Chapter 117: The One Who Will Become King
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 117: The One Who Will Become King
“Hurry, hurry!”
Rune was rushing me, even though Macherite hadn’t even finished loading all the bags yet.
They had been loading for an hour, and they weren’t even halfway through. There were already three carriages dedicated solely to luggage.
I only had one somewhat large bag, and even that wasn’t even half full. It was a stark difference.
Is the number of bags as different as the difference between men and women?
If it were just Rune, I might understand, but while Yarismal and Eris didn’t have as much as Rune, they certainly didn’t have little.
“Hwaaaa-am, hmmm… Oh?”
“Narupa, a noble yawning so openly? How rude.”
Narupa, who had stayed up all night handling backlogged company work, was scolded by Rune mid-yawn.
It was a rare sight. Rune actually scolding Narupa.
“Rune.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you think you have too little luggage?”
Excuse me?
“Ah~ You think so too?”
“If we’re going to Najune Hot Springs, there’s massages, waxing, and all sorts of things to do. Is this really enough for an aesthetic treatment?”
“Ah… I won’t be able to do some of those things…”
“Why?”
“I have to handle a few administrative matters for Hus that the Count gave me.”
“Oh, the successor.”
“In a way, you’re a successor too.”
“No, Rune. I was the CEO from the very beginning.”
“How annoying.”
While the sisters were bickering, Yarismal and Eris—who, like me, were going to Najune for the first time—were exchanging looks, asking each other if they knew anything about these ‘aesthetic treatments.’
Seeing them both shake their heads, it was clear neither knew.
Of course, neither did I.
Diane was just standing there blankly, watching the luggage being loaded, just like me. She was only carrying a single bag herself.
“So, where’s Narupa’s luggage?”
“I’ve already prepared one luggage carriage for now.”
One whole carriage?
I guess she had loaded it in advance.
Macherite seemed to have the same thought, letting out a sigh of relief.
Narupa raised an eyebrow at the carriage driver.
“What are you doing? There’s more inside. Get moving and load it.”
It seemed the wives’ bullying had shifted from Diane to Macherite.
* * *
The receptionist of the Lukart Adventurer Guild—no, the new Branch Manager—knocked on the office door, wearing an outfit that left her chest wide open.
“It is the Branch Manager.”
“Enter.”
“Excuse me.”
When she opened the door and entered, the Crown Prince was sitting on the edge of the bed, not wearing a single stitch of clothing. Beside him were women, also naked, serving his body.
“Mmm, yes, right there. That is the spot that pleases this body, the future of this kingdom. You’re quite skilled. It might be worth doing one more time before I bestow you upon another man.”
“I am honored…”
The woman performing a messy service between his legs offered a refined word of thanks that felt entirely out of place.
“Spread them.”
At the Crown Prince’s command, the woman turned around on her own, knelt, and spread both cheeks of her buttocks wide.
“Ugh… Ah…!”
Contrary to her moans, the woman’s face was hideously distorted.
She likely wasn’t wet at all.
It must have been the pain of raw flesh being forcibly rubbed, but the Branch Manager knew well that even if the woman bled, she would never become wet.
The woman was gritting her teeth, not shedding a single tear.
“Report.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Branch Manager unfurled a letter sent from the Adventurer Guild headquarters. It had been sealed with the headquarters’ seal, so she quickly scanned the contents she hadn’t been able to check yet.
Seeing the Branch Manager’s eyes widen, the Crown Prince urged her on.
“Speak at once!”
“Ye-yes!”
The Branch Manager re-read the letter to confirm she hadn’t misread it.
“It says that the Hero-rank adventurer Rene’s party has effectively completed the conquest of the Magic Tower Dungeon.”
“Effectively completed? It’s either a clear or it isn’t. What is this ‘effectively’?”
When the Crown Prince stopped his hips, the woman he was using finally exhaled a long-held breath. The sweat pouring from her forehead alone made it clear she wasn’t feeling any pleasure.
The Branch Manager tried her best to ignore the woman as she answered the Crown Prince.
“When monsters are defeated in the Magic Tower Dungeon, they drop magic stones. Magic stones are a core material for magitech products and are essential for maintaining the convenient lifestyle provided by the Diberum Group. However, if the boss monster of the Magic Tower Dungeon is defeated and the dungeon is fully cleared, magic stones will no longer be produced. Therefore, it seems they suppressed the boss monster just enough to ensure magic stones can still be harvested.”
“What is that limit? More importantly, what was the identity of the boss monster?”
The Crown Prince immediately asked about the boss’s identity. As long as the Demons existed, it was difficult for the Kingdom to exert global influence, and royal authority was bound to weaken.
“As Your Highness suspected, the boss of the Magic Tower Dungeon was one of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“Which one? Must I ask every single detail for you to answer?”
