Free Web NovelChapter 165: The True Scale
Hajin walked out of the doors of the Royal Vault alongside the King, his mind still trying to fully process the three divine items currently resting securely in his inventory space.
They walked down the hallway together before eventually parting ways, as the King had to go meet with the council members in a bit. He felt incredibly drained, the mental exhaustion of playing politics with the ruler of the kingdom finally catching up to him.
All he really wanted to do right now was grab his girls and leave this place.
As he turned a wide corner leading back to the grand hall, he immediately spotted his girls. Juna was pacing back and forth with her arms crossed, her ears twitching aggressively.
Loccy was sitting on the floor nearby, tossing an expensive-looking golden goblet up into the air repeatedly while completely ignoring the fancy atmosphere.
Vella was standing next to them, looking polite but carrying a very tight, forced smile that usually meant she was a few seconds away from completely losing her temper.
Standing directly in front of them with her hands firmly planted on her hips was Princess Didi.
The ice princess looked incredibly stressed, her eyes darting back and forth between the three girls as she constantly whispered something to them. She was completely blocking their path to the exit, physically acting as a barrier to keep them from wandering off and causing a massive incident in the middle of the palace.
He let out a quiet sigh, feeling a brief spike of genuine appreciation for the princess.
’She really has her hands full,’ he thought, shoving his hands into his pockets.
He casually walked up to the group, easily slipping past the outer ring of nervous nobles who were giving the girls a very wide berth.
"I’m back," he said, stopping right beside Juna and giving her ear a light scratch.
Juna instantly stopped pacing, the aggressive tension bleeding out of her shoulders as she leaned into his hand. Loccy paused her goblet tossing, giving him a lazy blink before slowly standing up. Vella’s forced smile finally shifted into something genuinely warm, the chaotic energy around the three of them immediately settling down.
Didi practically sagged with relief the second she saw him.
"Finally," she groaned, dropping her hands from her hips. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep these three from wandering into the restricted sectors? Juna was literally five seconds away from fighting a royal knight just because he looked at her funny."
"I was not going to fight him," she muttered, narrowing her eyes. "I was just going to bite him."
He chuckled softly, reaching out to pat Didi on the shoulder.
"Thanks for watching over these troublemakers," he said casually, offering the princess an appreciative nod. "I know they can be a massive headache when I’m not around to keep them contained." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"That is an understatement," Didi muttered, rubbing her temples. "My father took you away for quite a while. I assume your trip to the vault was productive?"
He thought about the terrifying title of Royal Executioner and the rusty crowbar currently sitting in his inventory. The trip was definitely productive, but he really didn’t want to explain the details to the King’s own daughter in the middle of a crowded hallway.
"Yeah," he nodded, keeping his response completely vague. "It went fine but I’m completely exhausted, and I think it’s time we headed back to the inn."
He turned to walk away, fully expecting Didi to let them go.
"You aren’t leaving yet," she said, her tone suddenly dropping the casual exhaustion. She stepped forward, physically blocking his path again. "My father just made you a noble and granted you land. We need to talk about what that actually means before you walk out of this palace completely blind."
He paused, looking back at her. He was actually curious about what she had to say, especially since the King had essentially forced the title onto him as a cover for the Executioner role.
"I’m listening," he said, crossing his arms.
"You must already know that the kingdom is largely sustained by the Five Great Families," she started, her expression turning dead serious. "Each family completely controls their own massive region. They manage the local economy, regulate the nearby guilds, and control the military forces within their borders."
"Okay," he nodded slowly, seeing where this was going.
"My father giving you a noble title is one thing, but granting you land means carving out a piece of territory that the Great Families believe belongs to them," she explained, her eyes narrowing. "You aren’t just a sponsored ranker anymore, Hajin. You are officially a landowner, which means you are now playing their game on their board. They will test you immediately."
"This is much bigger than you think," she continued, her tone softening just a fraction. "You are going to have to lead people, manage resources, and fight battles to defend whatever territory my father decides to grant you. It is going to be a massive headache, especially for someone like you who clearly hates dealing with politics."
He rubbed the back of his neck, already feeling a migraine forming just thinking about it. He had wanted to lay low and grind EXP, not manage a feudal estate.
"Honestly, I was completely shocked when he announced it," she sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I was actually planning to ask you to become a combat instructor at the Royal Academy. It would have kept you close to the capital and away from the Great Families, but there goes that chance."
"It is incredibly annoying," he sighed, dropping his hands from his neck. "But it’s not like I could just reject him right there in front of everyone. He completely backed me into a corner."
He kept his real thoughts about the King to himself. He already had a terrible feeling about her father’s true intentions, but bringing that up to the Princess was a terrible idea.
Didi let out another heavy breath, looking completely exhausted by the entire situation.
"There is only one major region in the kingdom that currently has no owner," she said, her voice dropping into a quiet, serious tone. "I was hoping he would just give you a small town to start with, but I can already tell what he is planning. He is going to give you that entire region."
He blinked, staring at her as the sheer scale of the problem fully registered in his mind.
"Giving you an entire region essentially turns you into the Sixth Great Family," she explained, giving him a deeply sympathetic look. "In other words, Hajin... you are fucked, as they say."
