Chapter 272 The Ghost Town.

Hoho~, even if you are used to serving his majesty, it does not give you the right to call anyone with this title."

Hearing this familiar voice behind them, Alvine and Assi turned to the sources.

"L-Lord Vandel? It's an honor for us to see you here!" The branch manager instantly appeared behind him while respectfully greeting him.

"Grandpa? Have you finally decided to show yourself?" Alvine asked calmly with a mischievous smile.

"Ho~ho~Ho, was the presence of a certain old man revealed from the beginning? Ah, my bad~ I apologize for my unsightly actions towards this young man who flees from his duties." He said, bowing slightly to Alvine while ignoring the manager who had just greeted him.

(Who is this young man?) *Murmur*

(Who can know? Since he is wearing a mask. But seeing Lord Valdel's behavior towards him, he must surely be one of the palace's residents!)

(W-Wait, since when did Lord Vandel have a nephew? This man just called him "grandfather" so casually, didn't he?)

(It's probably his nephew; have you also noticed the female vampire who seems to be his bodyguard? Although she doesn't have an artifact, I can't see her rank. He is undoubtedly one of the personal guards who protect the king!)

(~~~)

(~~~~)

---

"Are you the director of this branch?" Vandel asked the vampire, wearing clothes even the sovereigns of Alzania could not dream of having.

"Y-yes, Lord Vandel, it is an honor to welcome you among...

"Forget the honors; find us a private room; I would like to discuss with this nephew who came unexpectedly." He said, shaking his hand in front of his face.

'Hmm, he managed to attract everyone's attention at the right time. As usual, this old man is always considerate. Nothing surprising on the part of the former vampire advisor.' Alvine was in his thoughts as he followed the manager and the others.

As with the other floors, the two arrived in front of a teleportation portal that led them to the top floor, which was only accessible to directors and staff.

After teleporting, Alvine realized that they were in a large luxurious hall. Whether the leather sofas or the simple cups of tea, they were all items created by resources of high quality.

At the same time, the manager, who was only paying attention to Vandel, instantly changed his approach.

He knelt in front of Alvine with his head bowed. "This servant greets his majesty King Dragnar!" He then greeted Alvine in a loud and respectful voice with a smile that went from ear to ear.

"Hm? For how long?" Alvine asked while removing his mask with slightly surprised eyes.

"I apologize for not being able to recognize your greatness instead. It only was when I heard your majesty addressed to Sir Vandel with the nickname of grandfather that I was able to discover your identity. To my knowledge, apart from our majesty, no one else dares to call Sir Vandel grandfather."

The reason why he no longer called Vandel with the title lord is that in the presence of the sovereign, no one has the right to have a title higher or equal to Alvine

"Hmm, I see. It doesn't matter. You can return to your activities. I have to talk to this old man who seems to rejuvenate whenever I see him again." He said calmly.

"If this is your wish, then so be it. But at least allow this humble citizen to serve you a cup of tea."

"Don't bother; we already have a hostess for that." He politely refused the manager's offer while looking next to Vandel with a mischievous smile.

Following this, the director bowed one last time and then left without understanding the meanings of Alvine's words.

After his departure, Alvine sat on one of the armchairs while Assi and Vandel stood in front of him, despite having empty sofas.

"Even if it's a little late and you don't really appreciate it, I still show my respect to the Lord." Vandel then knelt in front of him and greeted him respectfully.

"Sigh, I understand that my orders are not really absolute for both of you. Because no matter what I said, I would not be able to convince you to leave these habits between us. But hey, it's understandable that you act like that since there's a little mouse that seems to be so sure of her camouflage spell."

Following these words, he reached out to the void and pulled towards him, the mouse in question that appeared in front of him after he broke her camouflage spell with a simple gravitational spell.

She was none other than a succubus woman with two small horns above her forehead, wings, and long black hair tied, by a barrette, in a ponytail.

"!!" Seeing herself being pulled by force in her camouflage and crushed to the ground by Alvine, she tries to straighten up so as not to show such disgrace in front of the sovereign that she had not yet met.

-EEEK!

But Alvine, who had his mischievous smile, did not give her this luxury; he then put more pressure on her, making her unable to move even one of her fingers.

"Sigh, this troublemaker is none other than the succubus I told you about instead, Yasmine Lewdheart. As you can see, her actions are not as good as her management skills." Assi slightly massaged her left temple while explaining to Alvine the identity of the new succubus who had been with Vandel from the beginning.

