Chapter 104: 104
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'Or at least something like that…'
Mike sighed before he hid away the light of ambition that shone in his eyes, he had to focus on the task ahead: the noble assembly
"Mike?"
"...Don't worry it's nothing"
"If you say so…"
Mike gave another sigh and turned to Julie before he explained
"I just want to get stronger still… I fell like I am still far too weak…"
"I feel like we're already---'
Julie paused a suddenly a strong red light shone in her eyes and she continued as her expression twisted into that of a strong desire
"---I also want to get stronger, strong enough to look down on all things with disdain"
Mike showed a thin smile
"Good…"
Some time passed before Mike and Julie reached the inner castle, this spoke volumes about just how massive the castle was, when they exited their carriage they were in a giant inner courtyard, Mike walked up and stroked Serina on the head
"Be sure to come for us later girl"
Serina gave a low growl and trotted back the way she came dragging the carriage behind her, Mike looked around, the courtyard was filled with people many of which he had seen once before, that is to say, that they were lower class nobles whom he had used [Control] on, they didn't greet him as was planned beforehand and some of them even looked at Mike with obvious disgust, so did the middle-class nobles, Mike and Julie being non-humans didn't sit well with them so they were mostly ignored, mostly
"Oh so these must be the entertainment brought by the castle this year… animals dressed up as people, hilarious!"
Mike ignored the shill voice that had yelled out at him and Julie, which obviously pissed off the speaker
"Hey! Are you unable to understand human speech you horned monkey!?"
The next moment a fireball came flying over, neither Mike nor Julie was ready for it so Mike was forced to block it to defend Julie
"Oh no you don't!"
Mike stretched out his arm and blocked the fireball that was aimed at the back of Julie's head, his arm was swiftly burned to a crisp by the fireball, Mike, however, didn't even flinch and as the smell of burnt flesh spread out in the courtyard he simply patted the flames out with his other hand as he muttered
Swiftly a sphere of fresh-looking blood appeared above Mike's head before it flowed down to his burnt arm, swiftly the blood turned into blood-red crystal forming a slightly sinister-looking arm with long claws and a spike at the elbow around his burnt arm in a mere instant, Mike showed a thin smile as he muttered
"My turn"
He then stretched out his hand and fired off a [blood boiler] in the direction of the attacker but just before it could hit the middle-class noble that had fired off the spell a knight appeared and blocked the spell with his shield, Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked
"What's the meaning of this?"
The knight responded in a flat tone
"No fighting is allowed in the inner courtyard"
Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked
"So firing off a fireball at the back of my wife-to-be's head doesn't count as fighting?"
The knight shook his head and spoke in a disdainful tone
"There are no laws against executing livestock in the inner courtyard"
Mike didn't get angry he simply muttered
"Oh is that so?���
Julie however was another case
"What's your name?"
The middle-class noble simply gave a sneer before she spoke with a voice filled with disdain
"Humph, why should I answer what a piece of livestock asks me?"
"Well that's simple, I challenge you to a duel!"
The noblewoman let out a laugh as she responded
"That's fine, look forward to getting slaughtered on the stage! Hear my name and be in awe I am Mary of the house of water!"
Julie showed a thin smile and asked
"I wonder what kind of noise you'll make when I remove your spine form your body one section at a time?"
"Y-you! Just wait!"
The noblewoman turned around and left to another part of the courtyard, only then did Julie turn to Mike as she asked
"How's you're arm?"
