Chapter 159: The Unexpected Quest(3)

Luke flinched as he recognized the name. He thought he heard that name somewhere, but he can't place it. When Luke heard someone chuckling behind him, he jumped in his seat. It's a soft, deep voice.

"Ah, so it is finally my time to show myself to him huh..."

Luke slowly rotates his head to look over his shoulder. When he noticed a grinning face looking down at him, his eyes widened. Luke then suddenly remembered something, as if something had finally clicked into place in his mind.

'How could I have forgotten about this guy!?'

Curly ash-colored hair, deep red crimson eyes, and a vertical scar that runs across his right brow and eye. There is no doubt about it, this is the guy...

The King of the Western Underworld and the Chief of Mercenaries, Marcel Pierce.

Luke gulped; he never expected to see him so soon. And he had no idea he'd see him here. The one who helped Reece the most in the shadows by gathering information across the continent and the one who added military troops to the war against the demon world. It's him, the odd character who works for no one.

While Luke was thinking about these things, he noticed Marcel walking past him and towards the available couch in front of him. Marcel then took a glass and poured himself some wine. Marcel then smiled as he looked at Luke, who was still staring at him.

"What's with that stare commander? No, I mean, young master?"

Luke blinked and shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable. Marcel called Luke 'commander' on purpose to put him on the spot. He probably thought Luke was like those nobles in the banquet hall, conceited of their position and easily irritated when it was trampled. Fortunately, Luke is nothing like that or does not plan to, so he smiled at Marcel.

"It's nothing, King of the Underworld, no, Chief of the Mercenaries, don't mind my stare."

Marcel's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Luke.

"How did you find out? Did his highness here tell you about that?"

Lance smirked.

"I didn't say anything to him. He's exactly like that; he's full of surprising information. Other than you, he could be the best source of information."

Marcel cocked his head to the side, inspecting Luke from head to toe.

"He appears to be too frail to be a mercenary, so perhaps a spy? If so, by whom?"

Lance shakes his head as he looks at Luke, who raises his brows at them.

"I doubt it; this guy just wanted peace for himself. And if he is a spy, he will not go so far as to become a commander and defend the kingdom."

Marcel agreed with a nod of his head.

"True, but he's an oddball. When I looked up his information, I discovered that he has none. His most recent records, which I obtained, showed him becoming a noble."

"Yeah, he's a bit of a headache."

Luke couldn't stand it any longer when they were yapping about him as if he weren't there, so he decided to speak up.

"Hey, I am still here. Don't ignore me."

Lance sighed and took a sip of his wine. He then spoke to Marcel, which irritated Luke greatly.

"All right, report on the southern kingdoms' alliance with the Dark Eye."

Marcel smiled and spoke as he sipped his wine.

"It was a pretty easy task actually, since I know what they are fond of and their dark family secrets, it was easy to negotiate."

Then Luke spoke up.

"By negotiate, you mean threaten."

"That is correct; it is the best way to complete the task. Anyways here."

Marcel then placed a piece of paper on the table, which Lance and Luke examined. Then they noticed the word [Treaty] in the title and four-hand signatures from the four northern and southern kings. While looking at this, Luke blinked, while Lance simply grinned.

"Excellent work."

"Once again, it is a simple task."

Lance took the treaty and placed it on his desk beside him, while Marcel casually drank wine in front of him. Luke then asked a question.

"Are the two of you close?"

Marcel put down his drink and smiled at him.

"You can say that. But, to be precise, I'd say we've had a master-servant relationship since we were eight."

Luke's brow furrowed.

"What? Since you were eight years old?"

Marcel nodded and pointed to the scar on his right eye. It is his scar that distinguishes him from everyone else in the novel.

"Do you see this? I received this scar from his majesty when he was only eight years old."

When Luke looks at Marcel, he appears stunned. He cannot believe it, that scar was caused by Lance?! And, get this, they've been working together since they were eight years old! What kind of children were they?!

Well, he shouldn't be the one to speak up because he has two children, who were far above average.

While in the middle of disbelief, he heard Lance speaking. Luke then turned his gaze to him, where he saw Lance's spine-chilling smile.

"How come you're surprised? Don't tell me you thought I grew up perfectly fine in this hellish palace by myself. "

"Ah..."

Marcel then jumped in, laughing.

"I tell you, His Highness was a crazy kid back then."

And so, Marcel began telling the story of how he and Lance met... To be honest, Luke doesn't want to hear this, but Marcel began narrating before he could even speak to stop him.

[Marcel, who is eight years old, is now with the other noble children of Reece. They were all gathered around Marcel, who was attempting to demonstrate his swordsmanship skills. The kids all applaud in amazement.

