Debuff Master

Chapter 357

"Your Majesty did not hire Sir Carlisle?”

“How can I hire this Sir Carlisle when I do not have a clue who he is?”

The person named Carlisle did not exist in his memories.

Was there a reason for him to even know who he was in the first place?

Siegfried was already busy thinking about various things that a small fry like Carlisle was not someone he would even bother himself with.

“Oh…” Decimato let out a low gasp before he checked once again, “So it was not Your Majesty that hired him?”

“Like I said, I do not even know who he is.”

“Hmm…”

“What is it?”

“That is… Hmm…” Decimato hesitated for a while before he asked in response, “Does Your Majesty remember the knight that tried to kill you when you first took me in?”

“The knight that tried to kill me? Hold on…” Siegfried replied as he racked his brain.

“You are the enemy of my kingdom. I—Carlisle—will avenge my kingdom for the atrocities you have committed against—“

He recalled one such knight who had dared to aim a sword at his neck during the dimensional rift incident with the Renoma Kingdom. That knight was an ingrate who had dared to point a blade at his neck when he had saved the knights and magicians of the Renoma Kingdom.

The only reason Siegfried spared that knight was that he had to be spared for him to clear the quest and receive the reward Useful Recruits. The ungrateful knight disappeared after swearing revenge.

“Just you wait, the enemy of my kingdom! I will have your head one day and make you pay for what happened today! The day we meet again will be your—“

“Oh, that knight’s name was Carlisle?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“But what about him? Why would I hire someone like him—unless I’m crazy?”

Siegfried was in disbelief at what Decimato was saying. He was not that good of a person who would hire someone who had sworn vengeance against him. In fact, he considered himself to be quite petty when it came to things like this, so he would definitely remember it if he went out of his way to hire someone like Carlisle.

“I think he was not that talented to even bother hiring in the first place,” Siegfried said.

“I see… So that is how it went…”

“What do you mean by that? Also, what are you trying to tell me?”

“That is… I have reason to believe that Sir Carlisle has infiltrated our royal palace.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Do you know a servant that goes by the name Kyle, by any chance?”

“I do,” Siegfried replied and then he added, “He was quite tough for a servant, and he—Hold on?”

Siegfried realized something after remembering that Kyle was quite tough for a servant. If Kyle indeed turned out to be Knight Carlisle from the Renoma Kingdom, it would explain the secret behind his tough constitution.

“Did something happen, Your Majesty?”

“I think it happened twice? I bumped into him quite hard, but he was quite tough for a servant. I think a normal person would have died with how hard I bumped into him.”

“Ahem!”

“But I hope you are not saying that Kyle is Carlisle?”

“I have reason to believe he is.”

“What is that reason?”

“That is…” Decimato proceeded to explain his suspicion about Kyle’s true identity.

***

Three hours ago.

Decimato returned to the Proatine Kingdom after getting a short vacation from Daode Tianzun.

‘I should go greet His Majesty!’

Decimato learned that Siegfried was in his office, so he decided to go and greet him but…

“Kyle.”

“Yes, chamberlain-nim?”

“The palace grounds are littered with dead leaves. Go and sweep them up.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was then that Decimato passed by and came face-to-face with the new face.

“Servant Kyle greets Duke Decimato-nim.”

“Hoho! Thank you for your hard work!”

Decimato did not pay much attention and greeted the servant back before walking away, but it was then that he noticed something strange.

‘Hmm?’

He noticed that the servant’s face was emitting a faint trace of black magic. It was so faint that he would not have noticed it if he were the old him, but that was not the case right now. He had become a Great Wizard, which was a realm above what most magicians could achieve, and he was sensitive enough to notice the faint trace of black magic on Kyle.

‘Why would a servant’s face have a trace of black magic…?’

He found it quite suspicious that a servant would dabble in black magic, so he used invisibility magic and tailed the servant.

However, there was nothing strange with whatever the servant was doing. He went to sweep the ground just as the chamberlain commanded before going to do his other duties as a servant after he was done sweeping.

It was then…

‘But that voice. There’s something peculiar about that voice…’ Decimato could not shake the feeling that the servant’s voice was quite familiar to him, and it was only after seeing the three dots on the back of the servant’s neck that he realized that it was exactly the same dots as one of the knights he was familiar with.

‘His face has traces of black magic while the marks on his neck and his voice are quite similar… I have a feeling that he's…'

Decimato decided to stop tailing the servant named Kyle and immediately headed to Siegfried’s office to see if Siegfried had purposely hired Carlisle as a servant.

***

“Thus, I was wondering if it was Your Majesty’s decision to hire Carlisle as a servant.”

“No way will I ever do that,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

“Then that means…” Decimato muttered as he was deep in thought, and then he looked at Siegfried and said, “It seems that Sir Carlisle had gone to a skilled black magician and underwent a procedure to change his appearance just to infiltrate our kingdom.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Yes, it is quite possible, Your Majesty. A skilled black magician has the ability to alter one’s appearance by using both magic and surgical procedures.”

“Hmm…”

Siegfried racked his brain and went over the facts he knew so far.

‘His tough constitution is proof that he used to be a knight, the trace of black magic on his face is proof he altered his appearance, and the mark and voice Decimato recognized is another irrefutable proof—Don’t tell me… did he infiltrate as a servant because of the Rune of Insight? Since nobody will pay attention to a mere servant?’

Siegfried seemed dense at times, but he was extremely sharp with the ability to extrapolate more information from missing data. This was a classic example of that instinct of his, as he easily understood Carlisle’s motive for infiltrating as a servant.

