Chapter 55: Daniel: I Will Become the King! (Zi-O Face) (Patreon)

Daniel descended with Emilia and the others in tow; Ram seized the moment to catch Rem in her arms before she could hit the ground.

As for Natsuki Subaru, naturally nobody spared him a thought, and he simply dropped to the ground — the jolt was enough to wake him up.

"Whew, that was a good nap. Boss Daniel, are we at the Roswaal Manor yet?"

Subaru yawned and had just cracked his eyes open when he found himself staring at a field of rubble.

"Uh... what's going on here?"

"Shut up. Don't bother Lord Daniel."

Seeing this, Ram immediately unleashed her power — a blade of wind slammed into the ground right beside him, and Subaru clapped both hands over his mouth in terror.

This maid is terrifying! Boys really are better, he thought — and right then his gaze happened to land on Ferris, the cat-eared boy who looked like a girl.

Uh oh, this fluttering feeling — could it be that he's actually a boy?!

Daniel sized up Crusch. Looks-wise, she was certainly pretty enough to join his harem.

"Isn't it a bit rude of you to keep staring at me like that!" Crusch frowned, then noticed Emilia standing behind him.

"Emilia, is he one of yours?"

Emilia hadn't expected Crusch to address her, and she shook her head quickly. "No — actually, I'm his now. Daniel's, I mean."

Emilia was a royal selection candidate herself. Could the man who'd made her bow her head be the last candidate — the one no one had ever managed to find?

"Are you a candidate as well, then? Even so, staring at me like this is bound to grow tiresome."

Crusch was a little surprised, but she didn't forget to remind Daniel to rein in that unabashed stare of his.

"I'm merely appreciating something beautiful."

Daniel couldn't have cared less whether he came across as rude. Strong as he was now, doing whatever he pleased was simply the natural order of things.

"I'm the last candidate to enter the selection. Daniel."

"By the way, everything you're looking at right now is my handiwork. You've arrived at just the right time — why don't you use your family's influence to spread the word for me."

"I, Daniel, the last of the candidates, have slain the current Sword Saint Reinhard and wiped out the Council of Wise Men that tried to control me. From this day, I claim the throne."

"Any other questions?"

Questions? Of course she had questions!

Right now Crusch simply couldn't believe it. Setting aside the matter of the Sword Saint, the sheer scale of the palace's destruction alone was enough to leave her stunned.

Now that Daniel claimed all of it was his doing, her first instinct was disbelief.

And for some reason, her Divine Protection of Wind Reading — the one that let her see through lies — had no effect on Daniel whatsoever, as if all wind around him had simply been shut out.

Just then, the fur on Ferris's tail bristled instantly. He tugged at Crusch's sleeve in warning. "Lady Crusch, that's the Dragon Sword Reid, nya!!"

"What?!" Alerted, Crusch finally noticed the Dragon Sword Reid at Daniel's waist.

It had no scabbard, but she couldn't mistake the shape of that hilt.

Crusch's head snapped up. She stared at Daniel's smiling face, and a chill welled up inside her.

So everything he'd said was true. Not even the Sword Saint had been a match for him?

"All right, enough standing there gaping. Remember to spread the word — from now on, what I say goes in Lugunica."

"Of course, you're also welcome to rally your forces and resist me. It'll give me something to do."

Daniel had no intention of keeping her here to warm his bed just yet — given her personality, she'd never simply let this go quietly.

Better to let her go gather her rebels first — then he could sweep them all up at once and be done with it for good, catching the rest of the candidates in the same net.

Before Crusch could respond, Daniel waved his hand, and a violent gust instantly sent everyone who had entered the palace grounds flying.

Not with much force, of course — he had no intention of actually killing them.

Hundreds of guards tumbled and sprawled across the palace's outer grounds, Crusch and Ferris among them.

Daniel hovered in midair, looking down on them, and announced in a booming voice, "From here on, Lugunica belongs to me. My name is Daniel, the last of the candidates."

"The corrupt Council of Wise Men and the Sword Saint have both been erased by my hand. I claim the throne, here and now."

"To those who refuse to submit — you're welcome to resist. But the price will be your lives."

"From this moment, the palace is my residence. Trespassers will be cut down!"

A thunderous boom!

As Daniel's words fell, an invisible slash of compressed air grazed past everyone's hair.

The buildings behind them were sheared clean through and collapsed to the ground.

Several unlucky nobles were cleaved in two along with them.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Cold sweat broke out on more than a few of the guards as they watched.

But the fear in their eyes vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, replaced by loyalty!

Level 3 hypnosis had bent them straight into devoted allegiance to Daniel.

They fell into place of their own accord, guarding the palace's safety and order.

Watching the guards' expressions and minds shift in an instant, Crusch felt a flicker of fear.

"What did you do to them?!"

Daniel looked at Crusch, who still dared to question him, and smiled.

"Just a small adjustment to their thinking, that's all. A palace needs proper guards, after all."

"Saves me the trouble of every stray cat and dog wandering in to bother me."

"Don't worry, I'll give you a fair chance. If it's a rebellion you personally raise, I won't use this power on them."

Yeah, right.

He was dying to see the look on Crusch's face when she showed up with an army to bring him down, only for them all to suddenly turn on each other and slaughter one another.

Ah, this other world — turning a man into a monster.

Someone as kind-hearted as him, made this brutal? However you looked at it, that was the world's fault.

With that, Daniel dropped back down to the palace grounds, while the guards took up positions around the perimeter, eyeing Crusch warily.

"That bastard!" Crusch seethed. This was the first time anyone had ever looked down on her so thoroughly.

Even if he'd simply beaten her in a straight fight, she'd have chalked it up to being outmatched, nothing more.

But instead, he'd given her the chance to go rally her own forces.

He wasn't treating her as an opponent at all — he was treating her as entertainment!

"Lady Crusch, what should we do, nya? Should we go find Old Man Will first and tell him the news, nya?"

This was the first time Ferris had ever seen Crusch this angry. He knew her temperament was normally calm, that fury wouldn't cloud her judgment.

But just in case she was tempted to charge straight back into the palace, he hurried to speak up anyway.

Crusch took a deep breath. Watching her own retainers fall into place among the palace's new guard, she nodded.

They had no advantage right now — better to withdraw and plan things through properly.

"Don't worry, Ferris, I won't act rashly. Let's go — back to the estate first, and then, just as he said, we'll inform the other candidates of the situation."

"After that, we'll deal with him together."

"Lugunica belongs to the Dragon, not to some usurper like him. I will drag him down from that throne, I swear it!"

With that, Crusch turned and walked away. She needed allies.

"Lady Crusch, Ferris will help you, nya!" Ferris hurried after her, his voice brimming with devotion.

Hearing that, Crusch felt a measure of comfort and let a smile show. "Thank you, Ferris."

"Hehe, no need to thank me, Lady Crusch, nya."

Rare and precious as that bond was, if Daniel ever found a way to exploit it, Crusch's expression would no doubt taste all the sweeter for it.

Not long after they left, the rubble scattered across the palace grounds crumbled into fine dust, spreading out to fill in the craters — and then a residence built of ice crystal rose up from the earth.

The soil was heated to over a thousand degrees, fused into cement hydrate, and hardened into something like solid concrete, wrapping around and setting over the ice crystal.

Towering structures rose back up over the land, one after another.

This was Daniel's doing, naturally — he could hardly sleep on the ground now that the palace was rubble, and building a new one was hardly any trouble at all.

He'd done more than enough for one day. It was time to enjoy a bit of imperial luxury.