Debuff Master

“Your Majesty, the Minister of State, Sir Michele, is requesting an audience,” the maid announced.

“Ignore him. Ignore,” Siegfried replied immediately.

The maid flinched and stuttered, “P-Pardon me, Your Majesty…?”

“I’m busy right now, so ignore him,” Siegfried grumbled in response. Then, he tried to continue what he was doing after ignoring Michele.

The maid came in and interrupted Siegfried and Brunhilde once again, “Your Majesty, the Minister of State, Sir Michele, has urgently requested an audience. He claims that it is of utmost importance.”

“Let’s ignore him and continue, my love,” Siegfried said.

“But, honey…”

“I don’t want us to get interrupted,” he said with a smile.

Siegfried then shouted at the maids waiting outside, “Excuse me! Can you tell him to go away and come later? I think two hours will be enough, so please tell him to come back after two hours!”

“Your Majesty!”

However, Michele continued screaming outside.

“This is an urgent matter!”

“I said I’m busy! What’s so urgent you’re coming all the way to my bedroom? Scram!”

“No, Your Majesty! This is a really urgent matter!”

“I said scram!” Siegfried screamed with clear annoyance in his voice.

It was understandable why he was so annoyed. His mental state was in tatters after losing a huge sum of money only to find out Horse Fly was a shit-stained weapon that stubbornly refused to enhance despite hundreds of attempts.

He was barely reeling back from it after Brunhilde comforted him, but he was getting interrupted just when they were about to make love.

“Scram! Not now!”

“How many times do I have to tell you this is urgent?!”

“Nope~ Scram~” Siegfried said as he started resorting to being petty.

Suddenly, Brunhilde patted his back to calm him down and said, “Just go, dear.”

In response, Siegfried threw a tantrum. “I don’t want to! I really don’t want us to get interrupted right now…”

“Sir Michele says it’s urgent.”

“I still don’t want to.”

“Honey, you are the king of a kingdom, and you have to fulfill your responsibilities to your kingdom and your people.”

“T-That is…”

“My hubby is kind, right?”

As expected, he could no longer throw a tantrum.

All of a sudden, Brunhilde moved her hand to his ears and massaged his earlobe before moving her face closer to his ears and whispering, “I will give you lots of love when you come back~”

“Honey.”

“Yes, dear?”

“I’ll go finish it right away!”

“Good luck~”

Siegfried kissed Brunhilde and rushed out of his bedchamber.

***

The doors were slammed shut.

“What? Why did you call me? What do you want? Why?!” Siegfried went on a tirade as soon as he saw Michele.

“…”

“…”

It seemed Michele was scared for some reason as he did not say anything to retort.

“Hey, punk, you need to be more aware of things, you know? I know things are quite hectic, but you come chasing all the way to my bedroom? Ha?!”

“…”

“So, what is it? I’m here now, so talk. But things won’t look good for you if it isn’t as urgent as you made it sound to be!”

“That's…” Michele muttered before he continued, “What does Your Majesty think of tending to yourself first before listening to what I have to say?”

“What?”

“I understand Your Majesty loves to brag about it… but that is not something I would like to see as a man…”

“What the hell are you talking about…?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

“Huh? My royal what? Rod?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am referring to Your Majesty’s royal manhood.”

“Royal manhood…”

“Yes, please direct your eyes down, Your Majesty,” the maid said.

He did as he was told and…

It was only after he looked down at his feet that he finally noticed what was going on.

He had already left Brunhilde's side, but it seemed that his manhood was still affected by what happened behind those closed doors.

“But I do admit that is very impressive,” Michele said with a nod, and then he spared no praises for him, “I, Michele, have learned the rumors to be true without an ounce of exaggeration!”

“S-Shut up!”

“Your Majesty truly is a—“

“Damn it!” Siegfried screamed to stop him from finishing his words.

“—the Seggs Stamina King. Now, shall we go if Your Majesty is done bragging?”

However, Michele simply waited and finished his words before walking away.

“Hey! I’m going to beat you, punk!” Siegfried exclaimed.

He really wanted to smack the back of the smug arrogant kid’s head, but he decided not to after realizing the entire kingdom’s administration could come to a halt if that smug kid weren't around.

***

On the way to his office.

“So, what’s the urgent matter? What’s so important you had to call me out?” Siegfried asked.

“The international community seems to be becoming unstable.”

“Is it because of that incident?”

The incident Siegfried was talking about here was, without a doubt, the terrorist attack that had taken place during the World Peace Conference.

Michele nodded and replied, “Yes, the current situation is extremely chaotic.”

“Yeah, it probably is.”

“Emperor Stuttgart has managed to appease the nations that lost their rulers in the terrorist attack by holding a public execution.”

“A public execution? Did they find the culprit already?”

“No, it is a public execution for those in charge of the hunting ground’s security, and they number roughly two thousand.”

“What?!” Siegfried exclaimed after hearing the scale of the execution.

Yes, what happened was truly an unspeakable disaster, but who would have imagined two thousand people would end up getting executed because of it?

