Chapter 624

Aries shook the document in her hand with a bright smile on her face, showing that she was serious about letting him pick the mission he wanted.

“Uhh…” Raon pressed on his lips tightly while looking at the document fluttering in the air.

‘This is embarrassing…’

It was the first time in a long time that he’d felt so embarrassed—the last time had been when he was pretending to be a baby with Sylvia. He could feel his face heating up, and he was certain his face would be red if he looked into a mirror.

Wow…

Wrath’s head also trembled in shock.

The King of Essence has seen many unreasonable people before, but she is on a whole different level. She is a huge troublemaker in a different way than Shitty Ears.

‘Indeed.’

Raon briefly nodded. Those people usually forced others to accept their unreasonable behavior with just their noble bloodline, but Aries was also competent on top of her bloodline. Glenn was the only person who could contain her even inside Zieghart, which was one of the Six Kings.

“Do you want Auntie to pick it for you if you have a hard time choosing?”

Aries skimmed through the documents she was holding and lifted one of them.

“This one looks good. Beggars from the South-North Union are apparently scouting all the way to Parin River in our territory, so go there and mess them up. It will be practice for defeating the Axe King.”

She smiled, saying that it was a perfect time to send a warning to the South-North Union’s boss and the Axe King.

“This one looks nice, too. It says monsters are gathering at the Thonon Plains in the northwest. Since the Light Wind Division just went through collective training, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to join a large-scale war. And…”

Aries told him about other contents of the documents, offering to pick nice missions for him.

“Err…”

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“Should this really be happening?”

The executives blankly looked back and forth between Aries and Raon.

“Just keep quiet if you don’t want to be bitten by a mad dog.”

Balder lifted his fist towards the executives, implying that they should shut their mouths. It looked like he didn’t want to increase the number of victims after himself.

“Who are you calling a mad dog?!” Aries furrowed her brow and smacked Balder’s waist.

“Haap!”

Balder slammed into the ground but rapidly stood back up and made a posture that emphasized his muscles. He seemed to be trying to say that it didn’t hurt thanks to his muscles, but he looked even more miserable as a result.

“Ugh…”

Raon rubbed his aching temple with his finger. His hand was even trembling because of how embarrassed he was.

“Excuse me, Lady Aries.”

Just as he was trying to tell Aries to please stop, Denier stood up from his seat.

“Aries.” Denier walked up to Aries and shook his head. “Please calm down. Something like this doesn’t help Raon at all.”

“Are you also trying to get in his way?”

“That’s not the case. As you said, it’s good to be considerate to a new division leader, and it’s totally understandable to let him pick the mission he wants. However…”

He lowered his eyebrows while looking at Raon.

“That’s up to Raon to decide. If you feed him everything and pick it for him, it won’t be helpful for his growth at all. It’s not like you can attend every single round table meeting.”

Regardless of Denier’s usual reputation, what he just said was so reasonable that anyone had to admit it.

However, Aries was a free woman who didn’t like reasonable arguments.

“Hmm.” Aries slowly raised her gaze and looked at Denier. Their pupils looked similar but looked different at the same time. “You are such a smooth talker.”

She tilted her head and curled her lips into a smile.

“Since you are a smooth talker, you must have plenty of desires, too.”

“A-Aries?” Denier blinked, unable to understand what she was talking about.

“You aren’t exactly wrong. You are actually right. But why does it feel like you are just pretending to be a nice person when you are the one who said it?”

Aries rotated her shoulder. It looked like she was going to punch him or something.

Raon gasped. It would’ve been nice if she listened to Denier and stopped, but Aries seemed to be trying to aggravate the issue, as expected.

“Haa…”

Denier reluctantly stepped back and got into a defensive posture. The energy bursting from under his feet made it look like a stone wall was surging from the ground.

Rumble!

Aries threw the documents behind her and stood up. The powerful pressure blazing around her was as ferocious as the god of warriors.

‘Is this the only way in the end?’

Raon sighed and looked at Aries. He strained his neck and parted his lips.

“Auntie.”

As soon as he called her auntie, the energy wave spreading above her shoulders disappeared at once.

“Yes, my nephew!” Aries smiled brightly, as if she was never angry at all. “What’s the matter?”

