Chapter 198: The End of The Milking, And Management Options Unlocked
“Y-You… how did you get that?” King Arthur asked, startled.
“Oh, this?” Rael twirled the grape between his fingertips. “Don’t worry about it. All you need to know is that it’s mine now.”
“Rael?” Zafira called out, puzzled. “Is that…?”
“Mhm…” Rael nodded with a smirk and pulled out the other nectar. “These are the nectars King Arthur was talking about. Fruits that increase your health. I’m surprised he tried spinning some shit about how this actually harmed you, though.”
“Language.” Zafira rolled her eyes, then took the purple orange from his palm and popped it into her mouth without hesitation.
Her eyes widened immediately. “Wow… this is some good stuff… Do you have more?”
“Stop!” King Arthur shot up with an angry expression. “That’s enough. Leave them be, and tell me what you want.”
Rael chuckled and put the orange grape back in his inventory before walking up to the round table and sitting down.
“We want Sylvaran. We also don’t want any strings attached… By that, I mean I don’t want Sylvaran to find out it has been detached from the Holy Kingdom. We’ll deal with the first impressions on our own terms, whenever we want and however we want,” Rael stated.
“And in return?” King Arthur muttered. “Are you going to hand over the nectars?”
Rael stared at the king for a few moments, then tilted his head. “No. Why should I?”
After all, he had bought it with his own money. So it rightfully belonged to him now, right?
Just as King Arthur was about to lash out, Rael cut him off.
“You have your own ways to grow them. I understand it takes a long time to grow even one, but that’s not my problem. I can promise you one thing, though. You don’t have to worry about me spreading them around. They’re staying in Celestara for at least four more months.”
I’ll auction them to the players for a small sum of a few million.
Nonetheless, he understood that these terms weren’t favorable for King Arthur. And that was the point.
King Arthur had two choices.
Hand over Sylvaran, and Celestara would not share the nectars. In turn, the power of the continent would remain stable.
Refuse to hand over Sylvaran. In that case, Rael would spread a few nectars around the continent, which would in turn cause the other countries or kingdoms to begin growing them. If that were to happen, then in the next 10–15 years, they’d be fighting level 5 soldiers with billions of HP.
The choice was obvious.
“Oh, and I’d like to ask for another request while we’re here,” Zafira chimed in, a frown appearing on her face. “I want to know who it was that targeted Rael and me.”
“Hold on…” King Arthur massaged his forehead. “Targeting? What do you mean?”
“Someone wanted to send us for a baptism. They even fabricated letters to accomplish that,” Zafira explained.
“Do you have a copy?” King Arthur asked in a serious tone.
And of course, Rael pulled out one of the letters he had saved before tossing it to the other side of the table.
It had the basic details regarding baptisms, divorce, and even heresy. Yet the more King Arthur read, the bigger his frown got.
Finally, he put down the letter and looked the two of them in the eyes.
“Yeah, one of the people we interrogated mentioned a Duke. So which one is it?” Rael asked.
“No, it’s not a Duke.” King Arthur shook his head. “It’s a Viscount of a neighboring city. I left him in charge of a few things. One of them was the deal between Yrgon and the Holy Kingdom.”
“Exactly.” King Arthur nodded. “My best guess is that the Viscount responsible saw it as an injustice and wanted to get your deal annulled. I will deal with him accordingly, I promise.”
Zafira tilted her head with a puzzled look. “We’d like to deal with ‘him’ instead. We only need a name.”
King Arthur stared at them for a few moments before letting out a sigh. “I can’t let you kill him.”
“What? Do we look like the type of people who kill everyone who crosses us?” Rael asked in awe. “We’re just an innocent couple who—”
“No.” King Arthur cut him off. “You can’t kill him, and you may not trust me, but I can assure you that I take these matters very seriously.”
He took a deep breath and continued. “The Holy Kingdom only works because everyone follows the rules. Like a gear in a clock. However, if there’s someone who’s going out of their way to break the rules, then they shall be punished accordingly.”
“Aha…” Rael nodded. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt… aka, a week. After that, I’ll have a look for myself at what he’s done.
Zafira sighed as she paced back and forth. “This’ll do for now. As for the deal Rael offered, you have one minute to decide whether you want to take it or not.”
She’s anxious? Rael wondered. That’s a bit unlike her… I’ll have to check up on her after we’re done here.
“What deal are you even talking about?” King Arthur scoffed. “The only thing you’re doing is blackmailing me.”
“Because we are,” Zafira affirmed. “We can also spread the existence of those nectars to the people of the Holy Kingdom. What do you think happens then? Do you think these rules and stability you talk about will exist once the people realize they can become practically immortal?”
King Arthur’s brow twitched as he suddenly extended his hand in the air and pulled out a single document.
It was the official ownership document of Sylvaran. The same one they had fabricated.
And then, with a simple twist, he ripped the ownership document apart.
Immediately, a few pop-ups flashed in front of Rael, making his eyes widen.
While that was impressive, and his Premium Greed earnings would now shoot through the roof, it didn’t even compare to the next pop-ups that had appeared.