Vol. 3 - Chapter 18 - Iskandar
Moreover—
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Iskandar Status: HP: S (99/100%) MP: E- (99 / 100%) Strength: B (99/100%) Endurance: A + (99/100%) Magic: E (99/100%) Magical endurance: A + (99/100%) Agility: C + (99/100%) Luck: C (99/100%) Drop: G- (99/100%) Wisdom: C (99/100%) Growth rate: B + (99/100%)
Gift: Hero King\'s Shield Hero Supremacy
Title: King of Conquest
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His current status was about the same as mine, and he had two gifts. His very existence was insane. Well, I couldn\'t speak for others, but that was the painful thing for me.
"Your Majesty, is this man rude?"
The woman with a spear turned its tip toward me.
"..........."
Without answering the golden-haired woman with a spear, Iskandar turned away from me and headed toward the throne.
It\'d been a while since I\'d had goosebumps. I felt a little sorry for Georg now. If this kind of monster kept meddling as the Former Emperor, it would be impossible to run the affairs of the state.
Iskandar took the throne, then the woman with the spear and the man with gouged-out chin served at his sides.
The man with a Kaiser beard bowed, then raised his voice.
"We will now begin the knighthood awarding ceremony. Please step forward, Oscar Lanswick, Grey Inez Navarro, and Grace Carreras."
Huh? Grace? Was he also called? Even so, I couldn\'t see his face.
As I stepped forward, looking around my surroundings, my gaze collided with the blue-haired woman\'s gaze.
She turned her eyes away from me, her cheeks a light peachy colour.
That appearance of her reminded me of one conclusion.
Wait a minute! I\'m not making some kind of big mistake, am I?
[Ah, you have finally realised, huh.]
As I asked myself the question, good-for-nothing Mura\'s voice resounded inside my mind. It contained pity more than amazement.
Wasn\'t it awkward now? What kind of face should I make from now on when I meet Grace?
While forcibly suppressing the turmoil of emotions, I lined up in front of Iskandar, following Grace and Oscar, and knelt on one knee.
"Raise your head."
Iskandar\'s powerful voice resounded in my soul. I looked up and saw the man with Kaiser beard take out a letter from his pocket, open it, and begin reading it.
"Oscar Lanswick, you have done the Empire a great favour by developing some life magic. In recognition of this, you have been bestowed the title of Earl and awarded 10 million gold pieces."
The condition to acquire Imperial Court rank was either hereditary or through military exploits. The meaning of military exploits was purely about making an achievement on the battlefield. But the current emperor, Georg, had interpreted it broadly, and now it could be given when the achievement was equivalent to military exploits.
However, it was much easier to perform meritorious deeds on the battlefield. That was why I guessed the life magic Oscar had invented should be quite excellent.
"I gladly accept it."
He stood up and received something similar to a small bag and a badge. Most likely, it was something like proof for the title.
"Next, Gray Inez Navarro, for your outstanding performance in the recent assault of the Undead. In addition, you have deciphered several lost magic spells and been appointed as a professor at our great and traditional Magic Knight Academy. For these achievements, you have been bestowed the title of Viscount and 10 million in gold."
"I\'m really grateful."
I only said that before standing up and walking over to the man with Kaizer beard to receive a cloth bag, a shield, and a batch of swords with the crest engraved on them.
I really didn\'t want them at all, but I didn\'t have any choice given the development.
I returned to my original position and got down on one knee. After Grace\'s ceremony, the charade would end. I had to make a resume for my students tomorrow, so after I finished with my business, I was going to return as soon as possible.
"Grace Carreras, your efforts in installing hand pumps in wells throughout the Empire, using glass in buildings throughout the Empire, and pumping water into the wilderness have significantly improved the convenience of life in the Empire. For these achievements, you have been bestowed the rank of Baronet and 10 million gold."
It was the result of Grace\'s explosive growth in recent years. Thereupon, she was awarded. Grace always had a complex toward noble ranks, so I thought maybe this would be a breakthrough for her.
By the way, the general rule was that hereditary titles could only be succeeded by men, so women weren\'t acknowledged. However, even women were allowed to receive a title if the achievement was through military merits for their generation. Assuming Giresse was a woman, that would be her only way to get the title.
"Thank you for your words. I gratefully accept it."
She stood up, plucked the end of her white dress, bowed, walked over to the man with Kaizer beard to receive 10 million gold, then walked back to her original spot and dropped to one knee.
Excellent, with this, the ceremony had ended safely.
"Then, the knighthood awarding ceremony will be—"
"A smart woman with excellent business skills. That\'s an unprecedented type of woman."
As the man with Kaiser beard announced the end of the ceremony, Iskandar\'s ominous words interrupted him.
In the noisy hall, the Former Emperor\'s gaze was directed at Grace as if he was scrutinising her. Grace\'s chin dropped at this.
