Bab 163: Chapter 161: To the East!(1)
Marcel's jaw dropped as he gazed at Luke, who was staring at him with deadpan eyes. Marcel then turned his gaze to Lance, who appeared to be silently chuckling while drinking wine. Lance then shakes his head and smiles as he looks at Marcel. He then mouthed some words towards Marcel.
'You fucked up.'
Marcel gulped and turned to face Luke. Luke doesn't appear to be joking at all; instead, he appears dead serious, which caused Marcel to gulp even more. He then realized he had dug his own grave.
'Fuck, so this is why his highness's two golden cards vanished so abruptly, it all went to Luke! So greedy!'
Marcel then realized why Lance was always complaining about the recent loss of his two cards: it was given to such a greedy and sly figure. And now it's Marcel's turn to suffer at the hands of this jerk...
"A-alright... I-I'll give it to you..."
Marcel got goosebumps when Luke smiled sweetly.
"Thank you very much for the money."
Marcel's fists clenched and forced a smile.
"Haha... It's my pleasure."
Luke smiled as he sighed.
"We'll be heading east tomorrow."
Lance then looked at Luke, baffled.
"So soon?"
Luke gave a nod.
"The sooner you start, the better. I'd like to get some rest as soon as possible. So, Marcel, please give me the money and information later tonight at midnight."
Marcel sighed in defeat.
"Of course, I'll get right on it."
"Good."
Marcel pouted, he suddenly felt like he is no longer working for one master, but instead two. What a dreadful outcome for today. Marcel's attention then shifted to Luke again when he heard him speaking.
"Can you please leave us alone now? I'd like to speak with His Highness privately."
Marcel fell silent for a few moments before grinning slyly once more. Luke's brow furrowed as he looked at Marcel, who was grinning at them.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"Hoho... Nothing, nothing... Okay, I'll leave you two alone now. Have a good night."
Marcel then stood up and walked towards the door; as he approached the door, he paused and turned his head around to face Lance. Lance was perplexed at first but frowned when he noticed Marcel grinning and raising his thumb to him. Marcel then exited the room completely, leaving the room in silence. Luke sighed and began speaking while sipping his wine.
"Marcel is a fascinating character."
Lance agreed with a nod.
"Indeed, he may be described as a figure to be feared by all, but most of the time he acts like a clown. Not as much as you, though."
Luke frowned deeply and looked at Lance in disbelief.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I stand by what I said. Anyway, what do you want to discuss?"
Luke pauses for a moment and begins to fiddle with his glass before speaking.
"Did you see the video footage of the battle in the valley, Your Highness?"
Lance looked at Luke's solemn expression for a moment before nodding.
"I did, and it was a pretty intense one, with the appearance of werewolves and an unknown powerful mage capable of lifting every single soldier in the valley."
"What if I told you, your highness, that the mage you saw in the footage who could lift thousands of soldiers at once was a dragon?"
Lance came to a complete halt and remained silent. With wide eyes, he turned to face Luke, who was sitting beside him. Luke just sipped his wine and ignored his shocked expression. Lance then expressed his disbelief.
"Are you kidding me? There is no way a dragon could be among the enemy forces."
"Unfortunately, there is, and what's worse, that dragon does not appear to be the Dark Eye's ringleader at all, which means whoever the leader was, it was powerful enough to order a dragon around."
"God Almighty..."
Lance rubbed his hands across his face. Lance then groaned several times in frustration before sighing.
"So there's a chance we'll face that dragon again in the future, which is fantastic, absolutely fantastic."
Luke only listened to Lance's frustrated words before recalling what Dos had said to him before coming to the banquet.
"That dragon may be skilled at manipulating and controlling mana, but he's terrible at hand-to-hand combat. Because that old lizard relied too heavily on his magic, he was slow to react when you punched him. Hand-to-hand combat moves like the ones you used in that battle may be the only thing that can slow that lizard down."
Luke then smiled.
"Your highness, we may have a chance against that dragon. It's a gamble, but it is worth the shot."
Lance cast a glance at Luke.
"How? By dying? We don't have as many lives as you."
Luke frowned at Lance. He really wants to smack this prince in front of him in the head.