“Not only that, the wives, children, relatives, and even the distant relatives of those in charge of the hunting ground’s security were enslaved and sent to the nations victimized by this incident.”

“Oh my god…” Siegfried was shocked this time. He got goosebumps and the hair on his arms stood up after hearing of the emperor’s cruelty.

“But that was Emperor Stuttgart’s only choice, Your Majesty.”

“Why so?”

“Even Emperor Stuttgart would be reluctant to wage war against the entire continent, would you not agree? Of course, he might actually do that if things go south, but I believe he is trying to resolve this diplomatically first. Also, he is technically killing two birds with one stone by punishing those responsible for the lapse of security.”

“Well, now that you put it that way…”

“Aside from that, the emperor also sent them an astronomical sum as compensation and even went as far as promising to find the culprit behind the incident and punish them as well.”

“So he went all out and did everything he could?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“But what does that have to do with me?”

Both of them finally arrived at his office.

“Please have a sip first,” Michele said as he offered a cup of tea.

Michele continued. “Your Majesty must be aware quite a lot of nations have been left without rulers after this incident.”

“I guess so?”

“It is only normal for a ruler’s sudden passing to bring confusion to a nation. Of course, it would be a different story if a successor has already been appointed, but…”

“But…?”

“What if they do not have any successor and the royal succession is shaky?”

“Then they will… have a succession war?” Siegfried replied.

“Exactly.”

"As I said, what does that have anything to do with me? It was you who said we could avoid getting roped into a continent-wide war.”

“It does have something to do with us, Your Majesty.”

“You said we weren’t going to be involved just two days ago!”

“We will now.”

“Why?”

“The Kyiv Kingdom has requested for help.”

It was the kingdom ruled by King Aaron, who perished at the hunting ground. It was also the homeland of the Descendant of Thunder God Vajra, Taycan.

***

Siegfried suddenly remembered his conversation with Taycan.

Only two days had passed since Taycan had asked him for a favor, which was to help him out once he requested help.

“If it’s the Kyiv Kingdom… are you talking about Taycan?”

“Yes, the Knight of Kyiv, Taycan, has requested help from Your Majesty through the Thieves’ Guild.”

“Really? What was his message?”

“The Kyiv Kingdom is currently…” Michele relayed the message to him.

A quest window popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Succession Crisis]

[Help Taycan kill the other Descendant of Thunder God Vajra, Duke Taranis, and emerge victorious from the Kyiv Kingdom Succession Crisis!]

[Progress: 0% (0/1)]

[Reward: Clear one requirement from Master’s Regret Quest and rewards of various sizes.]

[Note: You will clear the requirement of Master’s Regret by killing either Taycan or Duke Taranis.]

Siegfried tilted his head in confusion after reading the quest details.

It turned out that Taycan was not the only descendant of Thunder God Vajra.

“Is this why he needed my help?”

He finally understood why Taycan had asked him for help. Taycan had no choice but to ask for help, as he was up against another descendant of the Thunder God in this succession war.

“Are you familiar with this, Your Majesty?”

“Not really,” Siegfried replied with a shrug before adding, “But this Duke Taranis? I know that I have to defeat him.”

“A succession crisis is happening in the Kyiv Kingdom due to King Aaron’s passing, and Duke Taranis is revolting to seize the throne, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And Taycan wants to stop him?”

“That is correct.”

“I am glad you've realized that and that I do not have to tell you any further. Let us not get involved in this, Your Majesty,” Michele said.

“I want to do that, but I’m afraid I can’t. I have to get involved in this succession war.”

“Why?”

“It’s related to Master, so you don’t have to know. Just know that I have to defeat either Taycan or Taranis for it. Well, it’s even better if I can beat both of them.”

Michele replied without skipping a beat, “Attacking Taycan is our best option. Duke Taranis is a powerful person known to be on the verge of becoming a Master. Not only that, but he is an ambitious man who wields both power and various other talents. I believe attacking someone like Taycan is far better than attacking Duke Taranis.”

“Really? So we should attack Taycan?” Siegfried asked with a smirk.

“Are you going to, Your Majesty?”

“I should if that’s the easiest way, but…”

“Is something the matter?”

“Give me information from both sides first.”

“Here it is,” Michele handed him two stacks of documents containing information on both factions.

“Hmm…” Siegfried went over the files. Then, he made his decision, “We will hit Taranis.”

“May I inquire of your reasoning behind your decision?”

Michele immediately retorted, “But our kingdom will be in danger if you fail. And please do not try to convince me by saying Your Majesty will find a way somehow. I will no longer tolerate any reckless behavior—“

Siegfried cut him off and said, “I have a plan, so shut up.”

“A plan…?”

“Yeah, I have a plan.”

“What is that plan? Don’t tell me… Are you planning on being despicable again and stabbing Taranis in the—“

“Hey! I’m not! Damn it!”

“Then what is it?”

“My plan is…” Siegfried explained his plan to Michele.