Compensation

"Honestly, who gives a shit."

"EH!!!"

Ignoring the shocked stares of Asta, Yami, Noelle, Mimosa and Secre, Grim's eyes lay flatly on the young wizard king.

"Younger or not, you've lost the power that made me interested in you in the first place."

"Grim, what are you-

"I'm done."

"What?"

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he stared solely at the wizard king with a dull expression.

"After my fight with the devil, I realized that I had already surpassed the power level of a captain. All that was left was you, the wizard king. The strongest being in the entire kingdom, you were my last benchmark. But now... You're not even worth me using my swords against. So yeah, I'm done. This kingdom no longer has anything worth staying around for. So deuces."

Throwing up two fingers and flashing them a smile, Grim turned on his heels and left the room.

Unable to understand what had just happened, Asta, Noelle and Mimosa stood in stunned silence while Yami intentionally stayed quiet. As the person who probably understood Grim the best out of everyone in the room, he knew that the only thing Grim really wanted was strong opponents to face off against. Despite losing that overwhelming power that Asta had reported to him about, there was no way that someone as arrogant as Grim who had once surpassed the level of a captain would put a captain (himself included) in his eyes any longer.

Besides that, the last thing Yami would ever do was restrict the freedom of his squad members.

'What a troublesome brat.'

"WAIT!" The wizard king suddenly yelled.

"Huh?" Grim paused and looked back.

"What?" He asked.

*Deep breath*

"You're right."

"Wizard king!"

Putting his hand up, he shook his head at Noelle.

"As I am right now, there's no possible way that I can live up to your expectations. But-- I believe that what I'm about to say next will make you reconsider leaving the kingdom."

"Oh? Pretty confident ain't ya you damn catfish."

'Catfish?'

After getting the report from Asta about Grim's fight with the devil, him leaving the kingdom at this time would put them at a huge disadvantage for what was to come.

'For the future of our kingdom, I can't let someone capable of fighting a devil go like this.'

"Right now our kingdom is facing a crisis like never seen before. With the loss of many of our magic knights (partially Grim's fault) and without the power of the wizard king backing us, we're now open to attacks by foreign nations."

"Foreign nations?" Grim frowned remembering the diamond kingdom dregs he fought in the past.

"Yeah." The wizard king nodded. "With our defenses as weak as they are right now, its only a matter of time before we're attacked."

"Uh huh, still don't see how that's my problem."

"You're a member of the clover kingdom aren't you? Don't you feel even a shred of compassion towards it?"

"Nope." He laughed. "Besides, after finding out what the clover kingdom did to my people five hundred years ago I'm even less inclined to help out."

"I... What happened to the elves was a terrible incident where the clover kingdom was definitely in the wrong, but that was five hundred years ago Grim."

"Still doesn't erase what happened." Grim said flatly.

In all honesty, Grim couldn't give less of a damn about the elves or their destruction. The only reason he brought it up was to see the guilt striken look on the young wizard king's face.

Not giving the wizard king the chance to rebuke him, he carried on playing mind games with him.

"You were jealous weren't you?"

"What?"

"You humans... you envied the power and affinity the elves had towards mana. You understood that no matter how hard you tried or how much effort you put in, your species was simply inferior to theirs. So what did you do? You let a devil manipulate you and wiped out the peaceful elves who had never lifted a finger against you! To get rid of that inferiority complex of yours you genocided an entire species! And now you're asking me to defend that very same kingdom? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND!"

"I-

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Grim yelled making the wizard king take a step back and forcing him into silence.

"The nerve of you to ask for my help! The moment I killed that devil my debt to this shitty kingdom had already been repaid! I no longer owe you guys shit!"

"I didn't mean it li-

"Like what? A human? Cause it sounds like you were about to make someone with elven dna work under you again."

"..."

As the only two individuals in the room being directly related to the people who ordered and took advantage of the elves destruction, Noelle and Mimosa felt that Grim's words were being targetted towards them.

As for Asta, he was trying to think of a way to calm his friend down. But the more he heard, the less confident he felt in being able to help positively.

Secre on the other hand had nothing to say at all. Everything Grim said was right. Having been there five hundred years ago and having worked in the castle, she knew better than anyone the royal's feeling towards the elves.

Grim himself was living proof of that. Using only his human side he was able to rise through the ranks of magic knights and could directly challenge several magic knights and defeat a vice captain. But the moment he had gotten access to his elven side his power superseded that of a captain in an instant. In the face of that kind of power, it was no wonder that the royals felt as threatened as they did.

"Grim... I can't change the past...

...But I can promise you that the future doesn't have to be that bleak!"

'Got him!'

"Oh? What do you mean?" Grim asked hiding the traces of a smile threatening to surface on his lips.

"Full tax exemption."

'I pay taxes?'

"Rise in magic knight rank."

'Ooh more money.'

"A fully furnished private estate in the capital."

'More maids.'

"And I'll give you a one time only free pass to do whatever you want within the confines of this kingdom."

'And a get out of jail free card... Looks like the wizard king's starting to realize my value.'

Unable to hold it back any longer, a wide smile broke out on Grim's face.

"Well Julius, you've gotten my attention."