CHAPTER 53: THE FIRST HOSTAGE

’I hate my job.’

Braham, a humble messenger from the Holy Kingdom, was sent to the land of giants, Uldor.

All he had to do was to send the message to the king and leave as fast as possible.

CLEEENK!

In front of him, a huge gate was opening slowly. Once it opened completely, Braham saw the inside of the castle.

He saw several tables filled with food and the maids, servants, and knights were eating together and chatting casually.

Nothing inside could be used by humans.

The food, the furniture, the lanterns, and even the dust. Everything there was in huge sizes.

As for the people themselves, the shortest among them was three meters tall.

"Move forward." Behind him, two giants, almost five meters tall, urged him to move.

"Yes, sorry." Braham immediately continued walking.

They walked up the stairs—or climbed in Braham’s case—passing by several giant maids and servants, until they reached the throne hall.

’What a nice outfit for a mighty king that just declared war.’

The giant king was sitting with his legs crossed on a throne larger than a commoner’s house. The king was over 15 meters tall, had a long beard, wore a straw hat on his head, and had an eye patch covering his right eye.

The king was topless, revealing his metallic grey skin and refined muscles. And he wore simple shorts for his lower part.

BAM!

The giants behind Braham fell to their knees instantly and shouted: "We greet Lord Valor!"

Braham fell to his knees as well instantly: "Braham, the messenger of the Holy Kingdom, greets the king of Uldor."

’Why does he look as if he has just returned from a beach, though?’

Valor, resting his head on his hand, smiled: "Sorry for my casual clothes—I have just returned from my vacation on the beach."

"...."

Braham looked at Valor with a dumbfounded expression, ignoring the shockwaves caused by Valor’s overwhelming voice.

’Did that bastard declare war on us while having a vacation?!’

Braham had heard many rumours of the carelessness of the barbarian king of the West, but he didn’t believe most of them.

After all, he was supposed to be a king, right? There was no way a king of one of the strongest kingdoms would be so careless.

’Yeah, he likely said that intentionally. He is trying to make me have a wrong image of him.’

"Come over here to tell your message. I can barely see or hear you from there." Valor said as he squinted his left eye.

’Can barely see or hear me?!’ Braham’s face almost twitched as he moved forward.

That king was a peak Rank 4 being, an Ascender. He was half a titan, an abyssal race with a bloodline, and all his stats were in 3-digits.

As for Braham, he was merely Rank 3, a humble Master—he wasn’t even a holy knight nor was he lucky enough to be chosen for an angel bloodline.

So even if he wanted, Braham wouldn’t be able to hide even the sound of his heartbeats from Valor’s sharp senses.

As Braham stood before the king, he cleared his throat and then said: "Lord Valor, members of your army attacked us for no stated reason as you declared war suddenly, threatening the peace that lasted for years."

"My king asks you to visit the Holy Kingdom and solve whatever caused this peacefully, or the entire continent would have to face the consequences of your savage actions."

"Hahahaha!" Valor’s laugh shook the entire castle as he nodded: "Sure, I want to solve this peacefully as well. Just tell your king that I want his Crown."

Braham was dumbfounded again as he humbly asked: "Lord Valor, are you asking for the entire kingdom?"

Despite his internal emotions, his voice was steady, calm, and almost devoid of emotions. That was a skill required in order to become a kingdom’s messenger.

Valor shook his head: "No, no, no. I don’t want your pathetic kingdom—I want only the Crown."

"The Crown of Existence?" Braham asked calmly, though he was cursing Valor’s ancestors inwardly.

’Wait, he himself might be cursing his own ancestors. Damn it!’

"Obviously, it’s the Crown of Existence. What else would it be?" Valor laughed again, slapping his own knee: "No one can steal the Crown of a Crowned Existence. But, I can force him to give it to me willingly, can’t I? All I need is an entire kingdom as a hostage."

For the first time, Braham’s jaw dropped.

"I-I think I have to communicate with my king for the next step..."

Valor gave him a nod: "Sure, sure. Ask your daddy whether he prefers you or his crown."

’You damn...’

Braham ignored Valor’s mockery and quickly used an ability to communicate with his king inwardly.

After a few minutes, Braham looked at Valor and said: "Lord Valor, we can’t give you the Crown, but—"

"Are you hungry?" Valor suddenly cut him off.

"Why are you asking, Lord Valor?"

Valor smiled brightly as he laughed: "Congrats, little man. You are now our first hostage, so I have to feed you well. A Rank 3 isn’t a bad start."

"...."

Braham stared at him blankly.

’Man, I truly hate my job.’

¢¢¢

"Thank you for the breakfast."

"No problem."

On Dante’s bed, Elizabeth and Dante were eating breakfast together. Just fried eggs, bread, meat, and a cup of milk on the side.

Obviously, Elizabeth was the one who cooked the breakfast, and he made her bring them into his bed. Was there anything better than a breakfast on the bed?

’I paid her, so I’m going to use her cooking skills to the end!’

But as they ate together, his mind drifted to the news he read the previous night.

’Should I tell her or not?’

Although she looked calm and happy again, Dante knew that she didn’t recover from what happened yet. After all, he had heard her crying on the night several times.

So now, should he tell her that her kingdom was probably going into a war?

’Maybe tomorrow... Hopefully tomorrow’s news will be better.’

After finishing their breakfast, Dante took a long shower first, followed by Elizabeth, then they wore their elegant artifacts.

"Are we going to the library now?" Elizabeth asked as she held Dante’s hand.

Dante nodded: "Yes... I have been waiting for so long."

It was finally the time to end his lack of education and knowledge. All the things he suffered to understand and comprehend would soon be solved.

The races, runes, economy, politics, cultures, magic, regions, kingdoms, and all kinds of knowledge would be in his head soon.

It might take a long time? Who cares!

Dante had been a good student in his past world. If he didn’t leave the school early, he’d have gotten a scholarship. He always liked studying.

"By the way..." Dante looked at Elizabeth: "We have to find a solution to this. I can’t just keep holding your hand like this."

Elizabeth frowned: "Why?"

"Because it shows me as if I were your father. That’s embarrassing."

Elizabeth tilted her head: "And what’s wrong with that?"

"You’re 3 years older!" Dante yelled as he opened the door.

Elizabeth giggled: "But Skylar said age is just a number. I can still call you daddy."

"...."

Dante cursed Skylar inwardly and said: "Shut up and forget about that creep."