kingdom was half as bad, you could have just gone there. But going there now and requesting protection from them for the information you have would be a transfer from a butcher shop to another. Your fate will remain the same. Just wait to get cut." Tronte let out a sigh as he said this.
"Alright. I understand your situation. I am willing to help."
"…" Azaroth didn't speak at all. He continued to analyze Tronte rather carefully. Once again, there was a purple flash in his eyes.
'Fear, worry, however, a strong resolve as well.'
"Since you are willing to help, then you should introduce me to a merchant who can smuggle these metals and crystals to the Glerian Kingdom," Azaroth said.
"Your request is not an easy one, though. A wealthy merchant who can buy raw materials from you and smuggle them to the Glerian Kingdom. Truly not easy." Tronte said with a forced smile.
Before Azaroth said anything, Tronte added, "Give me some time. A day or two. I need to see if that man is still in the town or not."
Azaroth's eyes widened slightly as he heard Tronte's words. He didn't expect Tronte to actually know someone. He thought that Tronte would search for at least a week or a month before coming with good news. But now, if his luck was alright, he might save quite some time.
"Alright. I will return to the mansion now. Contact me once there is progress regarding this." Azaroth spoke to Tronte and soon got up.
"Sure," Tronte replied back with a bright smile.
"Also, tell me where I can buy 2 slaves."
"Slaves, huh? You want male ones or female ones?" Tronte suddenly asked Azaroth.
Azaroth replied almost instantaneously, "The gender doesn't matter. I will choose them based on their talent."
Tronte looked at Azaroth with a slightly disappointed look, "Don't regret it later."
"Whatever." Azaroth turned around and started walking back to the Rhodes Family mansion.
Meanwhile, Tronte went over to the market to meet with some of his contacts.
~~
For the next 2 days, Azaroth was careful not to meet any other individual in the Rhodes Family. He remained in his room and continued to use the Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique to temper his Ardor.
However, just as before, the progress was still relatively slow.
While he meditated using this Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique, he changed his physique to a Demon's physique. Typically, it would have shown changes to his Ardor already.
However, Azaroth was cultivating the Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique using the Humanely Ardor. So, his energy signature over his body never changed.
Changing his physique to that of a demon's physique meant that he empowered it to contend a demon with raw strength without Ardor's use.
Contrary to his increase of Ardor, the progress of converting his physique to that of Heavenly Demon's Physique had been relatively quick.
Other than making his physique even stronger, Azaroth found out that his body had released many impurities. He didn't expect that a human body had so many impurities in it.
'Even after spending 10-12 hours trying to change my body, I have probably only cleared 10% of the total impurities from my body. I need a Pure Cleansing Grass to succeed in removing all the impurities in one go.'
However, even though Azaroth had only removed 10% of his impurities that seeped within his body, it still showed astonishing results. The flow of Ardor within his body was quite a bit faster than before.
It was nearly noontime, and Azaroth got up since he knew that he couldn't spend all his time meditating. Unlike the time when he was a demon, this was a human body. He had to supply it with enough nutrients so it won't get weak because of starvation.
This was another reason why Azaroth was converting his body to that of a Demon's Physique. Once he accomplished it, his limits over such things as the need for nutrients to sustain himself would significantly decrease.
Azaroth went over to the dining hall, where the servants had already served the food on the table. A servant was standing just beside the central chair, and he appeared to be waiting for Azaroth.
He smiled when he saw Azaroth and spoke, "Young Master Edwin, today, your favorite dish has been made."
Azaroth looked at the food on the table and indifferently nodded. It was a mixture of crab and an eel's dish.
The eel was a 4 Star rank thing that could enhance a martial artist's body. And even the effect of Azaroth's Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique was enhanced once he ingested this food.
In reality, Azaroth quickly wanted to reach the 2nd Stage of the Heavenly Demon Meditation Technique, during which he would no longer need to actively sit down and meditate. In fact, just by taking a breath, he would be enhancing his Ardor step by step.
Alas, at his current pace, he would have to do it for another 3 weeks regularly.
The advancement of this technique wasn't dependent on how well you do or your talent. It was fixed for every individual. All Azaroth was doing was making this body entirely remember how to circulate the Ardor in his body and enhance it.
After 3 weeks, it would become an automatic process that his body could do unconsciously. Basically, building up the muscle memory for it.
For this, good food and being regular with this meditation technique were the necessary requirements.
After he was done eating his food, Azaroth stood up and left the mansion.
Currently, he was going to the merchant union's market. There were a couple of things he needed.