Debuff Master

Chapter 679

‘What?!’

Siegfried thought he was getting pranked or something, but that seemed highly unlikely, judging by how the soldiers and knights had their weapons out while emitting clear hostility toward him.

“Don’t kill him!”

“It’s fine if you cut his limbs off, but make sure he doesn’t die from it!”

The knights and soldiers instantly surrounded him and were slowly getting closer.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Siegfried asked.

The knight captain snarled in response, “Can’t you tell? We’re arresting a wanted criminal!”

“A wanted criminal?”

“Siegfried van Proa! You are hereby arrested for disrupting our kingdom’s economy!”

“Eh?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion. Then, he laughed and said, “Haha! This is just a prank, right?”

“What is this prank you speak of?”

“Ah~ You’re probably going to say it’s just a prank! after.”

Siegfried was now certain that this was a small joke prepared by the Bavarian Workshop. There was no other explanation aside from that as to why he would be wanted by the Bayerische Kingdom, which was the kingdom the Bavarian Workshop was located in.

“I’m not falling for this, so you better prepare something more believable next time,” Siegfried sneered.

“What...?”

“Hey, this is starting to get boring, so why don’t we call it a day? Wow... But you really made it believable for a second. It looks like you made quite the preparation.”

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“It’s not my birthday today.”

“What is this crazy fool saying?” the knight captain growled. Then, he raised his sword and exclaimed, “Arrest the criminal!”

“Yes, sir!”

The knights and soldiers took a step closer in an attempt to arrest Siegfried, but—

“H-Hey! What the hell?!”

—He exclaimed after seeing that the knights and soldiers took out the Rope of Bondage and Handcuffs of Bondage.

The Rope of Bondage and Handcuff of Bondage were artifacts used by the NPC when arresting Adventurers. These were engraved with ancient runic symbols that made it possible to subdue the Adventurers.

The Adventurers were immortal beings that would keep coming back to life no matter how many times they were killed, so these artifacts were one of the few methods the NPCs used to arrest and subdue them.

‘What? It’s not a prank?’ Siegfried thought as he jumped back and kicked the heads of the knights trying to arrest him.

“Ack!”

“Argh!”

The knights fell to the ground after getting kicked.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Siegfried asked.

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“I already told you. You are a wanted criminal!” the knight captain retorted.

“What’s going on...?”

Siegfried could not understand what was happening. Not only did he have a very good relationship with the Bavarian Workshop, but he also possessed social status as the king of the Proatine Kingdom.

However, the Bayerische knights and soldiers were calling him a criminal?

There was definitely something wrong here. The Bavarian Workshop was the pillar of the Bayerische Kingdom’s economy, and they were like the Samsung or Hyundai of South Korea.

But they were treating the VVIP partner of their economic pillar like a criminal?

“What’s the accusation against me?”

“You colluded with the Bavarian Kingdom and embezzled money from our kingdom!”

“Eh?”

“You colluded with the Ex-Head Blacksmith of the Bavarian Workshop, Quandt, using the development of the Espadrille Province as an excuse!”

“Hold on. Ex-Head Blacksmith? Did Quandt resign from his job?” Siegfried asked, interrupting the knight captain.

“Quandt is currently imprisoned for colluding with you and making a mess out of the workshop’s finances.”

“...?”

“He has been sentenced to life in prison and has been imprisoned in the Fortress of Hell, but don’t worry. You will be joining him there shortly, so both of you can rot in hell together!”

“What bullshit are you spouting...?”

“Silence! It’s time to accept your fate!” the knight captain exclaimed. Then, he shouted at his men, “What are you waiting for?! Arrest him!”

“Yes, sir!” the knights and soldiers replied in unison and charged at Siegfried.

‘What the hell is going on?!’

Siegfried was completely baffled by the entire situation, but he made easy work of the knights and soldiers coming at him.

It would be a different story if they were the elite royal knights of the kingdom, but there was no way a bunch of ordinary knights and soldiers could arrest someone like him.

Smack, smack, smaaack!

Siegfried proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the knights and soldiers.

“Kuheok!”

“H-He’s a monster...!”

“Ughh...”

Weapon? Skills? He needed neither of those. The hand-to-hand combat skills he had learned from Leonid were more than enough to deal with them.

“I have no idea what’s going on right now, but why don’t you take a rest?” Siegfried told the knights and soldiers before heading toward the warpgate.

He decided to retreat for now after realizing that Berke City had become enemy territory.

***

Siegfried returned to the Proatine Kingdom and headed straight to meet Michele and Ninetail to discuss the situation in Berke City.

“We just received an official letter from the Bayerische Kingdom,” Michele said.

“We did? What did they say?”

“They have officially declared our kingdom as an enemy state and have refused all trade with us from now on.”

“What?”

“Also, they are accusing you of being a criminal and have requested your extradition.”

“Ha! Have they gone mad?” Siegfried scoffed in sheer disbelief. Then, he grumbled, “I know they’re pissed off about something, but they’re requesting the extradition of a king?”

“I believe they are blatantly looking down on us, sire.”

“Damn it...”

