Debuff Master

Chapter 156

“Excuse me… Lord Angele…?”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“I have a bit of cash…”

“Pardon me…?”

Lord Angele was greatly taken aback by the remark.

‘Hey… I really do have money… Please don’t look at me with those eyes…’?

Siegfried sulked upon noticing the kind of gaze she was using to stare at him.

Of course, it was true that the Proatine Kingdom’s finances were not that great, but that was only in recent times. The treasures of the Immortal King that the Nordic Tribe had brought were so immense that selling only half of them would be more than enough to hire the Adventurers he needed to put his plan in motion.

“Lord Angele…”

“Y-Yes…?”

“You were surprised just now, right? I mean, I’m just the king of a small backwater kingdom, so how much money could I possibly have, am I right?”

“N-Not at all!”

“I think I’m right, though…”

“No, Your Majesty is mistaken! The thought that Your Majesty Siegfried van Proa is dirt-poor and is barely managing to scrape whatever you have in your coffers never crossed my mind! I swear! It never did! Haa… Haa… Haa…”

For some odd reason, Siegfried couldn’t help but think that Lord Angele was lying.

After all, the more someone insisted that a certain statement was a lie, the more likely it was to be true.

“It’s hard to believe, but I really do have money…”

“W-why are you saying that all of a sudden…?”

“I will hire Adventurers from the Mercenary Guild and sow discord at the Adunyadet Kingdom.”

“H-Hire Adventurers from the Mercenary Guild? But hiring enough Adventurers to sow discord in the Adunyadet Kingdom is going to cost a fortune…”

“What if I have that much money…?”

“R-Really…?!”

“Yes.” Siegfried started pondering if he should abandon this quest and let the islanders meet their demise, but he managed to suppress his intrusive thought and calm down.

“I will pay the Mercenary Guild in advance, so please reimburse me after the war is over.”

“I will even pay you a handsome interest if you can do that for us!”

“Come on, there is no need for you to pay interest. I just need to be reimbursed, that’s all.”

“No,” Lord Angele said. She shook her head and continued. “Stone Island has been a mining and maritime trading nation since centuries ago, and we value our credibility more than our lives. We know how to repay another for the kindness they showed us.”

“Well, if you insist… I will leave it up to you to decide how much the interest will be,” Siegfried replied. He decided to let her decide how much she wanted to pay him, and then he added, “I will commence the operation, then.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then, I will go out and hunt for some cannons in the meantime.”

Siegfried immediately went to the next phase after initiating his first plan of sowing discord in the Adunyadet Forces’ homeland.

***

The next morning, the Adventurers who received quests from the Proatine Kingdom started wreaking havoc across the Adunyadet Kingdom.

Shwaaaaa!

Siegfried took five Aqua Runners with him and sped toward the cove where Stone Island’s battleships were harbored.

The cove had long become a death zone because of the twenty-five Adunyadet Battleships standing guard near the cove.

Who could have imagined that Stone Island’s secret naval base was the reason behind the Adunyadet Navy’s blockade?

Surprisingly, Siegfried didn’t back down. He took the risk without a hint of hesitation.

‘It’s not like they can hit me, anyway. I just have to be careful of the waves the cannon balls will make upon hitting the water.’?

Siegfried was confident that he wouldn’t get hit as long as he drove the Aqua Runner properly. While Siegfried was deep in thought, the Adunyadet Naval Forces finally spotted his Aqua Runners and started aiming at him.

— Target identified!

— Aim!

— All cannons prepare to fire!

— 3… 2… 1…

— FIRE!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The cannons spat fire as they unleashed their cannon balls.

Splash! Splash!?

The cannon balls that narrowly missed the Aqua Runners stirred up the waters.

“Euk!”?Siegfried was taken aback as the Aqua Runner dangerously rocked back and forth. Fortunately, it didn’t capsize. The Nordic Tribe’s technology was so advanced that the Aqua Runners wouldn’t capsize even if a fierce storm were raging in the seas.

The four other Aqua Runners rocked back and forth as well, but none of them sunk.

‘All right…’?

Siegfried’s eyes beamed with confidence after emerging unscathed from the first volley of attacks. He sped through the waters and was now only twenty meters away from the Adunyadet Naval Forces.

“All speedboats! Prepare to fire!” Siegfried shouted.

The Aqua Runners were speedboats designed for maximum speed, so they didn’t come equipped with any cannons. However, the members of the labor force on the Aqua Runners took out an unidentified object that did not resemble a cannon and took aim.

The identity of the cannon was none other than—a living organism.

***

Nine hours ago...

“Hunt for some cannons…?” Lord Angele muttered as she tilted her head in confusion, and then she asked, “Was it even possible to hunt for cannons? I thought those were manufactured in factories?”

“I suddenly remembered an excellent cannon that can be hunted,” Siegfried replied nonchalantly.

“What kind of a cannon is that…?”

“I think it would be better for you to see it yourself later.”

Siegfried went to the Aqua Runners with Gringore, and they headed out to the seas.

“Your Majesty! Where are we going??Haha!” Gringore asked while in high spirits.

He had no idea why Siegfried had suddenly asked him to come along when Siegfried had always been running away from him. However, Gringore didn’t really care as long as he could accompany his liege.

Siegfried replied nonchalantly, “We’re going to hunt.”

“Hunt?”

“Yes.”

“What are we going to hunt, Your Majesty?”

“Before that…” Siegfried said. He retrieved a tray of eggs from his Inventory and gave it to Gringore.

