Chapter 261

Chapter 261

“The Marchioni Empire...?” Siegfried muttered and tilted his head in confusion.

“Damn it! Why are they coming now of all times?! Those damned bastards!” Michele shouted.

“H-Hey, Michele? What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? Did something bad happen recently?” Siegfried asked after being startled by his sudden outburst.

“Please ignore me, Your Majesty... sigh...”?Michele let out a sigh and tried to suppress his anger before explaining, “I just have too much work but too little budget these days...”

“Oh, hahaha.?I-I see...” Siegfried awkwardly chuckled. He was the culprit behind why Michele was on the edge and extremely stressed these days.

‘I guess I slacked off a bit too much... Hahaha...’?He laughed inwardly.

Siegfried had been neglecting most of his work, and Michele had been the one catching all the slack for him. Michele. In other words, Michele’s workload was far higher than what he could handle.

The fact that Michele managed to finish all of it—despite the stress—was proof that he was indeed a genius and hardworking administrator.

“Anyway... It’s not good news at all that a messenger from the Marchioni Empire arrived at this time,” Michele said after finally managing to suppress his temper.

“Why?”

“First, it is quite tiresome, right?” Michele grumbled and explained, “This is a messenger from the Marchioni Empire, the greatest and most powerful nation on the continent. The messenger is a commoner, but we will have to treat him as if he were royalty...”

“Oh, I guess you’re right,” Siegfried said and grimaced.

“Dealing with the messenger is one thing, but having no clue what message the messenger brings is another headache altogether...”

“What’s there to talk about? The emperor is probably going to ask if we’re doing fine or not, right?”

“Hmm... I am not so sure...” Michele replied before he said, “I guess Your Majesty has to meet the messenger first, but please make sure not to do anything rash and offend the messenger.”

“Okay, I got it,” Siegfried replied and accepted the advice.

The messenger was basically coming as the emperor’s proxy, so it only made sense to treat them with full respect. After all, there was no way that the Proatine Kingdom could withstand going against the Marchioni Empire, no matter how much they developed in all aspects. The entire kingdom would burn down to ashes within a matter of hours if they incited the wrath of the emperor.

“Hold on... but how did they find us? Project Utopia is currently in effect right now, right?” Siegfried asked.

Project Utopia’s purpose was to prevent other nations from finding out the Proatine Kingdom’s true strength. The project was already ninety percent complete, so there was no way for outsiders to step foot into the real territory of the Proatine Kingdom without their approval.

“The Marchioni Empire is an exemption.”

“Really?”

“The information network of the most powerful empire on the continent should not be underestimated. They probably know everything about us right now.”

“Hmm... That makes sense.”

“Besides, they probably are not that interested in us, so there is no point in hiding from them. And we have a direct warp gate connected to the empire, so the messenger does not have to go through our barrier.”

“So that’s why it was easy for them to come to find us, is what you’re saying?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Got it.” Siegfried nodded and made his way to meet the empire’s messenger.

***

Five hours later, Siegfried finally received the empire’s messenger.

“Welcome, I am Siegfried van Proa,” he greeted the messenger while sitting on a plain throne.

The reason they hurriedly removed the throne crafted from the Chromatic Dragon’s skull was to hide the fact that the king of a small and weak kingdom was sitting on a throne that even the emperor couldn’t sit on.

The Proatine Kingdom had to spend five hours cleaning and redecorating the halls to make themselves look poor?before receiving the messenger.

“Hello, King Siegfried van Proa,” the messenger said with a slight—an extremely slight—nod before continuing. “It has been a while, Your Majesty.”

“Huh? Baron Neighdelberg?” Siegfried said as he tilted his head in confusion.

“I thank you for remembering me, Your Majesty,” Baron Neighdelberg replied.

It turned out that the messenger was none other than the one who stood as the emperor’s proxy after Siegfried won the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament—Baron Neighdelberg.

“Haha! I should remember you! How can I forget you, baron?”

“Is that so? Hahaha!”

“How was your journey? I hope it was comfortable. And I think we kept you waiting for too long, so I hope you were not bored or offended by it...” Siegfried asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

“I am fine, Your Majesty,” Baron Neighdelberg replied with a smile. His demeanor was completely compared to the time that he appointed Siegfried as king in the stead of the emperor.

Well, the situation was quite different back then compared to right now, so it wasn’t strange that his demeanor had changed.

[Alert: You have accepted the Quest: ‘Three-Way Meeting’!]

Siegfried had no choice but to accept the quest.

There was no way he could refuse His Majesty the Emperor’s summon.

“Your grace is immeasurable, Your Imperial Majesty! I, your loyal servant, Siegfried van Proa, accept your summon!” Siegfried said as he bowed to the ground.

***

Right after Baron Neighdelberg left...

“He should’ve just shut up and waited for the protection period to end, but what did he do? He went to the emperor and told on me? That despicable bastard...” Siegfried grumbled while seated on his Chromatic Dragon throne.

It seemed that Siegfried‘s actions had really gotten on Chae Hyung-Seok’s nerves judging by how he went straight to the emperor despite being fully aware of the protection period. Well, it was understandable, as the financial damages he had suffered because of Siegfried were already more than ten billion won.

However, that was his problem.

Siegfried couldn’t care less about him...

Exactly three days later, Michele sent him off and begged. “Please, please, please! You have to do whatever it takes to resolve the matter. If the protection period gets revoked, then...”

They were currently standing in front of the warp gate just before Siegfried left for the imperial capital.

“Ah, I already told you that I know. Don’t worry, I’m not going to make any mistakes,” Siegfried grumbled in response, seemingly slightly annoyed.

“You must certainly not make any mistakes, Your Majesty. Having the protection period revoked is no different from a death sentence to our kingdom,” Michele said with a desperate look.

“C’mon, do you really think he will revoke it just because of this matter? He’s most likely going to honor his promise,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“We cannot be so certain, Your Majesty. The protection period could be revoked if it is proven that we were the aggressors, do you not agree?”

“I know, but I have my side of the story, too, so don’t worry so much. Anyway, I’ll get going now, so see you later.”

Siegfried left after reassuring Michele numerous times.

“Yes, I will place my trust in you, Your Majesty...” Michele muttered.

Flash!

A bright light flashed right after Siegfried stepped into the warp gate.

A message popped up in front of his eyes.

[Capital of the Marchioni Empire: Palace of Blood]

[Warp Room: 11,271]

The message notified him of his current location.

‘They have more than ten thousand warp rooms...? This is crazy...’?

Siegfried couldn’t help but be shocked after seeing the warp room number. The Proatine Kingdom had slightly over thirty warp rooms, but the empire’s capital alone had more than ten thousand warp rooms.

It was another reminder that the Proatine Kingdom was a small and weak nation.

‘Can I just step out of this room? This is my first time here, so...’?he thought before leaving the room.

Creak...

“Welcome, Your Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa.”

A servant greeted him as soon as he opened the door and...

‘Huh?’

Siegfried saw a certain someone emerge from the room directly across from him.

‘Chae Hyung-Seok?’

‘Han Tae-Sung!’

They immediately recognized each other, and a fierce exchange of glares soon ensued.

‘You fucking bastard!’

Chae Hyung-Seok failed to control his anger and threw a punch at Siegfried.

Whoosh!

His fist was about to hit Siegfried’s face.