“Why?” Siegfried asked.
Then, Arsha suddenly called out to him, “E-Excuse me…? I think both of you have something to talk about, so I shall excuse myself—”
“N-No!” Siegfried hurriedly waved his hands.
‘This is a diplomatic catastrophe! No! My rewards could fly out the window if I don’t resolve this!’ He started panicking, worried that his rewards would be canceled, so he decided to focus on addressing Arsha’s needs.
However, Siegfried van Proa was probably the only man who was more focused on his rewards than an extremely beautiful woman, even though she was standing just right in front of him.
“A-Actually! I’m not really used to meetings like this, so I’m worried that I might offend you in some way, so…”
“Ah!”
“I’m quite dense as well. I sometimes end up saying things that could offend people, so I was trying not to say much so that I would not offend Your Majesty…”
“Not at all!” Arsha exclaimed. This time, she was the one frantically waving her hands as she continued. “I’m fine! I will not misunderstand!”
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“I’m grateful.”
“So, is there anything you want to ask me?”
“Hmm…”
Siegfried started asking questions he wasn’t particularly curious about. He had to do it for the sake of securing his rewards.
However, Arsha excitedly answered every single one of his questions.
System prompts popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes one after another as he conversed with Arsha.
[Alert: Arsha’s Affinity with you has increased by +50!]
[Alert: You have completely captivated Arsha!]
[Alert: A big event will trigger once her affinity surpasses a certain point!]
‘Big event…?’ Siegfried’s interest was piqued, but he felt something sinister from those two words, so he immediately stopped the conversation.
“King Arsha?”
“Yes?”
“I am a bit busy, so… can I take my leave now?”
“…!”
“I have a few urgent matters to tend to, but I made time to accept Your Majesty’s invitation. I am hoping that we could continue our discussion on another date if that is fine with you, and I would like to ask for your kind understanding just for today.”
“O-Of course!” Arsha frantically nodded and agreed. “You are a hero, so I am certain that you must be quite busy! Please, go on your way!”
“Ah, t-thank you…”
“I apologize for sending you away empty-handed. I would have prepared a banquet for you if I had known that you were going to leave so soon.”
“No, please do not worry about that. Then, I will excuse myself now,” Siegfried quickly ended the conversation and left the Macallan Kingdom as if he were being chased away.
More system prompts popped up in front of his eyes.
[Alert: The King of the Macallan Kingdom, Arsha, has felt something powerful while meeting you!]
[Alert: The King of the Macallan Kingdom, Arsha, will be keeping an eye on you from now on!]
Siegfried realized that he had made the right call to cut the conversation short.
‘My passive skill is scary…’
Great Honor truly had a terrifying effect on NPCs.
***
Siegfried headed straight to the Mercenary Guild after leaving the Macallan Kingdom.
He agreed to meet with the Mercenary King that he had hired—Dreyfus—in one of the Mercenary Guild’s branches in the southern region of the continent.
Fortunately, Dreyfus had rescued the kidnapped noble child and was waiting for Siegfried’s arrival.
However, there was an issue with Dreyfus’ face.
‘What the hell…? What’s wrong with his face…?’ Siegfried was taken aback.
Mercenary King Dreyfus’ eyes were hollow, and his lips were completely pale. Of course, he still looked quite powerful because of his large physique. He was still giving off an aura befitting a Mercenary King.
His level was a whopping Level 299 as well, which proved that he was indeed strong.
So why was it that he looked very sick? Blood was even coming out of his ears.
“Excuse me… are you Dreyfus-nim…?” Siegfried asked.
“Are you the one who made the request?” Dreyfus asked in response.
“Yes, that is m—”
Kwachik!
Dreyfus grabbed Siegfried by his collar.
“You bastard…!”
“W-What are you doing all of a sudden…?”
“Do you have a grudge against me?”
“P-Pardon me?”
“You should have requested a duel if you have a grudge against me instead of pulling a shady trick like this!”
“W-What are you talking about?!” Siegfried exclaimed.
He grabbed Dreyfus’ hand and twisted it to set himself free.
‘Hmm? Look at this little punk,’ Dreyfus was surprised.
He was the weakest among the Mercenary Kings, but he was still a Mercenary King.
He was currently stuck at Level 299, which was also known as the wall that had prevented many strong people from becoming Masters, but he was quite the veteran due to his thirty years’ worth of experience as a mercenary.
However, a greenhorn from out of nowhere easily escaped his grasp, and he even managed to widen the distance between them. Dreyfus was even more surprised to discover that he was well within the greenhorn’s optimal attack range.
“Who in the world are you…?” Dreyfus asked.
“Me? I’m the one who made the request… I told you—” Siegfried replied.
“Stop lying.”
“I’m telling the truth…”
“If someone as skilled as you were the one who made a request that is akin to a trap, then…” Dreyfus muttered under his breath.
“Excuse me? What are you so upset about? I just…” Siegfried asked. He then proceeded to explain things after realizing that there seemed to be a huge misunderstanding between them.
“Hmm?”
“That is why I took one of the requests and used my own money to hire you, Dreyfus-nim, for the other one. Do you understand now?”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes, but I still do not understand why you are doing this to me…”
“That’s…” Dreyfus muttered. He took out a sack from his Inventory. The sack started squirming, and someone inside the sack started shouting, “HEY! You fucking bastard! Let me out at once! Let me out! AAAAAAACK!”
The kidnapped noble child was obviously the one inside the sack.
“This request gave me ten years’ worth of stress in just a single week…”
“…”
“It was hell on the continent before I bought this magical sack… This is the first time in my life that I’ve met a girl like her… She’s a demon… I’m certain of it…”
Siegfried suddenly remembered the warning attached to the quest details, and he finally understood what the quest details meant when it said that he could get cancer from the quest.
