“It’s too easy…”

Eugene broke out laughing after seeing Galfredik treating Christian, a vampire high lord as if he were nothing more than a novice mercenary.

“Come to think of it, Galfredik has gotten stronger.”

The Fear Eugene felt from Galfredik while he was scolding Christian was much greater than when they had been together in Brantia. Since his relationship with Galfredik was that of a blood oath, it seemed that Galfredik had grown stronger in proportion to his own growth.

“That’s right. Gal’s face has definitely grown stronger,” Mirian commented.

“Not his face, you brat. Stop talking nonsense and get inside,” Eugene said.

“Kieee…” The spirit squired around for a moment, but she eventually crawled back into her leather with a dejected expression.

Eugene saw the imperial knights and the crew unloading an object from a ship—it was a gray sarcophagus embossed with a large sickle.

“Is that it?” Eugene asked.

Romari nodded immediately. “Yes. The one who kidnapped me is inside. There’s going to be a few more coffins with vampire knights in them.”

“Hmm.”

Eugene started walking toward the coffin, and the sailors hurriedly bowed with surprise when they saw him. They didn’t know who he was exactly, but they could gauge Eugene’s status just from his appearance and armor. However, the imperial knights were different. Although they knew exactly who Eugene was, they only lowered their heads slightly. They did not show proper courtesy and respect that a king deserved.

‘Bastards…’

Eugene smirked and disregarded their attitude. He had no time to waste on such insignificant pests. However, it appeared one person was bothered by their discourtesy.

“You! Disrespectful fools!” Christian rushed forward like the wind with a deafening roar. The imperial knights flinched when they saw that Christian was wearing plate armor crafted in the empire’s style and using the Roman Empire’s language.

He roared, “How dare you take such an attitude knowing who this is! Even His Highness the Crown Prince shows courtesy in front of this esteemed figure!”

“...?!”

The eyes of the imperial knights filled with shock. However, soon, the knight who appeared to be in charge stepped up with a frown and spoke solemnly, “Show some honor, sir. Who are you to tell us, the imperial guards, what to do?”

“Who am I? I’m Viscount Helmond,” Christian responded.

“…!”

The expressions of the imperial knights stiffened at once. They belonged to the imperial guards, but they weren’t completely free from the hierarchy of the empire. Moreover, Helmond was one of the two vampire clans that had been awarded titles and fiefdom by the imperial family.

“I greet the viscount. Please forgive my impudence,” The leader of the knights hurriedly placed his hand on his left chest and saluted. Helmond was a vampire monarch known to be a secret aide of the crown prince, the next absolute of the empire. A viscount with the same last name meant that he was one of the highest-ranking vampires serving under Helmond. The vampire noble standing in front of them was an existence the imperial nobles could not treat lightly, regardless of how high in rank they were.

“Do not ask me for forgiveness, ask it from him instead. How dare you act impudently toward someone whom even the crown prince shows respect to…” Christian responded.

“I-I apologize. I sincerely apologize. Please have mercy,” the leader of the knights said.

Eugene answered with a grin, “It’s not like I’m going to kill you or anything, so what’s this about mercy?”

The knight’s face turned pale. Eugene continued, “There’s nothing else for you to do, right? Then get out of here.”

He was openly disregarding them, but the imperial knights weren’t able to retort.

‘We’ll see about this. I won’t leave you alone if you come to the empire.’

‘I will definitely report this back to His Highness Voltaire.’

The imperial knights climbed on their respective horses while gritting their teeth.

“Oh, by the way, please say hello to the yellow bastard for me,” Eugene said nonchalantly.

“…?”

The imperial knights could not understand who the ‘yellow bastard’ was.

He continued, “I let him go since it was our first meeting, but he should be careful next time. Tell him that I won’t let him off the hook if he fucks around again, even if he is the crown prince.”

“…!!!”

