Debuff Master

What was going to happen after that?

The emperor would have no choice but to allow the Lexus Kingdon’s invasion of the Proatine Kingdom.

‘That signature is going to be the noose around your neck,’ Duke Alto rejoiced inwardly.

Was it because Siegfried read Duke Alto’s intentions? He was about to sign the paper when he suddenly stopped right before the quill pen touched the paper.

“Wait! Excuse me, I have a question,” he said.

“W-What is it? Why don’t you sign that paper first before asking questions?” Duke Alto suggested.

“I will sign it later. I mean, I have to satisfy my curiosity first before signing anything, right?”

“Ahem!”

“Are you letting me go if I sign this?”

“That’s…” Duke Alto hesitated for a second before he finally answered, “That will not be possible immediately. We will have to go through due process, after all, but I will do my best for His Majesty to exonerate you at the earliest possible as soon as you sign that paper.”

“Ah! I see!”

“So, about the paper…”

“I guess I should sign it,” Siegfried said with a shrug as he brought the quill pen to the paper. However, he stopped right before the quill pen touched the paper once again.

“Wait a minute…”

“What is it this time?” Duke Alto asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

‘This damned bastard! Why is he stalling so much? Just hurry up and sign the damn paper!’ he fumed inside and was about to hurl all sorts of curses, but he exerted superhuman self-control and suppressed his anger.

Instead, he decided to choose his words carefully, “I hope Your Majesty is aware that the possibility of war erupting between our kingdoms is going to increase the longer you delay things. Are you perhaps hoping for war to erupt between our kingdoms?”

“No! Not at all!”

“Then what is it?”

“My tea cup is empty.”

“Your tea…?”

“I told you this tea is quite fragrant, right? I want to enjoy another cup before signing this paper.”

“Guards!” Duke Alto shouted.

The guards outside rushed in and exclaimed, “Yes, Duke Alto!”

“Tell a maid to immediately bring some tea!”

“Yes, sir!”

Duke Alto looked at Siegfried and said, “Did you see that? Now, please sign the paper.”

“I will after I have my drink,” Siegfried nonchalantly replied.

“It is but a simple signature. Please sign the paper first while waiting for your tea.”

“Should I?” Siegfried replied while rubbing his chin. Then, he brought the quill pen toward the paper once again, but he stopped once again and looked at Duke Alto.

“Excuse me…”

“Are you not going to sign the paper?”

“No, I will, but…”

“But? What is it this time? What do you need this time?” Duke Alto asked as his face slowly started to turn red.

‘Don’t tell me… Is this bastard playing with me?!’ he suspected that Siegfried was playing him for the fool right now. Unbeknownst to him, he was absolutely right.

‘Kekeke! I must be annoying the hell out of you right now, right?’ Siegfried thought while snickering inwardly.

Siegfried was smarter than most people out there when it came to these kinds of things, so there was no way he would not know what Duke Alto was up to. He knew better than anyone else what signing the confession meant, and just how important it was to the duke, so he decided to tease the duke for fun.

Duke Alto narrowed his eyes and asked, “Your Majesty, are you perhaps playing with me right now?”

“Such accusations!” Siegfried exclaimed in response and feigned ignorance. He then added, “I was about to sign it right now!”

“Then why did you stop?”

“I have a condition.”

“What is Your Majesty’s condition?”

“I want to stay somewhere else in exchange for signing this paper.”

“Stay somewhere else?”

“I’m still the king of a kingdom, so I can’t stay in some underground prison, right? I want you to prepare a suitable place to accommodate me during my stay.”

“All right, I will ask the maids to prepare Your Majesty’s accommodation, so please sign the paper.”

“You will have to add a clause explaining that. I hate liars, you see.”

“Damn it!” Duke Alto lashed out and snatched the paper away from Siegfried’s hand, and then he wrote down the clause that Siegfried had requested.

Bam!

He slammed the paper on the table in front of Siegfried and asked, “Are you happy? Will you sign it now?”

“Excellent!” Siegfried exclaimed in delight after checking that the special clause had been added. Then, he finally signed the paper.

“Here you go!” Siegfried said with a bright smile.

Duke Alto finally obtained the signature he so desperately wanted from Siegfried, but he was far from happy.

‘You damn bastard… Just wait and see what I’m going to do to you!’ He couldn’t help but gnash his teeth in anger after feeling that Siegfried had taken him for a spin.

However, he could not be certain that Siegfried indeed toyed with him.

Why?

Because the Proatine Kingdom was just some backwater province, it was embarrassing to call it a kingdom. On the other hand, the Lexus Kingdom was a proper kingdom with the history to back it up.

In other words, it was impossible for the Proatine Kingdom to defend itself against the Lexus Kingdom’s invasion if the emperor allowed the latter to invade the former.

At least, that was what Duke Alto thought…

***

The Lexus Kingdom immediately dispatched an emissary to Emperor Stuttgart and the Proatine Kingdom with news of Siegfried’s arrest.

“Are you telling me that your kingdom has our king, His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa, under arrest?” Michele asked with a smile.

The Minister of State of the Proatine Kingdom, Michele, was the one who had received the emissary from the Lexus Kingdom. The Proatine Kingdom that the emissary was meeting Michele in was not the real Proatine Kingdom.

They were currently in the fake capital city. Michele had received the emissary at the fake capital city created within the dimension that Decimato and the other magicians had deployed for the sake of hiding the real Proatine Kingdom.

“Yes, Your Excellency,” the emissary replied.

“That’s good.”

“Pardon me?”

“N-Nothing, don’t mind me.”

Michele subconsciously blurted out his thoughts by mistake. The problems Siegfried had been causing these days were stressing Michele out so much that he failed to control his own mouth.

“Ahem…”

“…”

“I understand what you mean. So, what do we have to do?”