"Hmm, she's fierier than I imagined," Alvine commented with a mysterious smile while lifting her with his gravitational energy and looking into her purple pupils with his own.

"..."

"Interesting, but isn't she a little weak for an intermediate divine mage?" He then asked while looking at Assi.

"... Ahem, it's not that she's weak, it's just that...! Sigh, she had proved her strength several times by defeating all her opponents, who were all intermediate divine mages, during monthly duels. She also had a draw in a duel against a high-level divine mage, who had challenged her to take her place." Assiaphir explained Yasmine's exploits with a bitter smile seeing Alvine master her with such ease.

Even if the two did not use all their deep energies, anyone in the room guessed that she would have no chance against Alvine.

"Hmm, these monthly duels seem interesting; I wonder if I should not also register for one of these four." He murmured to himself, finally releasing Yasmine, who landed on the tiles.

Seeing herself freed from Alvine's hindrance, she immediately knelt while panting with beads of glittering sweat on her forehead. "I-I apologize if my actions were offensive to you, your majesty. It was just...

"Haha, don't worry about that; I was also curious to know the famous succubus whose Asaphir kept telling me about his achievements." Alvine stopped her and reassured her, seeing her so nervous.

"Sigh, I guess he's disappointed. Ahh! How unlucky I have to be to make such a bad impression from the first meeting with His Majesty?!" She murmured to herself without even noticing that everyone could hear these words.

'Assiaphir was really talking about this girl's talents? At first glance, she has nothing special except her slightly greater power than the other intermediate divine mages. Sigh, maybe she is like Linn, who becomes an idiot when she panicked.' He asks Himself after hearing Yasmine's words.

"Ahem, now everyone is there; you can sit down. And Miss Yasmine, why not start by serving us tea? Maybe it will help you regain your mind. I've heard that tea reflects the soul and intentions of the one who prepares it, so maybe it's time to use you to check the integrity of this saying, don't you think?" He explained these words with a funny smile as if he appreciated this succubus who became cuter and cuter as she became nervous.

"Y-yes, it's my greatest honor...! I mean, I'm honored to serve you a cup of tea!"

"... Anyway, grandpa, did you have a goal in mind by following us incognito?"

"A goal? Who will let the king go out alone without an escort? Even if Lady Assiaphir is more than enough to ensure your protection, one or two more guards will not hurt. In addition, this old man was also pushed by his curiosity after noticing the king of the low areas." He half-revealed his intentions while calmly caressing his beard with a slight smile.

"Sigh, even if you age, your mind becomes sharper. You just wanted to stop me from leaving if I had tried to leave." Alvine replied by guessing Vandel's intentions.

"Hohoho~, this old man has never had such intentions. But it is still our bad luck to have a sovereign who leaves all his responsibilities to his subordinates. I wonder if you really don't want to kill this old man by overwork. With my age, I feel like I have lost more than a thousand years in the last two months."

"Ho? So you have so many years ahead of you? On this train, you will become a spirit after your death. Now that I'm thinking about it, why haven't you yet found a grandma who will care for your heritage after your death? I didn't know you could be so stingy, or do you want to be buried with them?"

"Hohoho~, this old man is only waiting for his great-grandson while hoping he will not look like his father, who is constantly fleeing his duties!"

"Ugh! Still this little son story, huh?"

"Why not? As a sovereign, it is quite normal, no, it is an obligation to leave an heir behind you; rather, it will be best!"

"I still have time, unlike some old man who is at the end of his life!" Thus the silent war between Alvine and Vandel continued until Yasmine finally provided the tea.

After sipping the tea and congratulating Yasmine, the aura around Alvine changed drastically.

"Honestly, what worries you so much, old man?" He then asked in a monotonous voice.

"My lord, do you intend to resume your solitary journey with the guest who is in the royal living room of the palace?" He asked with a frown.

"... Right, there are still many of the tasks I would like to accomplish that I had promised Miss Linn. But from your expression, I guess there is a delicate subject that you would like to discuss with me. Am I wrong?" Alvine asked, guessing Vandel's thoughts.

"... This is not really a delicate subject, but an important matter that will not leave you indifferent. I don't speak as a grandfather but as a finance minister." He said, crossing his fingers in front of his face with an empty mood.

"Hm? Tell me more. What could be so interesting to the point of giving you such confidence?" Alvine asked in turn while frowning.

He sighed with a disturbed air before starting to reveal his real concerns. "The adventurers who are involved in the exploration of this planet have discovered ancient remains that are several millennia old. An entire city that was hidden behind an invisible barrier: The ghost town!"