Chapter 156: Final Judgement

Serene swiftly nocked her bow and released three of her arrows. All of them swiftly zoomed through the air at the same time toward three different directions, stopping the Kingsblade in their tracks as they had to deflect the arrows. Otherwise, they would be injured by it.

"Stoppp!!"

Serene drew another arrow on her bow as she slowly approached the kneeling Tristan.

At this exact moment, the Arcadian King raised his hand and all the Kingsblade stopped their assault. However, they didn't retreat as they stood there watching Serene.

"Queen Leena, can you order the princess to move away..? I would rather not hurt her because of this."

Hearing King Callan's words, the Elf Queen let out a faint smile, "Aaa.. That's a bit complicated, I'm afraid. After all, she's no longer mine now.."

The moment the Arcadian King heard her nonchalant reply, a frown began forming on his face. Knowing that he would not be able to move the queen, he turned to Serene, his gaze stern.

"What do you want, Serene?"

An uncertain voice was heard, but it gradually turned confident."I… demand an explanation! This is not how we do things!"

At this moment, the numbing effect of the lightning spell had finally dissipated as Tristan stood up once more. 

Despite the awful state he was in, it was apparent that the white-haired elf didn't lose his mischievous act as he smirked at the beauty and said, "I see that you really care about me, my wife.."

Serene didn't even react to his teasing as she instantly scolded him the moment she heard his words. "This is all because of your big mouth! So shut up and let me do the talks!"

Proceeding to ignore her detestable husband, Serene returned her attention to the Arcadian King. "Your Majesty, Please.. I.. We demand an explanation for such treatment. This shouldn't be much to ask, right? After all, we are now… family."

The last sentence was, somehow, coming out from Serene's mouth slowly.

King Callan was silent, clearly thinking about what he should say. Meanwhile, Serene was waiting nervously.

Moments later, he finally opened his mouth. "It's clear the elf was barbaric, crude, and lastly, uncontrollable, my last fight with him convince me. He's an animal!"

Upon hearing the Arcadian King's evaluation of him, Tristan exploded in a series of fury.

"Fuck!! Who do you call animal!?"

"Dammit!! Stop talking!"

Serene swiftly rebuked Tristan, shutting him down before responding to King Callan's words.

"Yes, Your Majesty. You are right about him, and I agree. He's all those things you just said, and you even can add compulsive liar and shameless to the list"

This time, upon hearing Serene's evaluation of him, Tristan became lost. He wondered if the girl was really trying to help him. It looked like she was trying to get him killed faster instead!

While Tristan was still confused by her, Serene continued her words, "However, through the last two weeks, I also found the good points in him."

"You should have clearly seen his cunning and bravery when he won the Gauntlet when all the odds stacked against him."

"You could ask Master Laril about the endless perseverance he showed in crafting."

"And you could believe me when I said that he's a caring person to those he held dear."

Tristan was stunned. His mouth was wide open as he gaped at the words Serene said. However, it seemed she wasn't finished yet as she once again spoke, with a higher tone this time. 

"Your Majesty Now I ask you! Why are you so quick to judge him?! This is unlike you! The king that I know will always try to find the best in people!"

At this moment, Tristan discovered a newfound respect for his wife. Not only was she attentive to all the things he did throughout the last two weeks, she was also a fluent speaker. For Tristan, who was more of a doer than a talker, this wife of his could definitely help him in his shortcomings.

Serene's speech seemed able to affect the Arcadian King as Tristan could see the latter deliberating something. The man even consulted with the queen before he unexpectedly turned to him.

"Tristan." the Arcadian King called his name in a somber tone. "Tell me, what is your goal in life?"

What a difficult question.. 

Honestly, Tristan felt he had no real goal. 

Of course, everyone probably would answer wealth or power when they were asked such a question. 

However, Tristan knew that was not what he desired.

He thought hard about the question, and it then suddenly clicked to him.

"My goal is to be the master of my own life - that is the truth."

For Tristan, who jumped from the orphanage to the foster care and then prison, he felt like he had been imprisoned for his entire life. Therefore, the main goal he wanted to achieve was to be able to do whatever he wanted, freedom of his own choice.

Upon hearing Tristan's firm answer, King Callan became silent for a few seconds before saying, "Don't you want to return to your home?"

Instead of answering the Arcadian King immediately, Tristan took a glance at Layla.

"I would like to have the option to.. But honestly, I'm not that desperate to go home"

King Callan's eyes flickered as he said, "Tristan, I always think of myself as a good judge of character, so I know what kind of character you are... However, it seems as Serene said, I might be a little too quick to judge. Therefore I am willing to be proven wrong. I will give you a chance - a chance to do exactly that."

"I have one quest for you to do and I will see how you do it in three months. Afterwards, I will deliver my final judgement about you. If you really are what the princess said you are, then you will have what you wanted."

"What kind of quest?" Tristan asked, wariness apparent in his voice.

"There is a conflict going on in a border town called Carleon. I need you to settle the conflict with the timeframe I just specified and your performance will be judged accordingly."

Tristan was confused as he had no idea what he had gotten himself into.

"What kind of conflict exactly? What do you want me to do there?"

"You will be assigned as the new mayor there. As for your task, it's easy. Just do your best as the mayor and hope the town will still be there on the map after 3 months." King Callan said with an almost imperceptible smile on his face.

Thinking about the word conflict and border town actually interested Tristan. The two words sounded exactly like the embodiment he needed - he was thinking of a bloody fight which was actually good news as it was helpful for his advancement. 

However, it was unlucky that he had no prior experience in running a town. Thus, this quest might be more difficult than he thought.

While Tristan was thinking about the pros and cons as well as what he should say to gain some conveniences, the queen suddenly spoke to him.

"Tristan, the conflict there is not as easy as you think. But don't worry as I will send dozens of my Vanyar elf to help you. You will need them to succeed in his quest."

Tristan let out a smile when he heard that. He knew he could always depend on this lovely queen!

"Thank you, Your-" 

Before he could finish his words of gratitude, King Callan interrupted him. 

"No! Help is not allowed! You must not help him Leena" the Arcadian King said adamantly, ignoring the Elf Queen who smiled wryly at him.

Once again, this damnable king managed to find a way to irritate him.

Tristan swiftly drove his mind, trying to find a loophole he could exploit. Then, it struck him.

"Well, at least I can have my sister and my wife to come with me right? They are my family, after all."

The king saw what Tristan actually aim for and shake his head.

"Serene naturally can help you, but your sister still has her study. So, no for the latter."

'Dammit!' Tristan inwardly cursed as the man decide to take his sister once again.

Those excuses about studying were definitely to blackmail him!

Tristan hated it… truly, really hated it. He looked towards Layla and silently vowed that he would find a way to get strong and have his payback after 3 months.

'Just you wait, you fucker!' he said to himself. Took a deep breath to calm himself once more. He wrecks his brain trying to find best solution to his current dilemma.

"Then what about your Kingsblade? Will you send some to help me?"

King Callan gave Tristan's request a thought before once more shaking his head slightly.

"No! none of the Vanyar or Arcadians will help you this time. I want to see how you deal with the quest on your own"