Chapter 2252 – 2252. The Plum Blossom Sword Master Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
Kweitan felt suffocated by the oppressive aura.
It wasn’t the first time, of course. He had experienced similar sensations surprisingly often.
The first time was when he received his title from the previous king. After that, he felt varying degrees of pressure whenever he met renowned figures. Most recently, it was when he met the Grand General.
‘I felt this same bloody scent when I met the Grand General. But he had just returned from war then… Wait, a bloody scent? It’s not just my imagination, there really is a bloody scent.’
Could they have killed someone and come straight to the audience chamber?
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
One of the maids following Duke Prukerus threw a monster corpse she had been carrying on her back onto the floor of the audience chamber.
It was a fresh corpse, as if it had just been killed.
“It’s a troll. We happened to encounter it on our way to the palace, so we hunted it. Trolls have strong vitality and are a tonic in themselves. I offer it to Your Majesty.”
It was rude.
Even if the troll’s corpse was valuable, was there a need to bring it into the audience chamber? They could have just handed it over to a palace servant.
None of the nobles pointed out the rudeness. The Queen’s expression was stiff. Still, she was the Queen, wasn’t she? She wasn’t as intimidated as the nobles.
“I will gladly accept the Duke’s gift. Were there any inconveniences or tiring events on your way to the palace?”
“Who do you think I am? What could possibly happen on the way to the palace? It was a comfortable journey. By the way, there’s a guest I haven’t seen before.”
Duke Prukerus approached with a twisted smile. Kweitan and the rest of the delegation tried their best to hide their trembling legs, straightening their backs and projecting confidence. They were representatives of the Thorn Kingdom. To be intimidated was disloyal.
“It is an honor to meet Your Excellency, the hero of the Great War and savior.”
Kweitan explained the situation in the East Continent and the purpose of the delegation’s visit to the Rapelli Kingdom to the Duke.
“Ah, I see. But this is the royal court, and you’re standing too stiffly. The Queen is right in front of you. Kneel. Don’t you dare try to match her as a foreign envoy.”
The Duke unleashed his aura.
The powerful aura of an Aura Master, a realm beyond human, enveloped the surroundings. Kweitan, who was right in front of the Duke, almost lost his footing and collapsed in an unsightly manner.
“I am not a noble of Rapelli. Nor am I a subject of Her Majesty the Queen. I am here representing the Thorn Kingdom… Please respect me, Duke.”
“You’ve come to request troops, yet your knees are unnecessarily stiff. Well, I understand, you must be old and your knees are not in good condition. I’ll help you.”
Thud.
The Duke kicked Kweitan’s knee. Kweitan felt his kneecap shatter as he collapsed to the floor. An enormous pain surged through him. It happened so suddenly that he missed the timing to scream.
“Our master told you to kneel.”
“You’re so clueless.”
“Idiots.”
The Duke’s maids kicked the knees of the delegation members one by one. All of them were Aura Experts or higher. The delegation had no choice but to kneel, screaming in pain.
The Duke looked around and chuckled with satisfaction.
“Now it seems like you’re ready to talk.”
Kweitan swallowed his pain and glared at the Duke.
“We are here representing the Thorn Kingdom! Attacking us is no different than attacking the Thorn Kingdom! Are you trying to start a war with us?!”
“I just bent your stiff knees, and you’re making a fuss. War? I have no problem with that.”
The Duke emanated a strong smell of blood. It was so strong that Kweitan turned his head away. The Duke was insane. There was no reasoning with him. So he shouted to Queen Aileen, who might be reasonable.
“Your Majesty! Please remove this man from the palace! I do not wish to speak with a madman! Surely, Your Majesty does not desire war?!”
“…The Duke’s words don’t seem wrong. You were quite rude. You are now threatening us with war. We desire peace, but we are not afraid of war.”
Starting with Queen Aileen, the nobles spoke, watching the Duke’s reaction.
“Her Majesty is right. They were rude.”
“War? Very well. Let us show them the power of the Rapelli Kingdom.”
“We have Duke Prukerus. There is no defeat for us.”
Kweitan realized belatedly.
The true master of the Rapelli Kingdom was not them, but Duke Prukerus.
“…Your Excellency, Duke. We were rude. We apologize, please forgive us.”
“I forgive you.”
Contrary to his words, the Duke held a red sword in his hand.
“…Didn’t you say you forgave us?”
“I forgave your rudeness, but didn’t you declare war on us? I will cut off your head and send it to the King of the Thorn Kingdom.”
