Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

After finalizing the plan, Colin took the lead in taking action. Although he was unsure whether Pact had any leverage over his smuggling business, since he was already suspected, he feared that if he didn't take action, he would slowly die.

That morning, Colin arrived at the palace early to request an audience. After announcing his arrival, he quickly went to the study where Pact usually handled state affairs. Upon seeing Pact, Colin bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty!"

“Oh, Duke Colin, today is not a day of political council, why have you come to see me so early in the morning?” Pact put down his pen and asked Colin, who was kneeling on the ground.

"Your Majesty! I have come to report the illegal crimes committed within the royal city!"

"Crime? What crime? Tell me about it?" Pact was puzzled and curious about what crime would require a high-ranking military minister to report.

"Your Majesty, I have been intensifying the training of the army recently. Yesterday, when the soldiers were on routine patrol in the royal city, they discovered that someone was running a private gambling den. The soldiers immediately gave chase, but the person escaped. Judging from his strength, he is very likely a fifth or even sixth-order elementalist."

"What!? How dare you!!!" Pact was immediately furious upon hearing this. This duchy king could be indifferent to everything, but he was extremely concerned about the economy and taxes, or rather, money. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so fond of Litt Lauss, the Minister of the Interior. At the same time, private casinos do not pay any taxes to the duchy. Therefore, Pact hated this behavior, not because of its harmfulness, but simply because he could not collect taxes.

"Speak! Who are you, and where are you?"

"Your Majesty, the search is taking place in a market in the western part of the city. I humbly request Your Majesty to dispatch special personnel to conduct a search! In addition, the search for spies has yielded some results since it was assigned to the Minister of Religion, Olben, and a group of people have been identified."

"Alright, approved! Someone come here!" Pact shouted, and a guard immediately walked in from outside the door to await orders.

"Order the Ministry of Justice to send men to search the west of the city. Give me a week to catch the people who set up the illegal casino and execute them!" Pact quickly ordered. As long as this matter was not resolved, he felt as if a thorn was stuck in his heart, which was more painful than death. He even completely ignored Colin's mention of locking down the spy.

After a long while, Pact finally calmed down his agitated anger and looked at Colin, who was still kneeling on the ground, and said, "Duke Colin, you have done a good job. You will be in charge of catching the parasites and spies of this country. Is there anything else?"

"Your Majesty, I request that the Royal City garrison strengthen its patrols, deploying all ten garrison units. Furthermore, I request that the Adventurers' Guild be closely monitored, and any adventurers acting suspiciously investigated," Colin continued.

“Alright, granted. I’ll leave it to you to handle, after all, you’re the Minister of the Army.” Pact granted Colin’s request as before, and Colin slowly stood up, bowed, and left.

Upon returning to the Duke's mansion, Colin immediately summoned his butler and instructed him to take his orders to the Marquis of Boan's mansion, the Earl of Sigrid's mansion, and the Viscount of Alban's mansion. Colin himself went to the military headquarters and found Barry, ordering him to issue formal garrison orders that bypassed the Royal City Garrison Department under Boan Xiu's command and went directly to the Royal City Garrison Forces. Soon after, ten garrison forces began to take action, taking over management from the ordinary garrison forces and conducting strict checks and surveillance of the city gates and the Adventurers' Guild.

After finishing these tasks, he went to the Military Affairs Department and found its director, Harvey. The director had already received orders from Pact, so he was particularly enthusiastic when he saw Colin. This was not only because Colin was the Minister of the Army, but also because Colin had brought his department an opportunity to make a name for itself.

“Oh, Your Grace, it’s too kind of you to come all this way. I should be the one visiting you at your residence.” Harvey greeted Colin warmly. Colin smiled politely and said kindly, “It’s nothing, Harvey. It’s all for His Majesty’s sake. But this matter is of utmost importance. His Majesty has personally ordered that the criminal be executed. We dare not be negligent.”

“That’s natural, that’s natural. People like this should be executed,” Harvey assured.

"Furthermore, I have another matter to discuss. Regarding the arrest of the criminals, the Chongqing Military Court only needs to send someone to take over; the military will handle the recruitment. The Chongqing Military Court will conduct the trial. We'll divide the work and cooperate to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. However, regarding the selection of the judge..."

Upon hearing this, Harvey immediately replied, "Please rest assured, sir, I will have Joel preside over the trial. He is known for his severe sentencing."

"Well, that's good. I still have military duties to attend to, so I won't stay any longer. I'll arrange this matter when I get back to the military headquarters. A carriage will be coming from the Marquis of Bo'an's residence later, remember that."

"Respectfully seeing off, Your Excellency!" Harvey understood that this matter was not simple after hearing this, so he did not try to keep him. He escorted Colin to the gate of the Imperial Household Department and watched him walk away. Then he returned to the Imperial Household Department and immediately had someone summon Joel. He said, "Joel, there is an important matter for you to handle. In the future, if Duke Colin sends a prisoner, you will be the presiding judge. You must sentence this person to the death penalty."

"Who is this person who wants to sentence someone to death before even having a trial?" Joel was also completely baffled.

Harvey then recounted the whole story to Joel. As they were talking, someone came to report that a carriage had arrived at the courtyard gate, and the person claimed to be from the Marquis of Boan's mansion. Upon hearing this, Harvey stopped explaining and ordered someone to quickly bring the carriage in. The coachman and the servants in the carriage unloaded two boxes from the carriage and carried them into the house according to Harvey's instructions before leaving.

Harvey and Joel entered the house. Seeing Joel still looking puzzled, Harvey simply opened both chests. Inside were chests filled with glittering gold coins, so dazzling they made one's eyes water. Joel stared at the chests in astonishment, stammering, "Lord Harvey, this...this is...?"

"Do you understand what's going on?" Harvey patted Joel on the shoulder and said, "Although the prisoner hasn't been caught yet, Lord Colin came to give instructions, Marquis Boan sent gold coins, and His Majesty issued an order to execute this person. He must have offended Lord Colin, otherwise why would Lord Colin have made the trip in person?"

Joel finally understood, pointed to himself, and said, "Sir, then I..."

“Take one box back,” Harvey said, pointing to a box of gold coins on the ground. “When have I ever mistreated anyone from my Chongsi Academy?”

"Thank you, sir!" Joel said excitedly.

"Oh, no need for thanks, but you must handle this matter well, not for me, but for His Majesty."

“Understood! This matter is definitely based on solid evidence and is beyond doubt!” Joel said confidently, and then, with Harvey’s permission, he carried a box and left.