VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 2

VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 2

Days passed and turned into weeks. For the entirety of winter, Anandra continued his training with the Seven Gates. Every day, the former commander of the Blackstone Soldiers would return to the castle, injured and exhausted.

There were rumors that the king was personally supervising Anandra’s training every morning, but since Lark himself refused to divulge anything regarding the topic, no one was able to verify it.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty,” said Gaston.

Gaston’s relationship with Lark had improved greatly these past several months. Together with the Grand Chamberlain, Gaston assisted Lark with matters relating to the royal household. Moreover, he also assisted Secretary Irene with administrative matters now and then.

“I believe today marks the end of young master Anandra’s training?” said Gaston.

Lark took off his winter coat and handed it to the butler. He sat on his chair in his office. “That kid already managed to open one of the Seven Gates. Now that he’d already grasped the fundamentals of the technique, there should be no need for further guidance. It’ll be better for him to learn it on his own, at his own pace and time.”

“Of course,” said Gaston.

Although Gaston did not understand the principles regarding the so-called Seven Gates, he nodded regardless. After being with Lark for several years, he’d come to learn that there was always a reason behind everything he did.

Lark looked at the mountain of papers on top of his table. Although the amount of work he needed to do had significantly decreased since the arrival of Secretary Irene, the amount of paperwork that needed his final approval still always piled up.

Fortunately, Secretary Irene was highly competent. She always made sure to look through each and every document, summarize the important points, place markers on parts that needed addressing, and would even suggest solutions. Without her, Lark wouldn’t even have the time and leeway to train Anandra every morning.

“Your Majesty,” said Gaston. “After you left this morning, young masters George and Austen came to me and asked for your whereabouts.”

“They did?” said Lark.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Gaston. “I believe they have a favor to ask of you.”

Although the brothers were becoming rowdy ever since Lark ascended the throne, they’d never asked him for favors. After being barred from the royal kitchen due to their recent dispute with the Royal Knights, the brothers used their own money to buy whichever delicacies they were craving for. They never asked Lark for extra money, and they never abused their authority as his disciples.

Other people might see the brothers are unruly and childish, but Lark believed that they were already acting mature enough for their age. At the end of each month, the brothers also made sure to send money to their siblings in Blackstone Town.

“Send a servant and tell the kids to come see me,” said Lark. “I plan on staying here in my office the entire day.”

Gaston had gotten used to this. Ever since he’d become the king of the nation, the number of times Lark had slept for more than six hours could be counted in only one hand. Sometimes, Gaston wondered if it was alright for the king to continue at such an unhealthy pace. He was working harder than even most servants.

“As you command,” Gaston bowed his head. He added, “Also, I’ve heard from the Grand Chamberlain this morning that the pendant in your room has started emitting light.”

It was the same pendant given to him by the Dragons of the Dwarven Kingdom. Lark had expected them to contact him again sooner or later. He ordered Gaston to fetch the pendant for him.

“Leave the room and let no one enter unless I tell you to,” said Lark to Gaston.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After Gaston left, Lark channeled mana into the pendant. A clicking sound was heard and the pendant opened, revealing the small communication crystal inside.

Lark activated the communication crystal. The same illusion magic from before seeped out of the artifact and enclosed the entire room. But this time, Lark did not find himself in pitch-black darkness. Instead, he found himself inside the heart of the Dragon’s Lair, surrounded by five crimson Dragons.

“You’ve finally answered our call, King Lark,” said the Ancient Fire Dragon Vulcan.

“It’s been a while, Vulcan,” greeted Lark. He did not show fear despite being surrounded by five fifty-meter-large Dragons. And unlike before, there was no longer hostility within his voice.

“Hmmm… you seem more,” Vulcan chose his words carefully, “amicable, human.”

“I’m not shameless enough to be rude to the Dragon who provided me with such high-quality monster corpses,” said Lark. “I haven’t thanked you properly before. For sending me the monster corpses and those dwarves – thank you.”

Lark lightly bowed his head as he expressed his gratitude.

The Fire Dragons inside the Lair were surprised at Lark’s sudden change in demeanor. He no longer treated them as rude, talking lizards. Instead, it felt like he was now treating them as his partners – as an equal.

“Seeing this side of you doesn’t feel bad,” said Vulcan. “I sent you this message to check if you’ve properly received the corpses and the precious metals I’ve ordered Lerenon to give you.”

As the king of one of the most powerful nation in the continent, King Lerenon ‘Blood Mithril’ Rugard held power and authority on par or even above the Emperor. But the Ancient Fire Dragon treated the king of the dwarves as nothing but a mere slave who attended to his beck and call.

Vulcan said, “If you’re that happy with the monster corpses, I can easily send you more. This time, I’ll personally order my youngest to slaughter the monsters of the Bottomless Gorge.”

It was an enticing offer.

Lark heard from the dwarves sent here as envoys that the Bottomless Gorge was home to tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of powerful monsters. The Bottomless Gorge was so large that even the dwarves did not know the exact number of tunnels inside it.

Moreover, if a Dragon personally went to that area, it would be far easier to procure the corpses of powerful monsters. It would be more efficient than sending in a dwarven army.

“F-Father! You’re asking me to go to that filthy place?!” the Dragon behind Vulcan protested.

Vulcan bared his fangs and growled at the young Dragon. “Agnus, you damn hatchling! You dare question my decision? Do you want me to rip off those damn wings of yours?”