The noble child was so spoiled that those dealing with her would be so stressed out to the point of getting cancer.
‘Phew… I’m glad I gave that quest away… I spared myself from getting cancer. heh…’ Siegfried let out a sigh of relief at the fact that Dreyfus was the one who got cancer instead of him.
“I see… I apologize,” Siegfried said as sincerely as possible.
“Am I imagining things…? I don’t feel an ounce of sincerity in your voice,” Dreyfus said.
It seemed that Dreyfus was indeed one of the Mercenary Kings.
“Hahaha! N-No way… I’m sincere! In fact, I will increase your reward by ten percent for the trouble, so please do not be so upset with me.”
“…”
“And I will also give you—”
“I’m refusing all of your requests from now on.”
“What…?”
“Take this,” Dreyfus threw the magical sack containing the noble child to him.
Siegfried immediately stuffed the sack into his Inventory before the child inside could start throwing a tantrum.
Ding!
A message popped up in front of his eyes.
[Alert: You have completed the Quest – ‘Rescue Operation’!]
[Alert: Go to the Mercenary Guild and restore your credit!]
Siegfried finally completed both quests and went to the Mercenary Guild.
“Did you say your name was Siegfried?” Dreyfus asked.
“Yes, but why do you ask?”
“Let’s not meet again.”
“…”
“Never ever…”
Dreyfus seemed like he was still upset.
‘Wow…’
Siegfried felt a shiver down his spine after realizing that he could have been in Dreyfus’ shoes if he had decided to do all the quests by himself.
***
Soon, Siegfried was back at the Mercenary Guild.
“Oh!” Keres exclaimed in delight after Siegfried returned in just a week.
“Your Majesty! I will increase your credit rating to first class this instant!”
“Really?”
“And I will increase your Mercenary Rank to Platinum I!”
Keres actually wanted to raise Siegfried’s rank to Diamond. He even thought of crowning Siegfried as a Mercenary King if he were near the realm of a Master.
However, Siegfried had completed too few requests, and he didn’t have any official credentials to show that he was a Master, so Keres had no choice but to grant him Platinum I instead.
This was the best Keres could do for him, as the other mercenaries would definitely kick up a fuss if they found out that Siegfried received a huge jump in rankings without fulfilling the necessary prerequisites.
“Your Majesty is now a Platinum Ranker, so Your Majesty will receive advance requests by mail.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I hope that you’ll accept some of the requests whenever Your Majesty has time.”
“Thank you.”
“Hoho! Please do not mention it!”
Siegfried successfully restored his credit with the Mercenary Guild, and he was even promoted to Platinum I. He immediately went back to the Adventurer’s Guild to resubmit his guild application form.
[We approve the Guild registration of this Adventurer.]
- Adventurer Guild Master (Sign)
Siegfried returned to the Proatine Kingdom after going through hoops to get his guild application approved, and he was stunned by the sight that he saw upon arriving.
“W-What the hell is that?!”
His throne, which was crafted from the skull of a green dragon, was replaced by something else. His new throne was at least double in size compared to the old one, and it wasn’t green anymore. His throne was as colorful as the rainbow, and anyone could tell that the primary material was the Chromatic Dragon’s skull.
Well, the dragon’s horns were missing for some reason, but that wasn’t important.
“W-Who did this…? Who used that expensive material to make a throne…?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief.
He couldn’t believe that some maniac would actually use the extremely expensive Chromatic Dragon’s bones to craft a throne out of it. He wanted to know the identity of that maniac.
“It was me, Your Majesty,” the culprit, Michele, replied before asking, “How was your journey, Your Majesty?”
“Hey, have you gone insane? Do you know how much we could’ve made if we melted and sold those bones?!” Siegfried shouted.
“Yes, we would have made a lot of money from doing that. However, we can invest more than that if it means increasing Your Majesty’s prestige. Those in your presence will see that throne, and they will surely find it difficult to deal with Your Majesty.”
“Hey… That’s going to make me look too vain…”
“A ruler needs to be vain!”
“…”
“I have made the decision as Your Majesty’s officially appointed Minister of State, so I hope Your Majesty will accept my decision.”
Siegfried could not say anything else after hearing Michele go to such lengths to defend his decision.
He was forced to cry tears of blood over the dragon’s skull.
‘Sniff… Sniff…! My money… how much are those bones? Sniff!’
Fortunately, there was still a lot of material left aside from the skull. Of course, the most important part of a dragon was its heart, but the Chromatic Dragon’s heart was completely destroyed because Deus failed to control his strength.
The rest of the Chromatic Dragon’s parts were still untouched, and their value could only be described as astronomical.
“Are you planning on establishing your guild, Your Majesty?” Michele asked.
“Yeah, now is our chance to do so because the Guild Master of the Genesis Guild is currently in a hospital. We need to deal as much damage as we can to them as soon as possible,” Siegfried replied.
Chae Hyung-Seok was the only one capable of amplifying the skills of the Genesis Guild’s main Buffers, so this was the golden opportunity to deal fatal damage to them.
Siegfried’s plan was to establish a guild as fast as possible and declare war against the Genesis Guild while Chae Hyung-Seok was absent.
“I will instruct our people to rush the construction of the Guild Headquarters.”
“Yeah, I’ll leave that to you. Then, I will…” Siegfried narrowed his eyes and said, “I will filter out those who deserve to stay under the same roof as me.”
“Pardon me, Your Majesty…?”
“There could be spies among those who want to join my guild, right? I should find them and maybe use the spies against each other if I discover a few,” Siegfried explained with a shrug.
“Ah!”
“I’ll be going to my world for a while,” Siegfried said and tapped on the log-out button.
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