This Is How You Make Friends? (2)

Kashak wanted to get Chesedin lieutenant away from him.

The only reason why he couldn't assassinate Chesedin like Shaq was because of that follower.

He is a warrior who has been guarding the Chesedin for many years and has a strong power level.

That's why the assassination of the Chesedin was so difficult for him.

So he looked for a better way, an opportunity to separate them.

That was exactly what he did at that moment.

He had to prevent Chesedin from escaping to the fleet.

That would be the worst of the worst.

Kashak walked on, satisfied with the fact that he had successfully left the Chesedin alone and gained an audience with the king.

However, the time it took him to reach the king seemed too slow.

Perhaps it was the tension, but the weight of each moment slowed down the time.

When he finally entered the palace, he saw the king.

He was sitting next to the queen, cuddling up to her.

The queen brought a piece of fruit to the king's mouth.

"What about Visigoth? We don't even have a border with Visigoth..."

The king asked, coughing heavily.

He was sure that death was imminent, he had already been waiting for it for ten years.

The king has been living a long life in spite of his chronic illness.

Thanks to him, Kashak's opportunities were slowly diminishing.

He looked at the king in front of him and the Chesedin next to him, hiding the hatred in his eyes.

"By the way, you are..."

Then he furrowed his brow again.

The king and queen were confronted by an inquiry about a completely unexpected person.

But he quickly turned his head away.

The man was weak, that was Kashak's assessment.

No matter how many times he was in the palace of another country, he would never show his weakness like that.

This was the man who sat down on his buttocks when Kashak shouted.

A man who came to another country and showed his disgusting appearance, he was already out of Kashak's sight when he saw that he had no pride.

So ignoring him, Kashak said in front of the king.

"Your Majesty, the Visigoth Kingdom is targeting Carthage."

Kashak knelt down for a moment and told him so.

Sweat dripped down on his hands.

At the false report, the king spat out the fruit the queen had brought to his mouth, unable to swallow it, and coughed harshly again.

"What does that mean? How can the Visigoth Kingdom...!"

The 'how' implied that such a thing was not possible since they did not share a border with Visigoth.

Naturally, Chesedin looked at Kashak with the same expression.

"Is that true? How on earth could it be?"

Kashak assured Chesedin and the king with a serious face.

"It is true."

At that very moment, the astonished faces of Chesedin and the king suddenly heard the sound of arms clashing against each other.

Then, with the sound of the steel, a scream went up.

"–You...one and all, gwaaaaah!"

It was a surprise attack.

No matter how strong a warroior is, if he is attacked by his comrades without weapons, there is nothing he can do.

This was the signal that Chesedin's confidant had been separated from him forever.

Kashak, who had been waiting for this very signal, stood up with a confident smile on his face.

Kashak took out his concealed weapon, a waist belt sword.

It is forbidden to bring weapons into the royal palace, that's why they all disarmed themselves in front of the royal palace, and this weapon was the fruit of a ten-year plan.

Kashak said a few words with the sword in his hand.

"I'm sorry My Lord. This is also for the new age."

Chesedin, who was walking towards the outside of the palace where the scream was heard with a quizzical expression, turned around at Kashak words.

No, he was going to turn around but Kashak gave him no chance to do so.

He swung his mana-filled sword down at Chesedin back, which was wide and straight despite his old age.

"My Lord, get behind me!"

As soon as Kashak grabbed his sword, the queen who was standing next to the king reacted quickly and shouted while throwing the fruit she was holding but Kashak's sword was faster.

Chesedin's body turned around and collapsed after being struck.

The king, shocked by his appearance, trembled and shouted.

"Kashak! What are you doing?"

At the same time, the queen shouted outside.

"Guards! Get inside now and protect His Majesty!"

Kashak laughed, they would soon swarm in, but he intended to end it all before that happened.

Rather, the ones who came into the palace were the outside Guards and Kashak's men who had achieved their goal by surprising Chesedin follower.

"Sir, the Royalist soldiers will be arriving shortly!"

It's a race against time anyway.

That's the part he fully expected and he had troops ready to deal with them.

All he has to do is kill this king and everything will be over.

Kashak quickly pointed his sword at the king.

"No!"

The queen, Serena, interrupted him.

"You can't point a sword at the king and still be a citizen of this country!"

"My queen, we don't need a king who will destroy our country!"

Kashak tilted his head as he looked into Serena's wide, straight eyes, the spirit of a young woman, only twenty-two years old.

He knew she was a proud woman but still, he couldn't let her live.

He liked her pride and spirit, but he had to kill everyone who was in his way at this moment.

"Kill the vassals over there as they are witnesses! I'll deal with the king and queen!"

Kashak ordered his men and swung his sword at Queen Serena.

