CH 174

“Retired serviceman? Who is it? I don’t really know any retired serviceman…” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

“He claims to be a former officer in the Adunyadet Kingdom’s navy, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm? Is he here for revenge?”

Siegfried could only think that way.

Why?

He was the main culprit behind the downfall of the Adunyadet Kingdom, after all, and someone an officer would obviously want to avenge his nation.

“I believe it will be wise to send him back. I am concerned that the individual might try to do something to Your Majesty,” Michele advised.

“No,” Siegfried shook his head and said, “I’ll just have to subdue and beat the shit out of him if he tries anything funny.”

“But…”

“Besides, if he came here for revenge, why would he announce his arrival and ask for an audience? I have a feeling that he wants to say something.”

“Hmm…”

“I can just die if he pulls anything. I’m an Adventurer, after all.”

Siegfried wasn’t that concerned about meeting the retired serviceman from the Adunyadet Kingdom because even if he were to die, he would still come back to life after forty-nine hours.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.” The man claiming to be a retired serviceman from the Adunyadet Kingdom greeted Siegfried, and then he introduced himself. “My name is Mahidon, and I once served in the Adunyadet Kingdom’s navy. I was a vice-admiral in the navy and the commander of the marines.”

“Ah, you must be ‘that’ Mahidon.”

“Have you heard of me, Your Majesty?”

“I have heard of you. You commanded the marines twelve times and lost all twelve…”

“…”

“But why did you come here today?” Siegfried asked.

“T-That is… A person who suffered twelve major defeats shouldn’t say this, but… I came for an interview…”

“Interview? Do you mean you’re looking for a job?”

“Yes, Your Majesty…” Mahidon replied while breaking out into a cold sweat.

He felt nervous after finding out that Siegfried was aware of his consecutive string of defeats.

“I was almost executed by the Adunyadet Kingdom, but I luckily managed to survive after they lost the war.”

“So…?”

“I could not find a job after the Adunyadet Kingdom was absorbed by Stone Island.”

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“Was it impossible for you to continue serving?”

“I lost twelve consecutive battles, but many Stone Islanders died because of me. I believe that is the reason that they weren’t willing to take me in.”

“Why did you come to me, of all people?”

“Lord Angele recommended Your Majesty. And even though the Proatine Kingdom is an extremely weak nation that is the size of a booger, I believe that it has a bright future. I believe that it has the potential to become a powerhouse in the future.”

“Hmm…”

“I wish to inform Your Majesty that even though I was a high-ranking officer in the Adunyadet Navy, I no longer have an ounce of loyalty toward them. This is my resume, and I hope that Your Majesty would at least give it a read…” Mahidon said and extended his resume to Siegfried.

However, Siegfried didn’t even bother looking at the resume.

He simply threw it at the corner of his table in front of Mahidon.

“…”

Mahidon grimaced and thought, ‘Ah… I guess I’ll have to look somewhere else, but where else can a loser like me go?’

Lord Angele’s referral was one thing, but the main reason Mahidon came to Proatine was because of his outstanding career track record.

Twelve defeats out of twelve battles.

His career record was blemished with the failed beach landing, so it was going to be extremely difficult for him to find a nation willing to hire him for his services.

‘Sigh… I’m just going to try working for a maritime trading company if the Proatine Kingdom is not willing to take me in…’ Mahidon sighed inwardly.

However, Siegfried’s following words stupefied Mahidon.

“When do you want to start?”

“Huh? W-What do you mean by start? A-are you saying that you want to hire me, Your Majesty?” stammered the flustered Mahidon.

“Yes…”

“But, Your Majesty did not even read my resume…”

“You fought and lost all twelve battles, but your casualties were low. Am I correct?”

Siegfried was well aware of Mahidon’s exploits, so he didn’t have to read the latter’s resume.

“I have heard of your exploits from Lord Angele. She also mentioned that you are a skilled admiral.”