"Miss, are you called Grace?"
"Yes......"
Grace nodded with an almost faint voice.
"You are one of my concubines from now on."
This time, the entire hall was filled with noises like buzzing insects.
Judging from the surprised audience, the Former Emperor wasn\'t merely a womanizer. Then it was going to be more of a pain now.
[That big-breasted girl is mine!!] (Mura)
In the midst of the tumult around me, I heard the depressing criticism of Mura as an auditory hallucination, but I shut it down completely.
"B, but I am—"
She must be feeling very uncomfortable. Grace\'s words were the same as when she was dressed as a man.
"Your Majesty, no matter what, this is too abrupt."
When Sieg came to the rescue, for the first time, Iskandar shifted his eyes from Grace to Sieg.
"We do need a king who is adept in business skills after all. I\'m sure the seed of me and my woman will make a very good king."
This guy was serious. Neither for satisfying his sexual desire nor as a perverted person who enjoyed tormenting women. All for making a strong king. Just for this, he was seriously saying words filled with insanity.
"Your Majesty, that\'s after all—"
"Sieg, do you disagree?"
"No, I don\'t mean that!"
Even that Sieg was acting this way. It was understandable since he was against that old monster.
"This is the first time in ten or so odd years that Former Emperor has a concubine! This is an auspicious occasion!"
Following Sieg\'s defeat, one of the noblemen shouted out, his face filled with joy, and the others followed suit.
Amid the jubilation, Iskandar signed with his chin, and the spear-holding woman approached Grace without hiding her displeasure.
"You have been recognised by Your Majesty. Sassy. But it\'s an order, and I have no choice. I\'ll show you the way, so follow me."
She grabbed Grace\'s right hand and pulled her in an overbearing manner.
"Impudent."
Grace was my benefactor and one of my few friends.
There was no significance in staying quiet watching her life getting ruined.
"Withdraw."
I bound the spear-holding woman with [Explosive Thread] and threw her quite forcefully against the wall.
"Gah!!"
The woman with a spear spun at high speed and face-slammed against the wall. This person\'s physical abilities\' average was C+.
She would not get hurt only with that much force.
"Oh, I thought you were just a kid who only knows flattery, but it seems like I was mistaken."
"You bastard!!!"
The woman with a spear stood up from the rubble and became furious.
"Spi, hold back."
A low but insistent command flew at her.
"Yes!"
The woman with the spear, Spi, promptly knelt down.
Iskandar stood up and slowly walked down to me.
"I get everything I want. That\'s what\'s happened until now and will continue happening from now on."
"If you can do it, just do it."
He put his left palm up and beckoned to me.
"You have repeated offences against Your Majesty! I won\'t let you go!"
Spi sprinted toward me with her spear pointing toward me, the tip blood red.
But then, a blonde beauty wearing a yellow dress, Hatch, appeared like smoke and barred the red spear with her long left-hand claw.
"You idiot. There\'s no way you can do that, right?"
The man with the gouged-out chin who saw this leapt at high speed, spun around in the air, kicked up the ceiling, and blasted toward Hatch! The man with the gouged-out chin came within range and tried to slam his right fist into her head, but was blocked by a pitch-black thread.
"Huh?!"
Threads spun around at high speed from all directions, but the man with the gouged-out chin immediately jumped back, escaping from the capture.
"Master, please give me the permission to kill these two idiots!" Hatch said, licking her long claw and dyeing her eyes golden.
"Please command us. Let\'s wipe out every vile piece of junk in this world without leaving a single cell," Spy added.
As if responding to Spy\'s words, an unbelievable number of black threads were stretched out in the air.
Against Hatch and Spy, the red-haired woman, Spi, lowered her centre of gravity while holding her red spear. The man with the gouged-out chin snapped his fingers.
"They are pretty good retainers." Iskandar raised his mouth and said in admiration.
"Yours too."
This wasn\'t flattery. Although imperfect, both Spi, the red-haired woman, and the man with the gouged-out chin had fought against Hatch and Spy, whose title was [Enlightened Person]. It was an extraordinary power for the people of this world. Above all, both of them showed a crazy loyalty to Iskandar. Offensive people like them would never betray their Master, no matter what.
"You, what\'s your name?" Iskandar asked me my name.
"Grey Ines Navarro. Didn\'t you hear?"
"That\'s different. Your \'former\' name."
As I thought. That guy, Iskandar, in most cases was likely the same former earthling as me. Well, even Sieg didn\'t realise that, and his origin was completely clear, so he was most likely a reincarnated person. Seriously, I had encountered them quite frequently as of late. It was like a bargain sale of earthlings.
"I don\'t see the meaning in answering."
In response to my answer, Iskandar laughed in amusement and proclaimed, "I detest from the bottom of my heart those inferior beings who do not contain my blood. Your body is of filth and low grade, but only your soul is the same kind as me."
