"Your highness, I am afraid this might not be a simple one-time occurrence," Liam explained. He spoke as if it really pained him to see all the people getting hurt.
The King as well heard him out patiently and did not interrupt or shut him up. This was how he knew that he was going on the right track.
And after listening to everything he had to say, the King finally spoke up. "You are right. This is indeed not a one-time occurrence, but rest assured."
"Our Kingdom along with the divine temple's help is dealing with these horrendous demons. You have nothing to worry about."
"Thank you, your highness. We are all very grateful for your assistance." Liam quickly revealed a happy expression, but he still looked a bit reluctant.
"Your highness… that…"
"What? Speak up."
"As a Duke serving under your highness, I really wish to help with this issue as well. Is there anything I can personally do to mitigate this problem?" Liam sincerely asked.
But the other party did not look convinced. "I am impressed with your dedication. However, there is no need for you to worry about that."
Damn it. This guy is really stubborn for someone who looks naive.
It was abundantly clear to Liam that no matter how much he buttered the King up, he was not going to give up the goods.
He now had no other choice but to greet him again and leave. However, Liam had another idea. Where flattery did not work… perhaps the reverse worked?
"Please forgive me, your highness. I did not mean to pry for the royal secrets. If your highness says that you have this matter handled, I have complete and utter faith in your words. But…"
"What but?"
"Your highness… how should I say this?" Liam purposefully beat around the bush.
"What? Speak up!" A small frown appeared on the delicate King's face.
"Your highness… I heard some noblemen discussing how…"
"How? Just spit it out!"
"Your highness… please forgive me. This is just what I heard. Some noblemen in the tavern I visited yesterday were questioning the moves of his highness."
"This is also how I came to know about the demon attacks."
The trap was now laid and Liam hesitantly looked up to see if the mouse took the bait or not.
And just like he thought… the King was visibly angry!
He gritted his teeth, somehow looking even more beautiful when angry and mumbled. "What else did you hear?"
"Ummm… Please forgive me, your highness. I actually did not hear anything after that. I was not able to rest idly when those people were bad-mouthing and questioning your capabilities."
"So I strictly warned them and left the establishment in anger. Please forgive me. In hindsight, perhaps I should have stayed back and gathered more information about their whereabouts."
Liam shamelessly spun a whole web of lies and luckily for him, the other party was very gullible.
"Hmmm. It's fine. It looks like I need to remind everyone about some things."
Seeing that the King was absent-mindedly looking somewhere else no longer talking to him, Liam slowly turned around and pretended to leave.
However, just as he was about to leave the chamber, the call that he expected arrived.
"Wait a second."
"Your highness?"
"You said that you wanted to help, right?"
"Yes, your highness. It would be an honor to serve you."
"Mmm. Since you are a Duke of our Kingdom and you also seem capable, perhaps there would be no harm in assigning you to the task as well."
"In this way, if one of you failed, the other person will at least succeed."
"Yes, your highness. I will try my best to not let you down."
"Alright. Enough talking. Let me explain what you need to do briefly. Just like the enchantress, the recent activity of dark mages in our midst has increased."
"I want you to locate one of the camps and bring me back some hints so that we can find out what they are up to."
[Ding. New Quest available]
[Ding. Kingdom Quest - Retrieve the remains of dark mages]
[Ding. Reward - Trust of the King]
'Oh, so this bastard still doesn't trust me?' Liam smirked but he quickly accepted the quest. He once again turned to leave but instead, he stopped.
Dark mages?
Remains?
Don't I already have it?
He quickly stuck his hand into the inventory and took out one single black pearl. This was the same black pearl he had gotten after raiding the few dark mage conclaves.
He had a few more of these inside his inventory but he didn't take out all the pearls and only picked out one.
After all, he still hadn't gotten them inspected and he did not want to lose something valuable.
But this single pearl was enough to baffle the young King.
"You already have this? How! Explain yourself!"