***

     - Hours Earlier -

- - Queen Serena POV - -

"Your Majesty, I'll give you a massage."

"Go ahead."

Queen Serena opened her mouth while rubbing his shoulders.

"What do you think?"

"It feels good. But you know what, you can stop rubbing my shoulders and sit down next to me. The political battles between the nobles only hurt my head...The moment I see your smiling face is the happiest moment. Ho-ho-ho."

"It's a very nice thing to say."

Serena chuckled at that.

In fact, Serena was given the title of queen because her father, Dofle, belonged to the royalist faction.

Since the two noble houses of Carthage were currently in a fierce conflict over the succession, the queenship could not be handed over to either of them.

It is a known fact that the king is unable to produce an heir, but even so, it would be disadvantageous if the queen were to come from one side, that's why the daughter of the nobleman Dofle, with whom he had no relationship or connection, was chosen to be the queen.

Serena was chosen to be queen, regardless of her own will, much less that of her father Dofle.

Of course, the king's greed was involved in this.

He wanted a beautiful woman.

"Ho ho ho, what a beautiful smile."

"Your Majesty! It seems that all the nobles have gathered!"

At that moment, the chief attendant reported.

"Your Majesty, there are important matters to be decided this time, and you must come!"

Even the noblemen who had come for the king joined them.

"Nobles, they are bothering the old man."

The king had no choice but to leave the queen's room with an uncomfortable look on his face.

A short time later, another man came to visit the queen, it was her father, Count Dofle.

"Father, we've been expecting you."

Serena ordered the maidservant with a cheerful expression as she led Dofle to the table.

"Bring me some tea."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness."

As soon as the maids withdrew, Serena looked at Dofle with an impatient look on her face, as if she had been waiting for him.

"You wanted to see me, Your Royal Highness?"

Serena nodded in response to Dofle's question.

"I understand a vassal has arrived from Aquitania."

Dofle stared at his daughter.

Ever since she was a little girl, she had always loved small talk.

From gossip, to life stories, to war stories, she was always interested in anything.

Recently, she had been fascinated by the rumours about Aquitania, she was quite interested in that story.

Such a small province stood up to and defeated a grand country like Visigoth outnumbered 10:1 or worse, while their parent country Lunan fell to the wayside suffer defeat after defeat.

When it came to Aquitania, her eyes lit up like a six-year-old's and she concentrated on the story.

"Her Royal Highness, is this more about Aquitania than me?"

Dofle asked, and Serena shook her head.

"No way! Of course, father is the best! It's just that there are so many interesting rumours...That's all."

Serena said, but Dofle laughed inwardly.

She was not just a little bit obsessed, she was completely obsessed.

Dofle knew very well that her interest had only grown since she had been confined to the palace.

The young lord of Aquitania was a free-spirited man who had won victories on his own, and Serena was probably getting a pseudo-satisfaction from his actions.

"What is the purpose of the vassal's visit? Who came from Aquitania?"

Seeing the curious look on her face, Dofle laughed and opened his mouth.

"It appears to be someone named Haddin, I've heard that he's a vassal of the Count Aquitania and his title is that of a Baron. He seems to be here to discuss an alliance…but it won't be easy. Kashak has exposed Aquitania's true intentions in front of the nobles, but he seems to think it has nothing to do with the national interest."

"If we join forces with him, we will be of great help. Haven't the other nobles heard that rumours?"

"I think the problem is that he has a small force. The aristocrats like to compare, so there's no way they'd want to form an alliance with a small force on equal terms, no matter how much they've defeated Visigoth, there are many nobles who think that it was luck."

"But...I think it's going to get bigger soon. Right now I'd rather just buckle down for more challenges!"

Serena shouted with a frustrated look on her face.

Her voice was filled with eagerness.

"I agree with you, my queen. Given the situation on the continent, Count Aquitania probably chose Bridget's old territory on purpose, rather than stay in his own lands. It's also true that he defeated Visigoth again in the process, even though everyone is scared of Visigoth's power."

The strategy that defeated Visigoth in the first war between Visigoth and Lunan, the strategy that defeated Bridget who attacked Roserun and even the recent battle where he lured and defeated a large army of Visigoth with a mana formation, though no one knew this particular yet as Fran refused to release it publically and the same was true for Julius.

The last one was even more shocking because the large army that he lured was led by Flan Valdesca, a famous strategist on the continent.

Has such a person ever existed in history?

Wasn't he the incarnation of the first Emperor, who had founded the Ancient Empire?

That's what Dofle thought.

For the sake of his daughter, who was quite enamoured with the topic, he even sent people to Aquitania himself to gather information, before they'd arrived seeking an alliance.

"I'm sorry...that we can't form an alliance."

When his daughter looked dejected, Dofle thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.