CH 77

“The fact that he received top marks in the national exam means…” Cheon Woo-Jin started.

Siegfried concluded. “He’s a genius.”

“Precisely. He’s a genius indeed. Emperor Stuttgart himself seemed to have personally favored him, saying that he is the future of the empire or something,” Cheon Woo-Jin continued.

“I think he’s good enough to receive such praises… I mean, he aced the whole exam, right? He totally deserves it.”

“He’s a genius, so there’s not a single thing he can’t do. It doesn’t matter if it’s politics, administration, foreign affairs, construction, arts, city planning, economics, etc… No wonder those bastards from the Church of Osric were hell-bent on abducting him.”

“But will those cult heads be able to handle the backlash? It’s someone the emperor himself favors, right?”

“The Church of Osric wants to sow discord and plunge the world into chaos. The emperor? They don’t care about him at all. In fact, one of their main goals is the collapse of the empire. Do you really think they’re scared of the emperor?”

“Those guys aren’t scared of anything…?”

“They were brazen enough to abduct the Head Researcher of the Magic Tower. To do something like that, someone can only be one of two things—either they’re crazy or…”

“They’re confident in themselves.”

“That’s right. It’s either of the two for sure, but I’m heavily leaning toward the latter. They aren't pushovers, so you have to be careful as well. They could be much more dangerous than we had ever bargained. Even the Genesis Guild may not be able to compare against them.”

“Aigoo… I’m so scared I don’t think I will be able to sleep peacefully at night,” Siegfried sneered before saying, “These Church of Osric bastards on top of the Genesis Guild… I really need to get stronger.”

“Yeah, you better grow stronger so the cards I have under my sleeve will increase.”

“Cards? What am I? Your pawn?”

“Of course, you are one of the choices I have prepared. Who knows? You could end up becoming a joker[1] later on.”

“Dream on,” Siegfried scoffed and said, “I just want to play the game. I have no plans of becoming your pawn.”

“Who said anything about becoming my pawn? For now, we’re just going in the same direction, so we can separate anytime later. Anyway, try to recruit him since talents like him are quite difficult to come by.”

“Do you really think he will want to work under me? Even the emperor favors him, after all.”

“Well, that depends on your ability to convince him. Anyway, I’m going first,” Cheon Woo-Jin said as he waved his hand and suddenly disappeared as usual.

“Michele…” Siegfried muttered the young man’s name.

The fact that he couldn’t muster mana didn’t matter since what Siegfried needed right now wasn’t martial strength but a smart mind.

***

The first person Michele saw as soon as he opened his eyes in the infirmary was not a doctor or a nurse, but an Adventurer—the same young Adventurer he saw at the Church of Osric’s hideout.

“Ah, you’re awake?” Siegfried asked.

“Where… am I…?”

It seemed that Michele had calmed down a bit since the way he spoke had changed. However, only his way of speech seemed to have calmed down because his eyes were still burning with the desire for vengeance.

“Casein Castle,” Siegfried replied.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Who are you…?”

“Siegfried van Proa.”

“The new king of…”

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m also the one who saved you.”

“I will pay you back for saving me. I definitely will one day.”

“Not one day, to be exact.”

“What…?”

“There’s no such thing as one day. You will pay me back from now on.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Work for me.”

“I cannot do that.” Michele shook his head.

“I…” He paused for a moment before he gnashed his teeth and said in a voice burning with fury, “I have to pay them back for what they did to me. I have to get revenge…!”

“How? I heard you can’t muster mana, right? Then, how do you plan to get revenge against those bastards?” Siegfried asked bluntly.

“I will find a way…”

“Why? Do you plan to beg the emperor for help?”

“That is one of my options…”

“Do you really think that the emperor is going to drop everything and help you out of the kindness of his heart?”

“That’s…”

“He could send someone to investigate, but I’m sure he’ll give up once he finds out that it isn’t that easy. I’m willing to bet that something like that will happen,” Siegfried added.

Michele couldn’t retort at all.

Michele was a very smart boy. He knew very well that the emperor would help him, but he also knew that the emperor wouldn’t use the full might of the empire to help him out.

Why?

It was all because the emperor wasn’t someone who would concern himself with the revenge of a lone country bumpkin.

The emperor was aware of the Church of Osric’s existence, and he was also aware of the dangers they posed to the empire. He would definitely subjugate them one day to purge them from the continent, but Michele knew very well that there was no way he could get involved in that conquest.

“Do you even know the people who abducted you?”

“I just know that they are an evil cult…”

“They are called the Church of Osric. Their aim is to sow discord and plunge the entire continent into chaos. Their operations are so clandestine that even I don’t know much about them.”

“Church of Osric…”

“The Church of Osric is my enemy as well. One of my masters passed away because of them, and someone that I have to kill no matter what is affiliated with them as well. Anyway, what I want to say is… We share a common goal.”

“Does Your Majesty think of those bastards—no, the Church of Osric as your enemy?”

“Indeed…” Siegfried nodded before explaining, “I will exterminate the entire Church of Osric from the summit down to the very bottom without leaving a single one of their member behind. So you should work for me from now on. I will help you exact revenge and let you cut the head of the Church of Osric’s mastermind—whoever they are—I will let you cut their head off with your very own hands.”

“But Your Majesty is weak,” Michele retorted before saying, “Your Majesty is weak. You do not possess a formidable army, and your territory is—”

“We will grow stronger.”

“…!”

“I will put you in charge of internal affairs so you can grow our forces. Meanwhile, I will focus on my personal growth.”

“I do not think that getting stronger is something that can be achieved so easily…”

“Just wait and see. I’ll quickly become stronger.”

“I learned that it is not good to make empty promises.”

