Chapter 109 - The King Has Spoken

The capital city of Deja, within the king's courtroom...

The kingdom of Lycania was turning prosperous day after day. However, there were a lot of issues that did not let the king have the peace he so desired. Even now his courtroom was amidst the chaos, even though he understood why everyone was freaking out, all the noise they were making... brought him a bit of displeasure.

Upon realising that the chattering of his ministers was not going to seize on its own, he slammed his fist on the golden throne he was occupying. The loud reverberation generated from the impact made all of them go silent immediately. 

For a moment, the ministers had forgotten about their king's sensitivity to sound. Especially to voices. In fact, at that moment, they knew they had messed up so bad that they were fearing for their life. After all, the king was someone who had killed off far more important people for doing something much less. 

"How many times do I need to tell you morons to keep your voices down!" The King yelled and started massaging his head, "All that noise you made, made me not listen to what any of you had to say... so please, start over but this time in a civil manner."

The ministers let out a sigh of relief as the King did not seem to be in the mood to kill them. For now, however, there was no guarantee he wouldn't kill them after the disappointing news they were about to deliver to him.

It was no secret that the kingdom of Lycania was running out of habitable space to live in. On top of that, none of the other kingdoms was willing to give them a hand or a part of their land. The way everything was going on, they would have to forcefully turn the swamp into some kind of habitable place.

They needed the space for a lot of things, or so did everyone thought. But that was only a cover for what the king's true ambitions were. They did not want to convert the swamp for any noble use, but to finally forge a path for them to dominate the entire continent. 

The King wanted to until the five stars... but under his iron fist. He no longer wished to be called a king, but an emperor. The emperor of all the kingdoms on the continent. However, they first needed to deal with the swamp and the night creatures dwelling in it.

That's what his entire focus was on for now. It was for that reason he was no longer considered with what one of his illegitimate daughters was planning to do to him. In his eyes, Mera was far too insignificant for him to even spare a thought over her. But the other might not agree with him, so he left them alone to do as they pleased. 

If they wanted to kill his daughter, they could. In front of his larger goal, he would not even bat an eye even if his legitimate children were killed. After all, he had more than 50 offsprings with around 13 women he had ever gotten close to. What loss would it bring to him if a dozen or so of his children were to die?

"Why are you silent now?" The king repeated his words for the ministers to make sure they heard him this time, "What were you talking about?"

Saying so, the king got to his feet, and all of the ministers could not help but feel insignificant in front of him. Standing at 7' feet tall, Jonathan Bismark the second, or the king as everyone called him, was a mountain of a man. 

It wasn't that he was only tall, but he had considerable muscle mass on him as well, and that was while he was still in his human form. Had he turned into his werewolf form, he would turn into a titan, taller and stronger than any werewolf ever had been. Maybe even Lycaon, their primordial lord, would think twice before confronting him head-on. 

Jonathan's ambitions might seem too ahead of him, but considering the physique and skills that he possessed, his ambition of ruling over the continent no longer seemed unconquerable. Also, his platinum blond hair and different coloured eyes in his werewolf form made him much more intimidating than he usually was. 

"Your highness... the thing is..."

"Stop blabbering Raymond, and speak confidently." 

"The conquest failed, your highness. The night creatures eradicated the 17th squad."

"Hm... I see." Jonathan walked up to the minister of internal affairs, Raymond and placed his hands on his shoulder, "If I remember correctly, your younger son was a member of that squad, correct?"

"Yes, your highness. I'm sure he fought till his final breath to take a step in achieving your dreams." A teary-eyed Raymond mumbled.

Jonathan nodded and turned back. However, the next second he turned back and kicked Raymond's head cleanly off his shoulders. With a single kick... the minister's head went flying out of the courtroom while everyone else cowered away from the king in fear. 

Calm? Jonathan never believed such a state of mind could ever exist for him. He was born to be a conqueror and yet his courtroom was filled with fools and morons who couldn't do anything but weep after the failure of a simple task!

He didn't want these morons to capture the entire swamp in one day. He didn't even care if they were only able to proceed one step in a day as long as they were going forward. However, allowing the night creatures to reclaim a piece of the swamp for themselves, was inexcusable in his eyes. 

"Anyone else wants to cry?" Jonathan asked his ministers, unbothered by the fact that Raymond's blood had drenched his clothes. 

The ministers immediately shook their heads while boring a hole in the floor through their eyes. 

"Then go and reclaim what was lost or die trying." The king spat in disgust, "I don't care if you have to go and fight the night creatures yourself. Do not show your faces to me before that or else, you know better than anyone what I will do to you."

After being given another chance to correct their mistake, the ministers hurriedly left Jonathan inside the courtroom all alone. They knew no matter what, they had to make up for the loss or else, not only them but their families would be in grave danger. Not even infants would be left alive. 

A moment later, dozen or so cleaners showed up in the courtroom to clean up the mess. It only took them a couple of minutes to make the room spotless as it had been before. Once they left, Jonathan's youngest and most loved daughter showed up there to meet with him. 

"Oh my lovely Michelle, how good it is to see you again my child." The moment Jonathan saw Michelle he forgot everything about his problems. 

Ever since she started attending the academy again, the frequency of her visits had decreased a lot. Thus, her unannounced visits were something he looked forward to more than anything. However, Jonathan could not help but feel that something was off with her. 

"I, the 27th princess of Lycania, greet the king."

Michelle gracefully bowed before her father... which was certainly not common. In fact, Michelle was the last person Jonathan would imagine performing proper etiquettes and such. Unless she was there to make some kind of official request. 

"Yes, my child. What can I do for you?"

"Can you send a few of your elites with me to the academy? Disguised as my servants, of course." She said while looking her father straight in the eyes. 

"I most certainly could. But I would like to know for what purpose?" 

"To kill that wench of a director!" Michelle dropped her calm and collected demeanour and yelled in rage.

She was finally back to being herself, just like Jonathan remembered. As for her request, it was quite an absurd one. He was certainly not going to allow Michelle to do something like that. Not yet either way. However, he wanted to know what had happened between the two of them for Michelle to ask for something so... inappropriate. 

"First calm your nerves and tell me what happened." 

Mischelle then proceeded to tell him what had conspired in the academy and how the punishment she had given to the kid serving Mera was revoked by the director. However, at that moment, Jonathan was more interested in the so-called kid than the problem Michelle had with the director. 

"So you say, this first-year was selected by Mera and could already perform partial transformation?" He asked her with an emotionless face, "Not only that, he beat the Grunta twins?"

"Yes, father but-"

Michelle was immediately cut off as Jonathan started laughing hysterically. Michelle couldn't fathom a reason for her father to start laughing like a mad man. However, the next moment, he had an order for her. 

"I don't know what you have to do, but I want you to bring that boy over someday."