CHAPTER 17
GETTING RID OF FIFTH RANKED PAIN
“Guess who reached me yesterday?” Delimira teased Hans, breaking the silence. She twirled her hair and asked, “Remember that fire Warlock who we met in Capital?”
“That Devildom mage,” Hans replied.
“Yeah, he reached out to us. The Sylvetor family is offering a million gold, you know—“
“Leave me out of this, Winters. I already have a headache named Kansas looming over my head… and I’m busy.” Hans outright rejected. “But you know.” He continued before Delimira could protest further, “You can probably do this on your own. No need to cancel it on my behalf. You got this. So go—”
“You sure, you don’t want to join?” Delimira stressed anyway, “These guys are pretty powerful, you really don’t want to compete with them.”
“To catch some thieves.. It sounds tempting, but... enjoy yourself, Winters,” He replied, waving off the conversation as he made his way to his room, a quiet chuckle escaping him. "Pft! Why split the loot? I'll keep it all for myself. Thanks, Deli.”
After a while, a gentle knock roused the lazing Hans from his bed, prompting him to sit up straight, eyes fixed on the door and he heard. “You there, little brother?”
“Yes, come in, sis.” He responded eagerly and as the door creaked open, a smile spread across his face, welcoming Vanessa into the room. “Come on in,” he waved, making space on the bed beside him.
“Father said you were looking for me.” Vanessa asked innocently.
“Yeah. What’s exactly going on with the western duchy?” Hans asked at point-blank range.
“I’m seeing for you after a while, and the first thing you ask is what is happening in someone else’s home. I’m a little hurt, little brother.”
“I’ll make it up to you later, sis.” Hans shot stars from his eyes and asked her again, “Western duchy, please?”
“Fine, fine. Don’t pout, you are not just a kid anymore. It doesn’t suit your stature now—”
“Haa! Another reason,” Hans shook his head mumbling, “I really didn’t want to be the prince. I can’t do this, I can’t do that. Tsk! Tsk!—”
Vanessa interrupted his train of thoughts. “A few weeks ago, someone broke into the Sylvetor mansion and robbed—”
“I know what others know, sis.” Hans interrupted her, “I want to know what others don’t know?”
Vanessa remained silent, pondering whether it’s right to tell this troublemaker brother the truth. “I’m still debating whether to tell you or not…just promise me, you won’t cause any trouble—”
“Since when do I cause trouble—”
“A…Every time.” She paused, “So do I have your word?”
“I’m not causing any trouble if no one finds me, right?” He asked with a mischievous smile, and after a brief pause, Vanessa responded, “Mmm…Kind ah!”
Hans asked further excitedly, so she continued, “There was something in the bunch that was robbed. A document so scandalous that could destroy the house Sylvetor. So both the Sylvetor family and the Grimgar royals are paying a hefty amount for its retrieval.”
“But why are these jackasses of thieves doing their deeds here,” asked Hans. It was better to flee in Sunfall, since it was near and had some complicated relationship with Grimgar. It would have provided them with safe passage, so he was wondering why they were here, far east.
However, Vanessa had the answer for his doubts. “It’s all because those foolish people reached out to the royals, obviously trying to pass this dangerous situation onto them.” She said, shaking her head. “And your dear uncle chose Edenberg County for the exchange because no one dares to cause trouble here. It’s the lands of Rudolf and Sierra Edenberg, and now even the foreign Parvian prince is here with the knight association Chairman this is the safest place to be in Grimgar.”
Hans chuckled in response, thinking, “Since my dear uncle is using me as his shield, shouldn’t he pay an appropriate price?” He continued grinning for a while as his mind gears were moving with full speed. “Oh!” He said, amazed like an epiphany had hit him. “Sis, I want Kansas gone, real bad. Can you do something?”
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“If it were a week before, my answer would’ve been a NO. But now even you can convince him. Since the king is coming himself, shouldn’t he protect him instead of watchdogging you?” She mused.
Vanessa thought it was good for Hans to learn the art of negotiating with words, but Hans’s head was cooking something else. He was still grinning ear to ear, thinking, “If the king’s envoy suddenly got attacked by someone, Kansas eventually has to go there…”
Both of them were content thinking quite contrasting things.
Hans soon discovered the date of the King's arrival thanks to Vanessa, and he devised a plan to rid himself of Kansas once and for all. Meanwhile, Delimira formed an awkward alliance with Devildom under the pretence of observing them on behalf of the current acting lord, Sierra.
The days were passing like flashes, and almost every day new faces showed up at the Edenberg mansion, all aiming to gain the cooperation of Edenberg forces. Sylvetor wanted to hide something and Grimgar Royals wanted something that can teeth down their influence on Sylvetor. Knowing this well, Sierra remained neutral in this power struggle.
