Chapter 186
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Coveted Talent (1)
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“The son of Arkos Frontera, Lloyd Frontera, pays his respects to the great and almighty Sultan.”
Black marble floors.
Pillars clad in gold.
A ceiling so dizzyingly high its height defied estimation.
In that vast expanse, Lloyd’s voice echoed.
Stepping across the smooth marble, passing between the pillars, he knelt and bowed his head toward the lofty throne atop sixteen steps.
Yet the Sultan, ‘Samar Khan al-Ahinshad,’ did not respond to Lloyd’s greeting.
He merely gazed down at Lloyd with deeply sunken eyes.
‘So this is the one.’
A flicker of complexity crossed Sultan Samar Khan’s gaze.
Lloyd Frontera.
He had heard much about this man.
No, he knew a great deal.
It was inevitable.
The Monster Domino Operation had been carried out under his own orders.
And the greatest emerging noble of the Magentano Kingdom, born as its ultimate result, was none other than Lloyd.
‘I thought it would render Magentano’s eastern border unusable for at least several decades.’
It had failed.
Even after over a dozen territories were swept away.
Only the smallest one among them had held out to the end.
It had blocked and repelled every invading monster.
But that was not all.
It had taken in tens of thousands of refugees who lost their homes in the Monster Domino chaos.
Backed by full support from the Magentano royal family, it rose as the center of reconstruction.
Sultan Samar Khan knew the secret behind it.
‘All those reversals centered on this man, they say.’
Lloyd Frontera.
It was because of him.
He had stopped the Monster Domino.
With his bizarre talents, he had elevated the territory into the hub of reconstruction.
But that was not all.
‘He even struck back at our western border.’
Wrinkles formed between Sultan Samar Khan’s brows.
He still couldn’t forget that report.
A portion of the monster horde sent toward Magentano had turned back on them.
Their border guards had suffered considerable damage.
And even that had been the work of this Lloyd Frontera.
‘At times—no, often—I wondered, while hearing all those related reports, always piqued with curiosity. Just how exceptional is he? Could his reputation be exaggerated? But now, seeing him in person… he’s far more brazen than I imagined.’
He recalled the earlier incident.
A high-ranking palace official had come rushing in with a report.
‘To think he’d so shamelessly indulge in such extravagant waste and luxury using the Padashar I bestowed upon him.’
It was unimaginable.
Was this brazenness?
Or sheer audacity?
Or perhaps an outright provocation?
He had granted the Padashar, a symbol of the Sultan’s utmost favor.
It should have been used with utmost humility and reverence.
Or at least, receiving favor from an enemy head of state should have been a source of shame, fitting reason and common sense.
‘Yet what was this man thinking to act that way? And how can he remain so composed even after being summoned here?’
The Sultan felt a strangeness.
He observed Lloyd for a long while like that.
Finally, his mouth opened.
“Lloyd Frontera.”
“Yes, you called for me?”
“Are you pleased?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, were you pleased using the Padashar so freely?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. Truly, immensely, sincerely pleased.”
“…That much?”
“Long live the Sultan! Long live, long live!”
“…”
Lloyd prostrated himself flat and cried out fervently.
Sultan Samar Khan clamped his mouth shut.
He had thought the man might feel a little shame.
He hadn’t expected him to show such open delight at receiving favor from an enemy ruler.
“Surprising. Are you not afraid of the Magentano King’s suspicion?”
“What suspicion do you mean?”
“The suspicion that you’ve recklessly accepted my favor and betrayed your homeland. You accepted the goodwill from an enemy ruler without refusal or hesitation. Nay, you even enjoyed it and showed gratitude without restraint. Does that not worry you?”
“Yes. It does not.”
“How so?”
“Because Her Majesty the Queen of Magentano spent far more on me.”
“…”
“It pains me to say this, but the amount Your Majesty has bestowed this time is still somewhat insufficient. But fear not, great and almighty Sultan. This humble one will forever cherish gratitude for the grace you have already shown.”
