《The Strongest Job... Gardener?》Chapter 62: Cunning And Shameless
Advertisement
Credit for PR goes to Omphalite
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This chapter is sponsored by Adam Skinner
Thanks for the support! :-)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In the carriage carrying the two princesses, Rosalina wore a stern expression as she looked at her sister. They were nearly at the gates of Yggdrasil where, from what they knew, there was a party that many of the nobles in the area were attending. Rosalina knew what kind of man Chris was, most likely he already knew they were coming and had prepared for them.
“Sister my best advice is three things. One: Do not underestimate him. His ability to turn around any situation to not only avoid danger but to gain something is terrifying. Two: Expect that he already has a good idea of what you’re planning. His skills at gathering information are something no one can compare to. The last and most important one is: Do not anger him. The emperor is someone that does not care about status or consequences and violence isn’t something he shies away from.“
Marigold nodded but didn’t take it to heart. To her Chris was just some upstart warlord that had a bit of power. She knew that her elder brother Qin was good at dealing with people with words but boorish men weren't his forte. Just like him, Rosalina didn’t have much experience with power-driven individuals like Chris. Marigold, on the other hand, has territory in unruly areas where groups like bandits and warlords appear several times a year.
Not to mention she had heard that he wasn’t even in his mid-twenties so she didn’t think it would be too difficult to deal with.
As they say fight fire with fire, so match a snake with a snake. She thought with a condescending smile.
*
*
*
In a large ballroom in the center of the Great Tree Palace several dozen people were mingling. These people were the nobles that Chris had invited to win over. Within the crowd waiters walked carrying drinks and finger food while gentle music played and people danced.
Chris himself was currently talking to a short fat man that instead of having a head of hair had a mustache and beard that made up for the amount of hair missing from his head.
“I must say, this party is grand. I didn’t expect the city to get back on its feet so quickly. I mean, while passing through the main district I almost couldn’t tell that a destructive battle had just been fought there only a month ago.” the fat noble’s belly shook as he laughed before taking a sip of wine.
Chris eyed the noble without revealing his feelings of annoyance. With him being a master of manipulation Chris had long since learned how to hide his emotions.
Chris smiled faintly and nodded while gesturing out the towering set of windows that allowed one to look down on the city.
“See, the people are hard at work as well as the many creatures I have summoned to speed up the process.”
“Creatures? Oh, you mean those green giants, you created those, your majesty! They were quite impressive! Why if I had a few dozens of those it would cut down my labor costs several times!” The fat noble exclaimed making his fat face giggle. Chris inwardly laughed, this man had a business in construction so of course he would be interested in the workers Chris had created.
“Well, I could loan you a few. Why don’t we discuss the finer details later?”
Chris’ words were like a snake of temptation that slithered into the noble’s mind. Without hesitation, he agreed and said his farewells, apparently to plan for the negotiation.
Advertisement
That made eight including the man Chris had just persuaded. Things were going smoothly, even with the Magical Alliance attending the party it didn’t cause noticeable trouble since Chris had select nobles that were not only willing to support him with a little push, but also more tolerant magical races.
Moving onto his next target, he spotted Burdock talking to a married couple with Clows at his side. Chris had decided to split into teams to quickly capture as many targets as possible before the main event. As he had thought having Burdock at the party added additional pressure to the nobles to ally themselves with Chris. Not only was it obvious that Chris would rise in power quickly, but a bonus of gaining favor with the King of Merchants wasn’t bad at all.
It was now time to start the fire.
At that moment, the doors to the ballroom opened. In the doorway on the left was Claira in a light blue gown that had a snowflake pattern on it making it look like she was wrapping in a gentle snowfall. On the right was Sara in a dark blue ball dress that had icicle-like markings as if a dangerous blizzard was surrounding her. In the center was Helina in an orange and red fluttery dress that resembled fire. Oddly enough the gentle Claira, passionate Helina, and cold Sara all complemented each other quite well, instantly stealing the attention of everyone in the room.
Among the dazed masses was one that was sweating profusely. Gill as an elf knew just from a glance what clan Claira and Sara belonged to. Though he didn’t know what kind of status they had in Silva Imperium, at the very least, it wasn’t low since they walked in side by side with the Empress herself!
Sara spotted Gill and their eyes met for only a brief moment. In the quick exchange, Gill understood that she had recognized who he was and that her hatred ran deep. It was then that he felt stares and an oppressive sense of danger directed at him from all sides. However, those hostile glares didn’t make any moves so he felt that at least they wouldn’t kill him now, which made him feel a tiny bit relieved.
If Gill had time he felt that he could find a way to at least survive this encounter.
While Gill tried to calm himself by thinking of a plan he didn’t notice that Claira and Sara had walked up to him.
“Why, Gill! How long has it been, I haven’t seen you since your clan attacked ours!” Claira spoke in a raised voice. Her eyes filled with malicious intent. Maybe it was because of Chris’ influence or that one of the people responsible for the slaughter of her family was before her. Claira’s kind and warm nature flew out the window.
Gill’s heart sunk and the amount of sweat he was producing quadrupled. He swept his gaze around the room, most of them were of surprise, except Princess Ren’s and Prince Brom’s which showed they already knew, but still held hostility.
