Debuff Master

Chapter 678

“I am well aware of Your Majesty’s remarkable achievements that saved the world a few times,” Michele said.

“Yes, I did.”

“But most of Your Majesty’s achievements have not been made known to the world.”

“Yeah, there’s that...” Siegfried replied with a nod.

His merits had to be kept a secret, as he was fighting against the secretive evil organization, the Church of Osric. The Church of Osric’s existence had yet to be announced to the world, and the reason was to prevent people from sympathizing with their goals as well as to stop those in power from trying to use them for their own gains.

“Also, most of those took place in places where the people of the continent would not even dare step foot in.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“But what about Your Majesty’s misdeeds?”

“W-What? My misdeeds?”

“Yes, I do agree that Your Majesty had your reasons, but there were times that you simply went too far, which is precisely your problem.”

“Hmm...”

“And... Your Majesty has become infamous for stabbing people in the back.”

“T-That’s only because they were villains!”

“Yes, that was indeed the case, but that does not help Your Majesty’s public image at all.”

“...”

“Are you aware of what people think about you? Except for our allies, everyone else thinks horribly of Your Majesty.”

Siegfried staggered at those words and muttered, “I-Is it that bad...?”

“There is a report of how the other kingdoms on the continent think of Your Majesty. It was prepared and compiled by our Chief Intelligence Officer, Ninetail.”

“What does it say?”

Michele handed the stack of documents to him and said, “Perhaps it will be easier if Your Majesty reads it yourself.”

“Huh? Why?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion and read the report.

— He’s a very strong, despicable, and evil Adventurer.

— He might be strong but it’s hard to trust him based on his actions. He’s someone capable of stabbing his own allies in the back if it benefits him.

— An Adventurer so obsessed with money that he would not hesitate to sell his own mother for a few coins.

— Being despicable and evil is one thing, but his intelligence makes him a very dangerous person. He has already shown that he isn’t afraid to use whatever means necessary to achieve his goals.

— He is obsessed with women! He is an unbelievable pervert!

— Rumors say that he is a perverted sex fiend...

“W-What the hell is an unbelievable pervert?! And what the hell is a perverted sex fiend?!” Siegfried lashed out after reading the report.

The contents of the report were loosely similar to one another. The good things written about him was that he was strong and smart, but the criticisms aimed at him completely nullified the good things.

“When did I?! WHEEEN?!”

“Please calm down, sire.”

“Bring me the names of these bastards!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Damn it!”

“Calm down and listen to me, sire,” Michele said sternly as he tried his best to calm him down. Then, he said, “I am aware that these are nothing but exaggerated rumors.”

“T-They are! You think so too, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. However, Your Majesty has to acknowledge that you are responsible for them, too.”

“W-Why...?”

“Because Your Majesty has neglected how you carry yourself in public...”

“Did I? Well, I guess I've been doing whatever I wanted to do...”

“It is not too late, sire. You must subdue your natural instinct and act like a king from now on. I implore you to act with grace and authority. If you do that, then the people’s opinion of you would dramatically improve.”

“Really?”

“Yes, sire. And that would also prevent Her Highness from getting disappointed in Your Majesty.”

“Oh!”

“I am certain that Your Majesty wishes to be an upright father Her Highness would be proud of, right?”

“Y-Yes! That’s what I want! I won’t do bad things from now on!” Siegfried exclaimed. He was willing to change as long as he could become a father that his beloved daughter could be proud of, so he decided to no longer do things that could earn the ridicule of others.

“I will become a good father from now on,” Siegfried said, making his resolve.

***

Right after Siegfried had decided to become a new man...

“Is His Majesty, Siegfried van Proa here?”

The ex-pilot of the Marchioni Empire who had moved jobs to the Delivery Guild, Cork, came to the Proatine Kingdom.

“Huh? Mr. Cork? What brings you here?”

“I have a delivery for Your Majesty.”

“Really?”

“It is from the Adventurer, Yong Seol-Hwa.”

“Ah, is it that thing?” Siegfried muttered after hearing that the package was from Yong Seol-Hwa. He remembered that she promised to craft him a new projectile set, and it seemed that she was finished crafting them judging by how Cork was here.

“Please sign here.”

“Sure.”

“Then, until next time,” Cork said with a bow and left the throne room.

Siegfried proceeded to open the package right away after Cork was gone. There was a small box the size of a watch case within the package.

Click... Clack!

Siegfried opened the box carefully.

Sseuuu...!

The box contained an orb the size of a ping-pong ball; the orb was releasing a bone-chilling cold.

“Huh? It’s an orb?” Siegfried muttered, surprised by the unexpected form of his new weapon.

Then, he decided to flash his Rune of Insight at the item.

[Blood Frost Orb]

[An orb made from melting the leaves of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Tree.]

[It will stay in the user’s mana hall when not in use, but it can be taken out and transformed into ten thousand projectiles when required.]

[The projectiles are extremely sharp and are filled with cold energy. A tiny graze could become a nasty wound.]

[This artifact can be considered a living organism, so it possesses infinite durability.]

[However, it will act like a parasite and sap away at the user’s mana.]

[Due to this, the user will have to inject mana into it from time to time.]

[Type: Throwable Weapon]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Durability: Infinite]

[Current Status: Fully Charged (100%)]

[Effects: Throwing Skill Level +10, Flying Sword Level +10, Torrential Flower Rain Level +3, Water Attribute +500]

“W-What the hell is this?!” Siegfried exclaimed, shocked by the bonuses provided by the Blood Frost Orb.