“I-I am nothing but a commander who lost…”

“That’s only because the Adunyadet Kingdom’s officials were a bunch of clowns and not because of you, right? Isn’t it strange to ask a commander to lead a bunch of troops armed with half-rotten leather armors and rusty swords, expecting them to win?”

“…”

“They probably commented on your mindset or something, too.”

“H-How did you know that, Your Majesty…?!” Mahidon was shocked.

“There are people like that in my world, too.”

“Haha…”

“My kingdom doesn’t have a marine corps just yet, so why don’t you take up the reins and create one for me?”

“Are you serious, Your Majesty…?”

“I don’t say things that I can’t back up. I will instruct my Minister of State to prepare your letter of appointment, so hurry on and get ready.”

“T-Thank you, Your Majesty! I will swear my loyalty to you from now on!”

The scapegoat admiral, who ended up being labeled as a loser, managed to receive another opportunity by joining the naval forces of the Proatine Kingdom.

‘I will definitely achieve an overwhelming victory and get rid of my title as a loser…!’ 

Mahidon clenched his fists and steeled his resolve.

***

Two days later, Siegfried went back to the Hometown of Death and received the artifacts from Quandt.

“All done! Why don’t you take a look at them?”

[Alert: You have obtained the ‘Monster Strength Greaves’!]

[Alert: You have obtained the ‘Bloody Iron Boots’!]

[Alert: You have obtained the ‘Head Breaker Helmet’!]

[Alert: You have obtained the ‘Blood Butterfly’s Wings’!]

Siegfried took off his worn-out gears and put on the new artifacts.

“Oh! It looks good on you! You look quite cool!” Quandt exclaimed.

“Really?”

“I think we have to draw a painting of you or something!”

“Come on, I don’t think it’s that good—”

“Take a look for yourself!” Quandt exclaimed as he took out a full-body mirror.

“Huh?” Siegfried was taken aback after seeing his reflection in the mirror.

‘Oh? I do look quite good…’ he thought.

His reflection wearing the Quad-Turbo Set from the Autonika Workshop, along with the three special artifacts of the Bavarian Workshop, looked pretty awesome.

Moreover, the red cape specially tailored for him was like the icing on the cake.

“The helmet has an on-and-off function, so you may hide it until you need it. Do you see this part? You can switch it on and off by pressing this part, and it will turn into an earring.”

“Wow… An artifact can actually do that?”

“Hoho! What do you think of our workshop’s skills? These kinds of functions are just basic! Basic! Kekeke!”

“The Bavarian Workshop is indeed the best. Thank you very much, Quandt-nim.”

“Try using them in combat. They look cool, but their effects are even cooler. Keke!”

“I will definitely try them out in combat. Thank you once again, Quandt-nim.”

“Keke! No need to thank me as long as you complete Herbert-nim’s final masterpiece!”

“I will do my best.”

Siegfried promised to do his best to finish Herbert’s final masterpiece before finally leaving the Bavarian Workshop.

‘Where should I head next?’ thought Siegfried while looking at the world map.

‘I’m almost Level 200, so it would be best if I go hunt… Yeah, I should probably do that because I’ve been slacking off recently…’ he wasn’t able to do much hunting after getting swept up in two sets of chain quests from Stone Island and White Town.

‘Hmm… but those Genesis bastards are making me worried, so it’ll be risky if I go to a famous hunting ground…’ 

Siegfried recalled that most of the higher-ranking members of the Genesis Guild were in the range of Level 180 to Level 220, so he was bound to run into them if he went to the famous hunting grounds.

‘The suitable hunting ground for me would be… somewhere with not a lot of people, but the mobs give a ton of experience …’ Siegfried scoured the world map. ‘Hmm? This place looks great for me…’ 

He found a place that met all of his requirements. It was a hunting ground that most Adventurers avoided, which made it the perfect hunting ground for him.

After confirming his next destination, he immediately started walking away.

