Debuff Master

However, what shocked him the most was…

‘They\'re planning on turning… my daughter into a follower…?’

Siegfried looked like he had been struck by a hammer. Siegfried was going to be a father, and it was only obvious that he would feel far more threatened by threats aimed at his child rather than himself.

However, the threat was actually turning his daughter into a follower of the Church of Osric,

Shwiiik!

Siegfried felt a chill travel down his spine, and he broke out into a cold sweat at the mere thought of it.

What if Decimato didn\'t suspect the servant called Kyle?

He would have lost his daughter to the Church of Osric, and they would have dealt a massive blow to him. He had repeatedly disrupted the plans of the Church of Osric, but the fact that it could have been their turn to stab him made his stomach feel sick.

He could still feel the chill traveling down his spine, and he realized that the Church of Osric wasn\'t an enemy he could afford to drop his guard against.

‘I should be more careful from now on…’ Siegfried decided to be more wary of the cult from now on before he glared at the servant and maid, ‘Should I kill them?’

He wanted to jump through the roof and smash Carlisle and Jessie’s heads into a pulp, but he suppressed his lust for their blood and continued on eavesdropping on their conversation.

Jessie changed the subject. “That is that, but are you going to be fine for the day of the operation? It seemed that you were mercilessly getting beaten up. What are you going to do if you end up breaking a few bones before our operation even starts? The other maids were saying that it is highly likely for you to get beaten to death by that training dummy.”

“I already broke quite a few bones… Haa…” Carlisle let out a sigh and added, “Walking is already a chore for me…”

“Can you still join the operation?”

“I will join, even if I no longer have limbs cut off.”

“Your spirit is quite admirable. I was worried that you might run away even before our operation commences after getting beaten up so badly. Well, I\'m still worried about that, to be honest with you.”

“No way, I will never run away. The day of my vengeance is near! This pain is nothing compared to the pain and sorrow of losing my motherland!”

“That is quite impressive.”

“Back in the days…”

“…?”

“Kings were rumored to hide in thorn bushes and chew on troll gallbladder while biding their time to have their revenge.”

Siegfried recalled a certain famous saying after hearing what Carlisle said, but he decided to ignore it and continue eavesdropping on the rats.

“I can withstand this much pain, so don’t worry about me.”

“That is quite reassuring,” Jessie said as she relaxed a bit after hearing his resolve.

“Then, I will go back now,” Carlisle said as he turned around.

“Good… luck…”

“Yeah, I need that.”

Carlisle walked away and disappeared into the darkness, and Jessie remained standing all alone.

“Sniff… Sniff…”

She held her breath and cried without making a sound.

‘What the hell? Why is she crying?’ Siegfried tilted his head in confusion after seeing the maid squat down and cry while covering her mouth.

“Your Majesty… I am sorry… I am really sorry…” she uttered while crying.

She begged forgiveness from Brunhilde, who was fast asleep in her room, over and over again.

‘What’s going on…?’ Siegfried failed to understand the maid’s strange behavior.

Carlisle and Jessie were criminals plotting to kidnap the soon-to-be-born princess and hand her over to the Church of Osric, but why was she crying so sorrowfully right now?

Why was she begging for forgiveness from Brunhilde?

Siegfried could not help but wonder, as he had no idea of the maid’s background.

‘Ah, forget about it. I don’t care if that bastard and this bitch bawl their eyes or what. I should go back for now,’ he thought as he walked away, leaving the crying maid behind.

***

The next morning.

“A follower of the Church of Osric? Are you talking about Her Majesty’s chambermaid, Jessie?”

“Yeah,” Siegfried replied and grumbled, “Forget about Carlisle; that wench, Jessie, wants to kidnap my daughter and hand her over to the Church of Osric.”

"Goodness!”

“I wanted to kill them on the spot, and I barely managed to stop myself.”

“A wise decision indeed, Your Majesty,” Michele praised him for his patience while being in awe of him at the same time. Michele knew that the only reason Siegfried had decided to suppress his rage and refrained from smashing their heads open was to use them against the Church of Osric later on.

“Huh? Why are you praising me all of a sudden?”

“It is because I can understand how Your Majesty felt at the time.”

“Ah…” Siegfried muttered as he understood what Michele meant by that. Michele was a prodigy praised by the empire, but he bore the scars of losing his entire family to the Church of Osric and nearly getting brainwashed by them.

If it weren\'t for Siegfried, he would have used his mind as a strategist for the very cult that had killed his family and had been sowing discord in the world.

Michele had experienced it himself, so he understood how difficult it had to have been for Siegfried to suppress his fury.

“Yeah, I\'m not sure about the others, but you would know how I felt.”

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

“Keep your eyes and ears open at all times from now on. That’s the only way we can hit them back and make it hurt.”

“As you command, Your Majesty,” Michele replied in a firm resolute voice, and then he added, “I will make all preparations necessary to make sure that they\'ll understand the gravity of the mistake that they had committed.”

“Good.”

Michele suddenly took out a letter and said, “We\'ve received a response from the emperor.”

“What did he say?” Siegfried asked.

He had told the emperor to be more lenient toward Chae Hyung-Seok for now, as that was the only way he could make sure that Chae Hyung-Seok would use the money he had borrowed from Ma Dong-Po to buy items.

The letter held the emperor’s response to his request.

“So, is he going to do it?” Siegfried asked once again.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The emperor has agreed to your request,” Michele replied.

“Wow, he’s quite the nice guy, listening to my request and all,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

“But this won’t be for free...”

“You think so?”