She waved her hand, with her voice brimming with warmth—unlike when she was pressuring Denier.

“Wow, look at how her voice has changed. She’s the one who is pretending to be nice.”

“Shut up!”

Balder got kicked on his thigh while complaining about Aries.

“Cough!”

He rolled on the ground while clutching his thigh. Apparently, his thigh couldn’t be protected with muscles.

“I also agree with the Wise Martial Palace Master.”

Raon watched Balder rolling on the ground, then lifted his gaze towards Aries.

“I’m thankful for your care because I’m new here and don’t even have my predecessor with me, but such special treatment is unnecessary. I want to get a mission fair and square, just like the other executives.”

He felt sorry for Aries, who was trying to be nice to him, but it was the right thing to do in that situation.

“Really? It can’t be helped if that’s what you want.”

Aries shook her hand and took Balder’s seat again. She didn’t look saddened by his refusal at all—she actually seemed to like it instead.

‘Just as I expected.’

He was thinking that Aries was acting even more unreasonably than usual, but she must’ve been hoping that he would stop her.

‘It must be because of me.’

She must’ve wanted to give the executives a good impression of Raon by showing that he could stop Aries Zieghart and that he got the mission without her help.

In short, her goal was to increase his reputation.

“Thank you, Raon,” Denier nodded faintly at him to thank him for agreeing with him and took his seat.

“Hmm…” Balder stood up after rubbing his thigh and stood behind Aries again. “I don’t know about the rest, but I like that personality of his, at least. A warrior should be like that.”

He gave him a thumbs up, as if he had forgotten that he’d called him bad-mannered ten minutes ago.

He was so simple that it ironically made him difficult to predict.

“Then proceed.” Aries smiled in satisfaction and gave the documents that she’d thrown away to Chad.

“Th-thank you.”

Chad accepted the documents with trembling hands, his eyes directed at Raon. The way his fists were clenched made it look like he was resolving himself to something.

“Then let’s resume assigning the missions.”

Chad put the documents together while glancing at Aries.

Balder was still standing behind Aries. He was quite special, considering he was still standing when he could’ve taken someone else’s seat.

“I won’t offer a long explanation since Lady Aries explained the missions in my stead. Please raise your hands if you want to take the duty of driving the South-North Union away from Parin River.”

“......”

It was quiet, even cold. Every single executive was glancing at Raon and Aries, trying to gauge their intentions.

Raon closed his eyes and lowered his head. He showed everyone that he wasn’t interested in that mission at all.

“Then we’ll take that mission.”

Lattein, the Warring Sword Division Leader, raised his hand from the right. Since no one was against it, the Warring Sword Division was entrusted with the mission.

“The next mission is the extermination of monsters gathering in Thonon Plains. Considering that both large and small monsters are gathering, we are guessing that a boss-tier monster was born. Raise your hand if you want to take this mission.”

“......”

No one raised their hand once again. Raon immediately closed his eyes.

“We’ll take care of the extermination mission.”

Trevin raised his hand. No one was against it once again, and the Warring Steel Division was entrusted with the mission.

“I like that this round table meeting is proceeding so quickly. Let’s continue.”

Chad read the documents one after the other, and the executives started to relax and take the missions one after the other.

“Ah, it’s finally this one.” Chad lifted the document, a deep well forming around his lips. “This mission is related to the Sword and Saber Sovereign incident that I mentioned when I was talking about the continent’s situation.”

He licked his lips while tapping on the document.

“We are Zieghart. No martial art in the world can reach our sword, but the White Snake Rain, who is the current holder of the Sword and Saber Sovereign's location, is currently near Zieghart.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. He isn’t exactly in our domain, but he is nearby. It could be a huge problem if the grave is discovered in Zieghart territory, so we need to take measures in advance.”

Chad nodded his head, saying that someone had to decide whether they should recover the map from the White Snake Rain and open the grave or not.

“It will be quite a dangerous mission, as you might have to recover the map of the Sword and Saber Sovereign or even enter the grave. If you still want to take the mission, then please raise your hand.”

“Me!” Balder immediately raised his hand.

“Our True Martial Palace will be going!”

“You can’t do that,” Deiner sighed, shaking his head.

“I’m going because I want to! I’ll show them that Zieghart is the strongest, not some Sword and Saber Sovereign!”

