Did they hear him correctly?

Faradon and the other knights stared at Eugene as if they couldn’t believe their ears. However, their faces started to slowly turn red. Eugene’s nonchalant comment was on another level compared to the rude comments of the ignorant mercenaries. Even though Faradon and his fellow knights were arrogant, they were still knights. As such, they treated Eugene politely and with respect, at least on the surface, and they expected to be treated in accordance with the honor they had shown. However, they were greeted with an insult so terrible it caused all of their hair to stand on end.

Warhammer, longsword, battleaxe, mace…

The eleven knights raised their respective weapons, and the atmosphere immediately turned fierce. The mercenaries had experienced countless battles where their lives had been on the line, but even they could not help but feel intimidated by the sudden change in the atmosphere.

However, Eugene merely glanced at the knights with a blank expression.

“You were the one to mention a life and death battle, so please don’t resent us afterward.”

‘It’s just as I expected. Knights sure are easy to handle.’

Eugene had to suppress a laugh. He couldn’t believe that they fell into such an obvious provocation.

He then replied, “The same goes for me. Don’t blame me for whatever happens to you. Well, of course…”

Eugene loaded Madarazika on his spear thrower before continuing with a grin, “The dead would have no complaints.”

Huaaagh!

Faradon and three knights rushed forward with anger as soon as Eugene was done speaking. Simultaneously, Eugene’s arm blurred.

Fwoosh!

Madarazika left the spear thrower and shot toward Faradon as a beam of light. Then, along with a dull sound, the spear shot straight through Faradon’s chest plate and pierced his heart. Faradon had been completely unaware of Madarazika’s identity, and he died before he could even scream.

Craaack!

Madarazika continued forward after leaving a fist-sized hole in Faradon’s chest, and then it drilled through two more knights standing behind him before becoming lodged into the side of a large crane.

“…?!”

The shocking sight caused the other knights to immediately stop in their tracks.

What the hell?

What was that?

Was this really happening?

However, the moment’s hesitation decided their fate.

Shuack!

Several silver lights flashed, leaving only their trails as the gaps in the knights’ helmets and their sides were pierced. The knights collapsed on the spot like bundles of straw after having their brains and hearts decimated by Wolfslaughter, which was laden with Eugene’s Fear.

Less than five seconds had passed since Madarazika left the spear thrower, and in such a short period of time, more than ten knights were killed.

“…!!!”

The mercenaries were stunned speechless as they watched Eugene shake the blood and flesh off of his weapons. Most of them had seen Eugene battle at least once or twice, but the sight that had unfolded just now had been simply overwhelming. It wasn’t something they even thought was humanly possible.

“T-the god of war…” one of the mercenaries muttered. His words perfectly defined the mercenaries’ perception of Eugene. The King of Maren was truly the god of war.

***

The story of the bloody, one-sided slaughter quickly spread out throughout the entire City of Maren. The people of the city cheered at the fact that more than ten foreign knights had been butchered by Eugene before they could even properly swing their swords. No one from Maren prayed for the souls of those foolish and frivolous enough to declare their intention to take over the city’s throne.

“His Majesty Eugene is the pride of Maren!”

“Did they really think that he forced us into submission and became the dukedom’s king on his own? The citizens of Maren’s god-given will chose to enthrone Sir Eugene as king!”

Everyone in Maren knew why Eugene became their king. The various guilds of the city had used their capital to lay the groundwork for Eugene’s enthronement with the merchant guild at the center.

Moreover, Eugene had also proven his worth after a long time.

- Although the city has now become a dukedom, its citizens can continue their original ways of life. I will protect the pride and guarantee the safety of the dukedom as its sword and protector.

Eugene had made such a promise, and his promise was the reason the citizens willingly accepted him as their king. And now, he was keeping his promise to the people. The citizens cheered with delight, but not everyone shared in their joy. In particular, the foreign merchants and nobles were alarmed by the event.

“He didn’t subdue them, but he killed them outright?”

“Is it because he didn’t need their ransom? Well, he does have enormous wealth, so I can see why he wouldn’t need ransom. But even so… he shouldn’t have done such a thing out of consideration for the opponents’ honor, right?”

