Two men were chatting in the emperor’s residence. It was the most gorgeous building in Yusma, the capital full of ornate buildings.
“Why do you seem like your master? How dare you treat the emperor as your servant? You only look for me when you need something. Am I wrong? Aren’t I right? Viscount Gang Hyeonu?”
Hearing the emperor’s fierce question, Hyeonu couldn’t raise his head. It wasn’t just fierceness but actual killing intent.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something, Your Majesty. How could I do that? I came today because I have an interesting story.” Hyeonu changed the topic and naturally set the stage for his purpose.
He had learned from his previous encounters with the emperor and knew one thing for sure, which was that the emperor was very bored with life. Therefore, he was always looking forward to something to attract his attention.
Hyeonu aimed for this.
“An interesting story? This is different from the duke. You are definitely different from him. Tell me more.” The emperor bit the bait that was thrown at him. He smiled slightly at Hyeonu’s words and started to show interest.
Hyeonu received the emperor’s attention and carefully threw another bait. “I want to ask you something first. Do you like alcohol?”
“Alcohol? Of course. You aren’t a man if you don’t enjoy drinking. However, the wines of the continent are piled up in the imperial family’s cellars.” The emperor used a bizarre manner of speaking. He started with an affirmation and ended with a denial, moving back and forth like a reed.
Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t panic and pulled a glass bottle out of his inventory. It was the same as the bottles he gave to Qing Feng and Edchan. Now he was going to give a few bottles to the emperor.
Hyeonu said, “I will presume and say that Your Majesty has never tasted this alcohol.”
The emperor stared at Hyeonu’s bottle and stated, “That isn’t just any old alcohol. It is the first time I’ve ever seen this type of alcohol. I don’t remember seeing anything similar in the imperial warehouse... Is it from the East Continent?”
“That’s right. Not long ago, I accidentally went to the East Continent. I thought of you and brought this back with me.”
The emperor clicked his tongue. “Tsk, your mouth is full of saliva when you speak. You have an oily tongue for someone who is Lebron’s disciple.”
He stretched out his right hand toward Hyeonu. Then something mysterious happened. The wine bottle in Hyeonu’s hand was sucked into the emperor’s hand. The emperor grabbed the bottle and opened it without hesitation. There was a clear sound as the wooden stopper was removed. Then a delicate scent filled the great hall. The emperor raised the bottle to his mouth and started to drink it.
Then he asked, “By the way, how did you go to the East Continent? I know you can’t bypass the Balder Mountains because there is an unknown barrier...” The emperor asked while sipping the alcohol.
The sight of the emperor doing that reminded Hyeonu of an alcoholic.
“I met a dragon. He said that he can get rid of the barrier. However, he has a condition,” Hyeonu answered.
“Condition?”
“The condition is that Your Majesty reads this and follows what is written.” Hyeonu walked in front of the emperor and handed him some papers.
The emperor received the papers and slowly started to read them.
“Hmmm...” He groaned while reading the papers for a long time.
Finally, the emperor’s gaze shifted from the papers to Hyeonu. “Do you know what is written on this?”
Hyeonu stood still, not saying anything or doing anything.
The emperor continued talking like he didn’t care about it. “You don’t need to say it. You know what is written here, but you still brought it to me. I don’t know if I should say that you have a good grasp of my personality or you don’t know me at all...”
A rainbow-like brilliance emerged from the emperor’s body and poured toward Hyeonu.
‘Ugh.’ Hyeonu felt himself choking under this intense pressure. His body crumpled involuntarily. He couldn’t raise his head or his back.
‘Monster!’
Hyeonu had leveled up and his stats had risen, but he was still nothing before this monstrous emperor. He was always prey in front of a predator. Like a mouse in front of a cat, he couldn’t move.
Just then, the papers were dropped beside Hyeonu.
“Take it. This is the price for the alcohol. In addition, if you have any left then leave me a few more bottles,” the emperor said.
‘What? This?’ Hyeonu was trembling. He was still puzzled by what was going on.
Did the emperor pay for the alcohol by sparing Hyeonu’s life or by signing the papers? He could only confirm it after leaving the imperial palace. The most important thing was first leaving this damn emperor’s sight.
Hyeonu took out a few bottles of alcohol from his inventory and carefully placed them down on the floor.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Then I’ll be going.” Hyeonu picked up the papers and fled from the great hall like he was being chased by something.
***
Outside the imperial palace, Hyeonu entered a restaurant that stood out and sat down. “Phew...”
He didn’t feel like going hunting straight away.
‘I can’t get used to it no matter how many times I see it.’
The emperor was such an NPC—a man Hyeonu couldn’t adapt to.
‘I will start with the treaty first...’
Hyeonu pulled out the papers from his inventory. There was nothing to see on the first page. Then Hyeonu turned to the last page. He only wanted to look at the part with the signature.
“Wow!” An exclamation flowed from Hyeonu’s mouth as he confirmed the signature. On the signature line, letters presumed to belong to the emperor could be seen.
[The emperor’s signature 1/1]
A message appeared, proving that what Hyeonu saw wasn’t an illusion.
“Sigh...”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login