CH 117

“Why don’t you go and play with Blockhead while this great me is fixing that kid you brought?” Deus said.

“Yes, Master… but who is Blockhead?” Siegfried asked with a confused look.

“Who else if it’s not that fool who dared to salivate all over this great me’s disciple without knowing his place?” Deus replied with a smirk. He then scoffed and added, “I disciplined him a bit so he won’t be able to spout nonsense like that ever again.”

“Ah… I understand, Master…”

Betelgeuse, a Master swordsman as well as one of the Five Star Heaven was being called ‘Blockhead’ in a tiny hut on a remote place up a massive mountain.

“Blockhead went to get some firewood, so he should be back by now.”

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

“I understand, Master.”

“And… Hey, you quack!” Deus called over the medic who came along with Siegfried.

“Ah! Yes, Elder-nim!” Captain Aaron shouted in response.

It seemed that he had also been disciplined by Deus while Siegfried was away, as he had a huge black eye. Siegfried could also tell that he probably did something to earn the ire of his master.

“I will need your help. Bring your surgical equipment and come in. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Captain Aaron shouted in response at the top of his lungs. It was pretty rare for a medic to shout.

“But, Master. Where is the Adventurer who came with me?”

“She left.”

“Pardon me?”

“She said that something urgent came up, so she had to leave, and she said she will contact you later.”

“Ah…”

“Why? Are you regretting something?”

“I just hope that I could have at least said goodbye to her…”

“If you have time to fool around with women, you should train harder!”

“Ah! No, Master. It is not what you think it is!”

“Silence! I will be fixing that kid you brought, so go out and play with Blockhead. Let’s go, you quack!” Deus turned around and left with Captain Aaron before even hearing Siegfried out.

‘Does Master dislike the fact that I’m acquainted with Gosran-nim?’ Siegfried had to wonder.

***

Ten minutes since Deus and Aaron went inside the hut to operate on Carell.

“Huh?! Elder-nim!” Siegfried bowed and greeted after seeing Betelgeuse walking toward the hut with luggage on his back.

However, Betelgeuse rushed over and stopped Siegfried from bowing toward him. “Aigoo! Young master! Why would you lower your head to your servant? You should not do that!”

“Huh? Servant?”

“T-That is…” Betelgeuse hesitated for a moment before tears started welling up in his eyes as he explained, “I became the elder’s manservant, you see…”

“…”

“So, Young Master should start calling me ‘Blockhead’ from now on, too… Hahaha…”

There was a saying about how one should be careful even of leaves in the later days of their life, and that was the perfect saying to describe Betelgeuse’s current situation. He picked a fight with the wrong person and was forcefully demoted to a manservant, despite his old age.

“But how can I call Elder-nim ‘Blockhead’ when you’re a hundred and thirty years old?”

“You must call me that!”

“…!”

“Please save me! Do you really think your humble servant wants to be in this state at my age?”

“B-But, still—”

“I beg you, Young Master!”

In the end, Siegfried had to reluctantly agree after a long struggle with Betelgeuse. However, rather than calling the moniker ‘Blockhead,’ they decided on Siegfried calling Betelgeuse…

“Young Master?”

“Yes, Elder Blockhead-nim?”

“The master has told me that I am allowed to teach the young master just one of my techniques. What do you think, Young Master? Do you want to learn?”

“Huh? Your technique?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“I will definitely learn it if Master has allowed it!”

“Oh! Then your humble servant shall immediately teach you my secret technique!”

Siegfried was fortunate enough that Deus had allowed Sword Emperor Betelgeuse to teach him one of his secret techniques.

“The secret technique your humble servant will be teaching you is Quick Draw.”

Quick Draw.

It was a skill that allowed one to quickly unsheathe their sword to attack.

“The name of the skill is Quick Draw, and it is pretty straightforward. You just have to draw your sword as fast as you can and slash your opponent. Ah, of course, you could draw your sword much faster if you have that magical belt called Megingjord that a guy with the name Shakiro carries around—”

“Are you talking about this?”

