The arena wasn’t completely full, because the main tournament would only start the next day, but still, a lot of important individuals were present. With only one sentence, the whole arena turned silent. Only a certain few knew about my arrival, everyone else heard about it for the first time, so their reaction was understandable.

I starred at the crowd and everyone looked at me. Quite some time passed, but I didn’t manage to say anything. It was an awkward situation and I hoped for it to be over as soon as possible.

“Now that we introduced our guest, let the games begin.”(Arthur)

Arthur was the one who managed to break the silence. Moreover, with only one sentence again. I was wondering how he was able to find those impactful sentences always at the right time.

I didn’t listen to what he said afterwards, I was only relieved about not having to speak in front of such a big crowd. I sat down and leaned back with a sigh. Arthur sat in the middle, while I sat to his right and the king of beastmen sat to his left. It looked like Arthur was the one in control of this tournament.

I already met Sam Lionheart once a few years ago, while traveling through the beastman continent and he still looked the same as before. He was looking down on others with a gaze that felt like he could see through everything. If I remember correctly he called it, analyse magic. Still, he looked a lot tenser this time.

The games, Arthur talked about, were simple challenging games between random participants and magic shows prepared by both, Arthur and Sam’s personal retainers. It was quite fun watching and the opening ceremony ended fast.

After it finished, I finally got a chance to talk. The crowd slowly made its way to the exit and the arena got emptier and emptier. I wanted to take that chance. I stood up and went to Sam.

His three personal guards saw me as a threat and wanted to stop me. It was funny, Sam had three guards, and Arthur had Shadow and Sepp by his side, while I only had Sandra.

“State your business.”(Sam)

He looked at me as if he’d despise me, but there was no way he could ignore me.

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“Well, well dear Sam. You don’t have to be so mean.”(Arthur)

Arthur too, stood up and started to butt into our conversation.

“Don’t meddle in.”(Sam)

“Why not? We are allies.”(Arthur)

I know Arthur only meant to help me, but it turned into a quarrel between Sam and Arthur only, while I was left out of it.

“So one of the things he demanded of you was pressuring me?”(Sam)

“Even if this is true, it would still be worth. But I have to disappoint you, that wasn’t his demand for our alliance.”(Arthur)

“As if I’d believe you. First I get threatened and then this. I’ve had enough of this.”(Sam)

“As I told you, this had nothing to do with us humans.”(Arthur)

“That may be so, but the one responsible for is your ally now.”(Sam)

“It wasn’t my fault either. But don’t worry I took care of it.”(Me)

I finally got the chance to get into the conversation.

“Who else should be responsible?”(Sam)

It didn’t even know what he got threatened with.

“What did they even do to you? It’s hard to believe that they said something like they’d kill you.”(Me)

“Don’t act innocent, you know what I’m talking about, I bet you two have some kind of plan against me. Who knows, perhaps while I’m sitting here, you attack us.”(Sam)

“Sigh. This will lead to nothing.”(Arthur)

“True.”(Me)

Even if Sam was a king, he was still much too impulsive.

“Let’s say it’s my fault ok. I’m sorry for whatever I have done and I hope you can forgive me.”(Me)

It was a bit abrupt, but it was the best way to skip unnecessary accusations.

“I just wanted to give you the same conditions for a peace treaty as Arthur, but it doesn’t seem like you’re interested.”(Me)

It looked like it was a hard decision for him to make. Like his live would depend on it. Again, I had no idea why he’d be so tense.

“Speak. I’ll decide after I hear what you have to say.”(Sam)

Is it some kind of fetish, or why do kings always think they are in the higher position?

“My first condition is that you are not allowed to tell anyone anything about me.”(Me)

“Is that even a condition? I don’t know anything about you except your name.”(Sam)

You’d be surprised how much you know about me.

“Fine what’s the other condition?”(Sam)

“I want you to send me 50 children under 15 years every month. Before you ask which or why, it doesn’t matter who, they just have to be alive and under 15 years of age. And it is because I want to build up our force and for that I want people who listen to me and who won’t betray me.”(Me)

I remembered the questions Arthur asked, so before Sam had the chance to ask anything I answered them.

“I… I need some time to think. I will give you an answer by tomorrow.”(Sam)

He ended the conversation, stood up and left as fast as possible.

“Did I say something wrong?”(Me)

“I don’t think so.”(Sandra)

It was strange, but as long as he’d give me an answer, I was satisfied.

“By the way, was this pressuring mana part of your plan?”(Arthur)

“My what?”(Me)

“You used it when you negotiated with me too. And you are still using it.”(Arthur)

“I did what?”(Me)

When I thought about his words, I realized that I was still in black form. It just felt natural, so I totally forgot about it.

“Ah. This is… um. No actually. I.”(Me)

“Hahaha. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”(Arthur)

“Your majesty, you should return to the mansion, it’s not save to stay here for too long.”(Shadow)

“Sigh. I know you only want my wellbeing, but read the atmosphere.”(Arthur)

It looked like they knew each other for quite some time.

“Well. Let’s return and call it a day. It’s already late and tomorrow is a grand day.”(Arthur)

We went back to the mansion. Arthur already prepared rooms for Sandra and me beforehand. As he said, it was already late and I was quite tired. It was a long day and I was relieved that I was finally able to get some sleep. The next day would be even longer and more straining.