“The emperor is not someone you can underestimate. He is the ruler of the empire, and he will certainly ask for something from Your Majesty in the future.”

“Yahoo!” Siegfried exclaimed and jumped for joy.

“Why does this make Your Majesty happy?”

“That means the emperor’s going to give me a quest!”

“A quest? Is that a word the Adventurers use?”

“There’s something like that,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

This was indeed good news to him, and he couldn\'t help but celebrate it inwardly, ‘Boo yeah! The emperor’s quest is definitely going to be tough, but the rewards are definitely going to be jaw-dropping! Kekeke!’

Siegfried’s logic as a gamer was—NPC + Request = Quest.

And a quest would give rewards upon completion…

What kind of reward would the most powerful NPC on the continent bestow upon those who had successfully completed his request?

Siegfried couldn\'t even imagine it.

“Haa… There’s really no stopping you…” Michele let out a sigh and muttered under his breath while shaking his head. His reaction was understandable, as an NPC wouldn\'t be able to understand the joy of receiving a quest with massive rewards.

“Anyway, I believe Desire will make his move soon, Your Majesty.”

“Then I should get ready, too,” Siegfried said as he subconsciously fiddled with the Head Crusher Guild’s insignia. The Head Crusher Guild was formed with members who had sworn vengeance against the Genesis Guild.

How were they going to react if Siegfried summoned the entire guild?

They were going to immediately drop whatever they were doing and rush to his side for the chance to contribute to the demise of the Genesis Guild.

“I guess it’s time to draw up a plan.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Oh well, I’ll go roam around some dungeons while waiting—“

Siegfried was about to leave his office, but Michele blocked his path and pointed at the mountain of documents on his table.

“Please finish these first before you go.”

“C-Can’t I do it tomorrow?”

“No, please do it now.”

“Hiiing~”

“Please do not ever under any circumstances try to act cute at me. And please finish these before lunchtime today.”

“Alright…”

Siegfried planned to have some fun while he had the time, but he ended up getting stuck at his desk to finish the mountain of paperwork that had piled up during his absence. To be honest, he didn\'t really have to review these papers.

Seuk… Seuk… Seuk…

Michele had already checked all of the documents, so Siegfried’s job was to sign them as though he were a machine.

Knock…! Knock…! Knock…!

Someone knocked on his door.

“Hey, if you’re here to give me more work… just kill m—“ Siegfried said with an aghast look upon thinking that Michele had come knocking with more documents for him to sign.

He had spent most of his free time tailing the rats that had sneaked into the royal palace, so he was stressed about having to spend the remainder of his free time on such a boring task.

However, he was mistaken; his visitor wasn\'t Michele.

“Your Majesty… It is I, Jessie…”

‘This crazy bitch!’ Siegfried was shocked to find that his visitor was the cult follower, Jessie, but he forced himself to remain calm.

“P-Please, come in.”

“I, Jessie, greet His Majesty.”

Jessie didn\'t forget to greet him courteously.

“What brings you here? No, is there a reason for you to visit me personally? I cannot seem to recall anything that warrants this meeting,” Siegfried asked while glaring at her inwardly, ‘What are you plotting this time?’

“Your Majesty…”

“Yes?”

“I have…” she muttered before she fell to the ground and cried out, “I have committed a huge sin! Please kill me, Your Majesty!”

“What the hell…?” he muttered.

He was so flabbergasted that he unexpectedly blurted out the words in his head.

***

While Siegfried was busy tailing and keeping an eye on the rats that had sneaked into his palace, Chae Hyung-Seok was meeting someone in a forest behind some rural village.

No, this wasn\'t another broker. He had already learned the hard way that anyone he would contact to purchase an item would only end up handing him over to the Marchioni Empire.

“Oppa…”

The person he was meeting was none other than his sister.

“Can’t you just stop? Your health isn’t getting any better…”

The Adventurer with the ID Arcadia was Chae Hyung-Seok’s sister, and she seemed quite worried about him.

“I can’t do that. Do you know how much I lost because of him? I already lost a few billion won,” Chae Hyung-Seok replied while shaking his head.

“But…”

“Getting revenge is the least I can do. The anger within me will kill me if I don’t do this much at the very least.”

Chae Hyung-Seok refused to listen to his sister.

“…”

“I plan to quit the game after I finish this and use whatever money I have left to open a small business. Then, you, me, and Mom can live happily and peacefully together, so please help me out this once…”

“All right…”

In the end, Arcadia was forced to help Chae Hyung-Seok, but for some odd reason…

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’ Arcadia couldn\'t help but feel anxious about it.

She strongly felt that Chae Hyung-Seok was going to fail again, but there was no stopping him anymore. It had been a long time since he had gone off the rails, and he wasn\'t going to listen even to his own family.

Arcadia knew him better than anyone, as she had always watched him from up close.

“This is the last time I’m helping you,” she said.

“I promise,” he assured.

Arcadia opened her Inventory after he reassured her, and he poured all of his gold into her Inventory.

“I will wire the cash to you.”

“Okay.”

“Let me know once you bought all of the items. I’ll have to leave this place for now,” Chae Hyung-Seok said as he put his hood down and left the forest.

“Oppa…” Arcadia muttered as she watched Chae Hyung-Seok’s pitiful appearance disappear into the trees.

He was the leader of the prestigious Genesis Guild, which used to be one of the top ten guilds on the continent.

His gait used to be filled with confidence with his head held up high. However, that Chae Hyung-Seok was no longer here; he had been replaced by an anxious criminal hiding like a rat from the Marchioni Empire.

“Haa…” Arcadia let out a sigh.