contemporary romance
Two guards unfolded a gigantic map before the king of the realm, who sent a brush flying toward where the ninth prince stood.
"Circle whatever patch of land you want." The king of the realm had no qualms about the ninth prince's decision; in some sense, this meant that he approved of the fact that the ninth prince was seemingly declaring his intent to drop out of the battle for succession.
The king of the realm declared, "Except ?for the capital and its surroundings, you can have any piece of land you want."
The ninth prince lifted the brush and circled a patch of land without any hesitation. Again, this was something he had planned with Zhang Lie in advance. The land was exactly where the wormhole that led to the alcohol tribe's world was.
With access and control over a wormhole, the ninth prince would be able to grow his wealth with commerce.
To others, the spatial rends within the wormhole would be problematic, but Zhang Lie was able to control large quantities of peak-grade lifeforms to be used as manual labor for transporting goods. With valuable alcohol from the alcohol tribe, along with access to the peoples of the other world, it would be trivial to develop the ninth prince's land.
No matter who eventually ascended to the throne, the ninth prince and Zhang Lie would be able to marshall an army strong enough to contest him.
The king of the realm made no comment regarding the ninth prince's choice. He nodded and said, "The deed to the land will be sent to you within a day."
"Thank you, your majesty!"
The king of the realm turned to Zhang Lie. "And what of you, Master Hong?"
Zhang Lie stood still, as if he hadn't heard the king.
"Master Hong?"
When Zhang Lie failed to respond, the king of the realm shouted, "Master Hong Tianqi!"
Zhang Lie jolted in shock. The king of the realm was referring to him!
"Yes, your majesty!" In a moment of thoughtlessness, Zhang Lie had failed to recognize his assumed disguise.
The king of the realm smiled. "Master Hong, for protecting me and rescuing the second prince, I am obligated to reward you. Although the imperial treasury was ultimately burgled, this disaster would surely have gone far worse if not for your presence, and we may not even have caught the Jindao."
"In that case, your majesty, I'd like to request the fifth-level beast's inner core!"
Zhang Lie's audacity shocked the gathered officials.
"What? Don't you know how many years it takes for a fifth-level beast to appear? If not for his majesty, who could have killed such a beast—and you're demanding its core?"
"You're far too greedy! On what grounds do you make this request?!"
"Even if you did save his majesty, you're asking far too much!"
In the light of this outrage, the king of the realm's response shocked them all. "Very well."
The king of the realm was more reasonable about the request—fifth-level beasts were rare, but not so rare as to be non-existent.
The king of the realm had killed one such beast many years ago. Although their beast cores were rare, to alien races, these cores were nothing more than a convenient battery for energy, nothing more.
Finally, and most importantly, Zhang Lie had to take partial credit for killing the fifth-level beast. If Zhang Lie hadn't been around, he might have been able to kill the beast himself, but he would have suffered greatly as a consequence.
As a result, the king didn't mind giving up the fifth-level beast core.
The king of the realm continued, "Just a fifth-level beast core isn't a sufficient reward. How about becoming one of my bodyguards?"
The court officials were again shocked by the king of the realm's words. A fifth-level beast core alone wasn't a sufficient reward? Just what had Zhang Lie done to deserve such an honor? Not only that, the king of the realm had offered to make him a bodyguard!
This was an indubitable honor—although it didn't confer much in terms of status, Zhang Lie's new role would be of immense importance when it came to protecting the king.
Moreover, ever since the last king of the realm's bodyguards died, that position had remained vacant—the king of the realm was strong enough that, if there were an opponent he couldn't handle, neither would any bodyguards he could appoint.
How strong did Zhang Lie have to be for the king of the realm to offer him such a position himself? Surely he wasn't joking?
In this world, the king of the realm was an indomitable existence.
"I apologize, your majesty, but I'm not interested."
"Are there any positions that would interest you?"
All the officials were glancing curiously at Zhang Lie now. He wasn't a prince who had somehow ended up as a commoner, was he? None of them had ever been offered such a choice!
Zhang Lie's response, however, again shocked them all. "I'm not interested in a position as an official!"
Didn't Zhang Lie care about giving offense to the king of the realm? After all, the king of the realm had just had the Qin clan head dragged off to be beheaded...
The officials were waiting for another show, but the king of the realm's response was unexpectedly bland. His face lined with regret, he announced, "What a pity. In that case, all I can do is officially confer upon you the title of sage. You shall be responsible for tutoring the ninth prince."
Was the king going to give up so easily? How differently he was treating Zhang Lie compared to the Qian clan head!
None of the officials understood his intentions. After all, most of them hadn't participated in the royal hunt, and they had no understanding of Zhang Lie's strength. If they did, they would know why the king of the realm was treating him so cordially.
"Very well." Zhang Lie, who was the first king of the kingdom of Limit, certainly had no interest in a court appointment in a middle-sized world.
Upon seeing how quickly Zhang Lie rejected his offer, the king of the realm didn't press any further. He returned to discussing the incident at the imperial treasury. "Next, an announcement: the Jindao staged a revolt in the capital during the beast stampede, and they burgled the imperial treasury. Three treasures were lost, and we must reclaim them immediately. I've already made use of my authority to lock down the wormholes leading to and from this world."
One of the officials asked, "Your majesty, which three treasures were taken?"
"The primordial starflower, a piece of a mysterious map, and half a jade seal."
"What? The jade seal has gone missing?!" The court officials all suddenly seemed to panic.
Zhang Lie knew of only one seal that would cause such a disturbance.?The proof of kingship…
The successor to the king of the realm needed this seal to authenticate his identity. The seal was granted by none other than the will of the world, and it provided a direct link of communication with it. Without the seal, the king's successor wouldn't be recognized by the will of the world.
The king of the realm continued, "I split the seal up into two pieces, one of which I carry with me, and one of which I leave in the imperial treasury, as a precaution against theft."
Upon learning about this, the court officials and princes all became even more flustered. If they were unable to reclaim the seal, the succession of the throne would forevermore be lost.
The crown prince stepped forward. "Your majesty, please permit me to reclaim this seal!"
The court officials' eyes widened again. If the crown prince were to succeed, he was all but guaranteed to become the king of the realm's successor.
The king of the realm's eyes flashed with appreciation. "Are you certain?"
"Yes, your majesty! This seal is an emblem of royalty, and we can't allow it to fall into an outsider's hands!"
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