Chapter 465

Ariel glared at Raon, her red lips trembling in anger.

'Is he seriously insane? I can't even talk sense with him.'

He kept cutting her off when she was just responding to his question, and it always ended with 'You should've come earlier'.

She felt like she was talking to a rock. It was driving her nuts because the conversation wasn't advancing at all.

'There's nothing I can do.'

Raon didn't have any intention of advancing the conversation. He was pressuring her while cutting off the flow of the conversation in such a boorish way, but it was frustrating because she had no way of resolving that issue.

"…I'm sorry for not being here earlier."

She couldn't remember how many times she'd apologized, but she had no choice but to do it again.

She looked at Glenn and asked him to please stop Raon with her gaze, but he looked entertained instead as he watched.

"How many times do you think you apologized already? You wouldn't have needed to do it if you'd arrived earlier."

Raon clicked his tongue at her pathetic behavior.

'Earlier again, earlier!'

She felt like she was going to have a trauma around the word 'earlier' at this rate.

'Damn it. This must have been prearranged.'

There was no way a monkey like him with just his handsome face going for him would do whatever he pleased if they hadn't previously planned for it. Late puberty was such bullshit.

Ariel bit her lip slightly.

'I still need to suppress my anger.'

She didn't have the might, authority, or the pretext to win against them. She had to suppress it even though she felt like her heart was about to burn with her anger.

"Haa…"

She slowly caught her breath and cooled her head. She raised her head, convincing herself that she was an emotionless pebble.

"I've prepared appropriate compensation for intruding into Zieghart's domain and preemptively attacking twice, just like the Light Wind vice division leader has said. However, I'd like to apologize before then."

The Thespian Emperor straightened her shoulders and back before looking at Glenn.

"It was all because of my incompetence that my subordinates caused trouble for you. Ariel from the White Whale would like to confess her sin to the Conqueror of the North."

'Even that punk won't be able to do anything about this.'

She said it was her fault right after talking about compensation without giving any excuses. Even Raon shouldn't find anything to nitpick.

However, Raon wasn't just an average punk. When she was about to relax, his voice could be heard from behind her.

"Haa! She would've been having a nap by now with her subordinates in her home if she'd arrived earlier to apologize. Don't you agree?"

"Huh? I-I guess?"

Raon furrowed his brow, and Rimmer reluctantly nodded.

'That damn bastard is doing it again!'

Ariel clenched her fist inside her sleeve. She felt like the mental fortitude that she'd barely managed to rebuild was crumbling into sand.

'He's not a simple punk. He's a goddamn punk!'

She faintly shook her head while thinking that Raon was the worst punk of all punks in the world.

She suppressed her emotions by biting her tongue and raising her eyes.

Whir!

She drew a circle into the air, and a subspace opened up with a large number of golden ingots, jewels, elixirs, and pieces of equipment pouring out of it.

"I'm fully aware that these assets aren't that useful to Zieghart. Please accept them as my and my subordinates' sincerity."

She stated that she wanted them to accept the assets even if they didn't want to forgive her.

"Hmm…"

"Is she really giving all of them?"

"The quantity is one thing, but the quality is extraordinary for all of them. The golden coins actually look like platinum coins."

"This is more than I expected."

Even Zieghart's executives widened their eyes, surprised by the quantity and quality of the Thespian Emperor's offerings.

'Yes, it's excessive for an apology, both in terms of quantity and quality. However, this much is nothing.'

Her fame and honor were bound to ascend to a new height by the time she returned, which was incomparable to those goods.

Since it wasn't that hard to get those assets by selling information, she didn't mind giving them away at all.

"Wow, how much would that cost? It must've been so hard to earn all of those, but she would've only needed half the amount if she got here earlier. Don't you agree?"

"Ugh, why is everyone so rich except for me…?"

Raon made fun of her and Rimmer's chin clattered.

'Ignore him. Just ignore. That's not even a human.'

Ariel's neck was shivering. Her expression was about to be ruined because of Raon, but she put herself together and focused on Glenn.

"We won't enter Zieghart's domain in the future, and we will ask for permission in advance if we have—"

"Ah, wait a moment."

Raon shook his hand and interrupted her.

"I think that won't be enough."

"What?"

Ariel blinked.

'What is this goddamn punk trying to pull now…?'

It was a moment ago that he'd said, 'How much would that cost?' in surprise, but he'd suddenly changed his mind and it became not enough. He was seriously the kind of person she never wanted to deal with.

"Is the compensation not enough?"

"Indeed. It's slightly insufficient."

"Hmm…"

People usually didn't say such a thing because they care about their position, fame, and age but it apparently didn't apply to that punk.

"Hmm, as I said before, this is just an expression of our sincerity…"

"Ack!"

She tried to calmly explain it to him, but Raon suddenly frowned while covering his shoulder.

"The part that the White Wolf Saber stabbed is hurting!"

He even broke out in a cold sweat while leaning forward. He looked like he was seriously in pain.

'You bastard…'

According to the information, Raon had easily defeated the White Wolf Saber. Since the blade hadn't even reached him, let alone stabbed him, he was definitely pretending.

