Begging to be Scammed
The fierce battle was finally beginning to take shape. Though they had been evenly matched at first, the First Prince had deployed far more soldiers, causing the Second Prince's forces to gradually fall back as time wore on.
“J-Just you wait!”
As his subordinates fell one by one, the commander of the Second Prince's forces ultimately chose to flee.
“Pant, pant... Count Kim Tae-hyun! We have won! We've shown them that we are the stronger side!”
Charles, the commander of the First Prince's forces, shouted while raising his blood-stained sword.
“Magnificent! I knew your side would win all along!”
“Th-Thank you...?”
Charles felt that something was slightly off, but he didn't voice his doubts. He had finally secured the opportunity to escort Tae-hyun back, and the last thing he wanted to do was sour the man's mood.
“S-So, may we escort you now?”
“Very well. Ah, wait. Come over here for a second.”
Tae-hyun casually called over one of the mounted soldiers. The soldier, utterly clueless, trotted over and stopped in front of him.
Thud!
“?!”
“I'm a noble, after all. I should at least be riding a horse, shouldn't I?”
Tae-hyun shamelessly commandeered the horse! The soldier was dumbfounded but couldn't say a word in protest. Even if it was a foreign kingdom, a noble was still a noble!
“Let's go!”
* * *
“You bastard! Spit it out already!”
“Praise Lord Sadiq! I will never speak!”
“Hold on. I have an item.”
The players, who had barely managed to capture a single Sadiq priest, clamored around to extract information. If a player had a high Terror stat or possessed a special skill, they could extract information from captured NPCs like this. Unfortunately, none of them had such skills. Consequently, the Sadiq priest kept his mouth tightly shut!
“This should do the trick. It's Erang's Magic Tower Truth Serum. I bought it to use for a quest later, but...”
You have used Erang's Magic Tower Truth Serum.
The Priest of the Sadiq Order will answer your question.
[Remaining Questions: 1]
The opportunity had finally arrived! The players' eyes gleamed with anticipation. There was only one question they needed to ask right now.
“How do we extinguish Sadiq's Flame burning on that plain?”
“......[Sadiq's Tear] is required......”
“......And where do we find that?”
The effect of Erang's Magic Tower Truth Serum has ended.
“You bastard! You should've at least told us where to get it! Seriously!”
No matter how much they shook and interrogated the priest, no more information would come out. The players sighed deeply and began to debate.
“What should we do?”
“Hey, let's just post this on the community forums. It's better to share the information.”
“What? Do you know how hard we worked to capture this guy? You want to just give that away for free?”
“Now is not the time to worry about that. If that fire spreads any further, the village we just acquired will...”
They had managed to secure a small village after arriving in the Auston Kingdom. Although the flames were still far away, if left unchecked, their village could burn down at any moment!
Ultimately, they made their decision. They would share the information they had gathered.
*
“Such superb horsemanship! As expected of Count Kim Tae-hyun!”
“I am rather amazing, aren't I?”
“And even that beautiful summon! Truly, you are incredible, Count Kim Tae-hyun!”
I am indeed quite magnificent, Master.
He's just flattering me. Take it with a grain of salt.
Throughout the journey, Charles flattered him without a single pause. It was so excessive that even the members of the Power Warrior Guild stared at him with looks of sheer disgust.
“And even those who follow you, Count...”
Charles turned back as he spoke, searching for a way to praise the Power Warrior Guild members.
“...have such kind, gentle faces! As expected of Count Kim Tae-hyun!”
“Hey!”
“Is that the best compliment you've got?!”
“That's what my mom says when she has absolutely nothing else to praise!”
Protests erupted from the Power Warrior Guild members behind him, but Charles pretended not to hear. He was so desperate to win Tae-hyun over that he kept babbling incessantly.
“If the Archisus Church were to support our Prince, there would be nothing more reassuring. It would also be a wonderful thing for you, Count Kim Tae-hyun!”
“Charles, it would obviously be great for your prince if I supported him, but why is it good for me?”
“...Well, you would get to be close friends with someone as esteemed as our Prince, wouldn't you?”
“...”
The atmosphere suddenly turned ice-cold! At that moment, Tae-hyun made up his mind. This First Prince is a useless bastard. He was all talk, no action, and promised absolutely nothing. Tae-hyun could tell instinctively. The First Prince would use Tae-hyun for all he was worth and give nothing in return. When it came to exploiting others, Tae-hyun was the absolute master of the craft! A man of the First Prince's caliber was nowhere near clever enough to pull one over on him.
Sensing the sudden chill, Charles quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Ha, haha. Once our Prince ascends the throne, he will surely reward you handsomely. Wouldn't you agree?”
“Of course, that's exactly what I thought. As expected of the First Prince. The rumors I heard weren't false after all.”
“Oh? What rumors did you hear?”
“I heard he is overflowing with responsibility and loves his people dearly...”
The surrounding landscape was completely devastated by the Orc raids. It was an incredibly embarrassing compliment to pay to a prince who had been hoarding his strength in his own territory while the Orcs ran rampant!
Listening to this, Cain thought to himself, There he goes, revving his engine again.
One had to be most on guard when Tae-hyun started acting nice. Other people just didn't know any better. Thus, the party moved toward the First Prince's castle, each harboring their own hidden agendas.