“But weren’t they saying that they would defeat the king and become the new king? They said those words in front of the king, no less. They shouldn’t have any complaints even if they were killed.”

“Well, even so, this is…”

The reactions of the foreigners were divided. While some people called it rightful retribution, others believed that the head of the state, who was also a great noble, had neglected a longstanding custom.

In the noble society, killing an opponent without good reason was basically a disgraceful and foolish act of making unnecessary enemies. But even though the reactions of the foreigners were divided, each and every one of them had agreed on one thing.

‘If we mess with him, we’ll be fucked.’

Aside from the fact that Maren’s king might be an eminent vampire, the fact that he had shown no mercy to those who had challenged him was quite significant. As a matter of course, there was a significant reduction in the number of people running rampant in pubs and inns located in Maren following the incident. Of course, the king wouldn’t personally enforce the law in every nook and cranny of the city, but there was nothing wrong with being extra cautious.

In addition, most of those who had furtively belittled Eugene or had inquired about him in an attempt to make direct connections with Eugene without fear had disappeared. Most of them hadn’t believed in Eugene’s achievements, or they simply wanted to make use of him, so the change was only natural. It was to the point where a portion of foreigners packed their bags and returned home because of the sins they had almost committed.

The governor-general and the parliament were greatly taken aback by the incident, as they desired to expand their influence through the establishment of the new nation. However, they were fully satisfied after only a few days. It was because foreign nobles and merchants began to approach the parliament more actively compared to before.

“His Majesty had a plan all along.”

“He’s not Maren’s god of wealth for nothing. Hahahaha!”

The King of Maren was the god of war for those who lived by the blade, as well as the god of wealth for those who lived to make money. Of course, that was the case only in Maren. Eugene was known as the god of misfortune elsewhere, especially in the royal castle of the Caylor Kingdom.

***

“Only Sir Jebio could be the new king! Who else could succeed the throne but the one who has the blood of the previous king and is the eighth in line to the throne?”

“Sir Jebio’s in-laws are involved in treason. Please say something that makes even the tiniest bit of sense. The only person who is suitable to sit on the throne is Sir Felione.”

“You want to make a six-year-old boy king? Why don’t you just announce to the world that you’ll be the proxy?”

“How impolite! Take back your words!”

“And why should I? Why? A mere baron from the countryside is talking nonsense! You should even be thankful that I managed to stop myself from cursing.”

“What did you say, old man?!”

“Ehem! Sirs! God is watching this place right now! Are you not afraid of divine retribution? The new king should have a perfect balance of honor and faith, unlike you all who lack in faith…”

It was a mix of traditional nobles of the royal castle, a group of noble knights following Count Hatres, the noble union following Count Winslon, and the holy knights. The nobles of the Caylor Kingdom were divided into four factions as they argued and squabbled with each other. Some figures were even beginning to grab each other by the collar as their disagreement became increasingly heated.

“…”

Count Winslon was forced to close his eyes. He couldn’t possibly take this to be a meeting between honorable nobles. Rather, it was closer to a chaotic marketplace where people bellowed to haggle down the prices of items. He couldn’t believe that they were stuck in such a predicament when they had to enthrone a new king and fix the internal affairs of the nation as soon as possible.

‘Is this the fate of the country…? Are we done for?’

Only hopeless thoughts filled Count Winslon’s mind. However, he couldn’t afford to think such thoughts as a great noble of the kingdom. As such, he quickly wiped the despondent thoughts off of his mind.

He coincidentally met Count Hatres’ gaze. Judging by the man’s red face, it appeared Count Hatres was quite angry as well. However, it was impossible for Count Hatres to fix the current mess, just as it was impossible for him to do it.

The reason was simple.

As soon as either of the two attempted to take the initiative, the other three factions would unite against them. Such a fate would only lead to an inevitable result.

‘Another civil war. One must be annihilated, or maybe both, for the war to end…’

Such was the reason why the two counts could do nothing else than simply watch the situation unfold. And just like Count Winslon, Count Hatres had come to a realization.

He had figured out the one responsible for creating this mess.

