CH 126

“Greetings, Governor Fernandes. My name is Michele, and I am here to represent the Nordic Tribe,” Michele introduced himself.

“Represent the Nordic Tribe? What nonsense is that? The Nordic Tribe should have fallen long ago!” Fernandes, who was the leader of the three-nation coalition forces, retorted.

“I regret to inform you that we, the Nordic Tribe, are still alive and well.”

“Alive and well?”

“Yes, our forces are still at a hundred percent without a single casualty.”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying that the Immortal King just passed through your territory without doing anything?”

“We opened the way for him.”

“…!”

The officials and the leaders of the coalition forces were stupefied to hear that.

‘Oh my god!’

‘Have they gone insane?!’

‘Why would they open the way for the Immortal King?!’

It seemed to them that the battle-crazed Nordic Tribe had agreed to a ceasefire with the Immortal King and allowed the Immortal King to waltz past their territory, but was something like that even possible in the first place?

Forget about those barbarians, would the Immortal King even agree to such an arrangement?

“Are you asking me to believe that? And are you admitting to the fact that you allowed that evil Necrolich to simply waltz past your territories without even attempting to stop him?!”

“Then what did your coalition forces do to us three hundred years ago?”

“…!”

“We have no reason to bleed for your sake.”

“T-That’s…!”

Unlike his looks, Michele didn’t act like a young and innocent child.

Smirk…!

He smiled while looking down at the coalition forces. Michele was basically openly laughing at the coalition forces, and his smile was his attempt to make sure that they knew what he was doing.

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“H-How dare you! Who do you think you are talking to?!”

“I would like to cordially ask you to shut up. You’re making me sick, you see,” Michele retorted, and then he nonchalantly added, “I have come here to issue an ultimatum rather than to negotiate or request an alliance with you.”

“T-This little! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!”

“I will give you two days. Your coalition is to sign an agreement stating that you are willing to give up twenty percent of your land and offer two tons of gold every year for the next ten years as tribute, then we might consider helping you out.”

“Ha! Where did this crazy little brat even come from?! Do you even know what you are spouting right now?!”

“You have two days,” Michele warned before turning around to leave.

“Catch that brat! I will rip him to shreds and send his body back to–-”

“Governor! No! You must not! The Nordic Tribe is not going to help us if you kill that boy now!” Sadeng, who was a strategist from Hommetown, tried to stop Fernandes from committing a grave mistake.

However, Fernandes showed no signs of restraining himself.

“There will be no future for our nations if you kill that young man! Please hold back!”

“B-But that little brat…!” Fernandes growled before backing down.

“Hey, did you say your name was Michele? Why did you bring a proposal like this when you fully know that you guys will be in danger as well if the coalition forces fell? The Immortal King is an evil undead monster! How can you not see that you will be the next target?!” Sadeng exclaimed.

“Who said we don’t know that?” Michele replied with a smirk.

“Then, why are you making such a one-sided unfair proposal despite knowing what will happen?! This is foolishness! We all are going to die together in the end—” Sadeng protested.

“You lot will die first,” Michele nonchalantly interrupted.

“…!”

“Please do not attempt to play a chicken game with us. Time is not on your side, and you will be the ones who’ll die first if it ever runs out. Then, I will excuse myself now,” Michele said with a smirk before he finally left.

Nobody could block Michele’s path.

A chicken game started between the Nordic Tribe and the three nations. Unfortunately for the latter, the Nordic Tribe had a massive advantage over them.

***

“Unni!” A blonde-haired girl ran toward Oscar. She was Oscar’s little sister who got kidnapped by a Nordic Marine.

“Francoise!” Oscar exclaimed and hugged her sister tightly before asking, “Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Unniii! Sniff! Sniff!” 

“It’s alright. It’s all going to be alright now. Your unni is here. Don’t worry,” Oscar consoled her sister.

She was currently not the rigid, inflexible knight Siegfried was familiar with. The knight who valued discipline over anything else was acting exactly like any other worried sister would act.

‘So Oscar has that side to her as well…’ Siegfried thought.

It was something he would only find out much later, but Oscar used to be an infamous street urchin back in her days.

“Hoho! There’s nothing more beautiful than a reunion between sisters!” Lionbreath laughed heartily.

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about your sister. We don’t force ourselves on our women regardless of whether they are our own or someone we abducted.”

“That is admirable.”

“War crimes are nothing but cancer to the morale of the army.”

The Nordic Warriors could be called ‘gentlemen of the battlefield’ at this point.

“Oh, what happened to the negotiation, by the way? It has been three days, right?” Lionbreath asked.

“I am sure Michele is doing his best right now. He is extremely smart, so he is probably toying with those three nations as we speak,” Siegfried replied.

“Is that so?”

“I mean, there is a reason why I appointed him as my Minister of State, after all. Just wait and see, hyung-nim. He’s going to come back with the debt from three hundred years ago fully paid with interest.”

“Alright, I’m sure it will happen as you say it will,” Lionbreath said nonchalantly. There wasn’t even a hint of worry on his face.

Why?

‘It’s good to have a brother like this guy~ Haha!’

Because it was Siegfried…

***

Three days after Michele visited the coalition forces, the three nations decided to accept the proposal of the Nordic Tribe despite its one-sidedness. It was all because they could no longer withstand the assault of the Immortal King’s army.

They called Michele to inform him of their decision, but…

“Haa… thirty percent of your lands and four tons of gold every year,” Michele said as he placed his feet on top of the meeting table and puffed a cigar.

