rmaid King Poseidon XIII.
He is the king and chieftain leading the few remaining rfolk on this continent.
...This man, currently in the parlor of the lord's mansion, occupying a portable bathtub, is receiving a hair arrangent from Aider.
The once disheveled blue hair is quickly being braided into stylish dreadlocks.
Just like when he did it for Naless before, this director guy, why is he such a pro at trimming hair?
Seeing his reflection in the water, the rmaid King, apparently very pleased, burst into a wide smile and gave a thumbs-up. Aider too, laughing rrily, returned the gesture.
'Is the thumbs-up gesture universal?'
The rmaid King continued to pour out words in sign language, and Serenade translated them by his side.
From what I gathered...
After the racial war, most rfolk left this continent for new lands or deep-sea territories.
However, so who couldnt abandon their long-ti ho remained. King Poseidon XIII was their leader.
They were drifting along the ocean currents across the continent, and happened to be staying in the southern sea at the ti.
Then, the gate of the 'Stormy Sea' suddenly opened in the southern sea, sucking in nurous marine creatures. Trying to forcefully close this gate, the rmaid King was swept away by it.
Glancing at the rmaid Kings fluttering tail fin, I thought to myself.
'One of the pieces of the Fallen King plan just rolled in so easily.'
The Fallen King plan, or the Foreign Legion nurturing thod.
A dream team recruitnt strategy that mainly enlists wandering rcenaries with tags like king, chieftain, or monarch.
If these 'Fallen Kings' can be assimilated into one organization, in ga data terms, it becos the strongest army. Theoretically, that is.
Of course, the hero parties of fallen kings are powerful in data terms. After all, they were the ones leading a countrys forces until the end.
Moreover, the fallen kings lead their respective remaining forces. If their armies can be incorporated, it would rapidly increase in size.
...But integrating them into one army is another issue.
'Now that Fernandez has won the imperial succession battle, we also need to increase our power.'
Although its still unclear, its almost certain that Fernandez will be hostile towards us.
Having ended my half-year of wandering and returned, I must now accelerate this plan.
A fish... no, a rmaid King has fallen into my lap like this.
'I must definitely grill and boil it!'
...Not in the culinary sense, but in a persuasive sense!
"I will take responsibility for transporting you to the southern sea. You need not worry."
As soon as the airship Geronimo is repaired, I decided to take him to the southern sea.
The airship only needs minor maintenance, and the southern sea isnt far via flight route, so it wont take long to return him to his sea.
I cautiously suggested to him, bowing his head in gratitude.
"How about it, King Poseidon. There's a banquet tonight, why not attend and grace the occasion?"
Upon my suggestion, King Poseidon readily nodded.
"A banquet! An offer a king cannot refuse. I will gladly attend."
Serenade, who took on the role of a temporary interpreter, relayed his words in a thick tone and then, caught by my staring, hurriedly turned away in embarrassnt.
"...That's what he said..."
Her voice trailed off. No, it's fun, keep going like that.
Things are going well.
I grinned to myself.
Maybe it's ti to kick start the Fallen King plan!
***
The defense battle had ended and not even half a day had passed before the citizens who had fled for refuge began to return.
As evening approached, the city was slowly regaining its vitality.
The returned citizens rejoiced at the successful defense, and were also astonished to hear of my return.
"Since that's the case, everyone co and take so fish! Let's have a seafood party tonight!"
Piles of fish, reclaid, were stacked like mountains.
Although the magicians had applied cold magic to make preservation sowhat easier, they still needed to be consud quickly. Otherwise, handling them would beco increasingly difficult over ti.
Not just chefs but also cooks and the returning citizens dove into the mountain of fish, preparing dishes for tonight's banquet.
And now, here I am, standing in front of the fish...
"Senior! What about sashimi?! Sashimi! Please give sashimi!"
Lord's mansion. Kitchen.
Evangeline is pestering fiercely right beside . This kid, she must have been really looking forward to it since I ntioned sashimi...
But now, I've co to realize sothing.
Squish!
...I have no talent for actual knife work.