“It was Liras of Greed, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. It is said they extracted his soul, placed it into the body of the mage Resin—the woman who betrayed Alto Bertrand—and sealed it within a magic stone crystal.”
“Can a soul be considered safely suppressed with just a seal?”
“It is reported that they didn’t just seal it; they tore the soul within the shell to shreds and shattered its mind.”
“Hmm…”
The Crown Prince, who took after his father in being cowardly and suspicious, scratched his unshaven chin in thought before nodding with satisfaction.
“That should be sufficient.”
“Ah! Ah!”
As he suddenly resumed his movements, the woman who had been holding her breath let out a sharp cry at the unexpected assault and pain, her chest heaving.
His sadistic urges satisfied by her vulnerability, the Crown Prince grinned and slapped the woman’s buttocks hard.
“Aang!”
Unable to hold back, the woman jerked her head up, and her eyes met the Branch Manager’s.
Her bangs fell to the side, revealing bloodshot eyes that glared at the Branch Manager.
It was Banan.
The woman being taken by the Crown Prince was none other than Banan.
Her party, which had been following Mirei’s party from the border on Yarismal’s orders to capture Krima, had lost them due to a ridiculous mistake.
After being severely beaten by Yarismal, Banan had been tossed to the late-arriving Crown Prince and reduced to a mere plaything for his pleasure.
Before entering the Crown Prince’s office—specifically, in front of this mansion—the Branch Manager had seen Banan’s man sitting blankly, hunched against a wall.
And she saw his women watching over him from a distance.
The women wanted to go and comfort him directly, but they were staying low, knowing they would surely be dragged away the moment they caught the Crown Prince’s eye.
He had been a thug through and through, but in his own way, he was a man who looked after Banan and the other women.
Still, the fact that this party had looked down on Alto would never change.
The Crown Prince, claiming he couldn’t hold his head up before Alto Bertrand out of grief, was currently sleeping with every woman in Lukart.
Whether they were married or not, whether their men resisted or not, he took them, telling the men to feel the heart of Alto Bertrand, whose woman had been stolen. At the same time, he collected over 80% in taxes, telling them to feel the injustice Alto had suffered from being exploited.
Then, he pushed adventurers into the dungeon day after day.
Coincidentally, the Lukart Dungeon’s quality was also declining during this period.
Instead of monsters dropping valuable materials, only things like Goblins appeared, spitting out trivial, crude, old weapons or junk. The residents of Lukart were suffering.
If even a hint of rebellion was shown, the Crown Prince crushed them mercilessly.
Claiming they showed no remorse, he would imprison people and starve them for three days without a drop of water.
Even if they wanted to use women to get food, the Crown Prince and his cronies would take them, use them, and discard them, so the men were being forced to the front lines.
However, the men of Lukart, steeped in inertia, only stood around blankly in awkward stances, not knowing what to do.
“If it were Alto, he wouldn’t be standing still; he would have come to take my head immediately. He was a man of resolve. Among the soldiers, he was the most manly of men.”
Seeing the Lukart men who couldn’t move a finger, the Crown Prince mocked them bitingly.
Yet, the men still said nothing.
The women were disappointed in the men of Lukart.
An invisible line was being drawn between the genders, and cracks were forming.
Disappointment toward the men who helplessly let their women be taken.
Men who weren’t even bold enough to show their faces to those women.
The gazes directed at the defeated dogs were nothing but cold.
It was only because they were Banan and that man that they were enduring this humiliation and waiting for each other.
“Wonderful. Truly, he is Alto Bertrand! Even though he didn’t come at my Royal Father’s summons, he is handling the Demons on his own. This must surely be due to his bond with me!”
“It is truly a great blessing.”
“Indeed, it is!”
“Then, what will you do regarding the dungeon clear reward for Rene’s party?”
The Crown Prince frowned at the Branch Manager’s question.
Looking down, he saw that his member was covered in blood. No wonder it had felt slippery without any stiffness.
The Crown Prince kicked Banan’s buttocks with his foot, knocking her forward.
“It’s gotten dirty, Branch Manager.”
The Branch Manager bit the inside of her lip ever so slightly.
Only then did Banan collapse completely, weeping silently, while the Branch Manager took her place and took the Crown Prince into her mouth.
It was fishy and foul.
“The Lukart bastards seem to be showing quite a bit of remorse. The time is drawing near.”
The Crown Prince placed both hands proudly on his hips and grinned.
“Inform Alto Bertrand and Rene’s party. If they attend the Victory Commemoration Ceremony with all the war veterans except for the deceased Yobeste, this future King will grant them a sincere reward for all that I haven’t been able to provide! Mmm… Ugh…! Splendid. To think of the faces of those veterans prostrating themselves before me…! Mmmmmm…!”
Feeling not just the fishy taste but a slimy, bitter flavor mixing in her throat, the Branch Manager barely managed to resist the urge to bite down hard.