/
What were they supposed to say? The scene was fascinating but impossible to explain.
The moon shone brightly on one side of the horizon; the sun on the other. It was the perfect dawn.
A headless corpse splattered blood onto a man holding a spear, who stared heedlessly into the sky.
Joshua Sanders. A monster that took Igrant like a meteor.
At last, the monster’s mouth opened.
“Cain.”
“Yes, yes! I’m here, master!” Cain jumped to attention.
“What happened to Gehog?”
“Ah, I took him out of the dungeon and tied him to the wall as you ordered.”
Joshua turned to Marquis Crombell, who shivered violently when his son’s name was brought up.
“What do you want to do?”
“What do you—”
“You and your son insulted my friend, Charles de Pontier, a princess of the Empire1. You also attacked the pride of my subordinates.”
“That…”
“Like your son said, we could cut off his limbs and throw them to the rutting orcs…”
Joshua’s casual threats made the Marquis suck in a deep, shaky breath.
“I’m thinking… you should join your son.”
“That’s… that’s some thought.”
“So lay down your arms.”
Marquis Crombell let out a sigh of relief, but then his anger was back immediately.
“Even…. Even if the Mercenary King is dead, I… I still have my troops!”
“You really believe that?” Joshua leveled his spear at the Marquis.
Gehor scrambled to hide from the terrifying spear behind his knights, who nervously raised their weapons while silently cursing their master for his stupidity.
“You must already know you can’t win this. Abandon your great pride; take pity on the knights who must abide by your foolish orders.”
Marquis Crombell felt like he’d been dunked in cold water. Joshua sounded like he actually cared about them, the aggressors, rather than hating them.
“It has nothing to do with you!”
As soon as he spoke, Joshua’s body moved with lightning-fast speed. The area was cloaked in a white mist again, sending the Marquis’s troops into a panic.
“I-It’s the lone reaper!”
“Eeek!”
The Crombell Knights began to berate the common troops.
“What are you doing? Raise your weapons!”
“Cowards will be court-martialed!”
Even so, the knights couldn’t control their own fear; their hands shook very slightly.
“Let’s make a deal.”
“Oh?” Marquis Crombell peered at Joshua through his protective wall of knights.
“You’ll find my terms quite acceptable.”
“Ah… Ahem… I suppose I’ll listen.” He was no fool; his quick wits had earned him the nickname, “noble fox.”
Joshua nodded. “I’ll keep your honor safe.”
“My… honor?”
“The nobility and, of course, the Imperial family have eyes and ears everywhere.”
“I know…”
“There’s the possibility that everyone already knows that we have your son hostage.”
“So…” The Marquis put the rest together.
“So exiting the war to be a better father would save face.”
“Do you think they’ll believe that?”
“If that’s what you tell them, what can they say?”
“They’ll mock my family.”
“Better than dying.”
“What…?” Marquis Crombell frowned.
“I can send your head flying with a flick of my wrist. Wanna see?”
“What are you saying, you madma—” Curses rose in Marquis Crombell’s throat, but he choked on them, realizing Joshua was more than capable of it. Even the great Mercenary King lost his head without landing a proper blow.
“Are you going to take it?”
“…GAH!” He seemed to give up. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t think of a better option; most importantly, he had a feeling that Joshua was going to decapitate him if he refused. “What do you want?”
Joshua grinned. “I need a lot of money. First, compensate the Pontiers and restore their holdings to their prewar state.”
“Y-Yes…” Part of the Marquis had expected this. But when this is over… He offered a small nod to hide his dark musings.
“Reveal the traitors in the Duke’s family as well.”
“That’s not up to me.”
“Then stay out of it. The Pontiers will take care of it on their own.”
“I… I understand.” The Marquis ducked his head unhappily. “Now give me my son back. I want to get out of this hellhole.”
“I’m not done yet.”
“What?”
“That’s just putting things back to where they were before. This is where the real talk begins.”
Marquis Crombell’s jowls trembled.
“When you hurt someone, you have to pay for what you did. Are you a business man or not?”
“Well, how much do you want?” Marquis Crombell, a man driven by gold through and through, forgot his fear and pressed Joshua for details.
“Not much.” Joshua waved his hand dismissively. “Only a hundred million gold.”
For a moment, Marquis Crombell just stood there blankly.
“You can pay in installments; the interest will be low.”
“This guy…” Marquis Crombell’s face reddened. 100 million gold? That’s a lifetime of slavery! Joshua was turning the Marquis’s life inside out.
Once this is all over, I’m going to slap him across the face!
“I understand.”
“Really?” Joshua cocked his head to the side.
“One million gold per year… will be paid in… a hundred years.”
Joshua nodded along, taking the Marquis’s disingenuous tone in stride. “Then I want you to take a noble’s oath upon the name of His Majesty the Emperor.”
“This boy… You just want to see me—!” He barely managed to bite back his words. SHIT! Marquis Crombell bit his lip so hard it bled, and spat out each word as if he were chewing it. “I, Gehor von Crombell, 17th head of the Crombell family, solemly swear upon the name of His Majesty, Marcus von Britten, to abide by the terms of our deal.”
“Good.” Joshua began to walk away. “Oh!” He turned around with a small smile. “And…”
Marquis Crombell was just about to give the order to withdraw. “What else?” He frowned.
“Our entire discussion has been transmitted to the Imperial Family in real-time.”
“What the fu—!” The Marquis saw the bright, swirling orb in Joshua’s hand. It was unmistakably a communication crystal reserved for meetings between the great nobility. The five dukes and Twelve Families only had one each. “How…?” Gehor fell to his knees and groaned.
The great Marquis Crombell was falling apart.
When all their work was done, morning had long since gone. The sun was already setting. The Pontiers set their tiredness aside and gathered at the gates, awaiting Joshua. He came along with Akshuler and Iceline—outsiders, as was true of the Lion King—and quietly dismissed the crowd, saying, “Let’s talk tomorrow.”
[Hey, master.] A voice rang in Joshua’s head. [I’ve got something good to tell you. Stop walking.]
Joshua ignored Lugia and kept walking. He still had much to do. Even a “monster” like him needed a little rest.
I need to sleep now.
[You’ll regret not hearing this.]
Say it while I’m still listening.
[Why don’t you just turn around and go the way you came?]
“What are you saying?” Joshua frowned softly.
“Master, are you hurt somewhere?” Cain gave him a worried look.
“…No.” Joshua shook his head lightly and redoubled his pace.
[The guy you fought seemed pretty tough by human standards, didn’t he?2 I have a lot of power. Interested in another subordinate?]
This time, Joshua couldn’t help but stop.
No way…
[But it’s true.]
Joshua could practically see Lugia’s obnoxiously smug smile.
ED/N: Friendzoned. ↩️
TL/N: This part weirded the heck out of me, cause Lugia should be able to remember right? Maybe he’s teasing Joshua but maybe the author forgot that Lugia also went back in time. ↩️