"Wow! That's incredible!"

"Wow, you're so cool!"

"As one would expect from the Pierce Family heir!"

Marcel stood in the center, smiling broadly and taking in the compliments directed at him. He then stood tall and rubbed his nose, feeling all-powerful and mighty.

"Heh, what I just showed you is just the fundamentals! I have far more abilities than that! "

"Really?"

The children all paused and turned their heads to the side. They then noticed a golden blonde boy with soulless green eyes staring at them. The children then scowled and began to whisper to one another, all while staring with disgust at the boy.

"It's the deserted crown prince..."

"What brings him here? And why is he staring at us like that?"

"He should've just stayed inside, he ruined the fun."

Marcel turned to face the children who were whispering around him. He then looked directly at the boy, who was also staring at him. Marcel then grinned as a thought occurred to him.

"Well if it isn't this Lance, the infamous crown prince. What has brought you here? Your royal highness?"

The children laughed as they recognized the obvious mockery in Marcel's tone. He's clearly mocking Lance for being ignored by the royal family.

But instead of getting mad, Lance just stood there quietly and spoke to Marcel.

"Didn't you say you have more skills than what you just demonstrated?"

Marcel then smiled broadly.

"That's correct! Why? Do you wish to engage in a duel with me, your highness?"

"Sure."

Marcel and the kids came to a halt and stared in disbelief at Lance. Lance's response is not at all what they expected. Marcel, on the other hand, needs to be cool about this unexpected scenario, so he faked a cough and smiled cockily.

"Your highness, I believe you will suffer serious injuries if you duel with me. Are you certain about this? I'm giving you some time to think."

Lance cocked his head sideways. With his soulless eyes, he then looked directly at Marcel's face. Lance's eyes appear far more mature and experienced than the others for an eight-year-old child, making Marcel feel threatened.

"You're the one who offered to duel, and now you're being considerate?"

'Are you scared, perhaps?'

Marcel's fists were clenched. Lance didn't say those last words but Marcel felt like that is what Lance was supposed to say but stopped saying it just to save his face. He is being pitied by a kid who is more pitiful than him, which is extremely humiliating for the egotistical Marcel. As a result, Marcel grinned angrily at him.

"All right, your highness, let us duel. Don't cry if I break a few bones in your body!"

The children all clapped in amazement as they gazed at Marcel.

"Go get him!"

"Show him how it's done!"

"Go! Marcel!"

Marcel and Lance just stared at each other, oblivious to the children's raucous applause. Marcel is staring at Lance with menacing eyes, while Lance is staring at it soullessly. Marcel spoke again after a few seconds of staring.

"How about we make a deal? If I win, you must dance naked for us!"

The kids gasped and then burst out laughing. They are now extremely hyped with the addition of such punishment.

Lance spoke calmly, ignoring the laughter and the ridiculous deal.

"Alright, but if I win..."

Marcel has come to a halt and is waiting for Lance's next words. For some reason, he began to feel anxious about what he would say next.

'What am I worried about? He'll lose regardless! That's correct! I'll beat him right away!'

When Marcel noticed Lance opening his mouth again, he gulped.

"...You will work under me. For the rest of your days."

Marcel remained motionless, and the children's laughter ceased. They all looked at Lance in astonishment and disbelief.

"Wait, what did he just say?"

"Does he want a Pierce to work for him?"

"Has he gone insane?!"

In an instant, Marcel's vision darkened and his face hardened. He then cast a murderous glare at Lance.

"All right... Let's do it."

"Sure."

Marcel clenched his teeth and trailed Lance as he walked towards the training grounds. The knights they meet on the way all looked at Lance with a confused look but pardoned it when they saw Marcel following behind. Lance took a sword from the storage room as Marcel began stretching when they arrived at the training grounds. Crowds of children watching from behind him are all cheering for Marcel. Marcel looked at them and just nodded at them as if he's saying he will definitely win. He cannot bear to goof around so he is trying to be serious.

"Let's get started."

Marcel's focus shifted to Lance, who had finally obtained a sword. Marcel then scoffed as he observed Lance's form... He has no form at all, he is simply standing.

'He dares to challenge and swordsman with his form like that?!'

One of the children walked between Lance and Marcel, looking at both of them before raising his arm; he is the duel's starter.

"Let the duel begin!"

To avoid disrupting the duel, the kid dropped his hand and dashed back towards the crowd. Marcel then grabbed his sword and dashed towards Lance.

"Take this!"

Marcel then slashed his sword vertically at Lance, who simply dodged it, taking Marcel by surprise.