Mike moved his arm that mostly was made of crystalized blood a bit before he answered
"It's fine, it'll take a couple of days to heal though"
"Okay… Damn what a bitch though…"
Mike and Julie spent a little more time chatting before a horn sounded out in the courtyard which signaled that it was time for the assembly, Mike and Julie followed the flow of nobles into a giant room, it looked somewhat like a parlement with elevated seats around a parlement floor only it was several times bigger than any parlement Mike had seen before
"Lord Mike, lady Julie this way please"
Mike gave a nod and followed after the servant that showed him and Julie to their seats, but they didn't sit down just yet, they simply waited for the first part of the assembly to start: worshiping the king. It happened as soon as the last noble were in their spot, a heavy pressure declined upon the nobles, Mike showed a slight frown
'This feels like about 300 circulations per minute..? Don't tell me…'
Mike's thoughts however were interrupted as the pressure suddenly increased as a middle-aged man appeared floating in the middle of the room above the central floor
'He's fast, but not only that�� This oppressive feeling… Well I am only level 5 so that's given that there's some level suppression…'
Mike stopped thinking as a horn sounded out which signaled the start of the worship ceremony, Mike counted to 2 in his head before he bowed down along with the rest of the nobles in the hall
""""""We greet you our king!""""""
The king of Threa showed a self-satisfied look as he spoke
"I allow the noble assembly to start"
Then he disappeared again and with that, the worship ceremony was over, Mike rose to his feet again and unclenched his hands with some effort before he took his seat and the assembly started, first was the relatively boring reporting of how much tax each city would be providing the crown this year, this Mike left to Julie that reported about 3.5 million in taxation which was considered high for a city the size of Brem but then again not too high given the fact that they had received several high ransoms from the wars earlier this year, when Julie was speaking Mike sensed a gaze filled with astonishment directed at him and looked over before he gave a smile and a small wave befre he poked Julie and spoke
"Hey Julie wave to Hector"
Julie followed Mike's gaze and saw Hector, he had gained weight since he no longer was a active adventure, but it was still unmistakable him, Julie showed a sweet smile and waved at Hector that turned paler by the second, his wife, a noblewoman who he had mairred out of convionace but got along well with, of course noticed this and asked him
"Hector, what's wrong?"
"I… There are two ghosts waving at me from across the hall"
"Ghosts?"
She followed Hector's line of sight and saw Mike and Julie waving at them and showed a frown
"Who are they?"
Hector swallowed, hard before he spoke
"One was sold as a slave, the other I stabbed though the heart"
She narrowed her eyes slightly before she asked
"Are you sure?"
"Yes absolutely"
"Well… So what?"
Hector looked astonished for a moment before he seemed to regain his composure and he breathed a sigh of relief
"You're right Lana… I nearly lost my compoure there, so what if they are here? We can simply ignore them"
"That's right, we are afterall nobles, so unless you accept a duel from them we should be fine"
"Oh I'd never do that"
"Then it's fine even if we lose a little prestige over not accepting a duel it's fine"
"---Is probably what they're thinking"
"Oh, I see Mike… They think they're safe..? How foolish, there's no way we would show up in front of them without a plan..."
"Well this works in our advantage too…"
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'Or at least something like that…'
Mike sighed before he hid away the light of ambition that shone in his eyes, he had to focus on the task ahead: the noble assembly
"Mike?"
"...Don't worry it's nothing"
"If you say so…"
Mike gave another sigh and turned to Julie before he explained
"I just want to get stronger still… I fell like I am still far too weak…"
"I feel like we're already---'
Julie paused a suddenly a strong red light shone in her eyes and she continued as her expression twisted into that of a strong desire
"---I also want to get stronger, strong enough to look down on all things with disdain"
Mike showed a thin smile
"Good…"
Some time passed before Mike and Julie reached the inner castle, this spoke volumes about just how massive the castle was, when they exited their carriage they were in a giant inner courtyard, Mike walked up and stroked Serina on the head
"Be sure to come for us later girl"
Serina gave a low growl and trotted back the way she came dragging the carriage behind her, Mike looked around, the courtyard was filled with people many of which he had seen once before, that is to say, that they were lower class nobles whom he had used [Control] on, they didn't greet him as was planned beforehand and some of them even looked at Mike with obvious disgust, so did the middle-class nobles, Mike and Julie being non-humans didn't sit well with them so they were mostly ignored, mostly
"Oh so these must be the entertainment brought by the castle this year… animals dressed up as people, hilarious!"