“You can just wait and see, right? Hmm… perhaps around a year?”

“Huh…?”

“Work for a year under me as repayment for saving your life. Then, you can watch me from the sidelines and see whether I’m getting stronger or not, and…” Siegfried trailed off before throwing bait at Michele. “Your body can’t muster mana, right? I might be able to solve that problem for you…”

“That is impossible. There is no way anyone can change my—” Michele replied.

However, Siegfried suddenly cut him off and said, “I know someone who can.”

He was thinking of Deus, the embodiment of invincibility.

‘Master is omnipotent. It is possible for him to help this kid.’

Since Deus managed to fix Tae-Sung’s hopeless body, he was certain that Deus could fix Michele’s body as well.

“I-Is that true?”

“My master is someone greater than the Five Star Heaven, and I’m sure that he can fix whatever problem you have.”

“Impossible! The only Grandmasters are—” Michele retorted.

Siegfried immediately cut him off and said, “Whether you’ll believe me or not, it’s all up to you, but I’m telling you the truth. Now, it’s time for you to make a choice: do you want to work for me and exact revenge with your very own hands, or do you want to depend on the hope that the emperor will do it for you? Anyway, just think about it and rest for now. You’re free to leave whenever. I have no plans of stopping you.”

Siegfried left the infirmary after casting the bait. Now, he could only wait for the fish to bite.

***

A week later…

“Your Majesty, Michele requests for an audience with you.”

“Send him in.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Michele entered Siegfried’s office as soon as permission was given.

“I greet Your Majesty, King Proa,” Michele greeted with the utmost respect.

“What brings you here so early in the morning? I think it’s too quick for you to have made up your mind?”

“I wish to work for Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

“It is just as you have said. I wish to see with my own two eyes—just how powerful Your Majesty can grow.”

“Good choice,” Siegfried said with a smile, and then he added, “That will be the best choice you have ever made in your entire life, and it will stay that way for decades to come. By the way, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Huh…?”

“What I’m trying to say is… Don’t think of anything stupid like ‘if only I were stronger, I could have protected my family…!’ or something like that.”

“…”

“You were never at fault. Those bastards were just evil, that’s all. You shouldn’t think that way because it wasn’t your fault,” Siegfried said. He was sincerely concerned that Michele would end up despising himself.

“Your Majesty…” Michele muttered while looking at Siegfried with eyes filled with respect. It seemed that Siegfried’s words just now had touched the kid’s heart.

“Take this,” Siegfried said, passing something big over to him.

“W-What are these…?”

“What else? Those are the documents that need to be reviewed.”

Siegfried shamelessly a portion of the mountain of work he was supposed to do on his own onto Michele.

“You can start today. I would love to let you rest more, but a person will only get more depressed if they sit around and do nothing. Yes, this is all for your sake. You should immerse yourself in work so that you can forget about everything—not that you will be able to forget…”

“…”

“Just give it a try. You are free to rest if you think that it’s still too early for you to work. All right, I have a meeting to attend to, so I’ll be off,” Siegfried said as he waved his hand and left his office to go for the daily morning meetings with the officials.

“Why does it feel like he had been waiting for the opportunity to dump these on me…?” Michele grumbled.

However, his grumbling lasted only for a short while.

Flip! Flip! 

Sukeok… Sukeok… 

Soon, only the sound of pages being flipped and the sound of quilt writing on paper could be heard in the room.

The papers Siegfried should have originally signed had a different signature this time.

- Signed by the administrative aide of His Majesty, Siegfried van Proa, Michele de Petronas. - 

***

“Is this where I’m going to live from now on? Haha…”

On moving day, Tae-Sung muttered and laughed in disbelief as he looked around the new place he would soon call home.

The place was still a mess since he was still unpacking, but it was good nonetheless. His new house was a luxury apartment with three bedrooms. He divided the bedrooms into his bedroom, VR room, and utility room. Tae-Sung was particularly excited at the thought of turning his utility room into a dressing room where he could put other miscellaneous things as well.

“It’s really big…” Tae-Sung muttered with a smile.

Ding! Dong!

His doorbell suddenly rang...

‘Hmm? Who’s that? Did the movers leave something behind?’ he wondered. He opened the door without even checking who was outside.

“I guess you finished unpacking just now,” Cheon Woo-Jin said while stealing a peek into the house.

“What the hell? Why are you here?” Tae-Sung grimaced while glaring at Cheon Woo-Jin.

“Why else? It’s a housewarming visit,” Cheon Woo-Jin nonchalantly replied as he walked into the house.

“Hey… who invited you in? Wait, how did you even find my house?” Tae-Sung grumbled.

It was then…

“I’m here, hyung-nim! Wow! Amazing! This is double amazing~ triple amazing~ amaze balls~!”

The familiar face of a middle-aged man—no, a young man appeared from behind Cheon Woo-Jin and entered Tae-Sung’s house. People would usually feel awkward meeting in real life after knowing each other online, but it seemed that Seung-Gu had an extremely thick face.

“Hyung-nim! I bought you tissues as a present! I think you will be set for an entire year!”

“Hey… why did you bring so many tissues…?”

“Ehem… you know…”

“Know what?”

“A young man needs a lot of tissue, right?”

“Why would young men need tissues…?”

“That’s… hyung-nim needs to have a good time as a bachelor, right?” Seung-Gu said while moving his hand up and down as if he was hinting at something.

“Disgusting…” Tae-Sung muttered and grimaced while thinking, ‘Where the hell did this crazy guy come from?’

It seemed that Seung-Gu was the type of person whose personality in the game and in real life was exactly the same down to the last letter.

1. Cheon Woo-Jin means that Siegfried can become the deciding factor later on since a joker is the strongest card in most card games. ☜