'He evaded it?!'

Marcel clenched his teeth and swung his sword at Lance once more, but Lance just kept avoiding with no expression on his face, which irritates Marcel. Lance simply looked at the short-fused Marcel glaring at him, sighed deeply, and crouched down to level Marcel's ear. He then said something to Marcel that surprised him.

"Your swordsmanship sucks..."

"What?! Why you-!"

Marcel was about to slash his sword at Lance's neck when Lance crouched even lower and kicked his foot, causing Marcel to lose balance and fall off on his buttocks. When Marcel looked up, he saw Lance's gleaming sword in the sun aiming down at him. Fortunately, Marcel reacted quickly and moved back, causing Lance's blade to miss and strike the ground instead. Marcel frowned and rose to his feet. He was just about to do his form when Lance immediately rushed forward towards him.

"You're too slow; even the assassins who come to my bedroom to try to kill me every day outperform you."

Lance's sentence caused Marcel's eyes to widen.

'What? Assassins? Every day, he is assassinated?!'

Marcel gulped and managed to avoid Lance's blade in time while processing what Lance had just said. Marcel then stepped back, creating some breathing room between them. Marcel then takes a deep breath to catch his breath.

'This... This guy is even crazier than I thought...'

While looking at the calm Lance, beads of sweat began to form on Marcel's brow. He now realized Lance is not ordinary; he is capable of saving himself from assassins, and he does so on a daily basis! He is not a child...

He is a fucking monster.

Marcel has no reason not to believe Lance's words. Lance is more used to evading and doing one thrust fatal movements, he could tell just by looking at his form as he dodged his attacks. Lance's movements are like fighting an adult's.

"Pay attention to the duel."

Marcel's eyes widened as Lance's face obstructed his vision. He's so deep in thought that he doesn't notice Lance approaching him. Because Marcel couldn't avoid Lance's attack, he decided to parry it with his sword, causing them to come to a halt while trying to push each other back.

"Marcel Pierce, a member of the infamous Pierce family, who rose to prominence after founding the first, and possibly last powerful Mercenary guild. Belongs to no kingdom and controls all of the continent's information."

When Lance started talking about his family, Marcel flinched but quickly smirked.

"That's correct. You appear to know quite a bit about my family."

Lance locked his gaze on Marcel's cocky expression. Lance then said something that only Marcel could hear. And this information absolutely shocked Marcel.

"On the outside, the Pierce Family is known as the founder and leader of the Mercenary Guild, but on the inside..."

Lance gave Marcel a small cold smile that sent shivers down his spine.

"...The Pierce family rules the Underworld. And you, Marcel Pierce, are the next heir to become the King of the Underworld. It is nice to see a fellow soon-to-be-king here."

Marcel's mind went blank, and he was too stunned to move. Lance became aware of this and slashed his sword; fortunately, Marcel snapped and sloppily blocked the blow. Since Lance's swing is strong and Marcel's blocking is weak, Marcel's sword flew away. Marcel looked at his sword, which had flown away, and then at Lance. When he saw Lance's blade inches away from his face, his eyes widened. Marcel can't avoid it; it's too late.

Slash!

"Aaahh!!"

Marcel collapsed on the ground while holding his bleeding right eye. Marcel's eyes widened and his eyes are shaking. When Marcel looked up, his entire body froze.

Lance stands in front of him, holding a bloodied sword and looking down on him. Lance's emerald green eyes shone with malice as he looked down at Marcel as if he were nothing more than a worthless ant. Marcel feared someone other than his father for the first time, and it is this eight-year-old kid who is looking down at him with a mature gaze. He could do nothing but stare at the cruel green eyes while sitting on the cold hard ground, holding his bloodied right eye.

Marcel's body jolted and shook as Lance crouched down towards him. Lance then reached into his pocket, Marcel expecting him to pull out a weapon or something that would end his life, but Lance pulled out something unexpected. It's a healing potion.

'What? He had a healing potion with him the whole time? What exactly does he need that for? Wait... Don't tell me he expected me to lose?!'

Not knowing about Marcel's thoughts, Lance puts down the potion on the ground and looked at Marcel directly in the eye. Lance then addressed him while looking at him.

"I won, and now you must work for me. Now, heal that injury of yours; I don't want to be held accountable for it."

Lance then stood up and passed by the frozen crowd of children. Marcel just looked at Lance's back walking away from him. Lance's body was so calm that you'd never guess he'd just fought a duel seconds before.

And so, Marcel will never forget the day his pride was shattered by an abandoned prince, and the day he wore the scar in his right eye to symbolize his submission to Lance's rule.]