Mike ignored the shill voice that had yelled out at him and Julie, which obviously pissed off the speaker
"Hey! Are you unable to understand human speech you horned monkey!?"
The next moment a fireball came flying over, neither Mike nor Julie was ready for it so Mike was forced to block it to defend Julie
"Oh no you don't!"
Mike stretched out his arm and blocked the fireball that was aimed at the back of Julie's head, his arm was swiftly burned to a crisp by the fireball, Mike, however, didn't even flinch and as the smell of burnt flesh spread out in the courtyard he simply patted the flames out with his other hand as he muttered
Swiftly a sphere of fresh-looking blood appeared above Mike's head before it flowed down to his burnt arm, swiftly the blood turned into blood-red crystal forming a slightly sinister-looking arm with long claws and a spike at the elbow around his burnt arm in a mere instant, Mike showed a thin smile as he muttered
"My turn"
He then stretched out his hand and fired off a [blood boiler] in the direction of the attacker but just before it could hit the middle-class noble that had fired off the spell a knight appeared and blocked the spell with his shield, Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked
"What's the meaning of this?"
The knight responded in a flat tone
"No fighting is allowed in the inner courtyard"
Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked
"So firing off a fireball at the back of my wife-to-be's head doesn't count as fighting?"
The knight shook his head and spoke in a disdainful tone
"There are no laws against executing livestock in the inner courtyard"
Mike didn't get angry he simply muttered
"Oh is that so?���
Julie however was another case
"What's your name?"
The middle-class noble simply gave a sneer before she spoke with a voice filled with disdain
"Humph, why should I answer what a piece of livestock asks me?"
"Well that's simple, I challenge you to a duel!"
The noblewoman let out a laugh as she responded
"That's fine, look forward to getting slaughtered on the stage! Hear my name and be in awe I am Mary of the house of water!"
Julie showed a thin smile and asked
"I wonder what kind of noise you'll make when I remove your spine form your body one section at a time?"
"Y-you! Just wait!"
The noblewoman turned around and left to another part of the courtyard, only then did Julie turn to Mike as she asked
"How's you're arm?"
Mike moved his arm that mostly was made of crystalized blood a bit before he answered
"It's fine, it'll take a couple of days to heal though"
"Okay… Damn what a bitch though…"
Mike and Julie spent a little more time chatting before a horn sounded out in the courtyard which signaled that it was time for the assembly, Mike and Julie followed the flow of nobles into a giant room, it looked somewhat like a parlement with elevated seats around a parlement floor only it was several times bigger than any parlement Mike had seen before
"Lord Mike, lady Julie this way please"
Mike gave a nod and followed after the servant that showed him and Julie to their seats, but they didn't sit down just yet, they simply waited for the first part of the assembly to start: worshiping the king. It happened as soon as the last noble were in their spot, a heavy pressure declined upon the nobles, Mike showed a slight frown
'This feels like about 300 circulations per minute..? Don't tell me…'
Mike's thoughts however were interrupted as the pressure suddenly increased as a middle-aged man appeared floating in the middle of the room above the central floor
'He's fast, but not only that�� This oppressive feeling… Well I am only level 5 so that's given that there's some level suppression…'
Mike stopped thinking as a horn sounded out which signaled the start of the worship ceremony, Mike counted to 2 in his head before he bowed down along with the rest of the nobles in the hall
""""""We greet you our king!""""""
