Raven was shocked by the sudden question from Foid and it showed! His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he thought of all the possible reasons why Floid would be curious about the king! Why does Floid want to meet with the king?
The king of Trad wasn't exactly a real king. The title of king was just something they gave to the richest and most influential trader in the kingdom! There have been three kings of Trad over the last hundred years and this sort of thing was unheard of in any other kingdom. Most kingdoms have a single king for a hundred or even two hundred years, but since money was always moving around in Tad, the position of King was also moving around all the time.
All of those that have been the king of Trad are extremely good traders that could command a large amount of money with only a whisper! The right word to use for their leader would be something like a Temporary Head of State. But even though the king was such an important person, Raven still knew him. Raven was also very important and he was the future heir to one of the ten great families as well. Of course, he knew the king!
"Yes, I know him. What business do you have with the king? Are you... Planning a business deal?"
Raven had a smile of hope on his face as he said this. Please lord, let it be a business deal. Raven couldn't imagine what someone like Floid wants with the king.
Floid waved his hand in a 'Maybe' motion and Raven's smile died a gruesome death. Floid didn't have any business with the king and Floid didn't need to tell Raven that he was here to take control of this country. Floid just needs Raven to arrange a meeting.
Raven was reluctant to tell Floid anything about the king now. Raven knew that Floid wasn't a normal human. Floid doesn't have a moral compass and he didn't see anything wrong with killing people. Is this the sort of person that I want to tell about the king!? What will happen if Floid suddenly kills the king!? I will be part of the crime and they will surely arrest me for helping him! If that happens, then I will surely lose my hotel and all my money! I don't think I want to lose my hotel anytime soon!
Raven was very worried that he would be arrested because he still thought floid was just a very strong individual with a strange perspective about what was right or wrong. Raven had no idea that he was talking directly to the demon's lord and his only worry right now should be whether or not he will survive the upcoming coup d'etat. If Floid gets his hands on the king, then the police will be the least of Raven's worries.
There was news going around Trad recently that the king would be attending a rally near the eastern side of the kingdom tomorrow. The rally was in celebration of a new hospital that was recently built and the king had to be there to support them since the hospital belongs to one of his sons. If Floid hears about that rally, then he will be able to get to the king and Raven was going to try his best to send Floid in the wrong direction.
Raven thought about multiple options of what he should do! His mind was running at a hundred miles a minute for him to try and find a way out of this predicament! Raven knew that he was the only thing standing between the king and Floid! That king better give me a fucking medal for this! I'm saving his life and that bastard doesn't even know it!
"I need you to set up a meeting with the king. Someplace outside the castle. I'll give you twelve hours to do it and get back to me,"
Floid was still speaking in that calm and nonchalant tone that reminded Raven of royalty. Was Floid some sort of king? That wasn't impossible since there were a lot of smaller kingdoms around Trad. But none of those kingdoms have anyone as strong as Alucard, so it was also unlikely.
Floid couldn't be a mere merchant since he wasn't acting in the right way at all. This isn't how a merchant acts when you are requesting an audience with the king! Why the hell was Floid acting as if the meeting has already been decided!? It was very hard to meet with the king of Trad. Since the king of Trrad was the best trader in the entire kingdom, he is always busy. If he isn't doing business deals then he is handling his kingly duties and if he isn't handling his kingly duties then he is doing business deals! His entire life revolves around this schedule and there was almost no time for the king to be meeting with others!
But Floid doesn't look like the sort of person to take no for an answer. Raven decided to ask another question instead.
"I don't know if the king will be willing to meet you. Is there not any other merchant that you can carry out our deal with in Trad? I will be more than willing to refer you to any of our best merchants,"
Floid gave Raven an intense stare and Raven leaned back cautiously. Maybe he overstepped his bounds. Will a knife pierce into my back if I don't agree to this? This strange thought suddenly crossed Raven's mind and he swallowed nervously. Raven couldn't stop himself from looking back and he was relieved when he didn't see Alucard standing behind him. Alucard was standing some distance away and he wasn't even looking at them. Raven didn't know who Floid was but Raven needed to find a way to distract Floid long enough to warn the king about this. Normal adventurers won't be enough to handle these men. We might need some knights from Uta!
Raven realized that Floid wasn't going to answer the question he asked and Raven just spoke
"The king is very busy, but I will surely try my best to get a meeting for you before tomorrow is over. In the meanwhile, how about you come with me to watch a Show of War? There is a fighting match happening soon and you can use that to unwind and wait for the messenger to get back to us,"
Distractions! That was what Raven needed! Raven needed distractions!
And what better way to distract someone than with a good fighting show!? Raven would use this chance to distract Floid and he would send a warning message to the king in the castle! Raven waited with bated breath and he hoped that Floid would agree to the suggestion. After a few minutes, Floid finally nodded and Raven smiled as well.