It was an outrageous statement incomparable to his previous words. The cheeks of the imperial knights twitched as immense fury consumed them. However, they weren’t idiots. The king’s knight had completely destroyed Rohime, who was above them in status and strength, and one of the crown prince’s subordinates was showing outright submission toward Eugene. The knights did not know exactly what had happened between Crown Prince Voltaire and Maren’s king, but it appeared that the crown prince had ended up in an extremely disadvantageous state as a result.

‘The glorious golden blood…’

‘Lost?’

The imperial knights felt goosebumps rising on their arms. They knew well the incredible mystery contained in the golden blood after serving members of the imperial family in close proximity. As such, they scurried away while feeling a great sense of defeat and dread.

“Hmm. Didn’t you scare them too much, Master? They’ll make sure to prepare thoroughly for the next time,” Galfredik said.

Eugene answered calmly, “I came to realize after facing the yellow bastard. He’s someone who’s bound to keep coming unless I break every part of him thoroughly.”

“Hooh? Really?” Galfredik asked.

“And the funny thing is that there’s really no real reason to do it. He just thinks he’s the best, and it’s the same with the kidnapping. He ordered Romari to be kidnapped as a thoughtless, meaningless act. He just wanted to break my spirit before we met, and Romari happened to be a good target,” Eugene said.

“What? Really?” Romari’s eyes widened as if she was shocked. But then she stomped the ground while fuming. “Who in the world does something like that? He thinks he can do everything he wants just because he’s the crown prince?”

“Pffft! Of course, he can. He’s the crown prince. He’s in a class all by himself, even among the nobles.” Galfredik pointed out.

“Oh, right, but… Sir Galfredik, you know you sound like a snob right now, right?” Romari said.

“Really? I’d rather be a snob than someone who got coincidentally kidnapped,” Galfredik said.

“Such a turnoff…” Romari muttered. Eugene left the two to their bickering and turned around. Boats continued to come and go from the large ship floating on the sea. Once the coffins of the vampire knights were taken to the beach as well, the figures Eugene was waiting for finally came by boats.

“Kwuooooooooo! Is this the atmosphere of the continent?”

“It smells good! The meat here has to be delicious since it smells so nice!”

“We can eat some proper meat now, right?”

Eugene couldn’t help but crack a smile when he heard the beowulfs excitedly talking about meat immediately after arriving. The other ace up his sleeve, along with the elven knights, had arrived to participate in the great monster war.

***

“It’s all finished. If you need more, you can procure it from Moffern. I’m sure they are waiting for your expedition as well,” the governor said with a bright smile, although he looked haggard after preparing for the expedition for the past three days. Nine delegations had requested Maren for help, and the down payment from the delegations was close to the dukedom’s quarterly budget. Of course, the governor and the parliament weren’t only excited about the money. Having more money didn’t hurt, but there were things in the world money simply could not buy. Fortunately, this expedition would bring such valuable things to Maren.

“I sincerely hope that the name and honor of Your Majesty and the dukedom will become known over the entire world after this expedition.”

If Eugene’s expedition was successful, Maren could overturn its label as a new nation built and managed by money and money alone.

“Have you finished talking with the delegations?” Eugene asked.

“Yes. The situation described by Your Majesty’s agent is being told by foreign merchants who have recently entered the port. It caused an uproar with the delegations,” the governor answered. He wasn’t necessarily overjoyed by their misfortune[1], but his happiness was inevitable. He felt pleasure seeing the representatives of the delegations rushing to ask him for contracts after belatedly realizing the truthfulness of Eugene’s words.

“I see. They all want the same thing?” Eugene asked.

The governor responded, “Even the countries and territories that are not experiencing a growth in monsters are asking for contracts as well. As you know, it’s a no-brainer that the monsters will spread over time.”

And that was the scariest part of the current predicament. Unlike natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, and earthquakes, a catastrophe of monsters wasn’t limited to just one area. The monsters pushed out of conflict zones would spread in all directions without caring for borders.

“Weiss, Terra, and Lobel?” Eugene asked, recalling the nobles of the three powerful nations who confidently left their seats without even fully listening to his suggestion.

The governor answered, “They have not come to see me yet, but news has it that they are delaying their return dates and setting up a plan at their accommodations.”

