Chapter 385: Valuable Lesson

The silence fell heavily, as if that single sentence explained everything.

“It really was disgusting, wasn’t it? Our kingdom is supposed to be ’pure’. We, the royal family, should be even more so, and only have one wife. But there’s our idiot father having a mistress.”

“…”

“And as if that weren’t enough, you, that freak born of something that shouldn’t exist, kept running around as if you really thought you were something, even calling yourself my brother. Do you know how disgusting that is? I actually threw up a few times just looking at you.”

“…”

“I really just wanted to go and end your disgusting existence, but that fucking senile old man protected you. But now I can finally get rid of your disgusting presence. You have no idea how long I’ve been preparing for this.”

As he spoke, Saelis approached and crouched down in front of him, lowering his voice to a cruel whisper.

“You thought you found information about this ancient city, but I left it there for you to find. You know, I was going to make scum like you useful at least once. That’s why I let you come first, so you could bring me what belonged to me.”

“…”

Vasil tried to respond, but the poison made it difficult for him to do so. Saelis watched him without blinking, like someone watching a sick animal die.

“Tsk! You really are scum… Ah!? That’s Tomas. But who is that? Why is she moving too?”

At that moment, Saelis’ attention was drawn to the three figures coming. One was Tomas, whom Vasil had sent to fetch Ophelia; the other was Ophelia herself, and the third figure was a fainting man carried by Ophelia.

At the sight of them, there was a little confident hope in Vasil, but it was immediately broken by Tomas’ first words.

“Sir, I have brought Ophelia… yes, Ophelia.”

Leaving aside that he looked doubtful if he had done his job well, the person he addressed was Saelis instead of Vasil, making it clear that he had been betrayed.

“Huh?, Ophelia, are you an idiot, can’t you tell her apart, she’s a fucking stinking hairball, not that woman! Is it time to replace you?”

“S-Sir, I hesitated too, but yes it’s her. She even knew our password; apparently she was able to get rid of her smell and trimmed her hair.”

Hearing that, Vasil’s last hope was extinguished. If he thought about it, it was his brother who recommended him to bring her; that was part of the people who came hired and from the Alchemy guild.

He really regretted not realizing his brother’s true thoughts sooner.

“Huh, hell, are you serious?”

“y-yes- uekh!”

“Oh! That way you bite your tongue…Yeah, it’s that disgusting hairball. What a change. Well, you did a good job.Hmm, honestly, that smell was getting kind of annoying, and I thought your usefulness was wearing off. Well, I guess I’ll use you a little longer; I’ll reward you later.”

“I-I-I.”

“Hey! Why are you always so frustrating? Speak up if you want to say something.”

“He…I-I want…my reward…let him live.”

“Uh! What’s this? Is that why you got all dressed up? You got a boyfriend? Hahaha! And yet you poisoned him; how funny. Although he’s not squirming, I guess you immediately gave him the antidote. Hmmm, well, your poison is really great; and you delivered as promised, he’ll be one of the lucky ones.”

“Th-thank you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, Raphael, don’t worry: for you I have the contract I told you about. You know, what happened here must be kept absolutely confidential and contracts must be minimally supervised by a god.”

“That wasn’t what-”

“Oh, but don’t get upset. If I have… let’s see… one, two… yes, I have just twenty-five, not twenty-four, haha! Anyway, I’ll give you the decision: there will be twelve for each of you, or if you want you can kill each other and take all the quotas, haha! Although you’re the only one who can do anything, hahaha!”

“…”

At that moment Raphael looked at Clarens, who was down; the latter was looking at him with regret, not with hatred or resentment, just regret – for the understanding of what Mikael would do and that he could do nothing to oppose.

Leaving aside the hired people, each brought approximately twenty people.

I meant that if Rafael used it all, there would only be a few contracts left for the remaining faction, not to mention the mercenaries or Vasil’s faction, That wasn’t even up for discussion.

Clarens understood that and didn’t really say anything: he understood that negotiation was not an option; he would do the same in his position.

They had gotten themselves into a very complicated situation, without any warning.

It was not carelessness; Raphael accepted this taking into account anything and everything and the other factions.

But Saelis had remained so far out of the frame that he was not really taken into account: so far he only seemed to be a prince who led his faction because it was necessary and was not really concerned about resources or strategic positions.

He even made many contributions with Vasil, so they were as surprised as Vasil himself.

Saelis was not just an unscrupulous arrogant fool as he was acting: he had kept his intentions and actions hidden until the moment he attacked, when no one really expected it.

“You guys are really funny. Looks like you’ve made up your minds. Anyway, I already feel refreshed after saying what I wanted to… Hmmm, what to do? Well, get to signing contracts; then I’ll take my time playing with this trash before I kill him.”

With nothing more to say, Saelis approached Raphael; there was not the slightest trace of suspicion, fear, or reaction towards Raphael: he seemed absolutely certain that Raphael would not attack him even if he was not affected by the poison.

He seemed to have everything under control.

“Well, look, here it is, can you read it? It’s very clear: in exchange for leaving them alive and not doing anything to kill them, you only have to do three things: first, don’t tell what happened here; second, spread the word that it’s a good place to hunt, mmm, now that I think about it, I think that’s not necessary, mmm, well, it’s already there, what’s the difference? And the last thing, which I especially like, is that you can’t attack me, take revenge or interfere in my affairs.”