“Jan Eugene…” Count Winslon muttered with a complex expression. Eugene was definitely a benefactor of the kingdom and a hero who had saved the capital and the royal castle. The capital would have been reduced to ruins, and the kingdom would have been torn apart if not for his presence. Moreover, it was Eugene who managed to unite the figures of the royal castle with the imperial prince of the Roman Empire at the forefront when the royal castle was thrown into turmoil due to the cardinal’s assassination of the king. Although it had been entirely possible for him to have taken the initiative, he had relied on his unbelievable self-control and the noblest of honor to restrain himself to avoid any misunderstanding.

In other words, Jan Eugene was not just a simple hero, but he was almost like a saint. Neither Count Winslon nor Count Hatres had any disagreement regarding this fact.

However…

‘That’s exactly the problem!’

Jan Eugene was a hero of the kingdom, and he had thoroughly remained a spectator in the nation’s affairs afterward. Similarly, the imperial prince of the Roman Empire had held up the fort as an observer rather than a participant. However, the shadows that the two people had left behind were much too deep and widespread.

‘Was it intentional?’

Count Winslon felt wronged and riled up when he thought that far, but he couldn’t blame Eugene. In any case, Eugene had remained loyal and had even sent hundreds of mercenaries and an outstanding knight by the name of Edmund to help him.

‘They say that the god of misfortune comes and goes without making any sound… They weren’t wrong.’

It wasn’t important whether the current situation was Eugene’s intention or not. The important thing was to somehow sort out the mess and move on. The City of Maren had declared itself a dukedom, and Essandra, the margrave of the Carls Baggins Peninsula, was showing unusual movements as well. It was obvious that the rate at which local lords deserted would only accelerate as the stalemate continued.

However, the most worrisome thing was…

‘The neighboring countries, especially the Roman Empire. They won’t stand idle and just watch the current situation unfold.’

Count Winslon felt a chill run down his spine. He shook his head vigorously and raised his head. As an honorable knight of the kingdom, he was determined to…

“If it’s not Sir Jebio…!”

“Only Sir Felione possesses the justification for…!”

“As Prince Localope advised, we must hurry and consider a new candidate to…!”

“Dear god!” Count Winslon was forced to close his eyes once again. He was completely ignorant as to when the chaotic banquet would end.

***

“Evil land subjugation?”

“That’s right. I am planning to participate in subjugations, especially in evil lands where intermediate and high-ranking monsters have never been killed,” Eugene responded while scratching his ear. It felt itchy for some reason.

He then continued, “Many of the territories are currently in disarray, right? I think it would serve well to console the lords of the territories before the enthronement ceremony. We could also get an idea of the territories’ security while resolving the problem of the unidentified areas in the evil lands as well.”

Plus, he could gather enough blood to satisfy the demonic armor and erase some more of his tattoos.

However, the governor was unaware of Eugene’s inner thoughts. As such, he was moved to tears.

“I cannot believe how considerate you are of the dukedom and its people. It is the greatest blessing of Maren to have the opportunity to serve Your Majesty,” the governor said.

“Not at all. Anyway, Eland’s knights and I will be sufficient for this mission. Oh, and this round of subjugations—” Eugene said.

The governor received and continued Eugene’s words with a sly smile, ”The mana stones and by-products produced from the subjugations will be considered the property of the royal family, of course, after deducting the share of the territories. Naturally, it will be exempt from taxes.”

“I’m lucky to have someone as competent as you as the governor,” Eugene remarked.

“You have taken the words right out of my mouth, Your Majesty,” the governor responded. Eugene and the governor could now even finish each other’s sentences. The two shared a meaningful gaze while chuckling.

“Oh, right. By the way, where do you intend to go first? We will have to let them know in advance so that they won’t panic,” the governor asked while standing up.

Eugene answered without hesitation, “The Tywin territory.”

Tywin was the family of his first aide and the starting point of his adventures. Eugene intended to explore every nook and cranny of the Tywin territory’s dungeon.

In addition…

‘The Village of Broadwin. There’s definitely some kind of evidence there.’

It was strange no matter how many times he thought about it. How could there have been a monster with a red mana stone living in the pond of that small village? In addition, spirits were known to hide even at the slightest hint of human presence. How could there have been a strange, or rather, a unique spirit who just happened to reside in the pond?

The stage was just too perfect—as if someone had deliberately planned it.