“Why? They were so confident, right? I heard that they have tens of thousands of troops available to be mobilized,” Eugene said.

“That is true. However, it will be more advantageous for them as delegations to get whatever they can before their return. Their countries will make plans anyway, so they probably don’t want to return without any results,” the governor answered.

He continued with an insidious smile. It appeared Eugene’s smile was contagious. “If the countries that made contracts with our dukedom are seeing improvements, while the Kingdom of Weiss, the Republic of Terra, and the Kingdom of Lobel aren’t getting any better, who do you think will be held accountable?”

“They will ask the delegations what they were doing when everyone else was busily signing their contract.” Eugene pointed out.

“Haha! Exactly! However, they had already displayed their attitude toward Your Majesty, and that’s why they are teetering around in their little corners. On that note, Your Majesty, what do you think about this? Why don’t you give those idiots a chance?” the governor said. Smaller countries were important, but it was much more advantageous to establish solid international relationships with larger, more powerful countries. As such, the governor desired to form contracts with the three nations as well.

However, Eugene’s intent was more important in the matter.

“Well, that’s not a bad idea,” Eugene said.

“Ah! Then I will get on it immediately and—” the governor started.

“So, I will leave on the expedition right away,” Eugene interrupted him.

“What? Are you suggesting we don’t form contracts with the three?” The governor blinked with a dazed expression. He had been cheering inwardly.

Eugene had faced and dealt with numerous nobles and merchants as he became stronger after removing his tattoos. As such, his wit and insidiousness had also increased in proportion to his strength.

He wagged his fingers. “Tsk, tsk. Think about it. If I leave with the expedition, who do you think will feel rushed?”

“Ah! Ah…!” The governor’s eyes widened in realization.

“Just what I would expect from Your Majesty! I will make sure that the parliament and myself take our time deliberating before we sign the contracts with the three idiots. Hahaha!”

There was a limited supply—only one, in fact—but the demand was overwhelming. It was only natural for those late to the party to pay the highest price.

“Hahahaha!”

As such, the governor of the nation built on money could laugh carefreely.

***

The elven knights and the beowulf warriors boarded the large galley one by one. The warriors were armed to the teeth with weapons and armor created by the best craftsmen in Maren, who could be considered one of the best on the entire continent. They were filled with energy. In particular, the beowulf warriors had received new sets of plate coats. The specially-made armors were layered with troll hide, which was known to be resilient and tough, and were made with metal plates thicker than regular plate armor. The only problem was that the armor weighed twice as much as a set of plate armor, but it didn’t pose any issues for the beowulf warriors.

“Kuhehehehe!”

“Good! Good!”

The expressions of the beowulf warriors were bright, perhaps because they were given strong armor any weapons would not easily pierce.

“As expected, the continent has the best meat dishes!”

“We must keep the Brantians out of the kitchen! From now on, I’m going to kill any Brantians who hold kitchen knives!”

The reality of the situation was slightly different, but the warriors were energetic nonetheless.

“Sir Eugene. Sir Eugene,” Romari hurried toward Eugene while calling out. He was standing on deck after being the first to board the ship.

“What is it? Are you not feeling sick?” Eugene asked.

“Ah! I had some time left, so I made some medicine and took it. But that’s not the important thing,” Romari responded.

She looked around before lowering her voice, “That magical tool you gave me before.”

“The skull incense burner?” Eugene asked.

“Yes, yes.”

Eugene had given Romari the incense burner he had taken from Christian. And he had also given her the incense burner from the black wizard in the Carls Baggins Peninsula. She had been researching it all along.

“What about it?” Eugene asked.

“I found out how to use it,” Romari answered.

“…!” Eugene took on a shocked expression.

Romari’s eyes, which had heavy bags under them, curled into crescents as she whispered, “You know that undead twin-headed ogre you killed before? I think I can move it with the incense burner you gave me.”

1. schadenfreude, basically. Fun fact, apparently there is an English equivalent for the word – epicaricacy. I considered using it, but thought better of it, as I’m sure there’s only half a person among the readers who know what that means. ☜