“H-How is that in your possession, Young Master?”

“Well…” Siegfried recounted his story of how he met Shakiro and what happened to the latter.

“Hoho… Who could have known that he would meet such an end? He was probably the best with the sword on the entire continent aside from me…” Betelgeuse lamented when he heard the news of Shakiro’s passing.

“Still, I am certain that he died without any regrets since he was able to pass down his secret techniques to you, Young Master.”

“I truly hope that he is resting in peace.”

“Anyway, shall your humble servant start teaching you my secret technique?”

Betelgeuse drew his sword and started explaining the mechanics behind his greatest secret technique, ‘Quick Draw’.

***

The same evening, Siegfried met with Deus after learning Sword Emperor Betelgeuse’s secret technique.

“He’s all fixed.”

“I knew you could do it, Master!”

“But it will take at least two weeks for him to wake up, and he will need at least three months of rest for his body to fully recover.”

“That is more than enough! Thank you very much, Master! I would like to show my gratitude. Please receive my bow, Master,” Siegfried said before kowtowing toward Deus once again.

“Keke! This is nothing! I can do much more as long as my one and only disciple asks me to do it! Kekeke! Anyway, did you have fun playing with Blockhead?”

“Yes, Master.”

“That guy is weak, but that skill of his is particularly useful.”

“Thank you for your kind consideration, Master.”

“What consideration are you talking about? I allowed it because I knew it was going to be useful for you. Now, shall we hear the tales of my one and only disciple?”

“Yes, Master!” Siegfried recounted the things that happened after he descended Mount Kunlun in detail to Deus while pouring drinks for the latter.

“You became a king? Hoho! What is happening to this world?!”

“Cheon Woo-Jin? You can think of him as a last resort weapon prepared by an ancient secret organization, but that doesn’t mean you should feel inferior to him or anything.”

“Torrential Flower Rain… That is an ancient skill, and it is far superior to the Quick Draw skill that Blockhead is using, so you better practice it diligently.”

“Good! So you beat up the subordinates of the guy who was bullying you before?”

Deus listened and enjoyed Siegfried’s stories all night long.

Siegfried enjoyed seeing Deus’ reaction, which made him even more enthusiastic.

The master and disciple strengthened their bond while chatting away into the night.

***

Siegfried spent a week receiving Deus’ teachings before he descended Mount Kunlun.

“Don’t be afraid to be spontaneous on your own path, do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.”

He really wanted to stay here even longer, but he had his own journey to resume, so he had to cut his stay short.

“That kid will wake up soon, and for Blockhead… I will let him descend the mountain after he reaches the level of a Grandmaster, so don’t worry about them. Ah, by the way. Don’t forget to send me some news about you once in a while. I can’t help but be curious about what you are doing when you don’t update me on what’s going on.”

“Haha! I will certainly send you greetings from time to time from now on.”

“Anyway, where are you going?”

“I plan to return to my territory.”

“Good, I shall send you there, then,” Deus said.

He then extended his hand toward Siegfried.

***

“Welcome back, Your Majesty.”

The first one to greet Siegfried as soon as he returned to his kingdom was none other than the captain of the royal knights as well as the first knight under Siegfried’s command, Oscar.

“Ah, Dame Oscar.”

“How was your journey, Your Majesty?”

“It was pretty good. How about you? How have you been?”

Siegfried chatted with Oscar on the way to the throne room.

“There has been nothing special in particular. Although Sir Michele has been hard at work…” Oscar said.

“It sounds like he is paying his dues, at least,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“That’s good. Please summon all of the officials to gather in two hours' time. I will be holding a meeting with them,” Siegfried gave his first command after returning home.

However, the first meeting he hosted did not go as smoothly as he wanted it to be…

“That is why our kingdom has to invest in battleships and airships as well. We have to increase not only the number of our infantry, but we have to invest in their quality as well so that—Your Majesty? Your Majesty?”

“…”

“Have you fallen asleep, Your Majesty?”

Michele called out a few times, but Siegfried sat motionless on the throne made from a dragon skull with his head drooping.