“Ha. Truly a brazen one.”
The Sultan ended up laughing.
What kind of person was this?
Yet strangely, he didn’t find him detestable.
The reason was simple.
The Sultan had lived at the center of the court his entire life.
Thus, he had endured cunning flattery and servile pretenses endlessly.
Countless subjects sought to curry favor at every moment.
To catch his eye more.
To wring even a scrap of grace.
Like flies swarming the sweet nectar of power.
Always posturing, always flattering.
But what Lloyd had just said?
It was not flattery.
Sultan Samar Khan could see that clearly.
‘Truly brazen and peculiar. To place such words on his tongue before me, utterly without pretense, straight from the heart.’
No artifice emanated from Lloyd.
The words he had just uttered.
All were honest truths.
That was why it felt so astonishing.
“Then, if I were to bestow even greater riches upon you? Would you gladly switch banners?”
Like prodding an intriguing new toy.
Or poking a strange mole cricket with a twig for the first time.
The Sultan smirked and asked.
He anticipated the response.
And Lloyd did not disappoint his expectation(?).
“This humble one dares to ask the great and almighty Sultan: would you truly wish to have under your command one who switches banners so easily?”
“Hah?”
“This humble one does love gold and jewels. Loves them immensely, not just a little. If endless wealth and glory were guaranteed, my heart would indeed waver. Yet if I were to eagerly answer yes and switch banners, I would lose Your Majesty’s trust—and this, I am well aware.”
“Hmm. You wish to switch banners eagerly, yet doing so would cost you my trust?”
“Indeed. Thus, the temptation Your Majesty dangles now is something this humble one believes he can never attain.”
“…Tch. A shrewd one.”
The Sultan chuckled with interest.
Lloyd Frontera.
Honestly, a coveted talent.
A man who had disrupted his plans.
Proof of his ability.
Moreover, a talent cherished by Magentano’s king.
If he could recruit him now?
He would prove useful time and again.
‘But if he switched for a mere handful of riches… that would be disappointing as well.’
Such a man couldn’t be trusted or relied upon, no matter his skill.
So he had tested him.
And this young fellow seemed to have already seen through his intent.
‘That only makes him more enticing.’
Satisfying.
It whetted his appetite further.
But greed had its limits.
Now was the time to address why he had summoned him.
“Very well, then I shall ask one thing. You wished to meet me, did you not?”
“Indeed.”
“And so you flaunted the Padashar deliberately?”
“Precisely so.”
Lloyd nodded.
It was true.
A calculated splurge.
A splurge with a clear purpose.
The envoy had been openly ignored.
He judged it the most efficient way to draw the Sultan’s attention in that situation.
‘So I spent lavishly. Ah, but it was even better than expected. People really should make good friends.’
Lloyd recalled the past few days.
A splurge planned with purpose.
Yet he had genuinely enjoyed it.
It was the first time in his life he had spent so freely.
He even gained a solid lesson: this is why people obsess over money.
‘That’s why people say to keep good friends. When you see those who flaunt wealth crudely, boast about money, or try to buy friendship with it—you really should stay close to them for life.’
Such friends prove useful endlessly.
If possible, nurture the bond with all sincerity.
Like the Sultan before him now.
Lloyd engraved that lesson in his heart and cautiously spoke.
“It may be presumptuous to say, but it was to implore the great and almighty Sultan to sit at the negotiation table with the envoy.”
“Me? To negotiate with the envoy?”
“Indeed.”
“Why?”
“Because war brings misfortune to all.”
Lloyd’s voice rang clear.
The Sultan curled one lip.
“I doubt that.”
“Pardon?”
“Why would war be misfortune? Simply win.”
“Does that mean Your Majesty is confident of victory in a war against Magentano?”
“Not quite.”
The Sultan’s smile deepened.
“What victory is ever promised anywhere in the world? I am not so foolish as to claim certainty. I merely know that war with the Magentano royals will bring me no loss.”
