Chapter 10: Means of a Conman

Name：Master of the Loop Author：
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Chapter 10: Means of a Conman

Chapter 10

Means of a Conman

On your feet, maggot! the harsh words and the harsh tone sounded like music to Sylas ears as he opened up his eyes. There was something transfixing about having a plan in place to potentially end his misery. Though BoyValen was rather indirect, Sylas affirmed that the man could, in fact, activate the talisman. That wasnt strange, however; if even a guard in the castle at the edge of the world could do it, the Prince of a Kingdom could do it as well.

He hastily stood up and went through the motions with Tebek, feeling quite jittery all the while. He couldnt wait until the Captain left him alone at last and allowed him to roam free. Running away, he first ducked into Tebeks rather damp and cold quarters, thieving away the talismana roughly palm-sized, soft-feeling paper with some sort of crisscrossing lines on it.

Without delay, he shot toward the inner castle and its left wing, feeling so impatient that he nearly jumped out at the ladies and shooed them off. He knew better, however, than to do that and land himself into yet another restart. As soon as they disappeared, however, he scurried over toward the Princes tiny library, finding him weeping in the corner.

"Hello, hi, what's up? Skipping all the nonsenseI know you're the sixth Prince of the Kingdom, I know you were exiled here by your Father after your step-mom Queen did some whogivesafuck thingy, I know you likely have split personalities due to your identity crisis, yada yada, nobody gives a shit, okay? Here, look at this talisman," Sylas entirely ignored the young Prince's confounded, befuddled, and gobsmacked expression that spoke of a man reeling beyond any point of reason, handing him the paper-thin talisman. The Prince accepted it almost on an instinctual level. "It activates a magic circle embedded in the walls that's meant to crush them so that the invading Ghoul army can more easily overtake the castle."

eh? W-what? You knowwhat

Ah, I know, I knowsounds absolutely balls, dont it? I mean, can you imagine? A random guard showing up just claiming that he knows who you are, and he knows of this invasion, pfff, ha ha ha, nutty, nutty! Ha ha ha! Anyway, Prince Valen!

Y-yes?!

I am a God! Sylas proclaimed shamelessly, making his voice as deep as he could.

Youreyoure a what?

Sylas he barely held in his tears. He had so much talent in conning people; he had years of experience, massive tomes of strategies and hoodwinks hed used over the years to get what he wanted. And he was prepared to use every single bit of them all to squeeze by tonight and try and get others to do his bidding. And yet, not unlike that time he accidentally knocked out Tebek, when he thought all was hopeless he succeeded. Perhaps, he mused, that was his superpower or something?

Sighing, he stood up and refocused. Whats done is done. The night, however, wasnt over just yet; even if hed convinced Valen and even if hed rallied the castle there was still a battle to be won. Sylas wont be able to assist whatsoeverif he wanted to finally escape this night, hed have to run away and hide and hope for the best. As for what tomorrow brings he didnt dare dream. Technically, he cant ever show his face in front of Valen ever again. Or could I? He mused with a faintly evil grin.

Though it pained him that he was accepted so readily, there certainly were benefits to being seen as a God by a Prince of a Kingdom, even a disowned one. The issue would be Valen asking him to prove his divinity, at which point Sylas would likely just commit suicide to evade the embarrassment, but considering that he so readily bought that awful, godawful, miserable performance though he had a good head on his shoulders, it didnt look like there was much in it, in all fairness.

An hour passed in relative silence, with everyones nerves stretched tout; strangely, there were no discordant voices, no protests, not even whispers of mockery over how the Prince overreacted. Everyone, from the surface glance of things, genuinely believed that the Ghouls would invade and that they would have to battle for their lives. Unluckily for them, that reality soon came true.

Sylas was the first to spot themnot because he had better eyes than others or anything, but because he'd already seen the exact same sight dozens of times by now that he could pick it up with his eyes closed. Quietly, deadly, the first march appeared from the forest, and the gasps of alarm rung across the walls.

BOWMEN TO THE FRONT, TO THE FRONT!!

GET THE BARRELS UP, HURRY! HURRY!!

FAN OUT, FAN OUT! AIM FOR THE NECKS!

START LOADING UP THE TREBUCHETS!

Dozens of shouts like the ones above rung out like bolts of thunder while the realization finally seeped into everyones bones.

Though he never let it show, Valen was the most nervous; he didnt know what took over him when he exposed his identity and ordered the castles Warden to enter the siege mode. Ordinarily, he would have never done that, god or no god. But something within him, a tiny whisper of sorts, a distant voice, told him to listen to that figure, whoever they were.

A good part of him wanted all of this to be true just so him exposing his identity wasnt in vain, but seeing the sheer numbers of Ghouls as they began to crawl out of the forest made him reconsider. He wished it was a lie, a prank, a hoodwink. His wishes, though, hardly ever came true, even when he was considered a favored son of the nation, much less now when he was a nobody. Taking a deep breath, he dispelled the stray thoughts. All else besides, tonight they would go to war, and even if they won, many of the men standing tall on the walls would instead be lying cold on the ground, forever gone. He just had to make sure that the number stays as low as humanly possible.