And obviously, I've never learned how to prepare sashimi. I thought it would be enough to just thinly slice the fish flesh, filleted...
From basic preparations like removing innards, to skillfully separating flesh from bones without ruining it... I have no experience at all! Ive never even gone fishing in my life!
Eventually, my first attempt at preparing sashimi ended in utter failure. A poor fish was brutally mutilated, nothing more.
"..."
Evangelines gaze beside is becoming increasingly suspicious.
Damn it, this wont do! I have a culinary obligation to pass on the taste of sashimi to my junior!
I gave up on using the knife directly and instead took out my staff [Maestro], summoning a magical blade. At least Im more confident in controlling this!
"Haap!"
Crack!
But the magical blade, once swung, split both the chopping board and table in half. Kyaaaak!
"...Senior, by any chance."
With an even more suspicious look, Evangeline asked.
"Is the toast you made before the only thing you know how to cook?"
"No, no! Thats not it! Are you doubting now?!"
I can cook ran quite well! Fried rice too! And Im confident in kimchi stew! Theyre just things I can't make in this world!
In the end, I gave up on direct knife work. I decided to switch to assistance cooking mode.
So, I shouted.
"Lucas! Help out!"
"Just leave it to , my lord."
Lucas, who was standing by, rolled up his sleeves and walked up to .
Lucas drew the [Bestowed Sword] from his waist, forged a knife out of light, and then-
"Haap!"
Boom!
The blade of light hit the chopping board and exploded, reducing the new fish to dust without leaving a trace.
Lucas furrowed his brow looking at the blade of light in his hand.
"...Hmm. Cooking is difficult."
"Don't destroy it! Just slice the fish!"
Could it be that [Strike of Will] is automatically activated when he swings his sword?!
After Lucas put away the [Bestowed Sword] and took another kitchen knife, the result was much the sa.
With each strike, the fish was obliterated without a trace.
After turning the fifth fish into mush, Lucas murmured with a serious face.
"I guess I'm not talented in cooking...?"
"Its okay. At least you have a definite talent for destruction with a sword."
"Out of the way! Step aside! Let try."
Evangeline pushed us aside and rolled up her sleeves.
And a mont later.
Boom-!
"Aaaack!"
"Kyaaa!"
We three narrowly escaped from the exploding kitchen.
Evangeline, who had boldly stepped forward, hesitated to put the knife into the fish, her hand trembling. When she finally brought the knife down awkwardly,
The misaligned scales flew up.
Panicked by the scales flying towards her face, Evangeline jumped back.
And just like that, [Unstoppable] was activated. She crashed into the stove and hearth with the montum of her leap, destroying everything-
Boom!
The entire kitchen was engulfed in an explosion and collapse...
Staring dumbfounded at the wrecked kitchen, I couldn't help but scream.
"How the hell does cooking end up like this?! You catastrophic culinary beginners!"
"Se, Senior! You're hardly one to talk! All confident about sashimi, and look what happened!"
"...To think the lord's mansion, which even monsters couldn't destroy, has co to this by our hands..."
We hurriedly put out the fire and sorted out the situation, and I felt a wave of exhaustion hit .
What good is a mountain of fish if we can't even properly slice one piece of sashimi, and all we have are complete novices...
That's when rmaid King Poseidon, half subrged in his portable bathtub, ca towards us, having heard the commotion outside.
"..."
He looked over the chaos in the kitchen and our disheveled state, then extended his hand and motioned to .
I was holding a kitchen knife, dumbfounded, and handed it to him.
"Huh? Should I give you the knife...?"
Nodding, he took it.
rmaid King Poseidon, with the knife in hand, skillfully sliced sashimi from a fish he picked out from a basket in the corner of what used to be the kitchen.
In no ti, the bones were removed, the innards were cleared, and only the flesh remained on the cutting board.
We all stood in awe, for different reasons, watching his waste-free knife skills.
"...Do rmaids eat fish?"
"...Isn't that like cannibalism?"
"Well, fish eat fish, so..."
Anyway, in front of us, rmaid King Poseidon suddenly presented a plate of neatly sliced sashimi and nodded.
