Chapter 798: You Call Me King? (Patreon)

Luke walked the halls of Rosemark’s royal castle in Rosehall, the kingdom’s capital. He wasn’t there as an adventurer, a mercenary, or the guest of some noble house. He was there as a king. After the Orc War General’s death, word of what he had done spread from the soldiers who’d witnessed the battle. The stories hadn’t stayed within Rosemark. They’d reached the other kingdoms, growing and changing with every retelling, and some people were already calling him the Hero of Farmarug.

Well, would you look at that. They’ve got invisible people. Or stealth skills.

Someone was hiding near almost every key point along the corridor. Security had no intention of letting him, or any other visitor, get anywhere near the royal family without being watched. They also clearly didn’t want to risk some stranger walking into the castle and casually blowing the place up. Fair enough.

When the group paused, Luke noticed someone crouched atop one of the massive chandeliers. Judging by how well the man concealed his presence and kept his balance, he probably had an Assassin class. Luke pretended not to notice. Mages stood guard at the entrances to the most important wings. Every time he passed one, he felt himself move through something like a thin wall of mana, probably a detection barrier meant to identify enchantments, dangerous items, or suspicious skills.

Even more powerful figures guarded the castle grounds outside. Rosemark had thirteen Generals, all ranked among the strongest fighters in the kingdom, at least from what he’d gathered. Some of the people stationed throughout the castle were probably among them. Several blended in with the staff, though their power levels were far too high for ordinary servants. The [Eye of Sariel], combined with [Witch’s Gaze], revealed traces and outlines of mana around their bodies. No normal servant would have mana that dense.

The man leading them stood out even more. That “butler” was probably one of the Generals, or someone just below them in rank. Either way, he was D-rank.

“We’ve finally arrived,” the man announced.

The butler, or general pretending to be one, led them into another wing of the castle. Charlie followed in silence, her posture rigid and one hand always close to the hilt of her sword. She was there as a member of Moonlight’s Royal Guard, dressed in an elegant white uniform with a blue cloak bearing the kingdom’s crest.

Mivi and Pip were part of the delegation as well, and Luke had chosen both deliberately.

“From this point on, only His Majesty and his knight may proceed,” the butler explained.

They stood in what looked like a reception hall, with advisors, officers, and members of the other delegations waiting around the room.

“That’s fine.” Luke looked at Mivi and Pip. “I’ll see you soon.”

Luke knew Mivi was nervous, even if no one else could tell. Her Assassin class was starting to prove useful even outside combat. Pip, meanwhile, kept watching the humans around him, only to look away whenever someone caught him staring. They got plenty of stares wherever they went. Neither was human, and a lot of people were still uncomfortable with “monsters” walking freely through a royal castle.

“Lord Moon.”

A man approached. “A pleasure. My name is Nikolai Serin Roses.”

“Your Highness,” Luke replied.

Nikolai looked a lot like the other members of the royal family Luke had seen. His smile was polite, but the interest in his eyes was obvious.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the meeting. My sister will be taking my place.”

He came to size me up.

The prince had some kind of skill active, pressing faintly against Luke’s senses. Luke let a fraction of [Dread Aura] leak out.

Their eyes met, and several nearby servants suddenly went rigid.

Nikolai smiled and offered his hand. “You really are as strong as the rumors say, Lord Moon. I hope you’ve been enjoying our hospitality.”

Luke shook it.

“You’re strong too, Your Highness.”

“You’re too modest. Enjoy the meeting.”

The doors opened, and Luke entered with Charlie. A large round table sat at the center of the luxurious chamber, with four people already seated around it, each accompanied by a knight or personal guard.

“King Luke Moon of the Moonlight Kingdom, accompanied by a member of his Royal Guard,” a man announced.

The herald turned toward the others.

“Our host for this meeting is Her Highness Noelle Serin Roses of the Rosemark Kingdom. Also present are His Majesty Kyran of the Marlow Kingdom, His Highness Lorian Solvar of the Solvar Kingdom, and Duke Robert, representative of the Jungral Kingdom.”

The four kingdoms represented in the room, along with Duskridge, made up the Alliance of Five Kingdoms. Together, they controlled half the continent, the same half now being invaded by orcs.

Once the doors closed, Luke and Charlie took their places. He studied the people around the table. Noelle Serin Roses was only sixteen.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” the princess began. “I regret that the Duskridge Kingdom was unable to send a representative.”

They went through the expected formalities, with everyone introducing themselves again by name, kingdom, and title. Luke went last.

“King Luke Moon of the Moonlight Kingdom. Lord of humans, monsters, and beasts alike. Protector of the Wild Forest. Friend of plants.”

“The matter before us is the orc threat,” Noelle continued. “Before we begin, however, I would like to acknowledge the aid each kingdom provided during the war in Farmarug. I mourn those we lost, and I hope their families find the strength to carry on.”

“This isn’t a ceremony, Princess Noelle,” Prince Lorian interrupted. “We can skip the pleasantries.”

“Cooperation between our kingdoms is more important now than ever,” King Kyran said. “We already face enemies across the continent and wars on our borders. Now we have another threat to deal with. An orc invasion.”

Kyran looked young.

Maybe he’s around my age. Or maybe his level is just high enough that he stopped aging normally.

Duke Robert was middle-aged, while Lorian looked a few years older than Luke, maybe close to thirty. Then again, guessing someone’s age in this world was difficult. With the System, appearances didn’t mean much.

They spent the first hour recapping the invasion of Farmarug. Each kingdom offered its own perspective and shared military intelligence the others hadn’t seen before. It was less about making progress and more about breaking the ice and sizing each other up. Still, Luke found it interesting to watch a sixteen-year-old girl debate politics, logistics, and military strategy with rulers far older than she was. What surprised him more was that no one treated her like a child.

