Chapter 400

Chapter 400

“How are you~?”

Count Seraphim’s face turned into that of a vengeful spirit after seeing Siegfried’s nonchalant attitude.

“H-How am I? This son of a—do I look fine to you?! You call that a question?!”

“Haha...”

“Do you have any idea of the losses our territory incurred because of that bitch Oscar?! Do you know what happened after that bitch helped Salvatore?!” Count Seraphim roared like a dragon.

“Hmm?”

“Our territory is on the brink of collapse! We’re about to go bankrupt because of her!”

It was understandable why Count Seraphim was raging at Siegfried. He believed the culprit behind the disappearance of the Valencia Family treasures was Oscar, who was Siegfried’s subject, so raging at him somewhat made perfect sense.

‘Haha... Hahaha...’

Siegfried couldn't retort because he completely understood why the man was so enraged. However, there was no way he was going to apologize and admit what happened—never!

‘Geez... I’m starting to feel bad for him... Hehehe...’

He brushed off the guilt and replied, “The actions of Free Knight Oscar are truly a shame, Count Seraphim.”

“A shame?”

“As you might be aware, Free Knight Oscar one-sidedly submitted her letter of resignation and resigned from her position before doing whatever she did. Here, take a look,” Siegfried said as he showed Oscar’s hand-written letter of resignation.

He did not forget to emphasize the words letter of resignation.

“This proves that the crime she committed has nothing to do with our kingdom.”

“Ahem!”

“But Count Seraphim...”

“What is it?”

“Regardless of her current status as a Free Knight, I cannot help but feel somewhat responsible for her actions, too.”

“Oh!”

“If I knew she was planning to do such a thing, then I would have stopped her at all costs!”

“But what use is saying that now?! She caused this mess, and now the Valencia Family’s treasure is gone! This will cause irreversible damage to our territory despite us winning the war!”

“That’s why I am here.”

“W-What?!”

“As I have said, I feel somewhat responsible for her actions.”

“Responsible? What do you mean by feeling somewhat responsible? Are you saying you will take responsibility for what happened?”

“Yes.”

“Y-You will?”

Count Seraphim was flustered at Siegfried’s response.

The Proatine Kingdom officially distanced themselves from Oscar and refused to acknowledge any fault in the matter.

But why was their king suddenly claiming he was going to take responsibility?

Count Seraphim could not understand what was going on right now.

“What do you mean by that? I thought you said your kingdom is not responsible for her actions? Are you sure you are willing to take responsibility?”

“Yes.”

“Are you taking me for a fool?! What preposterous—“

“I am hoping to compensate you for your troubles, Count Seraphim,” Siegfried said in a warm gentle voice.

“H-How much are we talking about...?”

Siegfried took out a check and passed it to Count Seraphim.

“Heok!” Count Seraphim gasped after seeing the amount written on the check.

‘Well, that’s technically your money, so you don’t have to be so surprised...’ Siegfried thought with a laugh.

The amount written on the check was a third of the gold he had looted from the Valencia Family treasure room.

“A-Are you giving this to us...?”

“Ahem!”

“This trade deal will turn your territory into the largest one within the Emporio Kingdom that can wrestle the throne away from the current royal family while I will be able to re-employ a talented knight under my servitude. What do you say?”

“Argh...!”

“Oh well, I cannot force you if you do not want it. I will give up on Oscar and use this money to find another knight to—“

“I-I will do it! I will grant amnesty to Free Knight Oscar!” Count Seraphim screamed.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Your Majesty! I will completely forgive all of Oscar’s crimes, and I swear not to hold anything against her from now on!”

In the end, Seraphim accepted Siegfried’s offer. It did not make sense to continue obsessing over Oscar when his entire territory was on the verge of being invaded by his neighbors.

“All right,” Siegfried said with a smirk, and then he extended a contract to Count Seraphim, “This check will be yours once you sign on this line.”

“I will sign it right now,” Count Seraphim replied right away and signed the paper agreeing to grant full amnesty to Oscar while completely unaware that he was being made a fool.

***

While Siegfried was busy pulling a scam on Count Seraphim.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Chaos! Are you alright?!”

The son of Demon Lord Vernas, Metatron was busy nursing Chaos. It was quite funny how the son of a demon lord was nursing one of his subordinates, but he had no other choice right now.

Chaos’ body was in tatters after failing to uphold his end of the bargain with Salvatore.

“M-My lord...”

“Chaos! Hurry and recover! We need to go retrieve Avenger!”

“Kuheok!”

Chaos was so touched by Metatron’s actions that he ended up shedding a tear. Who would have known he would be on the receiving end of such love and care from his lord, who was also the son of the demon lord? The fact that Metatron cared for a lowly demon like him was more than enough to touch Chaos’ heart.

However, Metatron was simply doing this for his own benefit...

“Chaos! You need to overcome this!”

“My lord! I, Chaos, will recover as fast as possible and serve you with all of my strength!”

“We have already won now that we know where Avenger is! I will become a demon lord, and you, my most loyal subject, will be reborn as a high-ranking demon!”

“Yes! My lord! I shall focus on recovering as you have commanded!”

“Excellent! Let’s do our best together! I have started exercising, and this useless body of mine will become stronger, too!”

“Oh! Have you really started exercising, my lord?”

“Yes, I’m now able to repeatedly sit down and stand up! Walking is still a bit difficult, but I’m confident I’ll start walking in no time!”

“Wow!”

“That human doctor told me that my arthritis has progressed too much to the point that building muscles is the only solution!”

“You can do it, my lord!”

Hearing the son of the demon lord talk about building muscles so he could walk sounded quite absurd, but there was nothing Metatron could do about his current situation. He possessed the body of an old magician who was riddled with all sorts of ailments, so being able to walk normally was considered big progress for him.

“Let’s do this, Chaos!”

“Yes! My lord!”

***

Meanwhile, Chae Hyung-Seok had gone through all sorts of difficulties and obstacles to successfully clear the dungeon that Baccelotti had left behind. He was now standing in front of the dungeon’s clear reward—a scythe

The name of this scythe was Demonic Artifact: Dark Scythe.

This was an artifact that would allow him to contract with a high-ranking demon.

“Wait for me, you fucking bastard, Han Tae-Sung!” Chae Hyung-Seok gnashed his teeth and stretched his hand toward the scythe. There was not an ounce of hesitation in him as his hatred for Tae-Sung was so strong that he was ready to even sell his soul in reality.

Kwachik!

Chae Hyung-Seok grabbed the scythe.

Flash!

A burst of black aura flashed from the scythe, and a summoning circle appeared underneath his feet.