The King of Tricks and Magic

Chapter 206: The Holy Empire’s Hero Party (End)

[ Name: Ren Arken

Age: 14

Race: Human

Strength: 400,000 (+4,300,000 [Mana])

Agility: 500,000 (+7,300,000 [Mana])

Vitality: 1,000,000 (+10,200,000 [Mana])

Mana: ~~~

Spiritual: ~~~

Intellect: 700, 000

Unique Skills:

-Magic cards -Appraisal -Evil gaze -Strengthen -Leap -Basic magics -Magic mastery -Grimoire of death -Real Clone [Heavenly Slime] -Eye of Wisdom -Sword God -Fenrir Arken -Reo Arken -Predator of the sky -Wild Beasts Skills -Knight’s soul -Defiler of the banished, Ataraxia -Slime Soul Diversion -Slime technique: Split -Tarot Emperor -Master of The Dragon King, Atlas]

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Inside the Tarot embassy in the Grandaria royal capital, two figures are having a rendezvous meeting.

“So? ‘I noticed your desperate calls. We, will take over from this point’. What do you mean by saying that? Are you sure you didn’t want to discuss this with Peter as well?” Asked Alfred as he crossed his hands and leans his back towards the wall.

“Do I even need to answer you for those questions, Alfred?” Slime asked Alfred back as he takes a seat at his office seat. Even though he’s no longer the ambassador, he still has his own office since no matter how small part he is, he’s still a part of the emperor.

“Well, hearing you answer it directly won’t be bad, Ren,” (Alfred)

“Because of Peter’s position, he didn’t realize it. For the others, they lack experience and the eyes to discern such things. But for you, I believe you will definitely notice it,” (Slime)

“That hero doesn’t really try to hide it, after all. But well, that’s why his desperation is very obvious. So what about it? You called me here not just to confirm whether I noticed it or not, right?” Asked Alfred.

“Yes,” said Slime as he stands and faces the window outside. With a narrowed eyes, Slime Tarot stares at the royal castle that currently has the holy empire’s hero party resting inside it.

“Since the beginning, he has no intentions of hiding his strength. He intended to go all-out since the beginning, but when he lost, what appeared on his eyes are not frustration from losing, but a hint of relief instead,” (Slime)

“So you mean there must be a reason why he’s relieved by his loss, huh…” (Alfred)

“Yes. It seems that this holy empire isn’t as holy as its name. There are several possibilities. But first, we could conclude that Peter being stronger than the hero is something that benefits the hero by the way he reacts before,” (Slime Tarot)

“And since Peter won the bet, it had given us the upper hand. It may be one of the reasons why the hero is relieved when he knew he lost the fight. Well, he does look kind of unpleased by the fact that he lost in the end, though,” said Alfred with a shrug.

“Exactly,” (Slime Tarot)

The bet the hero and Peter made is not a very big bet. If the hero Lian won, Peter bet that he will agree to the holy empire’s conditions without having any need of compensation, but if the hero loses, he will need to agree with anything Peter asked him to do.

The weight of both bets is evenly heavy, and the others take the hero Lian’s bet as a form of confidence in his skills. But for Alfred and Slime…

“He’s trying to make a way to flee from the holy empire’s grasp or something similar, is that what you’re thinking?” (Alfred)

“Yes. As expected, you’re very sharp. In normal circumstances, Peter would have noticed it as well. But because his priority as the king of the kingdom is to protect the kingdom from harm, the Hero Lian from the holy empire that is considered as a possible threat for the kingdom is grouped into the possible enemy’s faction inside his head. Well, it doesn’t mean what I just said is true, though,” said Slime as he shrugged.

Hearing Slime’s words, Alfred snorted.

“We’ve known each other for quite a long time already, so it’s normal for us to know what he’s thinking to this extent. But the bet he made is an attempt to make that hero join our side, right? Then isn’t thing going rather smoothly?” (Alfred)

“Well, it is,” Answered Slime indifferently.

