Armipotent

Chapter 1929: Noble Court - An Appropriate Ending (3)

Tang Shaoyang called himself the magnet problem, but he felt like this was too much. The problem with Hera, the curious woman who tried to force his spirits to share their status screen. If his spirits had a status screen, then he could tell them to show the screen. The issue was that they did not have it, so he chose the hard way.

Then this noble court, he was forced to come here, and a problem came at him right away as if there was no tomorrow. Alves solved the problem as the Raven Mercenary Guild Master found who plotted against them right away. He did not have to turn his hand bloody this time because Alves did it for him.

After the whole ordeal, Alves returned to him and led them to their seats. The nobles and the mercenaries from the Sorcerer Monarchy were sitting together, and so were the people from the Raven Monarchy and the Chevalier Monarchy.

General Ravenbarch pulled Alves with him, and they had a small discussion among themselves as they gave Tang Shaoyang and his spirit a space. What they were talking about was predictable. General Ravenbarch and Grand General Senton.

”Are you crazy, Alves? Are you trying to make things worse? Can you just endure this instead of making a big deal out of this? If the Sorcerer Monarchy falls, it will be just a matter of time until the Dominion targets us!” General Ravenbarch was quite harsh in his tone, which gained approval from the other Generals. Grand General Senton waited for an explanation as well.

Alves let out a sigh, ”Do you think I want to do this? If I don’t step up, those guards will die. It seems like you guys don’t understand anything, or maybe I don’t explain it enough.”

”If those people are messing with me, then I can just endure it, but it’s different if that fool is targeting Tang Shaoyang and his team!” The fox beastmen emphasized Tang Shaoyang, not his mercenary guild, ”They are part of the mercenary guild, but remember, they are also players. They move based on their own interest, not based on the guild’s interest. If they—”

Grand General Senton raised his hand, cutting Alves from finishing his explanation, ”What do you mean by player? I have never heard about this.”

Alves then turned toward General Ravenbarch with a frown, ”I have told you during our march before. You haven’t told Sir Senton yet?”

He remembered mentioning the eleventh God Rank in the guild and told General Ravenbarch that this person might be a player.

”I... forgot...” General Ravenbarch smiled apologetically, ”The journey was quite intense for us, so I forgot to mention it to you, Sir.”

Grand General Senton was quite annoyed that his subordinate did not mention such crucial information to him. But that was for later, ”So are you saying all of them are players?”

”I am convinced they are players after Tang Shaoyang brought five more God Ranks to join our guild, Sir. Six God Ranks appear out of nowhere, and no one knows about them before? They are being a player is the only explanation, Sir. Unless you know them...” Alves mentioned all six names.

Grand General Senton furrowed his brows, and as Alves said, he never heard those names. He knew all the God Ranks from the Sacred Kingdom and the Eptas Monarchy. The information about the Dominion was obscure, but they all knew that there was no way the Dominion would harbor human God Ranks.

The only plausible explanation was that these people were players just like Alves said. He knew the existence of a player who someday those players would flood into their world. Not just that, these players might be a way for them to leave this world as well.

”I don’t know why they joined the mercenary guild, but it explains that their interests align with us... still align with us for now, and we don’t know what they will do if they change their mind to do something else, Sir. As you already know, this player is just another force that we must be wary of. They can change or even ruin the balance in our world, but the favor is on our side because they are on our side for now.”

Alves shared his concerns with the Raven Monarchy’s officials. He did not know why the players wanted to join the mercenary guild. He was curious and wanted to know the reason the players joined the guild, but it was more important to keep them on his side. It did not matter if he didn’t have a reason as long as the player joined his side. That would be much better than having the players helping the Sacred Kingdom or the Dominion.

”If I have to make a choice between the players and those brats, I would pick the players, Sir. At least I know what I will face rather than angering those players.”

Grand General Senton listened to Alves attentively, and so did the other Generals and their escorts. For most of them, it did not make sense to pick the players’ side and take the risk of offending a nation. However, they had not witnessed what Alves witnessed. Most of them still disagreed with Alves’ action.

”Let’s continue the conversation later, Guild Master Alves. We are not done with this,” Grand General Senton waved his hand in dismissal. The meeting was about to start as everyone returned to their seats.

Eyes were on the Raven Monarchy’s seats after what happened just now, especially Albin Marello Forest. If his gaze could kill people, he might kill Alves many times with just his burning gaze. Not just him, but Albin’s supporters also had an unfriendly look.

Nothing big happened as someone from the Sorcerer Monarchy opened the meeting. The meeting was more likely to decide their role, assignment for each force for the future battle against the Dominion. It was a normal meeting where Albin’s supporters kept mentioning putting the Raven Mercenary Guild. They tried to put the Raven Mercenary Guild on the frontline to become a meat shield, even though they had the Chevalier Monarchy, which was known for their strong vanguard.

The Chevalier Monarchy was supposed to take the vanguard role, but out of spite for what happened. The nobles kept mentioning the Raven Mercenary Guild, but it always ended in failure. The Chevalier Monarchy’s official was not stupid enough to agree with the stupid suggestion, even though it might lessen the casualties from his side.