Agnus cowered. He trembled, “N-No, of course not, father.”

Vulcan snorted. “Even the stupid dwarves managed to kill thousands of those insignificant monsters. It should be easy for a Dragon like you! Stop complaining and do what I tell you!”

The last few words of Vulcan were a roar, and it shook the entire Lair. Agnus took several steps back and lowered his head.

Knowing how prideful Dragons were, Lark wondered what exactly Blackie did to Vulcan that he became this submissive to Lark. It felt like he wanted to earn Lark’s favor, no matter what.

Vulcan cleared his throat. “I apologize, King Lark.”

“It’s fine,” said Lark. “As for your offer, I’ll gladly accept additional monster corpses, Vulcan.”

“I will make sure not to disappoint you,” said Vulcan.

The conversation with the Dragons ended there. Lark felt that Vulcan wished to speak with him regarding a certain topic, but decided not to in the end.

After speaking with the Dragon, Lark called Gaston back into the room.

“Your Majesty,” said Gaston. “Young masters George and Austen have arrived.”

“Let them in,” said Lark.

After obtaining Lark’s permission, the brothers entered the room and ran toward Lark’s table.

“Master!” said George in a loud voice.

“Master, we’ve come,” said Austen.

Lark smiled. He’d been so busy nowadays that he hardly had the time to see them. “It’s been several days since we’ve last seen each other. How’s your training?”

George grumbled. “It’s about training again.”

Austen nudged George at the ribs. He said in a low voice, “Shut it, George. Although he’s our master, he’s still the king of this nation. Mind your manners.”

Austen politely replied, “We’re already capable of casting basic fire spells in just a second, master.”

And to prove his words, the brothers raised their index fingers and channeled mana into it. In just a second, fireballs thrice the size of a fist formed before them. The brothers compressed the ball of fire and willed them to spin rapidly.

“Well done,” Lark nodded in approval. “And your physical training?”

The brothers glanced at each other. They dispelled their spells. George scratched his head and said in an awkward voice, “I-It’s going well, of course! W-We’ve been training our physical bodies diligently, master!”

It was a lie, Lark knew. He chuckled. Lark was aware that ever since Anandra stopped supervising them to focus on his training with the Seven Gates, the brothers did their physical training in a perfunctory manner. He no longer delved deep into this topic since he knew that Anandra would punish the two later.

Well, they were still kids. And Lark had no intention of being too harsh on them.

“I heard from Gaston that you have a favor to ask of me,” said Lark.

The brothers hesitated.

“Yes, master,” said Austen. He took out a parchment from his pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on Lark’s table.

“This is?” said Lark.

“A portrait,” said Austen.

The face of an old man was drawn on the parchment.

Austen continued, “We hired an artist in the city to draw this portrait. This should be more or less enough for people to find him.”

This was the first time Lark saw the old man’s face. As far as he knew, the brothers had been orphans at a very young age. They had no surviving relatives aside from their younger siblings. Before Lark met them, the two were paupers who worked as errand boys in Lion City.

George explained, “He’s the old man who made it possible for us to meet you, Master. Back when we had nothing in our name, when we were hardly eating once a day, this man helped us.”

The brothers started recounting their story – their days when they were still living in Lion City.

According to the brothers, the old man was a friend of their late father. Despite being a mere stall vendor, the old man gave the two of them a silver coin, which granted them the opportunity to go to Blackstone Town.

“We’ve managed to save more than a dozen gold coins by now,” said Austen.

When they combined their salaries together, the brothers were earning a gold coin each month. It was an amount that could easily grant them a comfortable lifestyle even in the capital.

“The silver coin the old man gave us…” said George. “Although it may not seem much now, it meant a lot to us back then, master. And we’ve never once forgotten how that old man help us. He’s old, and with his injured hips and declining health, he’s unable to leave Lion City even if he wishes to.”

“We heard from Big Mona that the Middle-Grade Potion master created is being sold for more than a hundred gold coins in the Black Market. Moreover, it’s so rare that it’s hard to procure, even if someone has money for it,” said Austen. “So, we’ve decided to come to you directly for this favor.”

The brothers bowed their heads at the same time.

Austen said, “Please sell us a Middle-Grade Potion. I know that a dozen gold coins aren’t enough, but if you’ll permit it, please allows us to pay you a portion of the remaining balance each month.”

“You plan on giving the potion to heal the injury of that old man?” said Lark.

“Yes,” said Austen.

Lark fell silent. He sometimes heard the brothers discussing how much money they’d managed to save up every now and then. But he hadn’t expected that they’d been saving for this moment.

As their master, Lark felt proud of them.

“Big Mona should still be at the capital,” said Lark. “Speak with him and he’ll give you a Middle-Grade Potion. Free.”

The eyes of the brothers widened.

“F-Free?” said George.

Lark chuckled. He stood up and placed his hands on the brother’s heads. “You should have just told me about this from the start. I can give you more of those potions if you want. As your master, this much is natural.”

Lark said, “Gaston.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Send word to Reginald Vont,” said Lark. “Tell him to find the old man and give him a regular position within the Merchants Guild.”

With this, the old man would no longer need to continue being a stall vendor.

Lark said to the brothers. “Austen, George. Listen. From now on, make sure to tell me things like this. I was your master before I became king. I’ll make sure to help the two of you, no matter what. Remember that.”