King Hrothgar was eager for the next audience. Right in the first months of his rule, his realm almost lost one precious town in the eastern reaches. It served as a buffer against monsters, protecting the innermost and more important towns from the dangers of the frontier. Even if it had not such importance, it was still part of his realm. And to damage the realm was to damage the crown itself. To damage him.
Too many conflicting reports were issued regarding that town. A B rank variant monster appeared, an orc horde besieged the town, trees sprouted out and fought to defend the city, a monster bride, a hybrid general commanding monsters, the loss of a B rank adventurer party that were celebrities in the realm…
Even though he was less than 20 years old, King Hrothgar was wise and very keen on his studies. He had a knack for leadership. But yet he could not sift truth from rumor from these reports. All of them had lies woven with truth, but even so one thing was clear: the leaders of that town screwed up and had to pay for their blunder. With their lives.
And so he was eager for this next audience. Instead of some boring merchant, some scheming noble, this one was a hero. A rising star hero that came out of nowhere, and one that accepted the task of fixing this whole mess. Now he was back, and the king could not wait to hear his exploits… his report.
The truth is that the king was a bit of a hero fanboy. Tales of heroes that had astonishing powers and fought vicious dragons were not uncommon in the capital, but the king had read the journal of those heroes at the inner library, and he dreamed the day he would give a quest to such a hero.
The minister and the advisers warned him against catering too much to heroes, as they almost always tend to end up causing trouble down the road, but this one is a new hero, one that appeared out of nowhere just a few days ago, and there was still a long way for it to become true. Beowulf was the first hero the newly crowned king Hrothgar would push around. And he was eager for his new toy.
“Who is the next petitioner?”
“The hero Beowulf, my liege.”
“Send him in.”
The audience chamber doors opened, and the slim figure of hero Beowulf crossed into. It had a composed gait and unassuming presence one would mistake it for some lower nobility child. His age seemed even younger than the king’s. But the items this hero brought with him were astonishing. They were being carried by esquires on cushions, walking behind the hero.
Hero Beowulf walked halfway the chamber, then knelt.
“Your majesty, I have returned, and bring news of glory for the realm.”
The king could barely hide his excitement. “Very well. Bring forth the trophies.”
The esquires moved in from the sides of the hero and all of them knelt a bit nearer the king, presenting the cushions with the weapons to his majesty. There were five cushions in total. Four of them held weapons of great prestige, the king knew those weapons closely. The weapons of the late B rank adventurer party, the Shining Blades. The spellblade Helmholtz was a favorite of the king. The others were the ‘Sharp Claw Bow’ of Chiera, the half-elven archer, ‘Mesmerizing Mirror Shield’ and ‘Mace of Earth Tears’ of Grant and the ‘Pyroclasm Staff’of Thibaut the mage. The fifth cushion held a head. This head had greenish skin, long pointed ears, the nose was barely human-like but the tip was raised into a snout, and a long flowing red hair bundled behind it.
“Here, your majesty. I present you the weapons of the Shining Blades.”
“Splendid!” The king stood up and clapped his hands in excitement. Normally one would not bring a monster’s head into the palace audience chamber, but this was an unique occasion.
"I am most honored by His Majesty kind words."
"Hero Beowulf!" Hrothgar addressed the hero again. "There were voices within the court that were against giving you this assignment. I am glad they were proven wrong. They haven't witnessed your great deeds while on the road like I did."
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Hero Beowulf waited for the king to stop, then nodded to the last carrier to bring his tribute forward.
"Finally, this is the head of the monster they failed to eliminate and the one responsible for the siege of Milfield."
“Is this the hybrid monster that was mentioned in the Guild Master’s reports?”
“Yes, my liege. This was indeed the monster.”
“I thought it said it was a troll.”
“There was no troll. The Guild Master had probably mistaken the helmet this orc hybrid wore with a troll’s head. The monster bride the reports mentioned was probably the mother of this abomination, but those conspiring against the realm's prosperity pushed everything into a town girl that was to be the scapegoat.”