The king of Threa showed a self-satisfied look as he spoke
"I allow the noble assembly to start"
Then he disappeared again and with that, the worship ceremony was over, Mike rose to his feet again and unclenched his hands with some effort before he took his seat and the assembly started, first was the relatively boring reporting of how much tax each city would be providing the crown this year, this Mike left to Julie that reported about 3.5 million in taxation which was considered high for a city the size of Brem but then again not too high given the fact that they had received several high ransoms from the wars earlier this year, when Julie was speaking Mike sensed a gaze filled with astonishment directed at him and looked over before he gave a smile and a small wave befre he poked Julie and spoke
"Hey Julie wave to Hector"
Julie followed Mike's gaze and saw Hector, he had gained weight since he no longer was a active adventure, but it was still unmistakable him, Julie showed a sweet smile and waved at Hector that turned paler by the second, his wife, a noblewoman who he had mairred out of convionace but got along well with, of course noticed this and asked him
"Hector, what's wrong?"
"I… There are two ghosts waving at me from across the hall"
"Ghosts?"
She followed Hector's line of sight and saw Mike and Julie waving at them and showed a frown
"Who are they?"
Hector swallowed, hard before he spoke
"One was sold as a slave, the other I stabbed though the heart"
She narrowed her eyes slightly before she asked
"Are you sure?"
"Yes absolutely"
"Well… So what?"
Hector looked astonished for a moment before he seemed to regain his composure and he breathed a sigh of relief
"You're right Lana… I nearly lost my compoure there, so what if they are here? We can simply ignore them"
"That's right, we are afterall nobles, so unless you accept a duel from them we should be fine"
"Oh I'd never do that"
"Then it's fine even if we lose a little prestige over not accepting a duel it's fine"
"---Is probably what they're thinking"
"Oh, I see Mike… They think they're safe..? How foolish, there's no way we would show up in front of them without a plan..."
"Well this works in our advantage too…"
'Or at least something like that'Mike sighed before he hid away the light of ambition that shone in his eyes, he had to focus on the task ahead: the noble assembly"Mike?""...Don't worry it's nothing""If you say so"Mike gave another sigh and turned to Julie before he explained"I just want to get stronger still I fell like I am still far too weak""I feel like we're already---'Julie paused a suddenly a strong red light shone in her eyes and she continued as her expression twisted into that of a strong desire"---I also want to get stronger, strong enough to look down on all things with disdain"Mike showed a thin smile"Good"Some time passed before Mike and Julie reached the inner castle, this spoke volumes about just how massive the castle was, when they exited their carriage they were in a giant inner courtyard, Mike walked up and stroked Serina on the head"Be sure to come for us later girl"Serina gave a low growl and trotted back the way she came dragging the carriage behind her, Mike looked around, the courtyard was filled with people many of which he had seen once before, that is to say, that they were lower class nobles whom he had used Control on, they didn't greet him as was planned beforehand and some of them even looked at Mike with obvious disgust, so did the middle-class nobles, Mike and Julie being non-humans didn't sit well with them so they were mostly ignored, mostly"Oh so these must be the entertainment brought by the castle this year animals dressed up as people, hilarious!"Mike ignored the shill voice that had yelled out at him and Julie, which obviously pissed off the speaker"Hey! Are you unable to understand human speech you horned monkey!?"The next moment a fireball came flying over, neither Mike nor Julie was ready for it so Mike was forced to block it to defend Julie"Oh no you don't!"Mike stretched out his arm and blocked the fireball that was aimed at the back of Julie's head, his arm was swiftly burned to a crisp by the fireball, Mike, however, didn't even flinch and as the smell of burnt flesh spread out in the courtyard he simply patted the flames out with his other hand as he mutteredSwiftly a sphere of fresh-looking blood appeared above Mike's head before it flowed down to his burnt arm, swiftly the blood turned into blood-red crystal forming a slightly sinister-looking arm with long claws and a spike at the elbow around his burnt arm in a mere instant, Mike showed a thin smile as he muttered"My turn"He then stretched out his hand and fired off a blood boiler in the direction of the attacker but just before it could hit the middle-class noble that had fired off the spell a knight appeared and blocked the spell