“First, I hereby confirm that no harm has been dealt to your king. He’s a criminal, but he is still a king of a kingdom. Hence, His Majesty, the King of our Lexus Kingdom, has decided to treat him as befitting of his social status.”

“Thank you for your kind consideration,” Michele replied with a bow, and then he asked, “But how can we resolve this issue…?”

“His Majesty, the King of our Lexus Kingdom, wishes to resolve this in an amicable manner.”

“That is a relief.”

“Should you not provoke us any further, King Proa will be allowed to safely return to the Proatine Kingdom.”

“Please convey our kingdom’s sincere gratitude to His Majesty, King Fernandes.”

“Then, I shall return to my kingdom now. We will contact you again shortly.”

“Please have a safe trip back.”

The emissary left the fake Proatine Kingdom while thinking, ‘Hahaha! Are they for real? What kind of kingdom is this? Isn’t this just an empty desolate land? I guess our territory is really going to expand this time without a doubt!’

The emissary looked around and found the Proatine Kingdom truly pathetic.

He was confident that his kingdom’s army could conquer it in a single day.

‘I should convey this news as soon as possible and tell them to get ready for war!’

This was the main reason the Lexus Kingdom sent an emissary to the Proatine Kingdom. They were not interested in diplomatic communication, but rather, they wanted to see just how strong their prey was.

After all, it was only logical to scout the enemy’s strength before waging war, right?

Right after the emissary returned to the Lexus Kingdom, Michele went back to the real Proatine Kingdom and gave out the following commands.

“Our entire military forces are to heed my words! The Lexus Kingdom has arrested His Majesty and has imprisoned him. I, your Minister of State, and the deputy of His Majesty in his absence, hereby declare a State of Emergency! All forces are to prepare for war at once and assemble at our borders! The supreme commander of this war shall be Dame Oscar; her deputy shall be Sir Carell!”

The armed forces of the Proatine Kingdom sprung into action at Michele’s declaration.

***

Three days later, Siegfried was enjoying a life of luxury.

Meanwhile, Emperor Stuttgart responded to the Lexus Kingdom while Siegfried was lavishly enjoying his new prison.

The content of the emperor’s letter was quite simple.

I shall not interfere in this war as a written confession of the King of Proatine, Siegfried van Proa, has been submitted as evidence.

Henceforth, I hereby approve the Lexus Kingdom’s invasion of the Proatine Kingdom.

“Your Majesty! Please prepare our troops for war!” Duke Alto exclaimed as soon as the emperor’s response arrived.

“I understand! Duke Alto!” King Fernandes replied and immediately gave the mobilization command.

Speed was of the essence!

The Lexus Kingdom planned to make quick work of the Proatine Kingdom.

“Bwahaha! Should I go see what that insolent Adventurer is doing?” Duke Alto let out a burst of boisterous laughter and went to see Siegfried after the troops had been mobilized for war. Then, he wondered, “Kekeke! I wonder what kind of face he’s going to make after finding out that war is about to erupt between our kingdoms! I’m really curious!”

It seemed that Duke Alto was extremely annoyed by Siegfried’s antics when he had asked the latter to sign his written confession.

“Huh? Hello, Duke Alto. What brings you here? Oh! Will I finally be free?” Siegfried asked while enjoying a game of cards all alone in the luxurious palace provided to him.

“Free? Kekeke!” Duke Alto snickered and replied, “Yes, you will be free soon.”

“Huh?”

“After your kingdom has been trampled by the boots of our troops!”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems you don’t understand the situation.”

“I do not understand what—”

“War is about to start.”

“W-War?!” Siegfried was pretended to be stupefied. He put on his best act and stammered, “B-But I signed the document as you said, and you told me that there will not be—”

“Bwahahaha!”

“…?”

“Did you really believe me? What a moron! That document was your written confession!”

“So…?”

“We sent your confession to the emperor!”

“What?! Erm—So?”

“You still don’t get it, do you? What you did was an act of provocation, and the emperor has agreed not to protect you from this war!”

“Ah!”

“War will soon start! The thing that you feared the most! War!” Duke Alto exclaimed as he triumphantly raised his arms.

However, Siegfried raised his arms as well and shouted, “Yahoo! Woot! Woot!”

“Are you sure? Is war really going to erupt between our kingdoms?” he asked.

“…?”

“Yes! Let’s gooo!”

“…?”

Duke Alto couldn’t help but suspect that Siegfried had either gone insane or he was already insane, to begin with. Otherwise, why was he so happy after hearing that his kingdom would soon be embroiled in war?

“You seem to have gone crazy, or perhaps you’ve always been a madman. Tsk, tsk… It’s quite unfortunate, but we have no choice but to fulfill our kingdom’s age-old ambition of—” Duke Alto said while shaking his head.

Boom!

Duke Alto was interrupted by a loud explosion that shook the entire palace, but that wasn’t the end of it.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of cannon fire thundered outside.

The palace shook as if it were about to collapse.

“W-We’re under fire!”

“Aaaack!”

“Kyaaaah!”

Screams filled the air as people tried to evacuate to save themselves.

“W-What’s going on? What’s happening?! Just what in the world is…!” Duke Alto screamed while being utterly confused by the sudden turn of events.

Slap!

“Kuheok!”

Siegfried slapped Duke Alto’s face, and he fell to the ground with blood coming out from his mouth.

“W-What are you doing…?”

“We’re in war, you bastard.”

“W-What…?!”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? It’s time for war,” Siegfried said as he took out his +15 Gaia’s Fist and walked toward Duke Alto.

The Proatine Kingdom versus the Lexus Kingdom!

The war between the two kingdoms started with the Proatine Forces ambushing the royal capital of the Lexus Kingdom.