“Kyu… Sunflower seeds… I want… to eat… Kyuu…”

Hamchi was talking in his sleep while sprawled out near Siegfried’s feet.

“Your Majesty!” Oscar shouted.

“What?! What happened?!” Siegfried jumped up in surprise.

“You are currently having an audience with your subjects! How could you fall asleep? I urge you to take your rest in your bed chambers!”

“Oh, right…”

“Please be mindful of your royal appearance.”

“I-I will keep that in mind,” said Siegfried, but he slowly started dozing off once again as his subjects presented their reports, and he could himself slowly feel himself sink into a swamp of sleepiness.

‘Ugh… my eyelids are getting heavy… I don’t think I can stay awake any longer… I hope someone throws me a quest or something…’ Siegfried thought as he desperately tried to stay awake.

He fought as hard as he could to stay awake, and finally, his savior.

“Your Majesty! An Adventurer by the name of Cheon Woo-Jin requests an audience with you,” announced the royal attendant.

“Really?!” Siegfried jumped up from his throne, and then he immediately commanded, “Let him in at once! Oh, right! Unfortunately, I will have to conclude our meeting today due to unforeseen circumstances. As for the unsubmitted reports…”

Siegfried scanned the officials before his eyes landed on his most able subjects, “Discuss them with Sir Michele and Dame Oscar.”

Michele and Oscar both looked like they were saying ‘sigh… there’s nothing we can do about him’ and ‘can you please focus on your task, Your Majesty…?’ respectively.

***

“Welcome! It’s really, really, really good to see you!” Siegfried warmly welcomed Cheon Woo-Jin.

“What the hell? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?” Cheon Woo-Jin grimaced.

“Well, something happened.”

“You look like a high school kid who just got freed from class…”

“Is it that obvious?”

“It’s very obvious.”

“This king thing doesn’t really suit me, I guess?”

“You were probably at the bottom in your class during your school days, right?”

“Shut up!”

“I knew it.”

“Anyway, why are you here? Do you have a quest for me?” Siegfried immediately changed the topic to save himself from further embarrassment while thinking, ‘Why is he poking my sore spot… Damn it.’

He wasn’t particularly proud of his academic achievements.

“Yeah, I want to give you a quest, but can you please answer your phone? Do you know how many times I called you?”

“I don’t really check my phone.”

“Does that mean you have no friends?”

“Are you picking a fight with me?”

They bickered back and forth. Siegfried and Cheon Woo-Jin acted exactly how boys the same age would as they dissed and cussed each other back and forth like school kids.

“So what kind of quest are you going to give me this time that you brought your precious self all the way to my humble abode, Mr. Got-Rich-Overnight?”

“I’m going to leave if you keep that up.”

“Do as you please.”

Siegfried had no qualms about letting Cheon Woo-Jin go as he had already used the latter to escape the endless meeting.

“You act all high and mighty when you actually don’t have anyone else. Don’t try your luck when you’re the one who needs my help.”

“Oh, how did you know?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked, seemingly taken aback.

“You said you have a lot of high-level Rankers around you, right? Of all people, you came to me, so I can easily deduce that they’re busy right now,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

“Hmm…”

“What is it? Go on, tell me.”

“Well, there is a port city in the north called Masavara, and they are having problems these days as their waters are getting infested with pirates. Can you go and sort it out for me?” asked Cheon Woo-Jin.

A system message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes as soon as Cheon Woo-Jin was done speaking.

[Alert: Quest Maker Cheon Woo-Jin has granted you the Quest – ‘Rowdy Northern Shores’!]

[Rowdy Northern Shores]

[Type: Special Quest]

[Description: Subjugate the pirates infesting the waters of the northern port city ‘Masavara’ and bring peace and order to the region.]

[Progress: 0%]

[Rewards: Autonika Workshop Random Box × 10]

The quest did not seem to be that difficult.

Cheon Woo-Jin asked Siegfried, “So? Are you going to do it or not?”

Siegfried replied, “Nope.”