Balder clenched his fist, saying that he was going there to beat up the people who were coming to the grave instead of getting the treasure inside it.

“We haven’t finished investigating the Central Martial Palace yet. Did you forget our lord’s orders?”

“Ah…”

Balder finally remembered about the investigation mission and widened his mouth. Once the executives realized that the two palace masters wouldn’t be taking the mission, those who didn’t have any mission yet raised their hands.

Raon nodded while watching them.

‘It’s a natural outcome.’

The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave was a whole different level from the other missions. If they managed to conquer the grave, they would obtain an incomparable amount of fame, wealth, and the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s martial art. It was only natural for them to be interested, even for Zieghart’s executives.

Aren’t you going to raise your hand? You wanted to do that one.

Wrath tilted his head, wondering what he was doing.

“Raon.” Aries also urged him to pick that mission by bobbing her finger.

Raon licked his lips while looking at the document that Chad was holding instead of Aries.

‘He said a moment ago that he was in the vicinity of Zieghart.’

Chad had informed them that the White Snake Rain, who had the map indicating the location of the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave, was currently on the move near Zieghart’s domain.

After pondering about that part, Raon figured that he could go for the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave without even taking the mission.

‘That would be a lot easier.’

In the end, Raon quietly watched the situation without raising his hand.

“I’m thankful for the participation of the squad leaders, but this mission is dangerous. I believe it’s best to dispatch at least a division.”

“Ugh…”

“What a shame.”

“It was a great opportunity.”

The squad leaders who wanted the mission lowered their hands upon hearing Chad’s advice. There were two executives left in the end.

It was Serena, the Void Sword Division Leader, and Dronen, the leader of the Spirit Wolf Division, which was affiliated with the direct lines.

Raon had encountered Dronen a lot in the audience chamber, but he’d never talked to him before. He was a man of very few words.

“It looks like neither of you is willing to concede. Since it’s an urgent mission, it’s not a good idea to decide with a spar. Let’s decide it with a vote.”

Chad called their names and started the vote to decide who would take the mission.

“Raise your hand if you think that the Void Sword Division should take the mission.”

“Me!”

Once Aries supported Serena, most of the neutral executives who were still indecisive raised their hands.

“Then the Void Sword Division will be in charge of the mission concerning the Sword and Saber Sovereign's grave. And… ah!”

Chad’s shoulders flinched when he turned the page.

“I’m sorry, I forgot about this mission because so many things happened.” He lifted the first document he’d brought up once again. “It’s the mission to scout Zieghart’s domain that I mentioned in the beginning. Raise your hand if you want to take this missi—”

“I’ll do it.”

Raon immediately stood up and raised his hand.

“Huh?”

“You want to scout?”

“Why now?”

Every single executive sitting around the round table widened their eyes because he volunteered to take the scouting mission that Balder had treated as a chore.

“I just thought that I should do what I can for now, just like the Wise Martial Palace Master and the True Martial Palace Master said. Our Light Wind Division will be in charge of scouting as the juniors.”

“Err… hmm.”

Balder blinked in surprise upon hearing that Raon was going to do what he’d asked.

“Y-you don’t need to do that, though.”

He took a step away from Aries, worried that he might get another beating.

“Just pick what you want to do, as you said befo—”

“No, I’ll slowly scout the area and remind myself about what kind of place Zieghart is.” Raon shook his head and declared that he was going to take that mission.

“Wow! I do like your personality, at least!” Balder nodded in satisfaction upon seeing that Aries wasn’t taking any action.

“Yes, scouting is an important mission, too! Make sure to see through it! I’ll reserve a good mission for you at the next round table. I’ll assign the best one to you.” He pounded his chest, telling Raon to count on him.

“Huhu.”

On the other hand, Aries smiled faintly, implying that she’d noticed Raon’s intention behind taking the scouting mission.

“......”

Denier also seemed to have figured out his thoughts as he narrowed his eyes.

“As expected, no one is against it. Then the Light Wind Division will be in charge of the scouting mission.” Chad nodded after confirming the reactions of the executives at the round table.

Raon smiled faintly while looking at the gazes of the executives, which were clearly different from before.

