Drunken rant

"Hm, there doesn't seem to be a way to get through besides the front gate." Shiro concluded as the duo were hiding around the castle walls as he took a moment to examine the walls.

The walls were engraved with a multi-layered spell formation with overlapping arrays to reinforce the walls along with a silent alarm that would set off the moment it detected someone scaling the wall. Shiro didn't know it, but the amount of INT he had was incredibly high especially after being boosted by both his sword and Ray's blessing giving him a total of 400 INT.

Despite not having any formal training in magic, his INT allowed him the ability to examine magical formations and subconsiously figure out what the formations do even if he didn't know how to do it himself. If he were to get a proper education in the future, he would probably be able to deconstruct or even take over the formation himself in the future.

[Quinn: Going through the front would be suicidal.] Every kingdom or capital of an empire would be based on either a mana vein, surrounded by leylines in surrounding villages which allowed the kingdom to thrive. This was why it can be difficult to directly assault a Kingdom or Capital, as the rulers are able to tap into the mana vein directly to empower them. Though to a lesser degree, the same goes for the Royal Guards and even regular citizens.

"Not necessarily." Shiro spoke with a troubled expression. "It just depends on how we get through the front. For now, let's look for information and try to find a way in." he decided as the duo left the walls before a patrol spotted them.

∞

Shiro POV

"Did you hear? Healers and doctors have been visiting the castle lately."

"Odd, do you think the King is ill then? He hasn't made an appearance for at least a year now."

You know, I didn't think the old cliche of sitting in a bar would actually help, but I was proven wrong. Although at first they wouldn't let me in since I was a kid. Had to let Quinn deal with it, he can be pretty intimidating as a giant walking piece of armor. You would think he was a metal golem if it wasn't for the helmet not covering his mouth.

Now that I think about it... how old is Quinn? I never asked as it never came up and I feel like it's none of my business. Plus he never takes off that suit of armor, so I don't actually know what he looks like under it. Even when it came to bathing, he seemed to disappear every time. Maybe he's just shy?

[Quinn: Are we going to sneak in as doctors?] he asked me as I took a sip from my system bought sprite. I shook my head at his question though.

"It wouldn't work." If we were to go in as fake doctors, I doubt the guards would let us leave their sight. Especially considering that it probably concerns the well-being of someone important, doesn't even have to be the King that's ill.

Quinn seemed to give off a silent sigh at my explanation. We sat there nursing our drinks in silence for a bit as we continued to listen to other patrons speak. Odd. As an MC that's supposed to be slightly funny, you would think that something not ordinary would happen around me at some point.

Just to make sure, I take a moment to glance around the bar. My eyes stopped at a certain table as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing. I blinked once, twice. Yep, that is a dude in a tuxedo and burger helmet slumped over his table. Well I asked for something odd, guess this is it.

I stood up and made my way over to the man with the oversized burger helmet and took a seat opposite of him. He didn't seem to respond to my presence, probably too drunk.

"So... what's your story?" I asked as he finally acknowledged my existence. Might as well listen to a random burger man's drunken rant while I'm here.

∞

"And my father even agreed with him!" The drunk man bawled his eyes out as he actually took off his burger helmet. Shiro was actually stunned with how much of a pretty boy he was. If he was anymore feminine, then he would look like a trap. At some point Quinn came over and sat next to his companion to listen in.

"I mean, how will I be the Burger King one day if I can't even cook a single burger!?" The drunken man was the Burger Prince. Supposedly he was incapable of cooking a burger despite his efforts. The Royal Chef and his father attempted to persuade him he didn't need to know how to cook to be a King. Today he attempted to join the main market using his status as prince, they couldn't stop him. However there wasn't a single person who bought his burger.

"And my fiance broke off the engagement, it's probably because I'm such a damn failure!" Of course his only problem wasn't just his terrible cooking skills. It had been a lot of things piling up lately. It just happened to be today that he cracked and found himself drinking himself under at a bar.

Shiro and Quinn listened to the Prince's drunken rant without saying a word. In Shiro's opinion, he just hasn't had anything good going for him in some time now. So before the Prince could continue his rant, Shiro abruptly stood up and walked to the prince. Slammed his hands on the man's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"Enough whining! By Ray, looking at you so pathetic and drunk just rubs me the wrong way. Why are you even here!?" Shiro spoked loudly as if annoyed

"Well I can't-" he was cut off

"Can't nothing!" Shiro cut him off "You've said that you trained hard and kept trying, well why have you given up now!?" he questioned

"Let me tell you, if you want to be a King then you need to have the ironclad will to stand firm and keep going forward. This is no different from becoming stronger in this world! You need to temper your mind, spirit and will!" Shiro gave him a moment to wipe off the snot on his face.

"If you gave up now, then it would be proof of your own damn weakness. So you are going to march right into that castle, stand firm in front of your damn Royal Chef, and order him as the Prince to not give up until you can cook a damn fine burger!" Shirou roared as it startled the other patrons

"Sniff* YOUR RIGHT DAMNIT!" The prince seemed to have fire in his eyes as he stood up and knocked the white haired MC back with his height. "I REFUSE TO GIVE UP NOW! MY HARD WORK WILL BE REWARDED EVENTUALLY!" The prince started to do what Shiro advised and marched straight towards the castle.

Shiro and Quinn shared a look before following the Prince as if they were just his followers. The guards obviously didn't stop them as they were with the Prince. At some point, Shiro and Quinn wisely split off from the Prince to search for the treasury.

Operation: Steal from the rich and give to the poor had just begun!