Chapter 84: Forest(1)

"Well, well, well, look who's here."

Luke sighed. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. From his voice, it must be Lance, the other golden blonde boy. Luke could feel Lance standing beside him. Lance then asked him with a frown.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hmm? Tell you what?"

"Haa, you bastard. Why didn't you tell me that you were also acquainted with the king of the Flor and Thea kingdom?"

"....I was about to tell you though."

"Haa...."

Lance frowned and drank his wine. He then asked Luke, who was calmly drinking his wine beside him.

"I saw Prince Elton exiting here. Did you two talk about anything interesting?"

"Hmm... Interesting, huh? He said that he wanted to gouge my eyes out."

"Pffffft!!!!!"

Lance spitted out his wine out of shock. Liam and Nash also seemed to be surprised.

"Cough! Cough! What?!"

"Brother, what?!"

•What?!?!!

Luke just sighed. He then changed the subject and asked what had been on his mind for a while now.

"Your highness, do you have any interesting information about the Edlia kingdom? In the files that Noah gave me, the only noble profile that I saw in Edlia was of the crown prince, Elton. What about the king? The nobles?"

Luke only found information about Elton when he first read about the nobles in Edlia. Luke initially assumed Noah had simply run out of money and had only managed to obtain information about Elton. The information about the king and other nobles in Edlia is completely blank or nonexistent.

"Hmm? Info about Edlia huh?.... Actually, even the other kingdoms found Edlia to be weird."

Luke looked at Lance.

"What do you mean weird?"

"Edlia is a very small kingdom located in the southeast. It is so small that traveling around the kingdom will only take you five days by carriage."

"That small?"

"Yeah, it's said that Edlia was founded a thousand years ago, after the ancient war. It is also said that the first king of Edlia is the reason why the war started and ended."

"Hmm... What about the current king?"

"We don't know. We never saw him or heard his name. All we know is that Elton is Edlia's crown prince."

"Is it the same for the nobles?"

"Yeah. We have no information about them. It is a very mysterious kingdom. But we can't bear to look down on them, despite them being small and mysterious. I heard that Elton is gathering mages right now and is training knights."

"Ho...."

Luke was silent. He didn't know that Edlia was that mysterious. Edlia was never mentioned in the novel, so seeing an extra kingdom on Noah's list is a bit surprising. And what makes matters worse, the Edlia kingdom's rulers do not even show their faces. Only Elton is the one who is openly showing himself. Luke then started to think.

'He and his kingdom are so shady. Should I trust him?'

Luke just sighed. He then talked to Lance, who was staring at him.

"Are you already done with your business with the other kingdoms?"

"Yeah, I already talked to them and they easily agreed. I also learned that Ruth already knew who was the cause of the monsters that invaded their kingdom and so did Flor. It seems that they are really angry. It is the same for the Fairy Kingdom while Thea agreed since they're close friends with the Fairy Kingdom and you are their savior."

"... That's fantastic; can I go home now?"

"Hold up."

Luke flinched. He was about to head out, but Lance suddenly called him. Luke then turned around and saw Lance's sharp stare.

"You are about to do something stupid again, aren't you?"

"....What are you talking about your highness?"

Lance frowned with his lips twitching from annoyance. He felt like Luke would do something stupid again without his knowledge, leaving him speechless again when he learned about it.

"Come on, spit it out, you bastard."

"Haa."

Luke sighed and approached Lance. He then pulled out the paper he had received from Elton and passed it onto Lance. Lance received it and opened it. He then frowned and asked while scanning the paper.

"What's this? Aren't these the nobles of the empire? What's with this time and date written below? Wait... Is this the [Moonlight Pub] I see? Isn't that where the Empire's drunk farmers go after they've finished harvesting? What are you going to do there? Get drunk and wasted?"

Luke sighed at the barrage of questions that Lance kept on spitting. He then started to explain what he had learned from Elton. After explaining, Lance looked at Luke with a blank stare.

"So... This is where the nobles, who are supporting the emperor, are gathering to prepare for a civil war? Don't tell me you believe this and plan to go there without proof that it really exists? What if it was a trap? What are you going to do?"

"That is why I planned on investigating it first."

Lance was silent. He then quietly passed the paper back to Luke and nodded. He then sighed.

"Fine, do what you want. Ask me if you need anything."

Luke nodded and entered the hall again. Erdene and Liam followed behind him. Liam was worriedly looking at Luke, while Erdene was deep in thought about something, giving the impression that he was dozing off. Sharp stares greeted Luke as he walked in. Luke sighed, having a bad feeling about this.

Soon, a swarm of nobles suddenly rushed towards Luke.

"Hello, young Master Luke! Nice to meet you!"

"Young master Luke! Look over here! Hi, my name is-"

"Young master Luke! Are you interested in becoming friends with our house?"

"Young master Luke! This is my daughter-!"

"Young Master Luke, my daughter wants to be friends with you!"