with his shield, Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked"What's the meaning of this?"The knight responded in a flat tone"No fighting is allowed in the inner courtyard"Mike narrowed his eyes slightly before he asked"So firing off a fireball at the back of my wife-to-be's head doesn't count as fighting?"The knight shook his head and spoke in a disdainful tone"There are no laws against executing livestock in the inner courtyard"Mike didn't get angry he simply muttered"Oh is that so?Julie however was another case"What's your name?"The middle-class noble simply gave a sneer before she spoke with a voice filled with disdain"Humph, why should I answer what a piece of livestock asks me?""Well that's simple, I challenge you to a duel!"The noblewoman let out a laugh as she responded"That's fine, look forward to getting slaughtered on the stage! Hear my name and be in awe I am Mary of the house of water!"Julie showed a thin smile and asked"I wonder what kind of noise you'll make when I remove your spine form your body one section at a time?""Y-you! Just wait!"The noblewoman turned around and left to another part of the courtyard, only then did Julie turn to Mike as she asked"How's you're arm?"Mike moved his arm that mostly was made of crystalized blood a bit before he answered"It's fine, it'll take a couple of days to heal though""Okay Damn what a bitch though"Mike and Julie spent a little more time chatting before a horn sounded out in the courtyard which signaled that it was time for the assembly, Mike and Julie followed the flow of nobles into a giant room, it looked somewhat like a parlement with elevated seats around a parlement floor only it was several times bigger than any parlement Mike had seen before"Lord Mike, lady Julie this way please"Mike gave a nod and followed after the servant that showed him and Julie to their seats, but they didn't sit down just yet, they simply waited for the first part of the assembly to start: worshiping the king. It happened as soon as the last noble were in their spot, a heavy pressure declined upon the nobles, Mike showed a slight frown'This feels like about 300 circulations per minute..? Don't tell me'Mike's thoughts however were interrupted as the pressure suddenly increased as a middle-aged man appeared floating in the middle of the room above the central floor'He's fast, but not only that This oppressive feeling Well I am only level 5 so that's given that there's some level suppression'Mike stopped thinking as a horn sounded out which signaled the start of the worship ceremony, Mike counted to 2 in his head before he bowed down along with the rest of the nobles in the hall""""""We greet you our king!""""""The king of Threa showed a self-satisfied look as he spoke"I allow the noble assembly to start"Then he disappeared again and with that, the worship ceremony was over, Mike rose to his feet again and unclenched his hands with some effort before he took his seat and the assembly started, first was the relatively boring reporting of how much tax each city would be providing the crown this year, this Mike left to Julie that reported about 3.5 million in taxation which was considered high for a city the size of Brem but then again not too high given the fact that they had received several high ransoms from the wars earlier this year, when Julie was speaking Mike sensed a gaze filled with astonishment directed at him and looked over before he gave a smile and a small wave befre he poked Julie and spoke"Hey Julie wave to Hector"Julie followed Mike's gaze and saw Hector, he had gained weight since he no longer was a active adventure, but it was still unmistakable him, Julie showed a sweet smile and waved at Hector that turned paler by the second, his wife, a noblewoman who he had mairred out of convionace but got along well with, of course noticed this and asked him"Hector, what's wrong?""I There are two ghosts waving at me from across the hall""Ghosts?"She followed Hector's line of sight and saw Mike and Julie waving at them and showed a frown"Who are they?"Hector swallowed, hard before he spoke"One was sold as a slave, the other I stabbed though the heart"She narrowed her eyes slightly before she asked"Are you sure?""Yes absolutely""Well So what?"Hector looked astonished for a moment before he seemed to regain his composure and he breathed a sigh of relief"You're right Lana I nearly lost my compoure there, so what if they are here? We can simply ignore them""That's right, we are afterall nobles, so unless you accept a duel from them we should be fine""Oh I'd never do that""Then it's fine even if we lose a little prestige over not accepting a duel it's fine""---Is probably what they're thinking""Oh, I see Mike They think they're safe..? How foolish, there's no way we would show up in front of them without a plan...""Well this works in our advantage too"