“But that’s not all. They have taken their hands off the development projects in the Espadrille Province, and all construction came to a grinding halt due to that. They have removed Your Majesty from the VVIP list and placed you on the blacklist. Your Majesty may no longer deal with any branches of the Bavarian Workshop from this moment onward.”

“Hey, what the hell is going on...?” Siegfried asked, still baffled and in disbelief.

“Allow me to report on that matter,” Ninetail said. Then, she continued, “All of the executives of the Bavarian Workshop have been replaced.”

“Why?”

“The Bavarian Workshop’s blacksmiths have been disgruntled for quite a while now.”

“Why so?”

“They're disgruntled by the fact that the Bavarian Workshop has put a limit to how lethal their artifacts can become.”

“What does that even mean...?”

“Erm... The artifacts the workshop used to make in the past were... so terrible that one would doubt if it was even made by a sane human being. Using lethal poison was common practice, and they would include all sorts of lethal options that would kill the target in extremely cruel and unusual ways,” Michele explained.

“Eh?”

“But the problem was that these artifacts were the cause of immense bloodshed on the continent. The Bavarian Workshop back then didn't really care whether evil villains were their customers as long as their artifacts could make a name for themselves through atrocious massacres.”

“But what does that have to do with this situation?”

“Well, that was the true colors of the Bavarian Workshop, but the workshop has started limiting how lethal their artifacts were in this past decade. That was where a power struggle broke out in the process, and the radical blacksmiths ended up leaving the workshop.”

“Oh?”

“The previous head blacksmith, Avant, brought the blacksmiths loyal to him out of the Bavarian Workshop, and that brought an end to the power struggle.”

“Avant?”

Siegfried was not aware of Avant’s existence yet. The reason was that he didn't run into Avant during the incident at the Geyser of Life.

On the other hand, Avant had seen Siegfried at the time, and he also saw the +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp in Siegfried's hand, which the blacksmith had recognized as Herbert’s Masterpiece.

“Avant is Quandt’s brother, and he is a very evil blacksmith. Based on what we found so far, Avant ambushed the Bavarian Workshop with his loyal group of followers that call themselves the Death Crafters,” Ninetail explained.

“Eh?”

“Quandt and the other blacksmiths were ousted in the process, and Avant installed himself as the head blacksmith thereafter.”

“So something like that happened...”

“For some reason we are yet to find out, Avant seems to hold a grudge against Your Majesty and the Proatine Kingdom. That is the only reason the Bayerische Kingdom would act like this. As Your Majesty might be aware, the Bayerische Kingdom and Bavarian Workshop are extremely close.”

“I see... What about Quandt? Is he safe?”

“It seems he did not have him executed because he is his younger brother. But as Your Majesty has heard, he is currently imprisoned in the Fortress of Hell, which is a place infamous for its notoriety.”

“How could he do that to his own brother...?”

“They have never really gotten along.”

“I know that’s possible between brothers, but how could he do that?” Siegfried grimaced and muttered under his breath. Then, he said, “Hey, Michele.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“First things first, we should—”

It was then.

“Your Majesty! The Head Blacksmith of the Bavarian Workshop, Avant, has called and is requesting an audience with you!”

“Oh? Alright, I’ll be right there so tell him to wait.”

“Yes, sire!”

Siegfried paused his discussion with Michele and headed to the communications room.

***

Meanwhile, Avant received a report that they had lost Siegfried.

“Damn it... How could they lose that Adventurer? Should I have prepared a trap for him at least?”

He could not help but be upset that they lost Siegfried. He was busy attending to the affairs of the Bavarian Workshop after taking over it, so he did not have the luxury to even think about setting a trap that could have potentially captured Siegfried.

This was certainly a huge regret, as he could have captured both Quandt and Siegfried as well as obtain Herbert’s Masterpiece at the same time.

But what was the point of regretting it now when Siegfried had already escaped?

“Hmm... I should probably try talking to that kid,” Avant muttered and headed for the communications room.

***

— Are you King Siegfried van Proa?

“Yup.”

— ...?

Avant was taken aback when Siegfried replied curtly with just a single word, as he did not expect even a king to speak to him in such a manner.

— What did you say just now? Did you just say "yup" to me?

“Yeap.”

— ...?

“Hey, are you fucking deaf?”

— Hmm?

Avant raised a brow in sheer disbelief.

— I guess you lowly Adventurers never disappoint. You claim to be a king yet you’re speaking in such an undignified manner?

“Then are you speaking in a dignified manner to a king right now?”

— ...

“Haven’t you heard that what goes around comes around? Do you want me to kill you? Ha?!”

— Ahem!

Avant could only cough out of embarrassment as he was rendered speechless by Siegfried’s retort. Then, he suddenly flashed a smug grin and burst out into laughter.

— Bwahaha! You have quite the glib tongue for a kid.

“Just get to the point.”

— Alright, I’ll get to the point if that’s what you want.

“So, what do you want?”

— Hand over Sir Herbert’s Masterpiece.

“Huh? What?”

— If you hand over Sir Herbert’s masterpiece, then you will be spared from bloodshed.