Liam walked in front of Luke and tried to block the nobles who were trying to approach Luke. Luke saw this with a blank face. He doesn't know what to feel anymore. He wanted to cry, shout, and flip things over, but he couldn't decide what to do, so he was just blankly standing there.

The nobles who were approaching Luke saw his calm face with amazement. In all years of their life, if a noble is being swarmed with other nobles like this they will either be smug or be prideful. Some will even show their disgust and hatred, but Luke was different. How can he be so calm?

"My, my, how rowdy."

The nobles all stopped and looked behind them. They then flinched and made way for the person who spoke. Luke then saw who they were making way for and smiled reflexively. He believed that if he didn't do this, he would punch the approaching smug face in the face. Who is the approaching man, you ask?

"Hello, Duke Britch. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Luke smiled at the man in his thirties who was approaching him. Britch had a very smug and prideful look on his face, while his clothes had shining gold buttons and other fancy accessories. He also has a cane made of the most expensive wood, with a large diamond set at the end. Anyone who sees him can definitely tell that he is rich and very influential.

The Duke of Britch smiled proudly again. He believed that he was so famous and well known that he didn't even need to introduce himself. He then stopped a few feet away from Luke and spoke in a very noble manner.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young Master Luke."

Luke and Britch smiled at each other and shook hands. Luke looked at his hand that was shaking Duke Britch's hand and suddenly felt disgusted, but he didn't show it.

'I'll wash my hands thoroughly later.'

Luke then let go of Duke Britch's hand. Duke Britch is the man who controlled the young emperor for his personal gain and is responsible for the slave trade and the Flor kingdom's water portal. A total psycho who kills people for entertainment. This is the man that Luke will absolutely shred into pieces later.

For now, he needs to get on the good side of Britch. Even though it is disgusting, he needs to bear with it so that he won't be suspicious later.

"It is very nice to meet you, Duke Britch. Your clothes are also very flashy and sparkly today."

"Hoho, so you've noticed? I just got it earlier. It is made from smooth silk and its buttons are 100% gold. The famous royal tailors also personally sewed this for me so it is only natural for it to be stunning."

Luke smiled, but internally, he was spitting at the Duke Britch's face in his head.

"Wow, how luxurious. I can't even imagine how much money that dress costs! You must be very rich and influential since everybody made way for you when they just saw you once."

"Haha! I know, right? You know what? I like you; your tastes are very similar to mine."

"Hahaha.... I am flattered."

'Fuck you, man.'

Luke talked to Britch about some other things before parting ways. The nobles saw Luke and Britch's friendly atmosphere with amazement. They then thought that Luke could really get along with almost everyone. Luke is both a hero and a social butterfly. This alone made the nobles acknowledge the might of Luke and they shouldn't easily underestimate him.

Lance, who is watching from the balcony, shakes his head. He bet that Luke was actually cursing and skinning Duke Britch alive in his mind since he knew how Luke's mind works quite well.

And he was right.

'Fucking old man. I swear, the next time we meet, I'm going to skin him alive.'

Luke then walks towards the giant door that is being guarded by white knights. Luke just looked at the knights and the knights bowed and opened the door for him. Luke. Erdene and Liam then exited and were finally outside the hall.

"Nash."

Got it!

Then a teleportation circle appeared, transporting Luke and the others back to the island. The group then greeted them. Liam and Erdene conversed with them, while Luke simply walked past them and into the palace. When he opened the door to enter the palace, he was startled to see a three-meter-tall woman staring down at him. Luke didn't recognize her at first, so he slammed the door shut. He then held his chest while breathing heavily. The three-meter-tall woman has long hair that almost covers her eyes, making her look like a character from a horror film.

'Damn it, that surprised me.'

Luke sighed and opened the door again. He then saw Ava standing still while holding a tray. Then Ava spoke up.

"U-uh... Brother Luke... I-I baked cookies for you. I-It's a thank you gift for welcoming me here and introducing me to wonderful people and friends. Please accept this!"

Ava then bowed her head and stretched out her long arms that were holding the tray of cookies towards Luke. Luke then saw the freshly baked cookies that were still smoking on the tray. He could smell the sweet fragrance from the tray.

"Wow! They look delicious, Little Ava! Can I also eat this?!"

Nash looked at the tray of cookies intensely. Ava looked up and nodded. Luke saw her happy face and just sighed. He then accepted the tray and patted Ava's bowed head. This made Ava stiffen up.

"Thank you for the cookies. Nash and I will eat it well."

Ava then stood up straight and nodded. She seems happy. Luke just sighed and walked past her. He and Nash then picked some cookies from the tray and ate them. Ava saw this and smiled brightly. Luke didn't notice it and just kept on walking while eating cookies. He then commented.

"These are quite good."

"I know, right? Little Ava should have her own bakery! I bet that she'll do well!"

Luke nodded in agreement with Nash while eating the cookies. They then arrived in his room and plopped on the bed. Luke then placed the tray of cookies on the desk beside him and took out the magic communication device from his black coat that was lying on the bed.

"Nash, call Tina."

"Okay!"