How could a single item increase the levels of Throwing Skill and Flying Sword by ten while increasing the level of Torrential Flower Rain, which was a top-tier skill, by three?

It also bestowed a five hundred points increase in one's water attribute! Well, the other bonuses were so good that the increase in water attribute looked pitiful.

“I knew she has a Hidden Class, but...” Siegfried muttered in awe while recalling that Yong Seol-Hwa possessed a Hidden Class, the Dragon Blacksmith.

Sseuuu...!

It was then.

Siegfried's skill, Gluttony, suddenly activated automatically and shot out from Siegfried’s hand, devouring the Blood Frost Orb and absorbing it into his mana hall.

[Alert: You have absorbed the Blood Frost Orb!]

[Alert: Torrential Flower Rain has reached the maximum level!]

[Alert: It is no longer possible to increase the level of Torrential Flower Rain!]

[Alert: You will need to clear a special event to transform Torrential Flower Rain into its final form!]

The Blood Frost Orb increased Torrential Flower Rain’s level to the max, bringing Siegfried a step closer to achieving its final form.

“Is it Heart of Swords...?” Siegfried muttered, recalling the final form of Torrential Flower Rain.

Heart of Swords was the ultimate skill of Weapon Master Shakiro. One would not require any weapons once they reached this stage, as they could attack their target with weapons conjured out of mana and their will alone.

Weapon Master Shakiro was the only one who had obtained that skill, and according to Sword Emperor Betelgeuse, it was a highly advanced skill that even Grandmasters were in awe of.

“I will definitely learn the Heart of Swords one day,” Siegfried swore under his breath.

After he was done absorbing the Blood Frost Orb and reading all of the messages, he decided to spend some time with Verdandi.

“I wonder what Verdandi is doing—”

It was then.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

The newly appointed Minister of Finance, Schmidt, greeted him.

“Hello, Sir Schmidt.”

“There is something I wish to urgently report to Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“We have discovered a B-Grade mana stone mine in the Arctic Pangea.”

“What?!” A m-mana stone mine?!” Siegfried exclaimed, doubting his ears.

Mana stones were so valuable that they would bring immense wealth to any nation that possessed them. They were the main source of energy on the continent, so their value was equivalent to the value of crude oil in reality.

A mana stone mine was actually found in the Arctic Pangea? Moreover, it was a B-Grade mana stone mine as well?!

‘Whoa... Just how much will I earn from the Arctic Pangea...?’ Siegfried wondered. Who could have known that the frozen wasteland everyone had disregarded would bring such wealth and benefits to him?

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It is going to be difficult to develop the mine, as it is frozen stiff. But we are certain that it is a mana stone mine.”

“Wow...”

“However, the mana stones found there are filled with frost, so it will be difficult to make proper use of them...” Schmidt trailed off.

There were not that many uses for water attribute mana stones. A mana stone would have to emit heat to be a source of energy, but that was difficult to achieve with mana stones that emitted a cold aura.

Of course, it was still possible to use them as a source of energy. It just had to go through a few processes before it could be used as a source of energy, just like other mana stones.

Unfortunately, the problem was the cost. Processing mana stones was expensive, so it would cost more to process those mana stones than to just buy them outright from someone else.

“Here is the report regarding the matter,” Schmidt said, handing over a stack of papers to him.

“Give me a minute,” Siegfried said after taking the report and flipping through them. Then, he asked, “Are you certain that it has enough reserves underground?”

“It is more than enough, your Majesty. It will require three B-Grade mana stone mines to compare to the amount of deposits in this one.”

“That’s good enough. We will sell them in bulk and profit from it.”

“Pardon me, sire?”

“Don’t worry. I will solve that part,” Siegfried said with a grin.

“Sire...?”

“I will see you later in the evening to further discuss this.”

“Y-Your Majesty? Where are you going?! Sire!”

“I’m going to the Bavarian Workshop. See you later!”

Siegfried left the castle and headed straight to the Bavarian Workshop.

***

“Quandt will probably love this. Hehehe!”

Siegfried was already overjoyed at the thought of bringing another good news to Quandt. He had been feeling burdened by always being on the receiving end of Quandt's goodwill, but that all changed after he had handed over the development projects of the Espadrille Province to the Bavarian Workshop.

The fact that he had let them hitch a ride on the development coin alleviated some of the debt he had to the Bavarian Workshop and Quandt.

Siegfried had another brilliant idea this time, and that was to partner with the Bavarian Workshop by giving them the rights to develop the B-Grade mana stone mine recently found in the Arctic Pangea.

This would drastically reduce the cost associated with processing the mana stones while maximizing profits. To begin with, the Proatine Kingdom did not have the technology or the expertise to process the mana stones, so it was a wise decision to partner with the Bavarian Workshop.

This was a classic case of scratching each other’s back, as the Bavarian Workshop would make money from processing the mana stones while the Proatine Kingdom would get the technology they lacked sorted out.

“Wait for me, Quandt! I’m coming to pay you back this time!” Siegfried muttered to himself excitedly and skipped toward the Warp Gate that would lead him to the Bavarian Workshop.

“Over there!”

“He’s here!”

Siegfried warped to his destination, but he ended up shaking his head in disbelief after hearing a group of people shouting at him.

“Damn it... They’re camping in front of the warp gate now?” Siegfried grumbled under his breath.

It was then.

“Catch him!”

“Siegfried van Proa is here!”

“Make sure you catch him alive! Don’t kill him!”

A group of soldiers and knights charged at him.