Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 37: The High And Mighty

Sneaking for just a moment to cast the mind-reading scroll he'd gotten on his way back from the maze last night, Raven joined back with the rest of his party and walked down an ornate hall. Cushioned by a deep crimson carpet laced with gold around the edge, every step he and his party took–filled their hearts with a mix of comfort and dread.

The comfort beneath their feet, the tall dark pillars surrounding them on both sides, as well as the stained glass ceiling through which light glittered down into the halls. It was all too charming to the point of drawing fear in their hearts.

'Commoner...' The thoughts of one of the king's attendants popped up inside Raven's mind. He heard his thoughts loud and clear, and though it made him click his tongue with annoyance, he was just glad that the scroll had taken effect and that he didn't have to worry about it not working.

Stalked by many eyes as he walked towards the king seated at the throne, the thoughts of many such attendants seated on the side kept creeping up inside Raven's head. From insults to doubting their capabilities, the dukes and duchess all had their own gripes with the entire Hero's party. After all, Nightsilver was of noble blood, so how could the new hero be a commoner? None of them could stomach that fact, and that contempt was why the goddess never considered them for the hero's role.

"Finally," breathed the king, his shriveled body slightly forward. Glancing across everyone's face, he reached to his side and grabbed his jeweled golden staff. Directing its diamond tip towards Amedith, he urged him to step forward. "You carry a monster with you, or so I've heard, is that correct?"

Not the least fearful of the king's men gripping their weapons tight, Amedith stepped forward and knelt before him. Looking up at him from down on his knees, his eyes wandered through the strained expression on the wrinkled face of an overprivileged man.

'If you trim that thick white mustache covering your mouth and that small patch of hair left on your head, you'd look like a featherless chicken–an appearance that would be much more fitting than this one.' For a moment as Raven heard Amedith's thoughts, he almost felt like he was talking to himself inside his head.

'Damn, even this guy doesn't like the king, huh?' For once there was some common ground between the two, and Raven was completely on board with it.

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"We have a...monster, yes, but she's contained, under Raven's control," finally speaking up, Amedith rose from his knees and looked right into the King's squinting eyes. "We've been planning to move to other places to eradicate more evil monsters around the land soon, and she could prove to be a valuable asset in those fights."

"Enough of this blasphemy!" The king exclaimed, stomping his staff against the ground. Rising from his throne, he glared down at Amedith with nothing but pure contempt in his eyes. "As if a hero of impure blood wasn't enough, you expect us to allow a beast to fight alongside the holy name?!"

'This isn't going well...' Though he tried, Raven couldn't read the king's thoughts. That staff in his hands–whatever it was, was interfering with the effect of the scroll.

"B-But my lord!" Stepping up with her hands clasped together, Erika interrupted the king's dialogue. "You may not raise arms against a defeated enemy, for even the most depraved of monsters deserve dignity if they wish to change!"

Reciting a gospel from the tomb of divine grace–Erika irked the king some more. Shifting his gaze from Amedith to her, he ground his teeth as he reluctantly settled back into his throne. And though the king went quiet, the rest of the assembly roared with anger, all of which was directed directly at Erika.

"How dare you twist the goddess's words to try and trick us?!" Screamed a woman in a lavish red dress to the side.

'This bitch! Who does she think she is to talk to the king like that?' And though she claimed to be angry because of apparent deception, it was the hatred for the commoner that drove her to scream at the priestess.

"Yes! And to think the lower church is raising such heretics!" Screamed another attended, this time a man–around the same age as the king himself.

"No!" Having her intentions twisted around, Erika looked around in horror as every single one of the attendants glared at her with hatred.

"Oi," as it all happened and Erika's body was chilled with fear, Aria bumped Raven on his shoulders and whispered. "Fuck these people, if you're on the same page, lead on and maybe we can show them that we're no pushovers anymore. So, are you with me?"

'Fuckers think they can gain favors from the king by sucking his dick all day.' Hearing Aria's thoughts in his head, Raven knew that they'd both had enough of their bullshit.

"Alright fucking righty," stretching his arms high, Raven took a deep breath and walked up to Amedith. Stopping beside the hero, he first glanced around at everyone as they glared at him utterly baffled by his casual tone.

"Raven, what the fuck are you doing?!" Amedith asked almost in a whisper.

"Something we should've done a long time ago," touching the bracelet on his hand, Raven was about to let the minotaur queen out, however before that, he had one last thing to say.

"What do you think you're doing?" Asked the king, his face contorted into a look of pure anger.

"Showing you that you're all goddamn useless at everything, and you need us more than we need you!" And with that said, he let the minotaur queen out of the jewel.

The moment the queen emerged through the bracelet, the complaints from the attendants shut down completely. Watching a monster standing in front of them for the very first time, they were struck with fear and frozen in time. As if their breath alone would tick off the horned girl in front of them, they all held their breaths–waiting for someone else to take charge of the situation.

"Finally! After so long!" Having no clue about what was happening, Mino too stretched her limbs while her eyes adjusted to clear light once more. And as they did, her eyes widened as she looked around at the confused faces, but noticing the fear on their faces, instead of being terrified, she found herself smiling.

'This seems fun.' She thought, eager to know exactly what was happening.

[Note: The queen, her daughter, and her son entering soon, give me your ideas about how you'd like for things to progress with them! Could be their appearance or any scenario with them that you have in mind, although I can't promise to use every idea, but maybe I'll repurpose them for later! Thank you~]