Raven just bought himself a few hours at most. He needs to get a message to the king as soon as possible!
........
Pyra walked down the road leading out of Noir with a blank expression on her face. Andromeda was moving along with Pyra and the two women haven't spoken a word to each other in more than a day. This wasn't because they were in a bad mood at all. Pyra wasn't the sort of person to talk and Andromeda was too shy to start a conversation with Pyra. This led to the two of them being silent for most of their journey.
Pyra and Andromeda had been in Noir for the last day for any news concerning the hero. The hero recently set out on her crusade and no one knew what her route would be yet. The demons in the towns surrounding Noir were all on edge and they wondered which town would be the first to be attacked. Pyra and Andromeda didn't care which town the hero attacked first. They both knew that they couldn't save all the demons. There will surely be some demons that will be killed by the hero. And that's fine! It doesn't matter if you lose a minority number so long as you can save the majority! That's what Floid told them before they left the castle and they will take that to heart!
Pyra and Andromeda waited in Noir for some time so that they would get news of where the hero was going to start her crusade. When they get news of where the hero has been, then it will be easier to track down the hero and capture her using her trail. Pyra and Andromeda finally got some news this morning from a town east of Noir called Gully. The town was a ghoul town that was filled with different species of demons.
The ghouls were very similar to the undead since they were distant cousins of the undead, but the ghouls had white hair and white eyes instead of black hair and eyes. The ghouls remaining in the demon world were very few compared to before the demons and devil war because most of the ghouls left the demon world for the underworld when the fight between the undead and the demons took place. The ghouls that remained in the demon world were given a town and they managed to improve the town and turn it into a regular trading town for any demon to live in.
Andromeda and Pyra heard that Gully was the first town that the humans attacked and now they were on their way to start their hunt. Pyra was walking calmly towards the town but she could notice that Andromeda would look at her sometimes and then look away while shaking her head quickly. Pyra wasn't the sort of person that liked speaking with other people. Pyra knew that she was antisocial and Rosavellt has warned Pyra many times about her antisocial tendencies, but the demon lord didn't mind her being quiet and that is why she hasn't bothered to change herself at all.
But Pyra suddenly realized that she and Andromeda haven't interacted in a long time! Pyra couldn't remember the last time that she and Andromeda spoke to each other. Pyra worked inside the castle and Andromeda worked in the fields outside the castle so they never had a chance to speak to each other before this mission! They were basically strangers! Pyra could tell that Andromeda wanted to say something to her, but it looked like Andromeda was too shy to speak up and so Pyra finally spoke up.
"Do you want to say something?"
Andromeda almost jolted out of her skin when she heard Pyra's voice all of a sudden! Andromeda didn't think that Pyra would talk to her first and so she was extremely shocked to hear her!
Pyra tilted her head and looked at Oyra from the side. Pyra's face was still blank as she gave Andromeda a heavy look and Andromeda felt like she was being interrogated by Pyra! Andromeda chuckled a little as she tried to compose herself again.
She knew that she had to stop being so shy around people but Andromeda couldn't help it. Andromeda has never spoken to Pyra for more than two minutes before and the question that Andromeda wants to ask now was very personal. Andromeda took a deep breath and she finally spoke.
"Y-You're very close to the demon lord, aren't you?"
Pyra tilted her head to one side and Andromeda would never have believed what she saw next if Andromeda did see it herself.
Pyra blushed!
Pyra, the stoic giant, blushed. It was unbelievable! Andromeda has never even seen any expression on Pyra's face before so it was a great shock to suddenly see her like this! The blush was very little and if Andromeda wasn't looking directly at Pyra then she wouldn't have even noticed it, but it was there!
Pyra scratched her cheek a little and tried to get the blush off her face before she nodded to Andromeda. Pyra might not be the most emotional person in the world, but Pyra knew that the demon lord saw her differently from the other maids. The demon lord favored Pyra more than the other maids and Pyra couldn't deny that she enjoyed it. It was a thing of pride to be favored by your master and Pyra was happy that she was the one the demon lord chose to favor!
When Pyra nodded, Andromeda slithered closer as she asked another question.
"Uhm... H-How did you get close to him? T-The demon lord doesn't look at me as much as the rest of you and I don't know how to get closer to him. Do you have any advice?"
Pyra rose a brow in curiosity! Advice for getting closer to their lord? That was a very difficult question. Pyra didn't know what to tell Andromeda. Pyra doesn't know what she did that made the demon lord favor her. The demon lord was a very difficult person to read and he does whatever he wants without ever having to explain himself to anyone. Pyra didn't think there was a surefire method to get close to the demon lord unless the demon lord wants to be close to you!
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om