I must draw my sword immediately!

Chapter 25 What kind of legend can you be without money?!

Seleucus was silent for a moment.

He stood silently in place, seemingly making a difficult decision.
Suya dared not utter a sound. He dared neither deny his status as king nor reveal to Hector that he was not king.
This feeling of being humiliated, like a lamb to the slaughter, placed on a chopping block for bargaining, made him extremely uncomfortable.
Suya couldn't help but clench her fists slightly.

Mary, who was holding Sua's arm, seemed to feel Sua's trembling and seemed to empathize with her frustration.
But she simply pursed her lips slightly and shook her head gently at Suya.

After a long while, this unbearable silence of humiliation finally ended.

"I understand."

“I will report this to my king.”

Seleucus coldly scrutinized Suya, then slowly raised his head to look at Hector, and said directly:
“I don’t sense any kingly aura about him.”

“But if this is your choice, Sir Hector, one day I will kill this liar-smelling brat on the battlefield, then capture you and bring you back to Macedonia to recommend to my king.”

"Your superb marksmanship and admirable chivalry should not be wasted in such a tiny country!"

"Next time we meet, I will use the Banner of the Conqueror to defeat your Noble Phantasm in a fair and square manner."

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After saying those words, Seleucus left quickly.
The cavalrymen who came for the treasure were forcibly taken away by him, and whether they wanted to or not, they returned empty-handed. A crisis that was almost certain to kill Suya was resolved so easily and unbelievably by the sudden appearance of a powerful ally.

Seleucus seemed to be very wary of Hector, who was wielding the flaming spear, and was extremely reluctant to engage in a war with him even though the opponent had fewer than a hundred men.

Sir Hector, upon arriving beside Suya, merely glanced at her deeply before silently ascending the hill pass to reorganize his less than one hundred cavalrymen.

After everyone left,

Suya breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously looked at Meryl.

But then, he suddenly didn't know how to face Meryl.

He suddenly found himself in a state of being unable to control himself.

Logically, Sua should have used this time to dispel Meryl's suspicions about him—

Previously, he had convinced Mary that he was the true heir to the British kingdom through lies and acting skills, but his act of not recognizing Hector just now cast doubt on the authenticity of this claim.

However, this can actually be forcibly reconciled.

For example, the one fostered at Sir Hector's house is just Arthur as a substitute, while the real heir to the kingdom is only sent from a secret place when danger is imminent. Although it is somewhat forced, Mary is so naive and easy to fool, she will definitely believe it, right?
But, but——

Once you tell one lie, you need countless more to cover it up.

Having deceived Merry, he would then deceive Hector; having deceived Hector, he would then deceive the other Knights of the Round Table; having deceived the Knights of the Round Table, he would then deceive the Church, the nobles, and the kings of the small kingdoms gathered in Britain; having deceived them, he would finally deceive even the entire nation of people who believed him to be king, deceive the enemies, and deceive God who made Arthur pull the sword from the stone.
Sua is not Arthur Pendragon.
Sua also did not want to become Arthur Pendragon.

Suya had no reason to bear the burden of this kingdom, nor any reason to continue to take on the danger of pretending to be a king.

Suya understood even more clearly that the humiliating silence she was in when the enemy mocked her so closely, and the humiliation of being a lamb to the slaughter, were the gentlest punishment after telling this lie.

But if we are to continue walking down this road where there is no future,

What will I face next?
What else will we lose?
more importantly--

now,

Facing Meryl's bright, rosy eyes, which stared at him like a silly deer, as if she were looking at a precious treasure,
The lie that Suya had prepared suddenly got stuck in her throat.

He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke:

"Hey, Meryl."

Mary tilted her head: "What's wrong?" "If, I mean if, I'm not the king, but just an unlucky guy who suddenly got caught up in this mess."

"What do you think?"

"I know."

Suya was taken aback: "You know?"

Mary looked at him with an expression that said, "I really can't do anything with you."
"No matter what, if you are the true heir to the kingdom, you cannot possibly fail to recognize Sir Hector. He was the trusted advisor entrusted to Arthur by the late king, regardless of whether you are his adopted son or not."

"You can't even recognize the most important person who could help you become king, there's definitely something wrong with you!"

"Since it's fake, then it's fake!"

"But, Suya—"

Meili abruptly changed the subject, her rose-red eyes fixed on Suya, as if reassessing Suya's worth. A glint of excitement flashed in her eyes, and she patted Suya's shoulder forcefully, a smile playing on her lips.

"Isn't that more interesting!?"

"If we fail, we'll run away. At worst, we'll surrender to that wretched woman, Alexia III, and become Greeks!"

“However, as long as you don’t expose yourself, Hector’s strength is definitely enough to escort us back to the capital.”

"But once we get back to the capital, with my card skills and your keen eye, we'll definitely win back everything I've lost! We'll definitely make a fortune!"

"With this money, you can do whatever you want without any problems!"

Suya choked, her lips twitching slightly.

He made up his mind and confessed directly: "I'm not good at gambling. I just want to find a safe place to practice martial arts until I'm invincible before I come out of seclusion."

Upon hearing this, Meryl looked at Suya with disdain, as if she had heard a joke.

"Hiding away to practice martial arts, and then practicing until you're invincible?"

"Suya, I admit you do have a little bit of talent, but you don't actually think that becoming stronger can be achieved without any price, do you?"

"Promotion to the rank of Attendant, the materials for promotion, the ceremonies for promotion, the miracles for promotion to Hero, and the paths and treasures for promotion to Legendary—which of these doesn't cost money, doesn't require risking your life?"

"If you can't display the flair of a master, accomplish heroic deeds, or create a legendary tale."

"Even if you train your whole life until you die, you can only reach the level of that assassin you just killed!"

"You trembled when you faced Seleucus just now, didn't you? You felt humiliated, didn't you?"

"But if you don't have money,"

"You can't even beat one of his armpit hairs!"

"Understand?"

"In this world, the stronger a person is, the richer, more powerful, and more influential they are!"

Hearing this series of complaints from Meryl, Suya, who had gained a deeper understanding of the world's combat power system, couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity.

Damn it, what kind of world is this?

What kind of legend can you become if you don't have money?!

(End of this chapter)