However, Hans didn’t care who was coming or going from the mansion since he maintained his daily visits to the dwarven community without interruption to avoid raising any suspicions.
Fortunately, the dwarves’ likability towards Hans had soared high since he was actively participating in their testing and was sort of a muse to many of them. They agreed to help him evade Kansas’s watchful eye without being detected.
“Zzzz…Zing!” Hans stumbled out of a rift, a prototype of one of his dwarven friends for short-distance teleportation. His head throbbed like crazy. “Hey, Kronof. You sure you tested this before? I’m not the first one to try this, am I?”
“Naturally,” Kronof chuckled from the other side of the small rift, running his fingers through his thick beard.
Hans gagged, spewing out his breakfast. “Jeez, what's wrong with the space jump and me?” He shook his head, relieved that his headache had vanished along with his undigested meal. Wiping his mouth, Hans gestured to his new worn bracer, and asked Kronof, “If I just turn this dial, I'll be back, right?”
“Yeah, human. It will work, don’t worry,” Kronof reassured him, dismissing his concerns.
“How sure are you?” Hans asked skeptically.
“Around... 80%.”
“You're messing with me!” Hans exclaimed.
“Yeah, I was, human. Just return before two hours. That knight can’t come to the dwarven community without permission, but he can still sense your presence there. We can only mask it for three hours at best.”
“Then why is my window only two hours—”
“Precaution, you fool. A dwarf always takes precautions. It's the nature of our work. Just come back before the two hours are up.” Kronof cautioned Hans before the temporary rift closed down.
“Fine, you persistent midget,” Hans grumbled, activating his wind gem. Flying close to the ground at remarkable speed, he pondered why the King of Grimgar chose the road instead of utilising a space door for teleportation.
Upon reaching the passage, he scrutinised the place, noting, "Strange, I still see mana being channeled from miles away. They must be investigating this place beforehand from distance… Thank god I lack mana within me.” He scoffed, proud, “They… even their forefathers can't trace my presence.”
He was overjoyed, chuckling at the scouts’ reliance on magic instead of physical scouting. “I can’t blame them,” he said, “everyone in this world has mana, just not me… stop arguing with yourself, Hans, and do your job.” Shaking off his thoughts, he began to devise his master plan and couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re in for a wild surprise, Uncle.”
AFTER A WHILE
Hans returned just in time, emerging from the dwarven community precisely as the king was expected to arrive on his planned route. All was left was to wait for the ambush to happen as he talked to Kansas, solidifying his alibi.
“Mr. Chairman of the Knight Association.” He yelled at the skies, and the bulky knight, the fifth rank holder, appeared behind him. Hans didn’t get spook as the knight had planned, but grinned sideways and turned to him.
Meanwhile, at the king’s road, Samwell’s company triggered the first ‘Landmine’, his newly built version of the SharpDeath spell. “Boom!” As the shrapnel-like structures flew like a shower, the unexpected entourage failed to counter since their blind trust in their senses told the area was clear and safe to enter.
So these superpowers failing to detect a meager trap was insulting. They spanned their senses yet there was no magic weapon in the vicinity. “Boom!Boom! Boom!” Blasts happened in quick succession. They were confused as to how the attacks were happening.
But they were the elites of Grimgar, the royal force, so it was not near enough to create panic among them. In a moment, they came encircling their king. “Your Majesty, are you hurt anywhere?”
A healer mage rushed toward their king. “Boom! Boom! Boom!” The run of the healer’s to their king in concern did nothing helpful but triggered the chain reaction. One after another, explosions began, and shrapnel rained like a hailstorm from the above.
Since the land mine of Hans was the product of the photon energy which finally breached their armour, taking down their several defensive ruins.
“Agh! Ugh! No, my eyes! My legs…My groin..”
The entourage began to cry in agony. The attack wasn’t enough to damage anyone in significance, but dealing with the explosive shrapnel was an annoying task.
But Hans wasn’t just planning a harmless prank. He had secretly sprinkled the shrapnels with his ‘SchizoMania’ spell, which he had first used against the candidates of Knight association in Glory wars and hadn’t used since then. No one knew about his special plants, so it was a perfect plan for Hans to cause a major mental breakdown for the entourage. That’s why Samwell had to rush to Kansas.
And as that happened, Hans turned his face towards Kansas. The Chairman’s face showed many colors as his communication orb lit up red, confirming Hans’s plans had borne him fruits. Hans teased, “Why the ugly face—”
He was interrupted as Kansas jumped high in the sky, reminding Hans that this fellow couldn’t fly too like Rudolf. “This nonsense is finally gone from my neck… ah, this is freedom.” He cried in joy.