I quickly grabbed a surviving fork and speared a piece of sashimi, popping it into my mouth.
"...!"
Wow, this is freaking delicious...!
Even without soy sauce or wasabi. The tangy taste of the fresh sashimi moved to tears. This is it! This is the stuff! So damn tasty!
"...Are we really eating it raw?"
But Evangeline and Lucas looked at as if I was bizarre.
In this world, where eating things raw is almost unheard of, they saw as soone with strange eating habits.
No, hey! Really, if there was soy sauce, wasabi, or even ssamjang here, you guys would be blown away! Go get so soju!
On the contrary, rmaid King Poseidon seed impressed by gobbling down the raw fish.
He gave a thumbs-up, and I returned the gesture. Sashimi is the best!
Since Lucas and Evangeline still seed hesitant to try, I rummaged through the half-destroyed kitchen for lemon juice, vinegar, and olive oil, and lightly seasoned the sashimi.
After hesitantly trying the sashimi, their expressions changed slightly.
"Ho... Definitely."
"The texture is interesting. Oh, it has an addictive taste..."
"Right? Right? Told you sashimi is delicious! Eat more, you guys!"
But they shook their heads and backed off.
"I'm sorry, my lord. This is as far as I go..."
"I prefer it well-cooked. Or maybe stead..."
"Hey! Where are you going, hey! Do you think you'll get to eat sashimi this often?! Hey! Dont go!"
The two knights declared, 'We'll go wreak havoc at the victory banquet' and hurried off towards the central plaza.
You bastards! Ah, damn it! If I just had soy sauce and ssamjang, I could have made you all fall in love with this!
"Why can't you appreciate this deliciousness... *sob*..."
A hand landed on my shoulder as I sniffled.
Turning around, it was rmaid King Poseidon. He had already prepared another fish entirely into sashimi.
Sparkle!
He showed a smile, revealing his pearly white teeth, and gave a thumbs-up with his other hand.
I was moved.
"rmaid King...!"
I hurriedly grabbed a bottle of alcohol and a glass from the nearby cabinet.
"Fine! Lets forget those who dont know the real taste of fish! Let's have our own feast, rmaid King Poseidon!"
Leaving behind the half-destroyed kitchen, we went back to the parlor.
And there, we had a grand ti, sharing drinks and enjoying the sashimi.
Although we couldn't speak the sa language, who cares when there are delicious drinks and snacks? We communicated through gestures and enjoyed our drinks.
Haha, good. I feel like I'm getting along with this man...
This should smoothly progress the Fallen King plan...
***
"...Huh?"
How much did I drink?
Feeling good from the sashimi I hadn't had in a long ti, I kept drinking and must have lost consciousness.
I raised my heavy head, groaning. I should've drunk moderately.
And then.
"...?"
I finally noticed the kitchen knife touching my neck.
Chills ran down my spine from its cold touch. I slowly looked forward.
"Our race lost our holand because of the Everblack Empire."
The man sitting in front of .
The man pointing a knife at .
rmaid King Poseidon was slowly speaking.
"My father, mother, and siblings lost their lives to the soldiers of the Everblack Empire."
I heard rmaids communicate through sign language instead of vocalization, but his spoken language was very fluent.
Was his earlier clumsy appearance... all an act?
Swallowing dryly, I looked around. But there was no one, not even the servants. Perhaps they all went to the central square for the banquet night?
With his eyes shining like deep blue sapphires, rmaid King Poseidon XIII gazed intently at .
"So I ask you, Prince Ash."
He had been waiting for this opportunity.
For a mont when we were alone.
"Why should I, who lost everything to the Everblack Empire, spare your life?"
While threatening with the knife in one hand, he held a half-empty bottle of alcohol in the other, taking occasional sips.
The friendly smile he had shown all this ti seed like a lie. rmaid King Poseidon glared at with a cold, hardened face.
"Convince before this bottle runs out, Prince Ash."
That's when I rembered.
There is one very big problem with the Fallen King plan.
All the fallen kings are notoriously bad-tempered, unwilling to be under anyone, and crucially...
...Most have a grudge against the empire.
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