"No, not by dying, but by engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the dragon."
Lance remained silent for a brief moment before nodding.
"I see... It appears that being too powerful in magic and relying on it has its drawbacks. I'll assume that the dragon you fought is very arrogant enough to just rely on magic."
Luke gave a nod.
"You are correct. When Dos and I attempted to engage the dragon in physical combat in the valley, we discovered the dragon's disadvantages."
Lance then questioned him while being confused.
"Dos? Who is Dos?"
"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Dos is... let's call him Liam's other half."
Lance's eyes widened briefly before frowning.
"So that is why Liam's attitude goes back and forth in the awarding ceremony."
"Yes, it is due to Dos."
"Haa, when did you learn about it?"
"Before the meeting with Duke Reo."
"...I see, are there any other shocking secrets I should be aware of?"
"Hmm..."
Lance was taken aback by Luke's reaction.
"Don't tell me there's more?"
"There's a lot, but I'm not sure if I should say anything."
Lance's massaged his head from stress. He then starts to be concerned about his well-being now that he got someone that could give him heart attacks and migraines just by saying words. He even sometimes wonders if meeting Luke was a good thing.
"... Just say it. It's better to hear it now than to have another migraine later."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes, spit it now."
"Alright then, Snow is an artificial Spirit of the Ice."
"Son of a-"
"Nash is a legendary Mystical Tiger."
"...Bitch."
Lance put his hand over his mouth while looking at Luke, who is calmly spitting out shocking information with wide eyes.
'What did I just hear... What in the world... What the fuck?!'
Lance's mouth opened and closed a few times. He wanted to say a lot of things, but he's having difficulty saying them all at once, leaving him speechless in the end. The information Luke had just dropped on him was so shocking that he wished what he had just said was a joke.
"...Are you serious when you say that?"
Luke smiled sweetly as he turned his head towards Lance's face.
"Yes, your highness, I am dead serious. And now you know you've just become the godfather to the world's two most dangerous children."
"Fucking hell..."
Lance clenches his fists. So he unknowingly became the godfather of two lethal killing machines. He was so taken with their cuteness that he didn't bother asking where they came from or what they were.
"Well, they're still cute..."
"Really? Your highness? You just choose to avoid the fact that the two are a spirit and a legendary beast?"
"Well, what can I do about it now? I am their godfather; I cannot simply retract my words because of what they are."
Luke nodded, impressed while looking at Lance, who appears ten times more stressed than he already is. Lance was then patted on the back by Luke.
"I'm sure the kids appreciate having you as their godfather."
"Yes, we are!"
Lance and Luke flinched and turned to look at the door where the loud voice had come from. When they saw Nash and Snow smiling brightly at them while holding the door, their eyes widened. Lance sat frozen on his couch, taken aback by the kids' unexpected appearance; he hadn't expected to see them now.
"What are you doing here, you two? You should be sleeping by now."
Luke rose from his seat and approached Nash and Snow, who were dressed in their pajamas. While Snow went inside, Nash jumped into Luke's arms. Luke simply sighed and shut the door. He then returned to his seat beside Lance, this time with Nash in his arms.
"Papa!"
Lance flinched and then turned his head slowly towards Nash, who had called him. Lance then patted his head and smiled at him.
"How come you're still awake? Hmm?"
"We were bored waiting for Dad, so we decided to come to him! On the way, there was this creepy man with a sly smile and curly hair who pointed out where you guys were to us when we asked him!"
Lance smiled at Nash, but his fists were tightly curled.
"...Marcel... I'll kill him."
Snow approached Lance with worry.
"Papa, is that man an enemy?"
Lance smiled as he turned to face Snow.
"No, he's an obnoxious clown."
"Clown?"
Lance nodded and patted her head.
"Yes, so next time you see him..."
Lance then spoke with dark eyes while still smiling.
"Would you mind punching him in the gut for me?"
Snow's eyes turned dark too and nodded.
"Got it."
Pak!
Lance held the back of his head when he felt something hit it. When he turned around, he saw Luke staring at him.
"Don't ask them to do such things."
Lance sighed as he sat back in his seat. He then addressed Nash, who is clinging to Luke's neck quietly.