***

Siegfried decided to return to Proatine first to get Hamchi before going on his journey.

Flash!

The Warp Gate flashed, and Siegfried emerged from it along with Hamchi.

[Nürburg Continent Northern Region: Ruin of Madness]

A message informing him of his current location popped up in front of his eyes.

The reason that Siegfried came to this place was that the monsters that inhabited this place gave a ton of experience points, but most Adventurers avoided hunting here because of the monsters’ extremely high Defense.

However, Siegfried was the Debuff Master, so he could simply shred the monsters’ Defense with his debuff skills. Therefore, he had no reason to avoid this place.

“Kyu? Where is this?” Hamchi asked while looking around his surroundings.

“Here? Well, you can think of it as a huge tomb?” Siegfried replied.

“Kyu…?” Hamchi tilted his head in confusion.

“I think it was around two thousand five hundred years ago? The entire continent was unified by an emperor, and he built a huge tomb for himself and created one million stone soldiers to guard him before his death,” Siegfried explained what he knew.

“Ah! Gran Cabrio! You’re talking about that crazy emperor, right?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“That bastard is quite famous! Is this really his final resting place?”

“Yeah.” Siegfried nodded and explained, “I think it was around thirty years ago? The soldiers in this tomb suddenly started moving and went on a rampage.”

“Then, are we going to be fighting those soldiers?”

“Yup.”

“The end of the world is coming! To think that those dead bastards were going to come to life and sow discord in this world! Why are the evil bastards of antiquity coming back to life?!”

“Don’t you think that there’s a culprit behind it?” someone suddenly asked.

“Hiik! You scared the bejesus out of me!”

“KYU?!”

Siegfried and Hamchi jumped in fright.

“Hmm? Why are you so surprised?” Gringore asked with a confused look.

‘What the hell is this guy? Just when did he follow us?’ Siegfried wondered in disbelief as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. Gringore’s appearance here had truly startled him.

He didn’t sense Gringore’s presence at all…

“Scribe Gringore…?”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“When did you follow us…?”

“I stepped into the Warp Gate when you stepped into it.”

“…”

“Hoho… I never imagined that you would leave me behind,” Gringore said with a sinister smile before continuing. “I am Your Majesty’s humble scribe. I will follow Your Majesty everywhere until Your Majesty’s final breath! My life’s sole purpose is to write down everything Your Majesty does and says! Hehehehe!”

“…You’re scaring me.”

“Hmm? Are you scared of me, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, I’m very scared of you right now…”

“W-Why…?”

“You sound like a stalker…”

“A stalker?” Gringore muttered, seemingly hurt. Then, he pouted and grumbled, “But… I just want to write down everything Your Majesty says and does…”

“That’s why you sound like a stalker to me right now…”

“…”

“I should exile you to some island or something,” Siegfried grumbled.

He recalled that the scribe was the culprit who had exposed all of his humiliating affairs. Of course, Gringore was an extremely able NPC if the fact that he had zero combat capability was excluded.

“E-Exile…?!”

“Be very careful,” Siegfried said with a sinister smile.

All of a sudden, the screams of hundreds of Adventurers could be heard in the distance.

“Catch that bastard!”

“Catch that little rat!”

“Kill that rat! We just need to take the Ark of the Covenant from him!”

The Adventurers were approaching them.

“W-What?”

“Kyu?”

“What is going on, Your Majesty?”

Siegfried’s party was startled by the sudden commotion.

“Hey! Just let me be, you stubborn bastards! Give me a chance to turn my life around! Please!”

An Adventurer screamed as he ran past Siegfried’s party, and the Adventurer was carrying a huge box on his back.

“What’s going—” Siegfried started.

However, the parade of Adventurers finally arrived and interrupted him.

Siegfried swept his gaze across the Adventurers in hot pursuit and saw that they were wearing the same V-shaped wing badge.

Genesis.

They were all members of the guild that Siegfried considered his mortal enemy.