“That’s very vague.”

“Hey, that’s the way it is: take it or leave it.”

“…I’ll sign it.”

“Ha ha ha, excellent decision! You know, I still think it’s a shame to have to involve you guys in this because of that piece of crap brother of mine. I especially like you, since you’re a Silvercres, you worship Aeloria, our goddess, and you can keep those fools who serve Luxion and think they’re the best on the continent at bay, but the truth is they can’t do anything against you.”

“…”

“Hahaha! Your face is very funny. You know, the opportunity hasn’t presented itself before, but how about we start a beautiful friendship? It could be the beginning of your return to your rightful place. It is known that the Silvercrests are related to us, so you can inherit her great blessing just like our royal family. It’s time to go back.”

At that moment Saelis extended his hand towards Raphael; his face honestly made it clear that she was hoping for a very good friendship.

It only remained to accept on his part, but Raphael ignored it and, after making sure that the contract was definitely real and that what he said was true, simply signed it and handed it back to her.

“uff… I guess that’s a no… anyway. Bring who we’ll use with the second contract; I guess it’ll be Lirena. I see you’ve been giving her some of your attention from the beginning. Is it just because she’s your second in command? Right. Bring her along, you don’t want her to suffer anymore, do you?”

“…”

Raphael really didn’t feel like talking to her anymore. Saelis was really annoying and talkative, but he seemed to deliver what he said, and it was true that they couldn’t waste time anymore. So, in the direction of Lirena, who was writhing in pain, he picked her up and brought her in front of Saelis, while looking at him to do as he promised.

“Yes, yes. Have the antidote: she needs to be able to sign. Being a mage now really sucks.”

In the end, Saelis, somewhat bored with Raphael’s reactions, pulled out a vial and tossed it to him; he took it and began administering it to Lirena.

“But seriously, don’t you want to make an alliance? I’ll be honest: even if we start like this, I’ll later make you my subordinate. That in itself is your greatest honor: with me we’ll reach the top of this continent – no, we’ll go beyond… of this whole world, ugh!- I’ll even give in and marry you to my sister. You know, Evangeline is the one who has the honor of being blessed by Aeloria…”

Saelis kept talking, trying to convince Raphael with her sincerity, but Raphael didn’t seem willing to listen to him: he was more focused on seeing if what he was given had an effect on Lirena, and luckily Lirena slowly stopped writhing in pain.

“Honestly, your family – not your father – is a big threat to my plans; that’s why I want to have you by my side.”

“…”

Saelis tried to keep convincing him, but again Raphael was more focused on seeing Lirena’s condition improve.

“Is that a no again? Or are you playing hard to get? Do you want to negotiate terms?”

“…”

“Whew, that’s a tough one. But you know, Raphael, if there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s that…”

At that moment, without warning and still retaining her friendly aura and even her gentle smile on her face, Saelis moved quickly behind Raphael.

There really seemed to be no ill intent in his movement, which even made the experienced Raphael react a moment late to the attack coming his way.

Blank!

But the attack was stopped by a defensive artifact in Raphael’s position; it was imperative that most of the leaders had several ways to preserve their lives, though that barrier slowly began to give way.

“What are you doing, we signed a contract!”

“Yes, but since you turned down the incredibly great opportunity I gave you, I guess I’ll have to get you out of the way. Don’t worry though, you’ll live, hahaha!; though it’ll be as a cripple.”

Saelis’ sword did not appear normal, and as if it were a red-hot knife against ice, Saelis’ sword slowly began to pierce Raphael’s barrier.

He quickly invested more energy into the defensive artefact to create more defensive layers, but the sword did not stop and broke them all little by little, and because of the contract, Raphael could do nothing else…

“Hahaha! This is really good. Scum was right to bring you along; I can take care of you faster than I originally planned.”

Slowly but surely, the sword pierced through the barriers faster than Raphael could create them; no matter how strong they were, the sword seemed capable of piercing through them all.

“Ugh!”

“Hahaha, that’s a pity! A pity that’s actually really funny.Even though you turned down my offer — since I really liked you — I’ll tell you that you’ll have the honor of being one of my first stepping stones.When I write my biography, I’ll clearly put your name next to a heart, as the great friend you could have been.”

“You’re… crazy!”

“Hahaha, maybe I am! Hahaha!, but what does it matter?This crazy guy beat you and used you as a springboard, and you really taught me something: if I don’t want to end up as miserable as you, I must never let my guard down. When you think you’ve won — when you think it’s all over — that’s when you’re most vulnerab-”

“You’re damn right, you bastard!”

Saelis didn’t understand what happened; time seemed to go in slow motion and yet she couldn’t do anything when she felt from behind her two hands holding her head, and before she even thought to stop what was happening….

“-E-”

Crack!

“One down.”

He could only hear that last part as his head twisted, briefly showing him that his killer was the same man who had been Ophelia’s supposed lover a moment earlier, and as if twisting his neck weren’t enough, he saw golden gloves coming toward him and about to go into his eyes

CRRK-SCHLK!

He didn’t really understand what had happened until the very end.

“I’ll be sure to go get the others, you bastard.”

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