The maids moved. They grabbed the delegation members by the hair, and with their other hand, they held a sword and thrust it into their necks. Blood splattered everywhere. The maids, all beautiful women, did not lose the sneer on their faces even as the delegation members died.
“Be grateful that you are not being tortured to death.”
Kweitan couldn’t answer the Duke. His head had already rolled to the ground.
• • •
I killed the delegation that had declared war on the Rapelli Kingdom.
They were truly arrogant, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand. Thorn, which controlled half of the East Continent, was larger than the Rapelli Kingdom. It was natural for them to look down on us.
“…Duke Prukerus. Were you planning to go to war with the Thorn Kingdom from the beginning?”
Aileen asked me. Her eyes were shaking, so she seemed quite flustered. But outwardly, she was more composed than anyone else.
If Aiden had been in that position, he would have been flustered and not known what to do.
‘It was a good thing I got rid of Aiden at Aileen’s request.’
I put Aiden on the throne because he was incompetent. He was perfect to use as a puppet. But once he was on the throne, his incompetence became a problem. Whenever something happened, he would immediately ask for help. He couldn’t handle anything else smoothly either.
‘Asking me to do every little thing? If that’s the case, I should have sat on the throne myself. How dare he.’
Then Aileen made a proposal, and I accepted it. Aiden died of a heart attack, and Aileen became Queen. Aileen was competent. She didn’t call on me unnecessarily.
“It wasn’t planned from the beginning. As Your Majesty saw, it was the delegation that declared war.”
“……I see. As Queen, I must ask an important question. Are you confident of victory in the war?”
“I have no confidence in defeat. The East Continent will become our colony.”
What do we get in exchange for sending troops? If we make the East Continent our colony, we can get dozens of times more.
“Do you need more troops?”
“No, Your Majesty. I will take care of everything, so please do not worry.”
I gestured to the Delta Unit. They collected the corpses of the delegation. The sneers were still on their faces.
As you can see, the Delta Unit was a unit made up of crazy women.
Beautiful crazy women. Women who enjoyed killing more than they felt no hesitation in it.
‘Just because they are beautiful doesn’t mean their mental state is normal.’
The reason for the sneer on their faces? It was a rule set by the previous unit commander. Always smile while working. I don’t know why that smile turned into a sneer.
‘The previous Delta Unit commander is dead, but the rule remains.’
They were too beautiful to just throw away as crazy women.
“Master. We’ve secured the heads. What should we do with the bodies? Should we grind them up and scatter them nearby? I saw some flowers on the way here. It’s not a bad idea to use them as fertilizer, right?”
“…Are you going to use them as fertilizer in the palace garden? Don’t be ridiculous. Put the bodies in one place. The servants will take care of them. And take good care of the heads.”
“Yes.”
The Queen and the nobles were holding their breath and looking at us. They all knew that I was the true master of the Rapelli Kingdom. I glanced at them and turned away. Aileen would take care of the palace.
‘First, I need to decide how to get to the East Continent.’
The only way to get to another continent is by ship. That’s common sense. Even by ship, it would take at least a few weeks.
It’s impossible to fly through the sky in a helicopter. The distance is too far.
‘I’ve never been to the East Continent, so I can’t use space-time magic. But you don’t need a scroll to use space-time magic.’
You can get help from a skilled magician.
‘Space-time magic is a magic that even Archmages can’t easily use. Especially intercontinental space-time travel. I can’t get help from pregnant Yuria. Yuria has never been to the East Continent, so I don’t know if it will be successful.’
Fortunately, there was someone who could help.
First, I returned to the mansion through the warp gate and tore up a space-time travel scroll.
The scenery changed. I was on a small island with calm waves. In the center of the island was a hut. Before I could even enter the hut, the door burst open, and a woman with blue hair and blue eyes that resembled the sea came out.
Priscilla Lipdas. Ancient Blue Dragon.
“What is it this time?”
“I want to go to the East Continent. Help me. Just teleport me.”
“What kind of trouble are you going to cause in the East Continent?”
“A country in the East Continent declared war first. I can’t just sit still.”
“You’ve gotten into some strange trouble again. I’ll send you, so do as you please.”
A magic circle was drawn beneath my feet. As expected of a dragon. Before the magic circle was completed, I asked her.
“Have you ever been to the East Continent?”
“I was curious about the East Continent once. To conclude, it was not a place suitable for dragons.”
“Do you know about Lerytree?”
“…Hah. Go and find out for yourself.”
I teleported to the East Continent.
