After the news about the class president's rebelling reached the king, he was infuriated. However, there was nothing he could do about it. She was the strongest of all heroes, stronger than all combined, and the kingdom needed her. All he could do was grit his teeth and comply with her demands. If only he had known this would happen, he would have taken that brat hostage. But it was quite too late now. The hero, Anna, was distrustful of them.
They didn't know what to expect from her and didn't know why she would do if her demands were unfulfilled. "Would she really abandon the rest of her friends for that one boy?" The king scoffed as he stared at his reflection in the glass. "What a waste of potential," he murmured.
"Your majesty, princess Maria is asking for you," a servant walked into the room with the king's breakfast.
He sighed and got up slowly while trying to ignore the pain in his back and shoulder. He wanted to leave, but he couldn't. It was a matter of life and death for the kingdom.
Maria stood in front of him with her arms crossed on her chest, looking angrier than ever, and suddenly asked, "Your majesty, why the boy who was promised to be taken care of by us was abandoned?"
The king frowned, "What do you mean by abandoned? We gave him gold to start a life here!"
Maria shook her head, "You don't seem quite to realize that these kids came from a different world," she spoke as if he was an idiot. "Those people have no idea about our world! Yes, you gave him money. But he did not have any knowledge on how to use it!" Her eyes shone bright blue with anger. "And I know you gave him way less gold than you promised. You were supposed to give him tenfold of what you gave him."
The king clenched his fists angrily, "I am the king of this land. How dare you speak like this! Your disrespect and insolence have no place here." He growled dangerously.
His daughter rolled her eyes, "Don't you think I know that? But I'm just stating facts. And right now, we should be dealing more with that." She nodded towards the window. "It looks like the heroes are feeling restless. And I am sure they fear that you will abandon them, the way you abandoned the first boy." She said, as a matter of fact, without even batting an eyelash.
He narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, "What do you think I am supposed to do now?" His voice was full of rage.
She smirked. "It's simple. Let's just say it was a mistake on our servants' part. Let's say..." she looked away from the king, pretending to be thinking hard. "Let's say that our knights stole the money they were supposed to hand over for Drake, leaving him with fewer coins than planned." then she gasped, "Oh my, that servant should be punished!"
His expression changed as he seemed to accept her words. His expression softened, and he placed his hands on her shoulders. "You're right, my child. You truly are my smartest princess.
His daughter smiled widely before kissing his cheek. "I know!~" she giggled and ran outside to meet the knights.
Meanwhile, the king ordered his knights to bring Drake back to the castle and clear the 'misunderstanding .'He cursed Anna, the main reason for this commotion: "Of all heroes, to have some sort of relationship with that brat, it must have been the strongest hero!"
Then after making his decision, he walked to his study and started planning the next move.
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On the other hand, Drake sat alone in a dark alley, counting the money he gained from his last mission. "222, 222... 223... 224. There's enough for me to buy a mansion!" he mumbled proudly. Suddenly someone called out his name, and he turned around. A man dressed in black was walking towards him.
"That's quite a lot of gold ya got there... Wanna share?" The thug named Arnold pulled out an expensive-looking dagger meant to intimidate him. Then he laughed sinisterly. "If ya know what's good for ya, give it to me!""
A moment later, Drake grabbed his face tightly and pushed him against the wall. Arnold struggled but failed miserably. Then suddenly, he felt a burning sensation spreading through his body, and the man collapsed. Drake picked the unconscious man up by his hair and put him aside on the ground. Then, Drake checked his pockets for anything useful. He found two silver rings, a few silver coins, and an adventurer ID card.
"Eh?" Drake muttered, confused, "This guy is an adventurer?"
Suddenly, someone threw a rock at him. A short girl, Monica, with long blonde hair, appeared behind Drake with a menacing look on her face.
"Release him! You thief!" Monica exclaimed angrily, pulling a sword out of her sheet. Drake chuckled. "Is this guy your boyfriend?" then he raised his hands in surrender.
Monica glared at him. "Give him back everything you took, and I will consider letting you go!"
Drake thought for a moment, "Wait... Did she assume that I was a thief?" "But I didn't steal anything yet…" he protested weakly.
"Yet?!" she raised her fist to punch him, but before she managed to touch him, he vanished, making her punch the wall instead.
Then Drake appeared again next to her. "I'll take this dagger as compensation, though!" Then he disappeared again, leaving her speechless.
"Eh?!" she turned around to see Arnold waking up.
"W-what happened?" he tried to stand up but stumbled when the ground beneath him became unsteady.
"Are you alright, sir?!" she quickly supported him, putting her arm under his arm.
Arnold nodded in gratitude, "Yes.. thank you. My name is Arnold. I am a B-rank adventurer. W-what happened?"
"EH?!" the girl yelped. "B-ranked adventurer?! HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO GET ROBBED?!"
He scratched his head awkwardly, "Robbed? Wha-" Suddenly, he remembered how he was going to teach some brat the lesson about what happens when they enter a dark alley and show off their wealth. He was planning to return money to the adventurers guild because it was the first place someone would complain about stolen money. However, he did not expect that the boy was actually so powerful. "No wonder he was casually showing off his money here."
He chuckled nervously, "I guess.. I should find him and apologize. Wait..." he looked around the ground and panicked. "Where the fuck is my dagger?!"