Man on the ark, forced to become king

"So, what is your mission this time?"

"The specifics of the mission are for Margaret to decide whether to tell you; I cannot answer for her."

Shining shook his head, offering no answer.

Sending the two of them here was just a small experiment by Golden Tree. How to proceed is up to Margaret's own choice. Even if she chooses to give up, there will be no punishment for failing the mission.

Without knowing Margaret's plans or whether she intended to tell her family the details, she wouldn't presume to make decisions for her.

"I'll ask her."

Marner nodded, and the atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

The two looked at each other, unsure of what to say next, until Marna finally brought up the topic again.

“I heard that Margaret owes a lot of money in loans.”

"indeed so."

When this matter was brought up, Shining's usually expressionless face showed a rare hint of embarrassment.

"In fact, she incurred two loans in total. The first was when she first joined Golden Tree, when a shady merchant tricked her into spending a fortune on a full set of custom-made armor. The second was before she set off; she bought a concentrated version of Golden Tree Dew, intending to borrow some from me, but..."

“At the time, I didn’t have much savings left, so I could only help her make up the down payment.”

"However, you don't need to worry about this. The amount owed isn't much. If it were me, I could probably pay it all off in just two or three missions. As a friend, I'll help her."

"Is it that easy?"

Marna was somewhat surprised: "Margaret said she would have to pay it back over two years, and I thought the amount would be huge."

“It certainly wasn’t easy for her, but it wasn’t for me.”

The Shining didn't explain the difference, nor did it need to; Marner quickly grasped the underlying meaning.

Margaret's current strength is passable, but she is still far inferior to the person in front of her. With this person's level of strength, the difficulty and reward of the tasks she can perform will definitely far exceed those of her niece. The two are not on the same level, so the criteria for judgment are naturally different.

"Thank you for helping her, Nearl—!!"

Halfway through her sentence, Marna suddenly looked up and gazed out the window. In the hazy night, the neon lights of distant skyscrapers shone brightly.

"Looks like some troublemakers have come knocking."

"..."

Shining pulled Maria, who was lying on his lap, into his arms, and gripped the hilt of his sword with his other hand.

She also felt a sense of unease, a feeling that was both distant and familiar.

Back on the battlefield of Kazdel, she had been targeted countless times, but those people were far less powerful than the one outside.

Is Kazimierz also in such chaos?

"Don't worry, Miss Shining, he won't make a move."

Marna's eyes gleamed with a pale gold light as his gaze met that of the person in the building, even from a great distance. His expression was grave.

He knew who it was.

The Unarmored Alliance was more sensitive than he had anticipated, but he remained certain that they wouldn't dare to actually attack him.

A warning? Or a test?

Both are possible, but as long as the arrow hasn't been shot, there's no need to worry about it.

Jingle ~

The bracelet with a few small gold leaves hanging from her wrist made a slight clinking sound as she moved her hand, and Shining released the hilt of her sword.

"He didn't get a chance to make a move."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sense of threat that had been emanating from afar vanished.

……

At the top of the building, a figure clad in old armor held a giant bow and arrow as tall as a person, gazing at the brightly lit manor in the distance.

A thick, dark gray arrow, about the thickness of an arm, was nocked on the bow.

Why not shoot it?

A languid whisper sounded beside him, and an arm as black as ink rested on the arrow.

"Let me think. It's as black as the night, with a faint red glow, and so heavy. Is it a heavy arrow made of black iron? There aren't many people who can wield it."

"They told me there's an assassin organization here called the Unarmored Alliance, and the most powerful person in it is... Xuan Tie Dawei? Could it be you?"

"You wish to interfere?"

Xuan Tie slowly released the bowstring, his muscles taut beneath the armor. This wasn't intentional; it was his body's instinctive reaction.

Like a human facing a ferocious beast far larger than himself, a strong sense of crisis coursed through his body, making it impossible for him to relax.

Dangerous, extremely dangerous...

In his decades-long life, he had only a handful of enemies who could make him feel threatened, but this woman who suddenly appeared was far more dangerous than any of them.

Without even lifting a finger, the mere aura emanating from him made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and he dared not make a move.

If you move around, you'll die.

He had no doubt that the other party could do it.

"I'm not interfering, I'm just here to see what you're up to."

Leaning against the edge of the railing, his pale blue hair fluttered in the night, causing him to yawn out of boredom, completely disregarding the so-called Xuan Tie position.

“Little guy, you’re pretty good, but you’re too dangerous. I can’t let you keep causing trouble.”

"I made a promise to someone before I came out. If you hurt that little girl, I'd lose face."

Am I in too much danger?

Do you want to listen to what you are saying?

I was just making a show of force here, I didn't intend to do anything real, but you suddenly appeared and your mere presence made me feel suffocated, and then you said I was too dangerous?

Isn't this bullying?!

Xuan Tie felt extremely frustrated. He didn't know why such a monster would appear in Kazimierz, or why it was connected to the Lin Guang family.

But he knew he had failed this time.

With his strength, there was no way he could escape from this woman; she's not even human!

The body that appears before me now is merely a shadow manifested by some colossal being, an ancient being far beyond humankind, a great terror recorded in myths and legends that should not appear in the human world!

What exactly does He intend to do in Kazimir?

He took a liking to that junior member of the Rinko family and personally protected him?

Don't be ridiculous, that reason is completely untenable!

In the eyes of such beings, humans are as insignificant as insects, merely toys for their amusement in their long lives, not worth their attention, so why would they bother to take action themselves?

"Your Excellency, I will no longer harm the Lin Guang family. Could you—"

"No."

Ling extended a finger and gently shook it, interrupting Xuan Tie's words. Her blue-purple eyes held a slightly drunken, dreamy look.

"You've already done your job with me, so I'll have to lock you up for a while until this is all over before I consider releasing you."

"Of course, you can rest assured, I have no intention of killing you, otherwise you would already be a corpse."

"Your Excellency, this is Kazimierz. This is no longer your time."

Xuan Tie threw down the large bow in his hand, drew a short sword from his waist, and spoke with a hint of threat in his words.

"With such coercion, aren't you afraid—uh!"

Inky clouds rose silently, climbing up the old armor and enveloping the unspoken words within.

The legend of Kazimierz, the mysterious iron unknown to the Unarmored Alliance, is still too insignificant in the face of a god who can contend with natural disasters. The power he possesses is insufficient to resist the suppression of the order. There is no other outcome except being bound and sealed. Even if someone else comes now, it is unlikely that they can save him.

Nowadays, there aren't many skilled players left in Kazimierz.

The declining knightly class, like the sun falling into twilight, has lost all its former glory, leaving only a lingering afterglow.

The appearance of the order is a devastating blow to Kazimierz; there is no one here who can defeat her.

If there is one, it is a large, assembled army, not a single individual.

"Commendable courage, but unfortunately it's all for naught."

Ling turned over, rested one hand on the railing and propped up his chin, looked down at the bustling, brightly lit street below, and touched the gourd of wine hanging from his waist.

"I'm really not used to this atmosphere. It's sad to see a city so immersed in desire."

"They said I'm the only one with nothing to do, and instead of living a life of debauchery, I should come out and take care of the kids..."

"Tsk, my two dear sisters are getting less and less adorable."

"Or, let's go try the specialty bar in Casimir."

……

pat~