Wait, I feel like I'm forgetting something, Cain thought, scratching his head. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had slipped his mind.
What was it?
*
“Repair the walls first! Siege defense equipment? I'll give you the gold, so buy it immediately! And don't keep the gates open! From now on, anyone who enters must have their identity verified! Got it?!”
Having returned to Kadalta Castle, Su Ning was obsessing over the castle's defense and security with near-paranoid intensity. The shock of having his castle stolen right before his eyes was not easily forgotten. Because of that trauma, Su Ning wanted to block every single variable.
“How on earth did that bastard Kim Tae-hyun escape? There isn't some kind of doggy door, is there?”
Su Ning had inadvertently hit the nail right on the head! However, his guild members were dismissive.
“No way... Could there really be such a thing? Kim Tae-hyun has mages with him and means of flight, so he probably just used a stealth skill and slipped out...”
“Right. That must be it.”
Even to Su Ning, that sounded far more plausible. After the Orc army retreated, Su Ning and his guild members had barely managed to reclaim the castle. It was a pyrrhic victory that left them covered in wounds, but they had kept the castle nonetheless!
Those Alliance bastards are incredibly greedy for gold... but I'll make sure to get my money's worth out of them someday!
“Search the castle thoroughly! Kim Tae-hyun might have left a bomb or something behind!”
“...!”
The members of the Su Ning Guild nodded in unison. Even in their eyes, Tae-hyun was more than capable of doing such a thing!
“Check under the walls. He might have buried them there.”
Rumble!
“Hey!!!”
You have been crushed by the collapsing wall.
Your left leg has been fractured.
The walls, which were already highly unstable from the raids, collapsed with the slightest touch. Consequently, the guild members crushed beneath the rubble had to go through a massive ordeal just to clean up the mess. The Su Ning Guild was trembling in fear over non-existent engineering traps left by Tae-hyun!
But there were others who were trembling in even greater terror.
...It seems the enemies have returned.
W-What should we do?
When is Master coming back?
These were the winged demons pretending to be statues in the inner castle! They were the demons Tae-hyun had left behind because they couldn't fit into the underground dungeon. Watching the Su Ning Guild members wander around, the winged demons stiffened their bodies in sheer tension.
“Oh, it's a statue?”
“Tsk, looks like a poorly made statue. Usually, you get a bonus if you look at a well-crafted one.”
“Nothing in this damn castle is in one piece.”
Fortunately, the guild members didn't notice a thing! Thus, the winged demons had to hold their breath in the inner castle, not even daring to blink.
*
“Welcome, Count Kim Tae-hyun!”
“It is an honor, Your Highness.”
The First Prince of the Auston Kingdom had a somewhat sly and petty appearance. He had a face far better suited for a corrupt courtier than a king!
“So, you wish to support me?”
“...”
Tae-hyun hadn't said a single word, yet the prince was already demanding support out of nowhere! Cain trembled in fear. No! Don't draw your sword here! There's an entire army here! But Cain's worries were entirely in vain. Tae-hyun was a man who could don a mask whenever the situation called for it!
“Haha. Of course, Your Highness.”
“As expected of Count Kim Tae-hyun! I knew I was a good judge of character. I heard you are building temples of the Archisus Church in the cities and castles of my kingdom. Do you plan to build one here in Canaan Castle as well?”
“If you would permit it, of course.”
Thanks to the rampaging Orcs, finding an intact castle or city was a monumental task. Yet, Canaan Castle was a rare exception, remaining prosperous and completely unscathed. This was because it served as the First Prince's headquarters. The First Prince's army and the powerful swordsmen under his command were all gathered here!
You should've used those troops to fight the Orcs... Tae-hyun cursed the First Prince internally. If the prince had fought with all his might in the Auston Kingdom from the very beginning, Tae-hyun wouldn't have had to come all this way and cause such a massive ruckus. The Orcs would have been stopped long before they ever reached Tae-hyun's territory!
“Is that so? You wish to build a temple? How much do you intend to offer me?”
At the First Prince's words, not only Cain but now Lee Da-bi was trembling in fear. Please don't kill him!
“Haha, no amount of gold offered to Your Highness could ever be considered a waste. My only fear is that my humble sincerity might fall short of your expectations.”
Contrary to everyone's worries, Tae-hyun maintained an incredibly polite and friendly demeanor. And with that, a cascade of additional effects was triggered!
You possess a noble title. The First Prince's attitude toward you changes.
Due to your high [Charisma], you receive a bonus to the First Prince's attitude toward you.
You possess the Intermediate Speech skill. You receive an additional bonus to the First Prince's attitude toward you.
“There is no loyal subject quite like Count Kim Tae-hyun! If only I had a talent like you under my command, I would have unified a kingdom like this in an instant! Why don't you leave Atali Kingdom and come over to my side? A talent like you is far too good for those fools in Atali Kingdom!”
The First Prince was practically overflowing with favorability! Anyone watching would have thought the two had been working together for a decade.
“Will you grant me a fief then?”
“Well, that's a bit... Every fief in the kingdom already has an owner. I can't very well give you my own land, can I? But a loyal subject like you would surely come to serve me even without a fief. Isn't that right?”
He is practically begging to be fleeced.
Even without this, Tae-hyun was already in a perfect position to scam him, but the prince was actively fueling his motivation.