Hero Beowulf stopped and looked at the king, pleading for permission to continue with his gestures. The king nodded, and the hero continued.
“This was the real monster that appeared in the forest, the one the Guild Master failed to subjugate, and the one the Shining Blades set out to kill but failed. Also this guy was the one that led the orc horde into besieging the town. Some knights that were present at the first wave of the orc horde reported that he wore a helmet made with mountain goat horns.”
“Excellent. Hero Beowulf, your actions saved an entire town. Even though they will now be forced to go through a winter without much provisions, but the town will remain there. And what about the nuisances?”
“They are gone, my liege. Those failures paid for their mistakes as you instructed.” The hero paused for a while, then said in a lower voice: “Their heads are also here for inspection, later.” and he pointed at another esquire with a nondescript chest at the back of the room.
“Excellent. I have the reward we agreed upon ready for you. Are you sure you don’t want to be knighted or receive peerage? That town can use a new baron.”
“My lord, you grace the worthless me with such words, but I am unworthy of walking the ranks of the fine nobility of this country. I am but a lowborn farmboy that had a bit of talent upon birth. And a lot of luck while growing up.”
The king knew that the entity called hero was an unruly one. They craved for freedom and adventure, and avoided leashes even more than they avoided death. And as seen from the weapons on cushions, they were not so good at avoiding death anyway. Sometimes one or other hero would accept a leash with offers of woman and worldly pleasures, but it was unknown if Beowulf would settle for those. Instead, the hero was looking up at the king with greedy eyes. He wanted his just reward.
And reward him the king would do. If this men alone had the strength to defeat a creature four rank B adventurers failed to kill, it was wise not to anger it. Specially for one hero that arose from nowhere. He surely is a bastard child of some noble. His manners and court skills, and his negotiation skills were top notch. Even the ministers were astonished at his politeness and court savvy.
“Bring in the rewards! 500 monster cores of rank D, 50 monster cores of rank C and two hundred gold coins.” The king didn’t know why Beowulf wanted so many monster cores. But since the uses for those were limited and they were just gathering dust in the treasury, it was still more advantageous to pay with cores than gold.
“I am flattered by the lord’s generosity… an...” The hero knelt, but didn’t lower his head. The way he looked at the king was asking for permission to speak. The king decided to indulge the hero a bit more.
“Proceed.”
“If your majesty so desires, I’d like to ‘offer’ these mighty weapons to the realm.” The king understood that he was willing to sell the weapons of the Shining Blades to him.
“You won’t keep them to yourself?”
“No, your majesty, none of these weapons suit me. They would serve the kingdom better if more suitable wielders were to be found for them. And may they add to the realm’s strength.”
King Hrothgar’s eyes shined at the thought of more heroes in his realm. His eagerness got the best of him.
“Then I’ll bestow five B rank monster cores for each of these weapons. Minister of the treasury, see to it.”
Hero Beowulf was pleased. He smiled, bowed and said in the most earnest voice “Your majesty is too generous.” And began to walk backwards as to end the audience. "Seven leagues..." he muttered between his fingers.
The king wanted to stop the hero. He wanted to hear heroic tales of the battle against the hybrid. But he had to stay composed. The prime minister was already looking at him with scolding eyes. There would probably be another ‘how to properly act as a king’ lesson tonight.
The hero followed the minister of treasury out of the audience chamber with a wide grin in his face. The king surely mistook the reason for the grin as loyalty, that day.
Title Swindler King awarded.
Those that deceive a ruler and get away with lots of riches.
Reduces base failure chance of deception by 75%, before skill modifiers.
After 'visiting' the vault and 'earning' his reward, all that is left is to travel north. Hero Beowulf popped some snacks in his mouth. "Hum. Crunchy and tasty, but melts in the mouth."