Doesn\'t contain Iskandar blood. It was true that in the long history of the Empire, marriages with the royal family had been made mainly by the noble families, and replacing someone\'s blood with the blood of the royal family wasn\'t out of the ordinary.
However, the very theory was to take an egg called Iskandar and give authority to the royal chicken that laid it. It all came down to whether the egg or the chicken came first.
"It\'s very annoying to be lumped together with them."
The idea that bloodlines determine superiority or inferiority is an unscientific superstition. It is true that there are differences in physical abilities and so on due to genetic traits. But that is not superiority or inferiority, it is merely differences. What rules this world is not power or brains, but knowledge.
In politics, economics, food, clothing, and shelter, the daily blood and sweat of countless people are passed onto the next generation, and the next generation sublimates it into new knowledge. Human civilization is a mass of great deeds done by such ordinary people.
And the ones who hinder the evolution of science are always the vile and dictator-type people like him. It\'s extremely disgusting getting lumped together with that trash.
"The barbarian race near the remote border is the epitome of inferior waste. It\'s outrageous for them to hold the power!! I was thinking of crushing all of them in pieces, but I changed my mind a little. Display your power and merit in this charade of Magic Knight Academy. Then I will wash your inferior blood."
Hey hey! Washing away, in short.........
"With all due respect, Your Highness, does that mean you\'ll allow Lord Grey to marry the royal family?"
The hall was filled with buzzing voices as if someone had poked the beehive due to the feverish words of Warlord Horus.
Of course, all of them opposed the idea, questioning the military secretary\'s sanity.
"If you show your might and power, I will give you my grandchild, Lilinoa, who strongly holds my bloodline."
This time, an astonished voice reverberated, like a scream playing in my ears.
"Even if you tell me to do that........"
It wasn\'t a joke if the situation became like this. That Former Emperor Nobita, becoming my father-in-law? I\'m sorry, but I didn\'t want my head to hurt more than it already did.
"What\'s it? Are you not pleased with Lilinoa? If so, how about my youngest daughter, Olivia?"
"With all due respect, Her Highness Olivia has just tied a marital relationship with the first prince of Vitsley Kingdom. As I was thinking, it\'s already too—"
The man with Kaiser beard hurriedly intervened to control the situation, but he was silenced by Iskandar gaze.
"My say is absolute."
The hall, which had been buzzing so much until now, immediately calmed down when he expressed his decision.
"Don\'t just do things arbitrarily. First of all, in theory, will simply marrying one of the royal blood wash off the inferior blood? Am I wrong?"
"Have a child with Lilinoa or Olivia."
The hall once again became noisy as if it had been hit by a storm.
"You muscle daruma!! Don\'t say ridiculous things! Master is my—"
Hatch shouted loudly.
[Master, you are too sly! I also want to do uhufu, mufufu with princesses.] (T/N - he just means, "I also want to have fun," though I left the original expression because it\'s funnier.)
Useless Mura shouted in tears.
"Like I said, how did it turn to this?"
I really couldn\'t keep up with Iskandar\'s twisted logic at all. This guy\'s train of thought was too crazy.
"Lilinoa and Olivia both have a strong inheritance of my blood. Their children will unmistakably be my bloodline. Then you will also be my bloodline."
In short, since my child would become a member of the royal family, it meant that my blood would also be an excellent bloodline. Once again, it was the \'egg first or chicken first\' theory.
Now I had a little comprehension. In the first place, his common sense and mine had different bases.
To the Former Emperor, a country\'s or a family\'s fortune was something to be controlled and strengthened by his own thoroughbred bloodline. It was not the thinking of a modern person. It was an idea from the Middle Ages, or even further backwards.
"I really can\'t get along with him."
I had a feeling that if I stayed here longer, trouble would come knocking. I should leave this place quietly. As expected, I couldn\'t leave Grace here in the presence of that vile beast. I picked up Grace, who had fallen on her back.
"Ah!?"
Grace froze, startled, but clung to my neck. Judging from her whole shivering body, I knew the situation must be quite frightening. If it was handled poorly, then her chastity might be robbed because of some unscientific logic. It was understandable.
I started to walk away, but stopped and looked back over my shoulder.
"Oh, yeah! Don\'t touch this woman."
"Hmm, you understand that you are ordering me?"
Dubious light shone in Iskandar\'s eyes.
"Yes. If you touch her, I will crush you to the bone."
I thought he would be furious, but Iskandar laughed out loud.
"Very well. Grey, when you become my bloodline, I will give you the woman as well."
In the first place, Grace isn\'t your thing. My head hurt talking with that brute called "Iskandar."
"You really are a man who doesn\'t understand what other people are saying."
"I pray for a good fight."
I left the hall with a feeling of emptiness, as if I was talking to a wild beast.