* * *

“You know, that Raon…” Balder followed Denier up as he left the round table meeting with a broad smile on his face. “Don’t you like his personality at least? He used to be an eyesore because of the incident with Raden, but everything he says nowadays is to my liking. I would’ve recruited him to our palace if I’d known.”

He licked his lips in regret.

“I knew it.” Denier shook his head while looking at Balder’s smile. “You didn’t manage to read his thoughts.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Why do you think Raon suddenly volunteered for the scouting mission even though he wasn’t really interested in it at first?”

“He already said the reason. He wants to travel around Zieghart—”

“That’s not it.” He slowly shook his finger. “It’s because the current holder of the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s map is rather close to Zieghart’s domain.”

“Which means…”

“Yes. If he is that close, it’s possible for him to look for the Sword and Saber Sovereign's grave under the pretext of scouting the area. That’s Raon’s plan. He created a path that can gain the favor of the executives and also get the actual benefit at the same time.”

Denier laughed bitterly, saying that Raon had excellently analyzed the situation.

“In fact, everyone except for you could have come up with that idea. However, Raon was the first one to figure it out and made the decision. I can’t believe that his decision was the fastest, even more than the executives who have participated in the round table dozens of times already.”

“Hmm…”

“The executives probably realized that fact by now and might be thinking that they were completely played by him.”

“That ain’t right.” Balder firmly shook his head. “Rather than being played, they should be thinking that Raon is amazing. After all, he got that mission with his own ability. Complimenting him for that is the right thing to do in this case. Only narrow-minded rats will complain that they were played.”

He smiled, saying that Raon should be praised for it.

“It feels even more regrettable now. Such a smart guy should’ve joined our palace.”

“You.” Denier narrowed his eyes while watching Balder. “Aren’t you jealous of him?”

“Jealous?”

“Because Karoon made a big mistake, Raon Zieghart is even more trusted by our father now, and he has become a division leader. If he survives the duel to the death next year, he will probably become a part of the direct line, the Light Wind Division will become a palace, and he will be a successor candidate just like us. He will be your rival.”

“Hmm…” Balder scratched his chin with his large hand. “I do want to become the head of house. I’d be happy if I could, and I’d do anything for that sake. Well, I won’t do anything, not like him.”

He must’ve been reminded of Karoon because he looked towards the medical ward.

“I might feel jealous and envious of him, but if I couldn’t win against him after I did everything I could, that means that he can make Zieghart even bigger than I ever could. If that’s the case, I don’t mind yielding the position.”

Balder shook his head, saying that he could accept anyone as the head of house as long as it was helpful for Zieghart’s development.

“......”

Denier nodded while looking at Balder.

“You never change.”

“Why are you saying that now?”

“I’m saying that you should stay the way you are.” Denier gently patted Balder’s shoulder and returned to the Wise Martial Palace.

“Make it easier to understand!” Balder furrowed his brow while looking at Denier’s back. “It’s too hard for me!”

* * *

Two days later.

Raon went to the main street in order to receive the information that he’d requested from the Black Market. He opened an old door at the corner of the commercial district and entered the shop. The manager, who was sitting at the counter, took off her hood and lowered her head.

It was Denning Rose, wearing an eyepatch with purple rose patterns.

“Greetings, Light Wind Division Leader.” Denning Rose lowered her head, her lips curved into a small smile.

“Why are you suddenly acting like this?” Raon looked at Denning Rose awkwardly.

“Since you are a division leader now, I need to treat you accordingly.” Denning Rose shook her hand, saying that it was the natural thing to do as a merchant. “Congratulations on becoming a division leader.”

“…Thank you.” Raon returned the bow and sat on the chair Denning Rose had guided him to. “By the way, you came here personally despite being the branch manager.”

“It’s only natural for me to come since it’s your request, division leader.” Denning Rose smiled, saying that it was an act of respect for a client. “I’d like to hear from you how you became a division leader, but let’s go straight to business since we don’t have much time. The situation has changed a little.”

Her single eye glinted, showing how serious she was.

“What do you mean by that…?”

“White Snake Rain used to have the map for the Sword and Saber Sovereign's grave until two days ago, but he died and the owner has changed.”

“Who is the new owner?”

“The Holy Sword Alliance.” Denning Rose’s lips trembled briefly. “The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s map is currently in the Holy Sword Alliance's possession.”

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