Wizard: Scamming a Demon God

Chapter 197: Chapter 156: Forced Awakening

Upon arriving at the great hall of the Royal Palace, Isaac and his companions, thanks to Philo’s status, were smoothly granted an audience with King Yitla.

The King was just as Isaac had imagined. Though uprisings occurred in his Kingdom every year and the nation’s situation seemed extremely turbulent, his face was flushed with health, and he wore a cheerful expression.

Isaac had two theories about this. ’Either he’s making so much money that he doesn’t care if the people under him live or die, or this is all an act, part of a much more far-reaching scheme!’

Personally, Isaac leaned toward the latter. After all, while the King wasn’t the Guardian God of the Itra Kingdom—that mighty Tier Four Miracle Knight—he was still a Tier Three High-level Knight.

A Great Knight could perhaps be created by piling on resources, but becoming a High-level Knight required a certain degree of talent, plus sufficiently arduous training. Anyone who could become a High-level Knight was no simple character.

’Perhaps their plan won’t go so smoothly...’

The King cheerfully handed them four tokens. Three of them were for the madmen trio, which was part of their plan, but the extra one was given to Isaac’s second brother, Remington.

Faced with this change, Philo also seemed surprised. She turned to look at Remington, her thoughts unreadable.

It was hard to say if she was just putting on a show for Isaac, but it didn’t matter. With the tokens representing their slots in hand, Philo exchanged a few meaningless pleasantries with the King, and the group departed the Royal Palace under the King’s cheerful send-off.

Only after their figures had vanished from his line of sight did the King turn and walk back into the palace.

However, the moment he stepped into the palace, his brow furrowed slightly. An old man clad in golden armor, with a head of white hair and a matching beard, was sitting right on his throne.

A flash of anger flickered in the King’s eyes before vanishing. He then stepped forward respectfully, bowed, and said, "Ancestor, you’ve come."

Indeed, this man was the Guardian God of the Itra Kingdom: Fein Normanster Itra. An old fellow who had lived for several hundred years, a Tier Four Miracle Knight!

Thus, faced with someone so brazenly occupying his throne, it wasn’t a matter of daring to speak his anger—the King didn’t even dare to be angry at all!

At least, he couldn’t show it on his face.

Of course, showing nothing at all wouldn’t work either. That would seem too fake, not befitting a High-level Knight. He had to show just the right hint of anger.

Indeed, seeing that fleeting flash of anger in the King’s eyes, Fein was immensely satisfied. He didn’t care what the King thought. He was just a High-level Knight, a mere Tier Three, and posed no threat to him whatsoever.

Besides, in this world, what good was being strong? To get ahead, you needed influence and connections. The situation in Itra had lasted for so many years not because of his mighty Tier Four strength, but because those other factions cared about their reputation; they wouldn’t stoop to something like a blood sacrifice on their own territory.

Even if the ones being sacrificed were just soulless, thoughtless Artificial Humans.

In the face of those factions, his Tier Four strength meant jack shit!

He had once been just like the current King, extremely dissatisfied with the Itra Kingdom’s state of affairs, desperately trying to seize every opportunity to climb higher.

But he had changed his mind now. ’Rebel?’

’Too much work.’

He was no longer walking the path of Faith, so he had no need for vast territories or a large population. Rather than clinging to unrealistic fantasies, it was better to lie back, do business with the major powers, and use the massive resources to improve himself.

So even though he knew the Itra Kingdom’s dilemma was its lack of power despite possessing great treasures, he had spent all these years continuously collecting more—specifically, treasures that could sustainably generate resources.

And then he’d use it all in this once-a-year grand feast!

But he wasn’t an idiot. The plan had gone smoothly in the beginning, but as Itra’s collection of treasures grew, the collaborating powers gradually started to get some ideas they shouldn’t.

After all, just because Itra couldn’t protect these treasures didn’t mean they couldn’t...

Take this feast, for instance. As far as he knew, three groups were planning to make a move that would wipe out everything!

And one of them was the Eldest Princess of the Terra Empire!

’I just don’t know if it’s the Empire’s idea or the Eldest Princess’s own. If it’s the former...’

That would be very bad indeed.

"What do you think?"

"It looked... like an act. Philo’s performance was passable, but that Mechanical Body was a terrible actor," the King said with a frown.

This time, the frown wasn’t an act; it was genuine. This meant they were being targeted by the Terra Empire itself! It wasn’t merely the personal actions of Princess Philo, as that certain Prince had claimed!

"Then, what if the Eldest Princess intentionally let us see that?"

The King fell silent. This was also what he feared. This was what happened when you weren’t as strong as your opponent.

"Alright, you can go back to your duties." Seeing the silent King, Fein shook his head, rose from the throne, and vanished from the palace in a flash.

The King remained silent for a moment before slowly sitting down on the still-warm chair. His eyelids drooped. After a moment, he tapped the small golden bell at his side, signaling for his documents to be brought in so he could handle the affairs of the state.

These tasks were tedious. Even if he did nothing, managed nothing, the rule of Itra would not be affected, and the Kingdom would not fall.

But he was more than happy to do them, because only at times like these did he truly feel like a King.

A true King!

...

Meanwhile, after leaving the Royal Palace, Isaac’s party immediately headed for the barracks stationed outside the city. With their four tokens representing four slots, they could claim an army of forty thousand soldiers!