“It seems that there was a rat hiding in our palace,” Siegfried said as he flashed a smirk that would send chills down most people’s spines.

“But, Your Majesty, it could be that I was mistaken.”

“That is also a possibility.”

Siegfried was not the type that would suspect someone without any probable cause.

“That is also why we have to check it out, do you not agree?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Your Rune of Insight will be able to determine if Kyle is indeed who he claims to be or not.”

“They say to strike while the iron is hot, so now is the perfect time to go check him out. Please stay here for a bit, I will go and personally check him.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Siegfried left Decimato at his office as he went to search for Kyle.

***

Thirty minutes later.

‘He’s a completely normal servant, but…’ Siegfried thought as he observed Kyle helping the palace gardener with the gardening.

He made sure not to blatantly approach his target right away, and he also had no plans of shoving his Rune of Insight into Kyle's face.

‘Let’s see if you’re a rat or not.’ He hid behind a pillar and aimed his Rune of Insight at Kyle.

Ding!

[Carlisle de L’Arc]

[A former knight of the Renoma Kingdom.]

[He graduated with top honors from the Knight Academy of the Renoma Kingdom, and he was famed for his patriotism among his peers.]

[Type: NPC]

[Level: 145]

[Class: Knight]

[Affiliation: Proatine Kingdom]

[Position: Servant]

[Remarks: He altered his appearance with the help of a black magician before infiltrating the Proatine Kingdom.]

Surprisingly, Kyle indeed turned out to be the same knight from the Renoma Kingdom, Carlisle.

He couldn't hide from the Rune of Insight, as he didn't alter his appearance with an artifact. He merely relied on cosmetic surgery performed by a black magician, which was the main reason he decided to hide in the open as a servant.

“I see,” Siegfried muttered before he flashed a smile dripping with evil, and then he said, “So there was indeed a rat hiding in my house.”

However, he simply turned around and returned to his office as if nothing happened. He did not smack Carlisle and apprehend him or anything, as that wasn't how he dealt with things like this. More specifically, it wasn't his style.

“Have you looked into the servant’s identity, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

“So, who is he?”

“You were right. He is Carlisle.”

“What?! Oh my god!” Decimato exclaimed before he said, “Your Majesty! This would be a big problem if he managed to sneak into our palace! Who knows what he is going to do? We need to go and—”

“No,” Siegfried shook his head and cut the Great Wizard off. Then, he added, “It’s no fun if we do that~”

“Pardon me, sire…?”

“It seems that he snuck in dreaming of revenge. Kekeke!”

Siegfried started laughing all of a sudden, and this sent chills down Decimato’s spine as he knew firsthand just how vicious his king could be whenever he smiled in that manner.

“Besides, he could be working with others in the palace, too.”

“Oh!”

“They say that there are bound to be thousands of cockroaches if you find a single one in your house. Have you heard of that saying?”

“Yes, I have, and that is indeed quite the appropriate saying for this situation.”

“I think it will be best if we toy around with him and observe him.”

“Indeed a wise choice, Your Majesty!”

Decimato was sincerely in awe of Siegfried’s decision to wait and find out if there were others aside from Carlisle before arresting him.

This served as further proof that Siegfried was not a simpleton ruler easily swayed by his emotions, but rather, he was a shrewd and cunning ruler that knew how to be ruthless at times.

“Hohoho!” Siegfried laughed as he flashed an insidious grin this time.

“I have a new toy to play with! Kekekeke!”

The thought of toying with Carlisle made him extremely happy.

***

‘Decimato… You ungrateful treacherous bastard! You dare to betray your motherland and side with the enemy?!’ Carlisle raged inwardly while sweeping the training ground that Siegfried frequented.

He loathed Decimato far more than he loathed Siegfried.

If Siegfried had caused the demise of the Renoma Kingdom, then Decimato was a snake that had sided with the enemy.

‘Sure, I’ll punish you too since you’re asking for it. I will show you the price you have to pay for siding with the enemy…’

It was then.

“Hi, Kyle~”

“What?!”

Carlisle jumped in fright after Siegfried’s voice came out of nowhere.

“I greet the king!”

“You’re working hard today as well~” Siegfried said with a smile before asking, “What about your injuries? Do you feel better?”

“I recovered quickly, and it's all thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”

“That’s excellent!”

“But if I may ask… Is Your Majesty planning to train today? If so, I will continue sweeping after Your Majesty is done.”

“No,” Siegfried shook his head, and then he said, “I’m not the one using it.”

“Then…?”

“I kept thinking about it and—”

“…?”

“I still think it’s a waste for you to live as a servant when you have such a blessed body!”

“What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?”

“Ta-dah!” Siegfried exclaimed and gestured surprise! as he revealed what was hiding behind him.

“My name is Bruce—Bruce Wood!”

The surprise Siegfried had in store for Carlisle was none other than the deadly training doll created by Deus.

“This guy right here will help improve whatever you need to become a knight!”

“Huh? W-What does that…?”

Siegfried completely ignored him and said, “Bruce, go and play with him. He said he wanted to become a knight when he was younger, but he had to give up on it because of his poor combat sense. Why don’t you help him?”

“My name is Bruce—Bruce Wood!”

Bruce nodded before walking toward Carlisle.

“Y-Your Majesty? What is happening right no—Gwuek!”

Carlisle couldn't finish speaking as he gasped out of agony.

“My name is Bruce—Bruce Wood!”

The vicious training doll, Bruce, had just punched him right in the stomach, causing him to gasp in pain.