“Why don’t you drink these first?” he said.

“W-What are these, Your Majesty…?”

“Can’t you tell? These are eggs…”

“But why are you asking me to drink so many eggs…?”

“You will be able to tell after drinking them.”

“I-I think this is too much…”

“What if it’s a royal command?”

“…”

“Now, drink up. Bottoms up!” Siegfried said with a sinister smile while gesticulating.

‘It’s really good to be above others in times like this… Keke!’?he thought.

Meanwhile, Gringore was forced to cry tears of blood and lament his lowly bloodline as he drank the raw eggs one by one.

That evening, Gringore was forced to assist Siegfried in hunting down the sirens by singing until his lungs and vocal cords gave out.

“Lalala~ Lala~ Lalala~ Lala~ Lala~ Lalala~”

“Y-Your Majesty… My throat… hurts… I’m… talented… I admit… but I have been singing… for the past six hours… already—Cough! Cough!”

“Hmm… I think you need more eggs,” Siegfried muttered. He then proceeded to retrieve another tray of eggs from his Inventory and extended it toward the scribe.

“I-I don’t need them at all, Your Majesty!” Gringore hurriedly shook his hand.

He felt like he would puke his guts out if he were to drink another raw egg.

“I-I can do it, Your Majesty!”

“Then, go ahead.”

“…”

‘Your suffering will continue if you keep following me around. Hohoho!’

Siegfried couldn’t be considered petty at this point.

He should be called the Petty Demon Lord.

“Anyway, start singing. I can see another one over there.”

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

In the end, the scribe was forced to sing until daybreak.

He sang again, and again, and again.

Siegfried managed to wipe out the Siren population in the area, and he also bagged fifty living sirens. Of course, it was all thanks to Gringore.

‘This guy is pretty useful. This is great!’?

Siegfried\'s opinion of his loyal subject slowly started to change for the better.

***

The captured sirens were stored in magical sacks and were loaded onto the Aqua Runners as living cannons.

“Fire!” Siegfried shouted.

“Fire!” The members of the Labor Forces shouted in unison as they hurled the sirens onto the deck of the Adunyadet Battleships.

“W-What is that?!”

“It seems that the enemy has thrown something onboard, but what are those…?”

“F-Fish?!”

The Adunyadet Forces were stupefied to see a half-human, half-fish monster on the deck. However, they were even more stupefied upon realizing that the monsters were sirens.

“S-sirens!” one of the soldiers shouted.

“A siren?!”

“That’s a siren!”

“Don’t tell me… Those bastards threw sirens at us?! This… This is ab—”

Just as they started cursing, the sirens started singing.

“Lala~ Lalalala Lala~ Lalalala Lala~ Lalala Lalala~”

“Throw them faster! We’re leaving soon!” Siegfried pushed the members of the Labor Forces to work faster because the sirens’ song could affect them as well if they left even a beat later.

Shwaaaa!

Siegfried led the four other Aqua Runners and went around throwing the sirens onto the decks of the battleships.

Then, the sirens stranded on the ship decks started singing to charm the Adunyadet Forces as their survival instincts kicked in.

“Lala~ Lalalala Lala~ Lalalala Lala~ Lalala Lalala~”

The effect was instantaneous.

“Huh…?”

“Something’s strange… I suddenly feel like going for a swim…”

“Ah… It’s so hot… I\'m going for a dip…”

The Adunyadet Forces started bleeding from their eyes, noses, and mouths as they walked toward the stern of their ships.

And then they started diving into the sea one by one…

‘All right!’?Siegfried rejoiced at the success of Operation: Siren Bomb.

After a moment of celebration, he immediately drove the Aqua Runner in the other direction. However, he suddenly felt blood dripping down his nose, but he wasn’t the only one.

“Ah… I want to… go into the water…”

“My head… My head hurts…!”

“I can endure this… I’m a man… I should be able to endure this…!”

The soldiers were at their limits while Siegfried just got a nosebleed. The mana waves from the fifty-plus sirens singing at the same time managed to catch up to them.

‘We have to get as far away as possible from here!’?Siegfried saw that his subordinates were already at their limits, so he immediately shouted, “Hurry up! Go faster if you don’t want to die! Step on it!”

Shwaaa!

The five Aqua Runners went full throttle as they tried to get as far away as possible from the Adunyadet Battleships.

Splash! Splash!?

Siegfried saw the Adunyadet Soldiers jumping off the battleships to their demise.

***

“Oh… Oh my god…!”

Lord Angele saw the entire scene unfold from atop a cliff.

Oh my god! Those were the only words she could use to react to Siegfried’s tactic of throwing sirens onto the enemy ships’ deck.

“Siegfried… Just what in the world are you…?” she muttered in awe at his ingenious plan. She was convinced that no one else could have thought of such a method. Of course, she was not aware that this entire thing was only made possible thanks to Gringore’s abilities, who was currently Siegfried’s most useful subject.

Splash! Splash!?

As a result of the ingenious plan, the hundreds of soldiers onboard the twenty-fire Adunyadet Battleships all jumped into the waters to their demise, leaving their ships empty.

“Lord Angele! This is not that time for you to just watch from the sidelines!” General Uriage shouted, “You must command the Great White Shark fleet to set sail at once! This is our chance!”

“Y-You are right! Now is our chance! Great White Sharks! Set sail!” Lord Angele commanded.

The Stone Island’s state-of-the-art battleships, the Great White Sharks, left their secret base one by one at their leader’s command.