“Your Majesty,” the duke of Jungral said. “I’ve read several reports about your actions during that battle. According to them, you turned the war around in less than an hour, fought the strongest general in the enemy army, and then advanced alone against an entire naval force, forcing the invaders to retreat.”

He set one of the reports on the table. “Could you tell us what actually happened and what was exaggerated?”

Every eye turned toward Luke.

“All of it.”

The duke frowned. “All of... what, Your Majesty?”

“I did all of it.”

Robert looked down at the report again, as if checking whether he’d misread it.

“You drove the orcs away by yourself? You went out to meet their fleet, shouted at them, and made them retreat?”

“Exactly. I killed the strongest one they had, humiliated him in front of his own army, then went to finish the job.”

With orcs, that was the only way. You answered insanity with something even crazier.

“But this says you fought the army and destroyed the ships on your own.”

“It’s true,” King Kyran confirmed. “I was there, as was Prince Lorian. If not for King Luke, I don’t know whether I would be alive to sit in this room today.”

The duke fell silent. One of Jungral’s generals had died in that battle, and since they knew the man’s level, they were probably using his death to estimate Luke’s strength.

Lorian simply listened and drank. A golden pitcher of wine sat near him, and the prince was already on his third glass.

“Would you like to add anything, Prince Lorian?” Robert asked. “You were there as well.”

Lorian ignored the question. “Why do you wear a mask?”

The room went quiet.

“Why do you wear a crown?”

Lorian held Luke’s gaze for a few seconds, then went back to his drink.

“I’m curious,” the prince said. “Did you simply declare yourself king? Were you born into some noble bloodline, or did you wake up one morning and decide you wanted to rule? Do you even know what makes someone a king?”

“Claiming a Kingdom Core,” Luke said. “I killed the thing guarding mine and took it.”

He looked at Lorian.

“What did you have to do for yours? Be born?”

“Solvar has twenty-two million citizens. How many people live in your kingdom?”

“We’re still small, but we have enough military strength to kill an Orc War General. Can your kingdom say the same? Better yet, can you?”

“I think we should return to the matter at hand,” the duke interjected.

“These orcs don’t fight clean,” Garen Voss said. “They use traps, sacrifice their own soldiers, send men in knowing they won’t come back just to gain an advantage. They won’t even receive envoys under a flag of truce, and they eat their dead. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“What do you know about orcs, Your Majesty?” the princess asked. “Your name comes up in reports from both Farmarug and Nyvma. In Nyvma, you also advised putting their leaders’ heads on stakes as a warning.”

“I know a lot about orcs. I dealt with them where I came from.”

“So you really are a Lost Foreigner? Someone who was displaced during the Integration of worlds?”

“That’s what the rumors say, isn’t it?” Luke looked around the table before continuing. “But I’ll tell you this. You’ve let them operate along your coast for a year, and you still know this little about them?”

“Our situation on the continent is complicated,” the duke explained. “The Integration a century ago brought new peoples, new kingdoms, and wars that never really ended. Now another Integration has taken place, and the continent is more unstable than ever.”

“If you want to fight orcs, learn how they think. They rule through fear. They set traps, plan ahead, and study whoever they’re up against. Winning one battle isn’t enough. They want the next ten decided before the first one even starts. You gave them a year. That was the mistake.”

By now, they probably knew the forests better than the people who lived there. They’d had plenty of time to learn the terrain, the roads, and every weak point in their defenses.

“Now they know enough to start getting serious.”

The others looked like they wanted to ask more, but no one did.

They have no idea the Orc Larvae exist.

If the orcs could replace their losses, they could afford to throw soldiers away. The larvae had probably been brought here and fed in secret for months, and by now they might already be producing armies of their own.

If they were, Farmarug might have been the easy part. Luke needed to investigate the larvae and find out what they were actually capable of.

“Our scouts stationed along the coast recorded these sightings,” Noelle announced.

Copies were passed around the table. The sheets looked like parchment, but the images were detailed enough to make Luke look twice.

These aren’t photographs. They’re drawings. He studied one more closely. The precision was absurd. Someone with a Painter profession did this?

The illustrations showed orcs and ships making landfall on different beaches.

“Since the Battle of Farmarug, new ships have been arriving every week,” the princess explained. “Not in a single fleet like before. They’re more cautious now, spreading out along the coast.”

“Their continent probably isn’t very far from ours,” Kyran added.

The discussion shifted to the Orc Lord and the figure known as the Orc King. The kingdoms already knew there were two separate orc factions and suspected they were enemies.

“You need to protect the Teleportation Array,” Luke said. “There’s a chance the orcs are looking for it.”

As he spoke, Luke watched their faces. No one gave anything away.

“I see. You’re not willing to discuss that in front of me. Fair enough. I’m still an outsider.”

“You are,” Noelle said. “There are things we can’t share with you yet. But if our kingdoms are going to work together, that will have to change. You said in Farmarug that you’d be willing to help, as long as the price was right.”

Finally. The good part.

Luke removed his mask and set it on the table.

“If there’s an orc leader you can’t afford to fight head-on, tell me which one and where to find them. That’s all I need. You don’t have to trust me or my soldiers, and you don’t have to tell me what the rest of your army is doing. Point me at the right orc, and I’ll kill them before they become a bigger problem.”

Luke smiled.

“You can even take the credit. How does that sound?”

“And what would your price be?” Noelle asked.

Luke pulled a small stack of documents from his storage item. Angie had helped him prepare them and put the terms into proper diplomatic language. He slid one copy toward each representative.

“These are my terms.”

Luke watched them read.

“Do we have a deal?”

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