Chapter 152 - King

Once arriving inside the kingdom which Yuki was supposed to live for the rest of his life while being watched and tracked inside, Yuki couldn't help but feel joy as his captors honestly believed that he would stay inside the kingdom and allow himself to not grow in strength while everyone else did. It was single handedly the most foolish thing a person or a group of people could do. Although, they couldn't be blamed as they didn't know of the existence of One nor Zero. Without those two, Yuki would be completely powerless. After all, Yuki was just human. The only thing which made him different from others was the fact that he had overpowered tools which he could use to his heart's content. 

Once the caravan which Yuki was placed in for the journey from the jail/prison all the way to the new kingdom had arrived at the kingdom gates. Someone grabbed the blindfolded Yuki by the wrist and dragged him out of the caravan and headed towards the kingdom gates. While doing this, Yuki could hear the footsteps of many others behind him which he assumed to be the interrogator and the guards which had been there during Yuki's interrogation sessions. 

"Go inside and open your blindfold after 5 minutes have passed. This is your only warning, whatever you do, don't look back before those 5 minutes have passed," the interrogator said as he pushed Yuki lightly inside the kingdom. 

Hearing those words, Yuki complied and went inside the kingdom without taking off his blindfold or looking back. While Yuki wasn't scared of his captures, he didn't want to waste more time with small matters such as arguments. It meant less for him to state how much more powerful he was compared to others. Pride wasn't a quality of Yuki which stood out since he barely had any of it. 

Once the 5 minutes had passed, Yuki opened his blindfold to see what the kingdom which he was brought into looked like. Even though he was blindfolded like a lunatic, no one seemed to care. Everyone looked to be absorbed in their own lives. Although it seemed like just another kingdom, there was something off about it. However, no matter how hard Yuki tried, he just couldn't point it out. It was as if someone was trying to hide it on purpose.

"This place is weird. I should probably try to find a place to stay for a while. It's not like anyone here would be as nice as Marcell and Elpis and let me leech off of them for a whole year. I miss them. Maybe I should ask Zero to check up on them-'' Yuki cut himself off as he talked to himself. 

"They're no longer my family. They were never meant to be. I was just distracted by them because I finally got what I had always wanted. In exchange, I lost the only thing I ever had and needed, my strength. If only I didn't waste a whole year with them. I would've been able to completely bring all my enemies to their knees. What kind of king allows himself to get weak because he was distracted for a whole year?" Yuki thought to himself. 

"King?... That title does suit me. After all, with 'King's Crown' and my loyal monster subjects, I do seem like one. Speaking of subjects, I forgot to check up on the new Meurig. He's been dungeon hunting for a whole year. It wouldn't be out of line to say that he's far stronger than I am. Maybe... he can even take care of the people who captured me. I mean, it's not like he needs to eat, drink, or sleep. All he needs is to regenerate by going back into the crown. If he managed to survive the first few clearing rounds of the dungeon. He should be completely fine since he could speed blitz the monsters once he leveled up far enough. I should call him back. A year of constant training is enough servitude, he should be allowed to have some fun now," Yuki said to himself as he still looked for a place to stay. It wasn't like he was going to pull out a secret item in public. 

After walking for some time, Yuki stopped at a shack which looked familiar. For some reason, Yuki could recognize it from somewhere but he couldn't remember it exactly. As he stood there and thought for a while, Yuki remembered where he had seen the same shack from. 

"So it was you who survived the battle?" Yuki said to himself as he couldn't help but get excited to finally bring down the user of "Infinite Hotel". 

"The shack does look better than beforeI guess but this is a little bit disappointing as he had a whole year to get stronger, unless..." Yuki thought of something which was rather surprising. 

"There are two possibilities, either he hasn't gotten that much stronger throughout the year which I spent slacking off, or he has managed to level up quite a lot and he just expands the reach of his ability throughout the world which makes his ability weaker. If that were to be the case, I can't look down on him anymore. Instead, I should watch my back. Furthermore, I should look for another place. The innkeeper can probably transmit information to his master. If that were to happen, I would just get hunted here. Seeing as right now, I'm basically a level 1 player, I don't want to instantly die," Yuki said to himself as he continued to walk through the kingdom in search of another inn to stay at. 

As the sky continued to grow darker, Yuki was beginning to lose hope of finding a place to stay. Afterall, what need would be there for hotels and inns to exist if most of the citizens live in houses. Running an inn or a hotel inside a kingdom would just be a way to not gain or lose money quickly. 

After finding an inn to stay at, Yuki entered the brightly lit small shack looking place. From the looks of it, Yuki assumed that it was also a bar. Once he entered, Yuki would be proven correct as he could see the many groups of people which drank whole jugs of alcohol as if it was air itself. It was extremely noisy which made Yuki come to the conclusion that he would not be getting any sleep that night. Nevertheless, Yuki walked up to the counter to speak to the clerk and ask him if the sign outside was true and if they really offered a room to stay in. 

"Hey kid, aren't you a bit too young to drink? Get out of this place before you get hurt," the clerk said before Yuki could even ask his question. 

"I could just tell him that I'm a world class threat that can kill thousands in a mere moment and the only thing holding me back is this damn necklace which I can have removed. However, I'll just act like I didn't hear that," Yuki said to himself. 

"My apologies. I didn't come here for alcohol. I saw a sign which said that you offered a room to stay at. Would that happen to be true?" Yuki asked. 

"Sure we do. That'll cost you a small amount. It'll be 500 silver a night," the clerk said. Hearing those words made a couple people stop for a second before going back to their own conversations. While Yuki did find this to be weird, he didn't care that much since all he wanted to do was lay down on a bed. Afterall, Yuki's head still hurt from the attack to the head which he had received when he was captured. 

"Thank you so much," Yuki said as he extracted 500 silver coins and gave them to the clerk. 

While the clerk seemed to be caught off guard by the fact that Yuki gave that much money without a hint of hesitation, he quickly calmed himself down as he took the pouch of silver and gave Yuki a key. 

"It should be the room exactly to the left after you've climbed the stairs," the clerk said as he watched Yuki go up the stairs and enter the room which he was assigned. Right as Yuki closed the door to his room, everyone burst out laughing. 

"How could he fall for that?"

"It's the easiest trick in the book."

"He must be some rich guy's son. We should try to rob him."

Comments such as those were thrown around in the bar as even the clerk laughed. However, Yuki knew that he was getting ripped off. The actual price would be only 100 silver a night at a place such as that. That was a high estimate with obviously accounting for inflation. 

"Laugh all you want. In the end I still won. This was the only place I could stay where I could avoid the use of 'INFINITE HOTEL'. In the end, you were not my prey. A measly 500 silver is a poor man's cash to me. As long as my plan can go on smoothly, I have no qualms with you," Yuki said as he laid his back on the door of the room he was staying at as he continued to listen to the people down stairs.