'And the worst part is that it's on the different side now.'

Raon was covering his right shoulder, but she clearly remembered that he was rubbing his left shoulder earlier when he'd said his shoulder hurt.

"But it was your left shoulder earlier…"

"Both of them hurt!"

Raon covered both his shoulders and twisted his body while being drenched in a cold sweat.

'This is seriously driving me nuts.'

He was blatantly messing with her, but she couldn't do anything about it, which was infuriating.

"…I understand."

Ariel shook her head and opened the subspace once again. She even brought out the emergency assets that she'd brought just in case.

"Haa…"

She looked around while sighing in irritation, and Raon was turning his shoulder like he was never in pain.

The cold sweat that used to cover his forehead was also completely gone.

"I'm doing a bit better now. You wouldn't have needed to pay extra compensation if you came earlier. This must be karma, right?"

Raon bobbed his finger with a happy smile on his face.

"Ugh…"

Ariel shivered, unable to withstand the anger welling up throughout her body.

'I need to endure. This isn't the right time for that.'

It was impossible for her to kill Raon, no matter what she tried. It was necessary to endure the humiliation and plan for the future.

"Lord of Zieghart."

Her anger was boiling like a volcano, but she suppressed it while looking at Glenn.

"I'm not hoping for your forgiveness just from this. We will make sure to repent what we've done and will never—"

When she was about to continue while facing Glenn's uninterested gaze, Raon's voice could be heard from behind once again.

"I believe there's something else you need to mention."

"Don't you think it's enou—"

She angrily told him off and turned around, and red lightning sparked from Raon's eyes.

"It's not enough at all. I'm only getting started now."

A slightly stinging sensation was felt on her temple as she heard his boorish yet frightening manner of speech.

"You didn't mention the most important part."

"Wh-what do you mean…?"

Raon snorted while looking into the Thespian Emperor's trembling eyes.

"What made us the angriest wasn't your intrusion nor the preemptive attack."

"Then what…?"

"It was the hostages."

Raon slowly raised his eyebrow and met Ariel's eyes.

"You were fully aware that the Black Tower's boundary was maintained through the lives of the hostages, yet you did nothing about it. That isn't something those assets can wash away."

Raon wrinkled his nose while looking at the mountain of goods the Thespian Emperor had taken out.

"We didn't manage to predict that the Black Tower would be holding hostages."

"The Sickle of the Bloody Cloud was fully aware of that fact. Do you think it makes any sense that you didn't know when you were the one who gave him the order?"

Raon tilted his chin while telling her the information he'd gotten from torturing the Sickle of the Bloody Cloud.

"That's because the Sickle of the Bloody Cloud—"

"The Five Divine Orders set their flags as neutral factions, declaring that they didn't belong to the Six Kings nor the Five Demons."

Raon cut off into the Thespian Emperor's excuse and continued his speech.

"Is a neutral faction supposed to do nothing about hostages? Innocent people were turning into a pool of blood as they perished, but you didn't do anything about it just so you could gain some information. I'm really amazed by your actions."

Raon coldly sneered at her while extending his words.

"The only order I gave to the Sickle of the Bloody Cloud was to gather information about Zieghart and the Black Tower."

The Thespian Emperor shook her head, trying to deny the claim. She wasn't actually lying, but there was another order.

"We really were not aware that the Black Tower was holding people hostage."

She sighed, saying that she wouldn't have made that decision if she was aware of the hostages.

"No, that's not all there was."

Raon shook his hand and took a step towards her.

"You also ordered the Sickle of the Bloody Cloud to not get out of his hiding place no matter what happened."

"Hmm…"

The Thespian Emperor's eyes were slightly curved.

"I think that's a really strange order. No matter what? Isn't the only reason you would give such an order because you were aware that there was serious trouble going on?"

"The Black Tower's demonized humans are unpredictable. I just wanted my subordinates to be safe and—"

"In that case, shouldn't you have ordered them to never clash against the Black Tower instead of never coming out from their hiding spot? That would've worked better, I think."

Raon smiled like a snake.

"If that was the order, then when they encounter the Black Tower's demonized humans—"

"Aah, it actually doesn't really matter what the order was."

Raon interrupted the Thespian Emperor as she tried to give more excuses. She must've had a reasonable excuse since she would've prepared many responses on her way to Zieghart. However, there was no reason to listen to her.

"Because in the end, the White Whale simply watched and did nothing about the innocent people as they died."

"Hmm, I have no excuse for that. But the Sickle of the Bloody Cloud—"

The Thespian Emperor admitted it and lowered her head.

"Ah, you admitted it. I'm so relieved."

"What?"

"Because the hostages happened to hear about this."

Raon smiled faintly.

"What do you mean…?"

"I was explaining what had happened to the hostages and accidentally told them that the White Whale had been watching but did nothing to help them. Is that fine?"

"Hmm, it's okay since it was our mistake."

Ariel nodded her head.

'It's okay. I can still make up for it.'

She'd heard that all the hostages were inside Zieghart. She could just give them some sticks and carrots to prevent the rumor from spreading.

