I really hate it whenever my bad premonition comes true. Especially when it concerns my life or death. Looking at the girls, they all had a frown on their faces as they listened to our talk.
“That… Can I ask for more specific details?”
The other countries are aiming for my life to get the top system administrator privilege. I guess I could understand that, but… Why do they want it? Can’t they settle for a normal admin privilege?
“That’s it. They want the top administrator privilege. What else do you need to know?”
The king frowned, unable to comprehend the intent of my question.
“No, I mean. Why do they even want the top administrator privilege in the first place?”
“What? If I could take it, then even I would love to have my hands on the top administrator spot!”
The king guffawed.
“But to do that, I would first need to kill you, who is also the System’s Crowned Successor. If that happens, then that bastard Agor will gain more power again.”
I felt his murderous gaze sweep toward me, making my hair stand on end. However, it faded just as fast as it appeared, and I heard him let out a long and hard sigh.
“D*mn… If only you weren’t the System’s Crowned Successor, this entire thing wouldn’t even be a problem…”
Hearing his words, conversely, I felt relief that I was actually the System’s Crowned Successor. Otherwise, this king would probably either kill me off to get the top administrator privilege for himself or just toss me to the other kingdoms to appease them.
Although my question remained unanswered, I guess the threat to my life became a bit clearer with his words.
“So? What’s the plan?”
If he was planning to just give me to the other kingdoms as a sacrifice, then he wouldn’t have spent all this time talking. As I stared at his still-scary-looking expression, a fierce grin appeared on his face.
“I like how frank you are, Will. Don’t worry, we don’t plan to sell you to the other kingdoms. Doing so would be similar to tightening the noose around our own necks too, after all.”
The king raised his right hand, and from behind him, a black hand appeared and passed a card to him.
“…!”
What’s with that hand? It was not a physical object, nor was it an energy body. Illusion? If not, then there should at least be some energy traces left behind. While I was thinking about the black hand, the king passed the object he received from it to me.
“Here, take this.”
He flipped a gold card on top of the table, sending it to my side. I quickly slapped it on the table to prevent it from flying off and inspected it.
“This is…”
Looking at the card, it seemed weirdly familiar. Other than the color, it seemed completely identical to the VIP pass that I got once from the government office or the one that Fina had.
“… It doesn’t have a tracking or recording function… Right?”
Just in case, I need to confirm. After all, last time, I was completely blindsided by a freely given black card with a tracker and recorder attached. Now that I think about it, those functions must’ve been Miss Yu Na’s doing too. I’ll try to ask her if it’s true the next time we meet.
“What? Oh, like last time? No, there’s nothing attached to this card.”
The king smiled as he reassured me.
“This is something like a VVIP card that could let you go anywhere you wish around the kingdom without being bothered by inspections and lines and such things.”
He then snapped his fingers, making the entire room suddenly flicker in golden light. All around us, armored knights wearing golden armor appeared in the blink of an eye. The girls quickly prepared their stance, ready to fight back, but I waved my hand to stop them. After all, the armors aren’t living beings, but more like puppets.
“These armors would protect you around the clock, as long as the card is with you. They’re strong enough to give a 9th-stage tamer a hard time, but could only equal them at best.”
The king stood up and reached out his hand.
“Well, this is the best we can offer to you now. If you want, shall we assign you some tamers as guards too?”
I smiled at his offer, stood up, and took his hand in a firm handshake.
“No, it’s fine. Unless they’re god-tamer level, I don’t think I would need protection from them.”
It may sound overconfident, but I was telling nothing but the truth. If I wish to, I can kill anything before me below the 9th stage. However, doing so would make living peacefully a dream within a dream.
“Then, Will, I’ll be on my way. I still have things to do.”
“Alright, I understand King…” ．
Wait… I don’t even know his name…
As if realizing what my blunder was, the king raised his brows as he sneered. The grip on his hand strengthened, making me feel the bones in my hand creak.
“You… To think you don’t even know your own kingdom’s King’s name. If this was a normal audience, I might’ve needed to punish you for that.”
“Well, it was an informal audience after you came in late, after all. So? Name?”
“Damn kid. Even if I look like this, I’m about half as old as Zeshion! At least pay some respect.”
Although his words were a bit prickly, his face was covered in a friendly smile.
“The name’s Leonard Fighall. The last name is a bonus since you seem like you don’t even know of it.”
“Of course I don’t know of it. You’ve got a sharp intuition.”
The two of us smiled, completely cool about the snide remarks the other made. The maid seemed like she’d faint, though, noticing her pale face.
As I was about to follow King Leonard out of the room, someone burst inside and slammed the door violently.
“Y-You… You brat! H-How dare you… How dare you!!!”
At the door, a fuming, skinny man, Prince Melo, ranted.
To think he’d be able to move around this early… I thought it would take him until tomorrow to recover, honestly.