“Surely not…”
“A fine expression. You’ve already guessed my intent?”
“Are you seeking to redirect internal unrest outward?”
“Indeed. I chose well.”
“…”
Lloyd fell silent.
Redirecting internal unrest outward.
Overcoming political strife with an external enemy.
A classic tactic used by countless rulers in Earth’s own history.
His mind raced.
‘Some domestic unrest, then. He plans to bury or resolve it through war with Magentano. What could it be? Think. Recall. Memory, do your thing!’
He frantically combed through the novel Iron-Blooded Knight.
Rifled through the drawers of his memory.
After a moment.
Something faintly surfaced.
‘Drought.’
Was it when Haviel crossed the Sultanate in Iron-Blooded Knight?
There was an episode passing through a region suffering prolonged drought.
They said they couldn’t survive because of it.
That they’d all die at this rate.
Yet the Sultan showed no concern.
Buried only in the splendor of the capital Ahinsha.
So they plotted rebellion.
To topple the Sultan and usher a new era.
That’s what the enraged locals shouted.
Even provincial powerhouses, the local lords, echoed their cries.
‘In the end, a massive rebellion erupted. A civil war spanning years.’
At its close, the Sultan falls.
Surrounded layer upon layer at Ahinsha’s palace spires.
He leaps from the pinnacle to end his life.
That was the novel’s account.
‘In other words, if things continue, this Sultan’s seat is in peril.’
Of course, it might differ from the novel.
Like the Namaran incident, timing and scale could vary.
But judging from the Sultan’s demeanor now?
‘The rebellion is likely brewing. That’s why he doesn’t shy from war with Magentano. To divert eyes and quell discontent at home. And at the heart of that discontent is the prolonged drought.’
The puzzle pieces clicked in his mind.
The Sultan starts a war.
Conscripts able-bodied men from the provinces.
The families and elderly left behind lack the strength for revolt.
They can only pray for the safe return of sons, husbands, fathers dragged to the front.
Moreover, wartime conditions aid the Sultan.
The people can’t voice much discontent.
A careless outburst?
Perfect grounds to brand them as colluders with the enemy.
Plus, unrest at home could worsen the front lines, endangering drafted kin—fear that brakes their complaints.
‘Thus controlling the populace. Forcing internal unity.’
Lloyd nodded inwardly, sketching his scenario.
He grasped the Sultan’s intent.
The Sultan’s plight.
Thus…
What bait he could offer.
“Yet drought is no issue so easily buried by war—this humble one dares suggest.”
“…What?”
Lloyd’s sudden remark.
The Sultan’s brow twitched.
Lloyd, having angled the conversation precisely, continued.
“It pains this humble one to say, but seeing the great and almighty Sultan—who bestowed grace upon me—fall into hardship is unbearable.”
“…I will fall into hardship?”
“Indeed.”
“Explain.”
“Yes. With apologies…”
“Spare the flourishes.”
Perhaps because Lloyd had pinpointed ‘drought’ in one shot.
The Sultan had grown serious.
No longer smiling as before.
Not bad.
The stage for proper negotiation was set.
Lloyd sensed it and spoke.
“As the great and almighty Sultan commands, this humble one shall speak plainly. I have heard that the Kandahar region of the Sultanate suffers prolonged drought. Is this true?”
“It is.”
“Then, if this humble one resolves Kandahar’s chronic drought, will the great and almighty Sultan negotiate with Magentano’s envoy as I wish?”
“…What?”
The Sultan’s beard twitched.
“Drought? You claim you can resolve it?”
“Indeed.”
“In the heart of the desert, where even oases dry up—you, resolve it?”
“Precisely so.”
“How?”
“With apologies, I cannot reveal that until the great and almighty Sultan accepts my terms.”
“Why?”
The Sultan asked.
Lloyd finally raised his head.
Gazing at the Sultan with utmost courtesy, careful not to bruise the feelings of a wealthy patron, eyes brimming with reluctant sincerity, he earnestly replied.
“It is a trade secret.”