Tang Shaoyang thought he would be bored in the meeting, but after what happened, he had some plans in mind after the bloody encounter with the people from the second young lord. He eyed the three successors from the Sorcerer Monarchy.

The eldest son, Benedict Murillo Forest, was not the forerunner to succeed his father’s throne. He received support from the Royal Military Forces, but he did not have overwhelming support from the nobles. Most of the nobles supported the second son, Albin Marello Forest. The nobles had their own force, and the only reason why Benedict could not obtain the throne with the force under his control.

The third successor was the unfortunate one, having the least support. An ambitious noble tried to control the Sorcerer Monarchy through the Sorcerer Monarch’s sixth son, Volans Marelli Forest. His maternal family, which was a noble family from the remote territory of the Sorcerer Monarchy, pushed Volans as one of the successors who deserved to inherit the throne. A few nobles joined to support Volans, taking the gamble by supporting the sixth son who had the least chance to succeed.

Despite having the fewest supporters, the sixth son was the strongest among the three. Volans had reached Demi-God Rank three years ago while his two brothers were still at Legendary Rank. That might be the only hope for Volans’ side to win the people over. This war might be the stage for Volans to gain support from the Royal Military Force or even win over the other nobles.

Benedict and Albin showed their charismatic sides by trying to lead the meeting, revealing their master class ”tactic” in front of the people. They almost convinced Tang Shaoyang that the idea they pitched was brilliant, even though it was just a normal tactic. The two brothers were passionate and thoughtful in the meeting.

The former Hurakan Legion Commander, Nikolas, caught what his master was up to: ”I don’t think they are worth your time, Your Majesty.” He said in a whisper, ”I like it better creating a big mercenary team that operates like an organization instead of controlling a monarchy like this. Those nobles would stab us in the back the moment they have the chance to.”

Tang Shaoyang was surprised that Nikolas read what was in his mind. That was a plan, choosing one of the successors, then using this place as the Tang Empire’s operational base for this floor. That might not be a bad idea.

”And also remember, it’s the Eptas Monarchy. It looks like you need to obtain the other monarchies’ approval as well. At least, those two brothers looked like they were trying to gain support from the Raven Monarchy and the Chevalier Monarchy,” Mathias added from the side.

Alves, who deliberately sat closer to Tang Shaoyang, listened to the conversation. They might speak in whispers, but his sharp hearing as a God Rank could hear them well. He was shocked by the content of the conversation, and he discovered something even bigger. The way the knight addressed Tang Shaoyang as Your Majesty. That was enough to tell him that Tang Shaoyang was a royalty, a King of his own people.

Everything clicked in Alves’ mind; the way the five knights acted around Tang Shaoyang made sense. They acted like they were Tang Shaoyang’s subordinates, not his peers. It was subtle, but he caught it, and now he heard it. He was relieved that he stopped Albin from doing something stupid.

If he did not intervene, Albin might try to detain Tang Shaoyang and his knights. He was sure Albin would try to do that, questioning their credibility as the guest of the noble court. However, his heartbeat was racing because they were talking about controlling a monarchy, and they said it with confidence as if taking control of the Sorcerer Monarchy was easy. It was ridiculous the more he heard their conversation.

Alves was invested in Tang Shaoyang’s conversation with the knights that he zoned out of the meeting. He did not really pay attention to the court until someone nudged him.

The fox beastmen furrowed his brow, glancing at Robin. The latter motioned to listen to the person who talked in the middle of the court. He turned toward the person, and he recognized this person as one of Albin’s entourage. He did not hear what the man initially said, but he understood their intention when he heard the last part.

”... You have humiliated the Forest Family’s honor! In order to claim back Young Lord Albin’s honor, I challenge you to a duel!” The man threw the glove.

Alves’ eyes focused on the white glove that flew in the air and followed where it fell. It fell right on Tang Shaoyang’s table. They were clearly targeting Tang Shaoyang’s group, not him. They thought they were smart, thinking they could avoid the ire of the mercenary guilds by challenging the new mercenaries.

The fox beastmen’s mind raced, thinking of a way to salvage the situation. He came up with an idea: he would grab the glove and burn it before telling Albin to eat shit. However, he was too slow because one of the knights grabbed the glove before he could even move.

Gianni took the glove and stood up, looking at the person who threw the glove with an expressionless look, ”We accept the challenge, five against five with last man standing rule!”

The challenger was surprised because the plan was one against one. He turned toward Albin’s direction, asking for permission. He could not agree with the suggestion because it was not up to him to decide. Albin nodded, telling the challenger to agree.

Alves watched everything from his seat. He was about to stand up and object to this stupid idea. Who fought against each other when they were about to go fight in a war? This was stupid, and he would use everything to object to this stupid challenge.

His eyes widened in shock because he could not stand up as two hands grabbed his shoulder, pushing him down. Nikolas and Mathias were holding his shoulder, not allowing him to stand up, as Nikolas whispered in his ear with glee.

”You gave the court a bloody start. They deserve a bloody ending, no, Guild Master Alves? Don’t you dare to say anything, or I will make sure you will not be able to speak for the rest of your life.”

Alves was frozen and did not know what to do at the moment.

”We accept the challenge! Five against five with a last man standing approach! You will pay the price for humiliating the Forest Family!”