A lone man in humble black attire walked through the grassy fields. Before him laid a road.

This man was about to die.

He held tightly to a bag of gold, trudging ever so slowly towards a seemingly unreachable destination.

“Wat…er.”

The man trudged forward, in the barren land, mumbling under his breath his greatest desire.

And there it was, in front of him, a large glass capsule encompassing water and food inside.

The man scrambled forward like a mouse attracted to cheese, and held the capsule as though it were an ancient treasure. Suddenly, the capsule opened. He hastily grabbed the many bottles of water and chunks of food, and started chugging them down. Never have they tasted so good in his life. The water was placed in weird plastic squares, yet could be easily drunk, and the food, which seemed to be put in cylinder pieces of steel, could easily be opened after some fidgeting with it.

Could this have been a gift from the heavens?

A little thing caught his attention. Such a serene face, long eyelashes, black hair…

Inside the capsule lay a boy.

The man picked him up carefully. Heaven's message had been conveyed to him.

He, King 66, would raise this child.

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A single man in a long light blue robe walked through the barren path. Before him laid a road.

This man was King 67.

After exiting the previous village, he had sold his jewellery for some coins, which he kept in a small bag by his side, and had changed into an ordinary blue robe.

His goal right now? Exit the territory of the Osworl.

When he had been escaping his kingdom, the entrance to the road beyond the Osworl’s territory was blocked off, so he had to use a special escape route that led him into enemy territory.

Now, he had to circle back by sea. Reaching the pier, he carefully evaded every Osworl in sight and went towards the boats.

Ah…

“Only for Osworl.”

“Only for Osworl.”

“Only for Osworl.”

He was basically ineligible to get on any ship. Except…

“Hello.”

“Screw off, we don’t ferry people.” The girl shooed him off.

In the corner of the pier was a small peculiar boat that did not have any sign attached to it. It had worn out ornaments and looked like it could have been used to carry royalty in the past. However, it is now worn out and looks as if it could collapse. However, something–his gut maybe, told King 67 that this ship would not sink.

A girl was outside getting it ready.

“I have money. 3 gold coins to Malon.”

King 67 held up his bag of gold coins. 3 gold coins was a hefty price, worthy of a decent house.

The girl's eyes shone, but she composed herself and…

“Humph! No way, we’re in a rush!”

Rejected again…

The woman in front of him had rejected him not once but twice. Being a previous king, King 67 was obviously not used to this. Just as King 67 was about to make the next step in his plan, a voice came from inside the ship:

“Why not let him come with us? We’re going in the same direction anyway.”

He was a tall young man, around the same age as King 67, with eyes that sparkled like the blue sea despite being black, and hair that radiated like the sun aspire being brown.

Extending his hand, he smiled dazzlingly and introduced himself, “Welcome, I am Edward Whilk.”

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The woman whom King 67 had first met, Selene, was a young teenage woman with brown hair standing at a height of 161 cm tall and was 50 kg. She sat beside King 67.

The man standing beside Edward was Conradin, a much older yet muscular man standing at a height of 177 cm tall and was 64kg. He carried a sword

Lastly, Edward, the man who had invited King 67 up the ship was a tall man with a regal face standing at 180cm tall and was 79kg.

King 67 had a good eye for discerning people’s physical traits.

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“Who are you people?” King 67 asked the most obvious question.

“I do not ask you your business for travelling to Malon, why you are taller than the average person here but shorter than the Osworl, nor why you have such an enormous sum of money. Is it not appropriate for you not to pry into our business as well?”

King 67 sighed. Didn't those conditions pertain to the curious crew before him too?

It had been thirty minutes since the ship set off. They sat there in awkward silence while Edward flipped through his book. Such a journey would take days, yet there was not a single bedroom in sight. The interior was ornamented with lavish red carpets and beautiful furniture. Truly fit for the royal.

That unsettled King 67. Edward is of royal blood for sure, but of which Kingdom?

But that was none of his concern.

Well after I land in Malon, I should head straight to Sinhala, where I can settle peacefully, maybe even start a family. Sinhala also seems unlikely to get conquered by the Osworl...

