The moment a solution finally came into view for the problem he’d been grappling with all this time was when Theo Redrick had urgently requested an audience with the emperor and the ministers to report a critical matter.

Upon hearing about the corrupted mana, the existence of NOX, and the fact that they were distributing black mana to war orphans while orchestrating various crimes, Cedric had decided to take a gamble.

He had a hunch. That if he followed this trail far enough, it would inevitably lead to them. And that intuition had struck true—brilliantly so.

“Are you saying you want war with Rockbell?”

At Theo’s question, Cedric fell silent in brief contemplation.

“War is merely one tool to protect and strengthen a nation. And I’m not interested in Rockbell’s submission or their territory. What I want… is to drag all the atrocities committed by those Sahar bastards out into the open. Let them spread across the entire continent.”

If that happened, Rockbell might naturally become isolated in the diplomatic arena.