"I'd like to personally meet them to ask for forgiveness. Can you give me a chance?"

"Ah, it's unfortunately impossible."

Raon slowly shook his head.

"Because they've already left our house."

"What?"

Her eyes widened upon hearing that the hostages had left.

"Wh-when…?"

"I let them leave when Lady Ariel arrived here. They probably met the people that you've been playing captain with by now."

"Ah…"

Ariel swallowed nervously while looking at Raon's serious eyes.

'Was this his goal all along?'

She couldn't make an order to take care of the hostages because she couldn't get out of the audience chamber.

There were some warriors from the White Whale among the followers, but they shouldn't be able to make any move since Zieghart was right in front of them.

'This punk…'

If the rumors about the White Whale ignoring the hostages spread, their fame and honor could drop even lower than before instead of increasing.

The reason she came to Zieghart was completely gone.

'Damn it…'

She couldn't manage her expression because she'd never predicted that situation. She furrowed her brow before she knew it.

"That's why I'd like to say this."

Raon narrowed his eyes while touching the back of his neck.

"Since I'm such a responsible person, I'm planning to keep checking on them until they return home safely. I think I'll be suspicious of the White Whale before anyone else if they get injured or disappear on the way. Do you agree with that?"

What he said was something that normal people wouldn't say out of respect for the other party.

It was a threat. An oppression to prevent them from harming the hostages.

The White Whale was going to be forced to protect the hostages instead of harming them against their will.

"..."

The Thespian Emperor remained silent and simply glared at Raon with her flaming red eyes.

Raon felt great about it because it was a similar method to the way the Thespian Emperor was trying to take advantage of Zieghart.

"Hmm…"

Glenn's lips were slightly raised, implying that he was also satisfied with it.

"That's never going to happen—"

"I'm relieved to hear that."

Raon snickered and nodded.

'Well, I don't actually need your help.'

He'd contacted the Black Market in advance and made two requests. The first was the protection of the hostages, and the second was to spread the story of the hostages throughout the continent.

The fame and honor that she was trying to obtain must've disappeared into the darkness of the abyss.

"Was your name Ariel?"

Ariel raised her gaze upon hearing Glenn's call. She was still somehow maintaining her expression despite the situation, and it showed that her mind was as polished as her might.

"Yes."

"This is the last time I'll overlook the matter. If you try to play your trivial tricks once again, I'll erase the name of the White Whale from the face of the continent."

"…I'll keep that in mind."

A frightening light appeared in the Thespian Emperor's eyes. She seemed to have no intention of hiding her emotions anymore since the truth was already revealed as she nodded with a spiteful gaze.

"And…"

The Thespian Emperor took out a white envelope from her clothes and handed it over.

"There will be a festival next year to celebrate the foundation of the Five Divine Order's groups. Please join us if you can."

"I'll consider it."

Glenn nodded, and the letter floated from the Thespian Emperor's hand like a cloud and fell on the throne's armrest.

"Roenn."

"Yes."

Roenn went down from the platform and stepped up next to the Thespian Emperor.

"I'll guide you to the others."

"Yes, please."

The Thespian Emperor nodded and turned around to follow Roenn.

She glared at Raon while walking slowly. Her eyes were like hellfire, burning with anger and malice.

Raon swallowed nervously while meeting her gaze.

'What an amazing threat.'

He was breaking out in cold sweat even though she wasn't using any aura or pressure. She was an extremely powerful warrior. He wouldn't even be standing if they were in any other place.

'However… This is my home.'

Moreover, the master of the house had allowed him to do whatever he wanted, and that was why he could do even worse.

"Lady Ariel."

He called her name with a faint smile on his face, and the Thespian Emperor stopped walking.

"Do you want new shoes?"

"Shoes? What do you mean…?"

"Since you look like you have a lot to think about, you'll need to walk on your way back, too. Won't you need new shoes so you can play captain on your back, just like when you came here?"

He was twisting the words that she'd used to justify her late visit.

"..."

The Thespian Emperor bared her teeth. Her eyes curved like a crescent moon, her malice intensifying even further than before.

"Kuhahaha!"

Rimmer couldn't hold it back anymore and started to laugh while covering his stomach.

"You really are a madman!"

He giggled, saying that he'd never seen anyone crazier than himself.

"Please stay quiet. Where do you think we are?"

"Ah, hmm."

Rimmer awkwardly nodded.

'Wait a moment! This is so strange.'

He wanted to argue that Raon wasn't the one to say that to him since he'd been making a complete mess all along, but he suppressed his urge because he was afraid of Glenn.

"I'm planning to do so."

The Thespian Emperor nodded with a smile. Of course, it was a frightening smile that was making their hair stand on end.

'This is the perfect timing.'

Raon clenched his fist. It was the best time to ask that question since her composure was completely gone.

"The dragon helmet."

The Thespian Emperor suddenly stopped walking as she heard.

"I heard you've met a person wearing the dragon helmet."

Raon continued while meeting her frightening eyes.

"How are you related to Eden?"