At this point, King 67 realised something. The journey to Malon would take days, yet there was not a single bedroom in sight.

King 67 finally asked, “Where are the be-“

“We have arrived,” Conradin announced.

What? It’s been two hours since we set sail.

Yet without a mistake, they were at the port of Malon.

Unable to ask a single question before he was pushed off, King 67 left in a daze.

Never mind…what’s important right now is that I buy something to eat…come to think of it, they sort of ripped me off that ride…

Reaching for his wallet, he realised that 3 gold coins were not all he had lost.

Ahh…

My bag of coins are gone.

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“They’re gone…”

King 67 was, visibly, somewhat bothered.

That money could have lasted me an entire lifetime. How do I get it back?

Think…

They said they were going in the same direction as I was… meaning that it has to be somewhere in the north. If it’s in the North… Babylaind? If they want to repair that worn out ship, that’d be the place to go.

Malon, despite being a marine base, lacked good engineers and repairers. They got a nearby village, Babylaind, to help them maintain their fleet. This was largely because of…

The Third Great War that took place five years ago.

Being a large marine base, Malon was an important area for enemies to attack…and it had not recovered from the attacks since then. Lacking financial stability, the land fell into much debt, with its only source of hope being its great geographical location and their fleet of ships.

The problem is how I’m going to get a ship…I can’t do so without money. Getting a job would take too long. In that case, there’s only one way: rob.

…and there’s my target.

A boatman was securing his boat to the land with his two assistants, and quickly got off. King 67 follows him all the way back to his house. There, the boatman ate his dinner with his wife and infant son, then retreated to his room.

He has a family… good. I was worried I’d have to hurt someone.

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The morning light illuminated the dark alleyway by just a little. King 67 stood in front of the man menacingly.

Widen your posture… block the light from outside as much as possible… look down on him. Chin up. Now lower your chin. Relax your face. Now glare.

“Give me a ride on your boat.”

The man, who was on his knees, was still trying to keep some of his dignity as a boatman.

“Hahah… just kill me… I don’t give beggars a ride. That’s my pride as a boat…”

King 67 waved the short sword he had had when he escaped the kingdom in his hand.

…

“I won’t kill you. I will tear down your house. I will kill your wife. I will kill your infant son.”

King 67 hated doing this. It definitely was not morally right. But he had to.

“Y…yes.”

King 67 had earned himself a ride.

Looking at the boatman cowering in fear, King 67 felt no sense of superiority.

I will have to punish myself for this later on.

Ah…I forgot to answer him.

“P-please… let me guide you to the boat.”

The boatman cowered, avoiding King 67’s gaze.

After all, King 67’s eyes were his strongest spears, and the boatman’s eyes were his biggest shield.

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The seawater waved, dancing with the wind, rocking the boat back and forth.

The boatman sat there in silence, eyes wide, heavily. Standing at the deck was King 67, twirling around his short sword in his hands.

It had been two days since they set sail. Surprisingly, there had not been any problems during their voyage. Managing the matters around the boat were two young twin assistants, one with red hair and one with green hair, who were scurrying back and forth on the little boat.

The wind was deafening, yet the silence on the boat was even more so.

Finally…

“W-we’re here.”

They reached Babylaind.

King 67 walked off the boat quietly, while the boatman almost stumbled out of it.

“If you tell anyone about our adventure…”

With a knife, King 67 threatened the boatman.

Unable to take it any longer, the boatman fell to the ground, drool dripping from his mouth. The two apprentices supported him carefully, while simultaneously glaring at King 67.

King 67 had, over the course of two days, used a wide range of psychological tactics to make sure that the boatman would not tell anyone. The two assistants were not a problem. At this point, the boatman would do anything in his power to stop the two assistants from reporting this incident. Even if they did somehow report to the authorities, the authorities would not be able to cross the borders of Malon to chase King 67 anyway.

—————————————————————

The boat sailed off into the distance. Finally, King 67 sat down, looked at his only weapon one last time, and threw it into the ocean.

He needed to punish himself. After all, a king, even a former one, has to be strict with himself.

It's time to enter Babylaind.