Heads turned, and tensions flared up in the room. Lady Aurora looked at Sylvester, her eyes asking a thousand questions. But Sylvester was only looking at the Duke with a smiling face.
"Is that a problem?" Duke Conrad asked.
Sylvester shrugged and folded back the letter from the King. "I don't really care what you did because, in the end, we both benefited from what transpired. You get to become the King, and the Holy Land gets to have some peace in its backyard. No more wars between Gracia and Riveria for as long as you shall live. You may even proceed to establish better, stronger economic ties with Gracia. I heard they need some help up in north after the wave of destruction Masan's plot left."
Duke Conrad smiled and nodded firmly. The scent of anxiety and fear he was oozing not long ago went away. After all, he had played a considerable gamble by trying to mess with the church and use them as pawns. But now he realised that he never played the church. Instead, the church was only feigning ignorance as it suited them.
"Indeed, Lord Bard. I wish for no useless conflict. On the contrary, I am in favour of common prosperity, and I'm sure the Holy Land wants us to start preparing for the war with Beastaria whenever it may come."
Sylvester eyed him for a few seconds. He smelled various scents that made him alert. One of them being related to lust but not of the body. 'It's clear that I can't trust him. He's too smart and tried to manipulate the church as much as I manipulated him. There is no guarantee that he won't betray me when the time comes.'
"But you have something worse to deal with first. Masan has likely planned something for Riviera as well. The man leading Masan's spies and schemes is none other than Shadow of Masan, so be careful, lest you might find a sudden uprising in a certain part of the kingdom. In fact, make sure you have absolutely clear and sound communication with your brother. You don't want another situation like King Harold and Duke Daemon now, do you?" Sylvester reminded him. He didn't have any threats in his voice, but it was clear that Duke Conrad got the message.
The Duke shifted in his seat and agreed with the view. "You're right, Lord Bard. In fact, I shall allow funding to repair all the monasteries across the kingdom. I know my father held some… unpleasant ideas about the faith, but that was only him. So I hope the Holy Land shall also help and keep me informed in case any suspicious activity happens."
Sylvester knew what the Duke was doing. It was the textbook sycophancy, licking the feet of someone more powerful in order to gain support and benefits. Duke Conrad would need a lot of support as he'd be taking the throne by force instead of natural ascension, as the King never declared him the official heir. He was just naturally accepted as the Crown Prince since he was the eldest of the children.
"Of course—Your Majesty." Sylvester bowed his head and called him by the title he'd soon inherit.
'Good… Excitement and happiness rose in his heart. He truly wants the seat of the King.'
But Sylvester had some personal matters as well. "Now, I want you to help me remove the bounty that King Riveria has placed over my head. It's utterly frustrating and hinders my work for the betterment of society. I'd rather fight demons than assassins."
The Duke looked at his Prime, the brown-skinned, stoic, old and tall man. "Lord Jeremiah, what's the status? I asked you to look into it."
Jeremiah Freeman stood up and presented a parchment. "Your highness, I asked around in the various assassin guilds in our lands. They revealed that the King had already sent them words to remove the bounty. But… The bounty has remained as someone has outbid it and made it five hundred thousand gold Graces instead of the previous three hundred thousand."
"..."
Sylvester blew out air in frustration and rubbed his face. "Let me guess, Masan?"
Prima Jeremiah nodded his head. "The guilds don't reveal information about their clients. But they hinted to me that it came straight from the Royal Palace of the Masan Emperor."
'This is bad. I don't want the attention of all these old monsters out there. I have my hands full on this side of the world already.'
Sylvester rubbed his chin and asked. "Then, what if someone was to outbid the bounty again and then take it back? Would that remove the previous bounty?"
"I'm sorry, but unless all parties take their requests back, there is no way to remove it," Prima answered, much to Sylvester's disappointment.
Silence took over the room as no one knew how to help Sylvester. The Duke could not really stop the guilds even if they resided in his lands, while Lady Aurora could only stay beside Sylvester and be his shield. After all, he was her little brother.
For Sylvester, the headache was different. 'How am I to travel around and study better things if every time someone will be looking to kill me?'
"Your majesty, can you tell me the cost of hiring the highest-ranked Assassins?" He inquired.
The Duke glanced at his Prima to start speaking, and the man did. "Lord Bard, the Assassin Guilds are divided into various classes. C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. You need not worry about any of those below S, as you've already destroyed an A-ranked team once. But the S-ranked are dangerous, and they are likely to go after you as you meet their desired threshold.
"Among the Assassins, there is an unsaid rule that as long as a bounty is less than five hundred thousand, anyone below S rank can take it. If it's between five hundred thousand to a million, then S ranked take it. Between one million and ten million, there are SS ranked, and if it's above ten million, then SSS ranked take it. There also exists a legendary class, but they are as rare as dragons in Sol, and they rarely act, for they are usually employed by various Kings and nobles for personal security."