"Hey Nash, I've heard you're a legendary beast?"
Nash smiled and nodded.
"Of course I am! A powerful one!"
Lance chuckled and patted his head. Lance wanted to be formal with Nash now that he knew he was dealing with a legendary beast, but Nash is just too cute to be treated that way, so Lance gave in to their cuteness once more.
"Can you then show me what you really look like?"
Nash blinked a few times before nodding vigorously.
"Okay!"
In an instant, a bright light encircled Nash's body. Luke frowned because he was holding Nash and the sudden burst of brightness was blinding his eyes, whereas Lance simply sighed and braced his heart for what he was about to witness.
The light faded after a few seconds, and Nash was no longer visible. Lance frowned and looked around before feeling Luke tap his shoulders.
"Your Highness, look down."
"Ah."
Lance then lowered his head, his eyes widening in surprise. He noticed a black furball with a fluffy tail, ears, and paws protruding from it. The ball gradually opened his eyes, revealing a pair of bright light-blue eyes. Lance just stares at this in disbelief, while Nash looks at him.
"Papa! Don't I look cool?!"
Lance just stayed there silently staring at the adorable ball of fluff on Luke's lap. Lance couldn't fight the urge any longer and stretched his arms out to slowly carry Nash. He then raised Nash to his face level, and the two of them stared at each other for a long time.
"Um, papa? Are you all right?"
Lance didn't respond and simply stared at Nash with a blank face, making Nash nervous and confused. Lance may appear stoic on the outside but on the inside...
'He... He got cuter!!!'
Lance absolutely adores Nash's original form.
Lance looked at Nash's form for a few more seconds before he couldn't take it any longer, and a blush crept up Lance's face. Snow, Luke, and Nash all had wide-eyes when they saw this.
"Um, papa? Are you ill? Is there a problem? "
"You... You're super cute..."
Nash was initially perplexed before frowning and pouting. He then began flailing his chubby limbs around in frustration.
"No papa! I am cool! Not cute!"
Lance only gave a soft smile.
"Haha, yes yes, you are cool."
"Hmph!"
"Don't be mad at me."
"Just you wait papa, I'll grow big and cool!"
"Of course, I'll wait."
Luke just slumped his shoulders while looking at Lance playing around with Nash. When he noticed Snow tugging on his sleeve, he turned his head to the side.
"Dad, you're not going to sleep?"
"Ah right, sleep."
Luke then rose from his seat, which drew Lance's attention. Luke then turned to face him.
"Your Highness, the children require rest."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot."
Lance then puts Nash down and watches Nash transform back into a human. Nash leaps from the couch and grabs Luke's hand after transforming. He then returned his gaze to Lance and waved his hands at him.
"Bye-bye!"
Lance returned the wave with a smile.
"Have a good night."
Nash nodded and allowed Luke to lead him out of the office. Luke then addressed the two children walking with him as they walked through the empty lit hallways.
"We're going to the east tomorrow."
Nash then beamed a smile.
"Klein will finally be able to meet his family!"
Luke remained silent for a moment before responding.
"I have a task to complete before we can do that."
Snow then asked in confusion.
"Task to complete?"
"Yeah, it is a troublesome task."
Nash then asked in a serious tone.
"Is it something dangerous ad?"
Luke cast a downward glance at Nash's solemn expression. Nash is extremely intelligent; he already understands what is going on.
"It's a little risky. I'm going to meet some pirates."
Snow's voice was cold.
"Dad, don't leave. Pirates are said to be bloodthirsty savages."
Nash agreed with a nod.
"She's correct dad. It is not worth it to be acquainted with them."
Luke then sighed.
"It's fine; it's not the pirates I'm after anyway."
Nash's brow furrowed.
"Then what are you aiming for dad?"
"The princess who fled from her mother."
Snow then asked in confusion.
"Princess?"
Luke nodded, his head held straight.
"The princess of the Eastern continent's empire."
Snow and Nash exchanged glances.
"She appears to be a troublesome princess."
"Why did she flee in the first place?"
Luke shook his head.
"It's none of our business why she ran away; our only goal was to bring her back."
Nash and Snow exchanged a sigh and a shake of their heads. After that, they just walked quietly with Luke.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone