The Situation in the Capital [C104]

Checking the storage rings of the bandits, Shu Himo found a lot of gold coins, clothes, tables, chairs, books on how to cook homemade pasta... 'Wait, what? Again homemade pasta? Why would a bandit even have that?'

Only after checking everything did he find something that made his eyes sparkle: three crystals! Coupled with the five he precedently had, now Shu Himo possesses eight crystals!

Placing them quickly in the storage, Shu Himo had a blissful expression, 'With these eight crystals, I can use Catastrophe two times…'

Seeing Shu Himo's expression, Aura Azusa could not help but ask, "What's wrong?"

Smiling, he answered, "The bandits had three crystals with them!"

Hearing him she simply smiled, she did not seem to care about three crystals at all.

They then continued running, and in the way back did not found any other obstacle; the closer to the capital, the weaker the monsters became, so none dared to approach the three.

-----

"Hoff...Hoff..." Both Aura Azusa and Shu Himo fell on their knees, clearly exhausted. Running for a whole day at their maximum speed without stopping have tired them a lot. The only one who was unfazed by all was Phylia, who stood calmly as if she were not tired at all.

They then looked up, and in their sight finally appeared the walls of the capital.

"We are finally here…"

Seeing the walls, Aura Azusa was surprised, she did not expect that someone would actually be crazy enough to build such high walls for no reasons, it would be enough to make a formation to defend the city from outer attacks after all… or perhaps these walls have a special reason hidden within?

Even if unsure about their actual use she smiled by seeing them, their imposing aspect was indeed beautiful.

Suddenly, Phylia innocently asked, "So who won the race?"

Noticing how she was unfazed by the run both Shu Himo and Aura Azusa smiled bitterly, "You won, Phylia,"

Hearing that she won, Phylia smiled brightly and raised her arms up toward the sky, in a celebratory pose.

A couple moments later, Shu Himo and Aura Azusa stood up once again and walked toward the gate, however, Shu Himo was puzzled seeing that the usual long line of merchants was actually shorter than usual.

A new guard, seeing the three walking inside the Capital like that immediately stopped them, "Halt! Please show your identities!"

Smiling, Shu Himo took out his [Maximum Honorary Seal - Supreme Grade] and displayed it at the guard.

Initially, the guard was startled, he did not remember which seal that was… however a couple breaths later realization came, and with eyes filled with hope he abruptly straightened his back and loudly replied, "Welcome back to the Shu Capital, Your Excellency the Supreme!"

Hearing him Shu Himo was startled, since when had he been called 'Your Excellency the Supreme?' Not that he minded of course...

Suddenly, many commoners hearing someone mentioning 'The Supreme' immediately looked toward Shu Himo with expressions filled with hope and prostrated on the ground. Unlike five years ago, the commoners appeared near to be starving to death, and in some commoners' body, even the bones were visible.

Shocked, Shu Himo was about to ask what is going on, only to see that the guard also prostrated in front of him, 'Just what is going on?!'

The guard slowly raised his head and said, "Your Excellency the Supreme, please save this Kingdom!"

Shu Himo was stunned, he did not yet enter in the Capital and the people were already acting weird!

Calming down quickly, he assumed an authoritative attitude and asked, "What happened?"

Met with Shu Himo's authoritative tone, the guard felt a heavy pressure on his shoulders, but still tried to explain, "The taxes are rising quickly, because the Shu Kingdom need to pay a fee to the Remir Kingdom, causing poverty on the lower classes… while this is covered mostly by the help from the royal family, who saved from starving most of the populace, as if this was not enough, there are rumors about the Remir Kingdom demanding subservience! It seems that an army may get dispatched against us if we do not surrender!"

Hearing the panicked voice of the guard trying frantically to explain everything, Shu Himo smiled and patted his shoulder, "It's fine... a mere Remir Kingdom daring to do this to my Kingdom… I will show them who is the one who will become subservient!"

Listening to his speech, the commoners raised their heads, and imprinted in their minds the image of Shu Himo: he is the person who will save this Kingdom!

Meanwhile, the moment Shu Himo completed his phrase he heard a familiar, *Ding*

[Abrupt Quest: Conquer the Remir Kingdom!]

[Your Kingdom was suppressed for too much time by the Remir Kingdom… act like what a real Ruler would do and take revenge by conquering it!]

[Quest Difficulty: SS]

[Quest Reward: 500 BS points.]

[Quest Failure Penitence: Unresolvable hostilities with the Remir Kingdom.]

Seeing the quest Shu Himo smiled, he would've done that anyway. Nodding to Aura Azusa and Phylia, the three began walking toward the center of the capital.

Seeing their backs, the commoners felt to be watching at an intrepid hero, and their eyes were filled in hope for the future.

-----

Walking in the east area of the Capital where the commoners' houses should be, Shu Himo frowned.

Every house was in a bad state, some were even destroyed. The only thing that stood out in the area is an enormous rectangular building, which appeared to be made to give food to the people.

Seeing the area, Shu Himo felt to be in the slums instead, with a now cold gaze, he quickly went toward the royal palace.