“Then why did you called me here…? They’re having a welcome banquet at the royal castle for welcoming the holy empire’s hero party, there are lots of good foods there, and shouldn’t you be present there as well? Sera and Edreale won’t let you be if you didn’t at least show yourself up a bit, you know?” (Alfred)

“It won’t be good if someone from the Tarot empire that is widely known as the nonhuman empire, right?” (Slime)

“Saying so after showing yourself in such a manner at the fight between that hero and Peter before… Are you trying to piss me off…?” said Alfred with a wry smile.

“Well, Alfred. What do you think the holy empire is planning by gathering the so-called ‘true heroes’ from all over the world?” Asked Slime as he turns his back and stares straight towards Alfred.

Looking at Slime Tarot’s serious face, Alfred removes any emotion on his face as he reprocesses his thoughts.

“I still couldn’t grasp their motive, I doubt they sincerely gathered us solely for fighting the demons. And I couldn’t believe the ‘prophecy’ that saintess girl is saying. Everything felt fake, they must be planning something,” said Alfred as he holds his chin.

“Yes. I am confident to say that the holy empire a hundred percent remain hostile towards any demihuman countries, especially my Tarot empire. And after knowing that the Grandaria kingdom that possesses lots of powerful ‘true heroes’ allied with the country of occults, I don’t believe they will easily take a friendly stand with the Grandaria kingdom,” (Slime)

“Indeed…” (Alfred)

“So the friendliness is just a front. The saintess doesn’t seem to be a bad egg, and the hero seems to trust her as well. But I didn’t know about the others, well, the holy knight in their party has clearly shown his hostility, though,” (Slime)

“By taking the strongest fighters, the aces of the kingdom, it could be also said as they’re attempting to take the strength of the kingdom itself. Now the possibilities are two,” (Slime)

“Whether they’re going to make us join our side or they will try to dispose of us, huh…” Muttered Alfred as he understands the meaning of Slime’s words.

“Exactly. But if they sincerely need the strength of all of you to fight off the demons, then the possibilities of them trying to dispose all of you could be eliminated, leaving a single option. But rather than attempting to make you join their side, I believe it would be ‘forcing’ you joining their side,” (Slime)

“Forced, huh… Blackmail, brainwashing, threats, and hostages. Considering our opponent is a force that experts in hiding their dirtiness, it’s not surprising if they do that. I guess I need to prepare some countermeasures for all of those possibilities…” Alfred immediately made some plans to prevent their side to get forced into a disadvantage by getting blackmailed or brainwashed from the holy empire’s side.

“By saying this, do you happen to know something I don’t, Ren?” Asked Alfred.

“Well… I heard a rather disturbing rumor, you see…” (Slime)

“Rumor?” Asked Alfred as he narrowed his eyes.

“Yes, a rumor. About the holy empire’s ‘hero summoning’ ritual. I haven’t determined whether it’s the truth or not, but it seems that it’s their real hidden aces,” (Slime)

“Hero summoning ritual?” (Alfred)

“The heroes of the other world,” (Slime)

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Inside the royal castle of the Grandaria kingdom, the high officials, nobles, and high-ranked soldiers of the kingdom gathered to attend the banquet hold by the king to welcome the Holy empire’s hero party.

Of course, almost all of them still hold suspicions towards the Holy empire’s hero party. All of them know about the hostility the Holy empire holds towards demihumans. And since they are on friendly terms with the Tarot empire that consists of demihumans and magic beasts, all of them believed that the Holy empire didn’t come just to be friendly with their kingdom.

But since their king has decided to hold a welcome banquet for the Holy empire’s hero party, they couldn’t help but show the hospitality of the kingdom towards them and make sure they could protect the kingdom’s good name. And since it’s an official one, everyone comes in formal attire.

*Clap!* *Clap!*

Hearing the sound of the clap, everyone stopped chattering between each other and shift their attention towards the direction of the sound.

“Everyone, first of all, thanks for being present here. As you all have known, we’ve honorable guests who came from a faraway land. The famous hero party of the Holy Empire. I hope with this occasion, we could make a friendly stand with the Holy Empire as well. Now, *Clap!* *Clap!*” (Peter)

Following Peter’s claps, the royal servants and maids entered the hall, bringing the food and drinks for the banquet.

“Let the party begin,” (Peter)