"So I have to be mindful about S-ranked assassins? How many of them exist in East Sol?" Sylvester inquired.
"Three groups." Duke Conrad spoke. "All of them operate from my Duchy. The strongest are the Red Knights, and they are likely to come after you. They specialise in knightly magic, strategies and militaristic operations. They have a strict rule of only keeping one hundred members. But rest assured, I will warn them never to attack you inside Riveria."
'That's not very helpful, buddy.'
But he felt interested in other ranks as well. "Do we have any higher-ranked guilds on this side of the continent too?'
"Of course." The Duke started. "We have one SS-ranked Guild called Warlocks. It also operates from Riveria. It's full of wizards who did sick experiments on themselves. All of them are ugly, mentally ill bastards with the strangest abilities you can imagine. Then there is also one SSS-ranked Guild called Weeping Ghosts. Nothing is known about them other than that they operate from Highland Kingdom's easternmost part, from the Isle of None situated in the middle of the giant Weeping Lake."
Sylvester grunted, already seeing his bounty going higher with time unless he did something about it. And eventually, he will have to fight these guilds as they'd come after him. 'Why can't they just be good Mercenary guilds.'
"What about Legendary?" This time, Lady Aurora asked interestedly.
At that, the Duke seemed unsure. "As Jeremiah said, they are as rare as dragons in Sol. Legendary-ranked guilds don't exist. Only teams or individuals do. They travel the world and make money without making much sound. I only know about one Legendary Assassin called Mistwalker. Nobody has ever seen him, however. But you need not worry, Lord Bard. All these assassins will think a million times before going after you. After all, you're not a simple man. The church will protect you."
'Protect me? They're the ones who put the Shadow Knight on my back.' Sylvester thought and decided not to overthink it. It was too much information for him and was honestly frightening to some degree.
He got up. "Your majesty, I won't disturb you more. Please start preparing to march to the capital. I shall accompany you."
Duke Conrad beamed with a smile. "Thank you, Lord Bard. You being there will be a morale booster for the soldiers. You may look around the city. While I call my commanders and send words to my brother."
"May the holy light enlighten us," Sylvester bid his farewell and walked out, his face appearing as plain as a log.
Lady Aurora followed behind him and felt heartbroken. Sylvester's shoulders appeared weighed down by more problems than before, and she knew he had already been through enough. After all, every man has a limit before he breaks, and she hoped Sylvester wouldn't hit that limit.
So she hastened her steps and got beside him. "Sylvester, stop for a second."
He did so and looked behind. "What is it?"
With a serious and worried face, Lady Aurora came close to him and put her hands on his shoulder. "My brother—I don't call you that as just a cosmetic word. I mean it. So, you can rest easy. I shall help you fend off these assassins—always."
Sylvester took her hands in his and held them tight. A smile grew on his face as he felt appreciative of her gesture. He could smell that she genuinely meant what she said. He never expected to forge such a relationship with her when he first met her, but now, he was glad he did.
"Thank you, Aurora. That means a lot to me. But… You need not worry about my mental well-being that much. In fact, right now, I was thinking about how we're going to find an open eatery as a riot is going on."
"..."
Her face fell, and she glared into his eyes, trying to sense any lies. "But… I thought you'd be worried."
Sylvester chuckled and started walking again while keeping one arm over her shoulder as if she was the little sister. Height did give him an advantage. "I am worried, but not that much. Aurora, remember my past. At the age of thirty days, my village chief tried to throw me into a fire and kill me. At age nine, I fought a bloodling, and my Runes teacher tried to kill me. All my life, a threat to my existence has been as abundant as Solarium in the air.
"I know danger always lingers around me, trying to pounce on me. But if I let that scare me, I'm afraid I'll go mad. Still, your words calm my mind and reassure me that I'm not alone. Thank you for that."
Sylvester sensed as his grateful words flared up emotions of sadness, happiness and love in her. 'Perhaps, she's the only normal Guardian among them all. I should cherish this friendship—for my own good.'
He released her and walked normally. "I have someone important to meet now. But first, what do you want to eat?"
"Meow!"
Lady Aurora looked left and right. "W-What? Why did you meow like a cat?"
Sylvester ignored her. "What meow? I didn't hear anything. Anyway, let's eat some steak and… bananas."
"Steak and banana? What combination is that?" She asked, weirded out by it.
Sylvester kept a plain face. "A real man's combination, that's what it is."
Miraj quickly patted Sylvester's head and licked his cheek as he agreed with the statement. Real men and cats do eat bananas.
500 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
APE TOGETHER STRONG!