Michele looked nothing like an envoy right now. It would be more suitable to call him a hooligan racketeering in the marketplace.

“What is the meaning of this?! Thirty percent of our lands and four tons of gold?! That wasn’t what we discussed!” Sadeng retorted.

However, Michele shrugged and replied nonchalantly, “Delay fee.”

“D-Delay fee?!”

“A whole day has passed since the deadline. Is it not obvious that you should be charged for the delay?”

“What kind of extortion is this?! Aren’t you being too much just because you have the upper hand?! Do you have no shame at all?!”

“Till midnight,” Michele said. He didn’t even listen to what Sadeng had to say.

Then, he rubbed his cigar on the meeting table and waltzed out of the place.

The next morning, the three nations were still trying to reach a consensus.

“What are you trying to say? We should give in to their demands?!”

“Let’s just die together!”

“We need to survive to be able to see another day!”

“Hey, you frustrating knuckleheads! What will be left of us if we give in to their demands?!”

“Who do you think you are pointing your finger at?!”

“That will be forty percent of your lands, along with five tons of gold every year. On top of that, let’s add a thousand D-Grade mana stones as well. You see, our delay fees are a bit expensive. I think it is only right because three hundred years is a long time, and the debt had to have matured long ago,” Michele said casually.

He didn’t forget to remind the three nations of what they had done three hundred years ago.

“T-This insolent…! I won’t tolerate this any further! Let’s just die altogether!” Fernandes screamed as he tried to bluff his way to an agreement.

However, Michele easily called his bluff without batting an eyelid. “Fifty percent of your lands, ten tons of gold annually, and an entire D-Grade Mana Stone mine as well. Ah, don’t get me wrong. This is not a delay fee, but a fee for hurting my feelings.”

“I will kill you! You little hooligan! I will make sure to kill you first before the Immortal King kills me!” Fernandes screamed in anger.

“Go ahead,” Michele said with a shrug before he took out a dagger and threw it on the table, and then he added, “Fifty percent of your lands, ten tons of gold yearly, and a D-Grade Mana Stone mine. These are the terms, and you better decide before the light on my cigar goes off, or else I will kill myself on this spot.”

It turned out that instead of threatening them with a suicide bomb, he threatened them with his own death.

***

Right before the cigar went off, a ‘Magic Contract’ with the seal of all three nations’ leaders was placed in front of Michele.

“H-Here is the agreement…” said Fernandes.

Michele did not say anything in response as he signed the contract and stamped it with the seal of the Nordic Tribe. Once he was done, an unexpected change occurred.

“Thank you very much for your cooperation. I would like to sincerely apologize for my rudeness,” Michele said courteously.

He suddenly sounded extremely diplomatic, which was a stark contrast to his hooligan-like behavior just a while ago.

“…”

The leaders and officials of the three nations were flabbergasted by Michele’s sudden change in attitude.

“Y-You are quite a fearsome man. I see that you put on an act and provoked our pride, so we won’t accept the offer so easily,” said Sadang.

“It would increase the value of this agreement after all,” Michele said with a bright smile before adding, “A diplomat should be prepared to do anything and everything as long as it benefits his country, right?”

“This one is for the history books, all right? Who could have known that the style of those back alley hooligans would ever be used in a negotiation among nations…”

“What is the difference between negotiations between hooligans and nations? Aren’t all negotiations just the same?”

“I see. I envy the Nordic Tribe. To think that they possess an excellent strategist like you—”

“No.”

“No…?”

“I am not a subject of the Nordic King.”

“Then, who is your liege?”

“I am the Proatine Kingdom’s Minister of State, and I serve His Majesty Siegfried van Proa,” Michele said before leaving the conference room.

“Siegfried van Proa… Just how great of a man is he that someone like him would be his loyal subject?” Sadeng wondered as he watched Michele disappear into the distance.

***

Siegfried immediately called for a military meeting as soon as he received word that Michele had successfully finished the negotiations.

“We are now going to launch a full-scale attack against the Immortal King.”

The reason Siegfried was the one leading the meeting was simple. The Nordic King, Lionbreath, appointed Siegfried as the supreme commander of this war.

“All forces. Move out,” said Siegfried.

The hundreds of ships stationed at the harbor instantly set out as soon as Siegfried gave the command.

Exactly three hours later, the Immortal King was enraged after discovering that his rearguard was being attacked by the Nordic Tribe.

- Those Nordic Bastards…!

- All forces! To the rear!

The Immortal King shouted as he raised his magic sword into the sky.

***

The thirty thousand Nordic Forces clashed against the undead legion composed of fifty thousand undead monsters. Anyone watching the battle would be sure that the battle would end with an overwhelming victory for the Immortal King’s forces.

However, that was not the case at all.

The Nordic Forces split into three battalions of ten thousand forces each, and they pierced through the center of the undead legion to arrive right in front of the Immortal King.

- Damn it! The Master among them has joined the fray!

The Immortal King cried out. He suspected that Sword Emperor Betelgeuse was the one sweeping through the center of his army. However, the Immortal King was mistaken, as there was no Master fighting in the middle of his army.

“Forward! Forward!” Siegfried shouted as he led the Nordic Forces into battle with his debuff fields while slaughtering the undead creatures standing in his way.

In short, the culprit behind the collapse of the undead legion’s formation in the middle of the legion wasn’t Sword Emperor Betelgeuse but Debuff Master Siegfried.