Chapter 567

Chapter 567

“Ahem!”

Parkebros cleared his throat. He could not grant this demand, so he had to plead to Siegfried to reconsider.

“Your Majesty.”

“What?”

“T-That is a bit...”

“...?”

“It is not difficult for us to harshly punish our knight templars, as those are internal affairs. We can just do as Your Majesty has requested.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“But telling Your Majesty who filed the complaint is a bit...”

Siegfried was truly making a difficult demand.

Revealing the names of those who had accused him could greatly affect the prestige of the church, so Parkebros had no other choice but to plead for Siegfried to reconsider his demands.

“Disclosing their names might affect the justice system of our society. Don't you think so, Your Majesty?”

“What?”

“Yes, there was a misunderstanding, but we have a duty to protect the identities of those who had filed a complaint against Your Majesty.”

“Well, I guess you’re not wrong,” Siegfried agreed easily.

Parkebros was right. Protecting those who had the courage to report others for their wrongdoings had to be protected at all costs.

“But you know...”

“Yes?”

“Can you see this?” Siegfried asked, pointing behind him. Then, he said, “I’m innocent.”

“Yes, Your Majesty is without a doubt innocent as judged by the—”

“Haven’t you heard of slander or defamation?”

“...!”

“By accusing someone of a crime without any proof, then don't you think they're prepared to pay the price? I think they call it calumny or something?”

“Y-Yes, we do have that, but—”

“Good. Now tell me, do you think making false accusations without a shred of proof against me based solely on what they think is justice?”

“N-No...”

“Then should they be punished for slander and defamation?”

“T-That is...”

“Then hand it over if you agree,” Siegfried said, extending his hand to the Inquisitor.

“Your Majesty...”

“You just have to give me the list. I’ll personally visit each and every one of them.”

“Please, Your Majesty. That is something I cannot—”

“I wonder if His Imperial Majesty is doing well these days... Should I go greet him?”

“Y-Your Majesty!” Parkebros exclaimed in horror the moment Emperor Stuttgart’s name was mentioned. Then, he pleaded, “P-Please compose yourself, Your Majesty.”

“Compose? I’m very calm. I’m not mad at all,” Siegfried said, smiling and feigning ignorance. Then, he put on an innocent face and asked, “I just want to greet him. Can’t I do that?”

“Please...”

“His Imperial Majesty adores me, so I’m sure he’s curious about how I’ve been doing these days. I mean, that’s the first thing he asks whenever we meet, so he will likely ask again this time. Haha!”

“I will hand it over...”

In the end, Parkebros had no choice but to submit to Siegfried’s demands.

Why?

It was all because getting on Emperor Stuttgart’s bad side was one hundred—no, one thousand times worse than whatever problems those who had accused Siegfried could stir up.

“Then hand it over.”

“P-Please give me a moment...”

Ten minutes later, Siegfried received the list of Adventurers who accused him of being an abuser from Parkebros.

‘We shouldn’t hastily judge without any evidence from now on no matter how many complaints are submitted...’ Parkebros thought, seeing the need to reform the way they handled accusations of wrongdoings.

Of course, that was none of Siegfried’s business, and he couldn't care less about what they do with their system.

“W-What the hell? Why are there so many of them...?” Siegfried muttered in shock after seeing that there were almost three thousand names on the list.

The extensive list was proof that numerous people suspected him of being an abuser. If the number of Adventurers who did not bother to report him were added, then this list was probably going to be a few dozen times longer.

Ding!

It was an icon of a magnifying glass.

“Oh? It has a search function, too?” Siegfried said, sounding impressed.

He pressed on the magnifying glass and entered Kaosin into the search bar.

[Alert: Searching...]

[Alert: Search Complete!]

[Alert: Kaosin has been located!]

All of the pages except one closed, and Kaosin’s location was shown in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

Kaosin was currently in a private arena with other Adventurers.

“I found him, but how can I go there...? It’s not like I can cross dimensions—”

It was then.

Wooong!

Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance unleashed a streak of light, and the light sliced open the space before him.

“Whoa...” Siegfried could not hide his amazement at what was happening.

“Kyu! What are you going to do now, owner punk?!” Hamchi asked.

“What else? I’m going to beat the crap out of him,” Siegfried replied before crossing dimensions and entering the private arena where Kaosin was.

***

“Ah, really...”

Kaosin smirked sleazily while looking down at his opponent on the ground.

Then, he stabbed his opponent with his sword.

Shwik!

His opponent on the ground, Hoshigi, screamed in agony, “Aaargh!”

“You’re so...”

Shwik!

“Aack!”

“Bad at this...”

Shwik!

“Aaaaack!”

Kaosin would stab Hoshigi after every few words as if he was toying with him—no, he was toying with him. This was one of his despicable hobbies, which was to not finish the duel even after winning it.

He was a master at turning his opponents into playthings, and he had embarrassed many Rankers, who had sworn to rip him to pieces if they ever met outside the arena.

“Ah, there he goes again...”

“Can we please have some limits?”

“Hey, the atmosphere was good just now. Why did you have to ruin it?”

The other Adventurers in the private arena tried to stop Kaosin from making a public spectacle of Hoshigi. They knew there was no bad blood between them and that Kaosin was just toying with Hoshigi for his own entertainment, causing the Adventurer to grimace in disgust.

Kaosin had been behaving properly recently; he had been taking care of his public image for the upcoming Super Rookie Tournament, but it seemed that he had failed to control himself this time.

“Wow, what gentlemen you all are,” Kaosin sneered at those trying to stop him. Then, he smirked and stabbed his sword into Hoshigi’s privates.

“AAAARGH!”

“Hey, oldie.”

“Argh...”

“Isn’t it time for you to retire?”

It was then.

Bam!

A black hammer flew out of nowhere and smacked Kaosin on the side of his face.

“Kuheok!” Kaosin coughed blood and was sent flying from the impact, but he quickly broke his fall and rolled on the ground before getting up to scan his surroundings.

His reflexes were truly impressive—unlike his personality.

“Who did it?! Which bastard was it?!” Kaosin roared in anger.

“Me. This bastard did it.”

“...!”

“We need to have a talk,” Siegfried said as he emerged from a ripple in space.