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Gill was aware that using kind words or lies would only make things worse. However, he, in the end, was an ambassador of his father’s faction as well as the son of the elf’s representative, so he had his pride and was full of arrogance. He refused to be pushed into a corner by some lucky survivors!
Gill let out a snort before showing an attitude of confidences, “Hmm, has it really been that long? Well, it’s good to see you. How have you been after we wiped out your family along with your stubborn father?”
Advertisement
Though on the outside, Gill didn’t seem to be worried about anything on the inside he was already crying. Still there was no point in trying to deny what Claira said since it was already known what had happened even though no one says anything about it.
Gill thought he was protected by the fact that he was an ambassador of the Magical Alliance and no matter what kind of status these girls had they wouldn’t harm him.
Sadly, he couldn’t be more wrong because he didn’t know one thing. Chris had never cared about such things.
As Gill continued to show a condescending smile, Claira and Sara as well as many around had faces covered in shock and horror. From the depths of the crowd, a blood lust appeared like a tsunami that engulfed the room causing everyone to freeze.
“You sure have some guts saying that to my wives!” A savage growl pierced the silence. Like the sea parting, the crowd split to make way for the owner of the wrathful words. Gill turned and shuddered when he saw Chris, the Emperor himself walking over unhurried with a face twisted with rage.
Gill finally understood why Claira had been so confident in confronting him. She along with her sister was married to the Emperor! They had intentionally provoked him to cause the current situation! Now the emperor was searching for blood. This had all been a setup!
Gill finally began to tremble as he met Chris’ eyes only to see the intent to murder. He along with everyone else who only knew of him through rumors thought he was a kind ruler. Only now did they realize that they were wrong!
He tried to back away, but before even taking two steps vines had wrapped around his legs immobilizing him.
“Do you think just because you’re an ambassador of some alliance you can say what you want, HUH? Well, it seems your head has gotten a little big, it must be heavy! How about I lighten your load and remove it? Obviously you think with your lower half anyway so it’s no loss to you right?”
Gill’s heart was about to leap out of his chest, not just because of Chris’ bloodlust, but the fact that his words were cold and calm. He wasn’t blinded by rage, it was apparent that Chris was completely level-headed!
From the floor, three roots grew and spiraled together. Chris clutched the roots and pulled, they snapped effortlessly and formed a sinister spear tip with serrated edges that were meant to cause pain. As Chris approached, the once arrogant prince started to cry.
“Please, ya majesty *hic* I dod knew *hic* I abolagize for ma roodness!”
Snot and tears traveled down his face as he begged Chris to have mercy. His voice was choked making him spout something that couldn’t be completely understood. Chris, however, didn’t care. In fact, he laughed coldly with a twisted grin.
Though the plan was a little different since he had expected Gill to try and lie instead of being arrogant, Chris had simply ad-libbed. Chris was actually happier this way since he could go directly into violence instead of playing a round robin game to show evidence before taking action.
Chris raised his spear thrusting forward to remove the scum’s heart from his body. There was a scream of pain and the clang of metal. Everyone in the room gasped as the Tiger Princess Ren had forced Chris’ spearhead up with a dagger. The scream had come from Gill as even though he avoid a fatal blow the spear tip had created a large gash in his shoulder.
Princess Ren eyes bore holes into Chris. Sadly it was clear that she was using all her strength to keep Chris’ spear from coming down and cutting the elf prince in two, which made her lose all her intimidating presence.
Chris’ icy eyes shifted to Princess Ren with a frown.
“Do you want to die with him? Do not think just because we have exchanged words that I will tolerate such disrespect, Pr-in-cess!” Chris growled increasing the strength in his arm causing the spear tip to once again touch Gill’s shoulder.
Princess Ren, who had been using everything she had to resist, was shocked, Chris, a caster class, was only using one hand on his spear yet she who was a melee class had to use everything she had to stop him. It should be Impossible even with an entire rank difference for her to be overpowered with such ease.
Sadly, Chris though a caster type had many things strengthening his body allowing him to display such strength!
The princess couldn’t say anything or she would risk her hands slipping and could only stare at the emperor pledging with her eyes. Chris eyed her for a moment longer, then glanced at the two beautiful elves that were watching with amusement. Understanding his look, they both gave a nod signaling the end of the performance.
Chris withdrew his spear but his hostility didn’t lessen in the slightest.
“Today I will let you off. However, you now owe me a debt for my kindness, do you understand you fifth!?” Chris spat with dying rage.
Gill, not missing his chance, dropped on one knee “Thank you, your majesty, for your benevolence!”
Ignoring the pathetic display of tears and snot Chris glared at Princess Ren and Prince Brom “You two also best remember. If I hadn’t stayed my hand neither of you would have it easy explaining what happened.”
Both ambassadors’ eyes opened wide. Could it be that Chris had only done this to have them in his debt?
It was true though the plan didn’t originate from him. It started when Claira and Sara had asked if he could do something horrible to Gill or simply kill him. Chris also had never thought of letting Gill walk away without a small amount of unforgettable agonizing pain. It was then that Chris found out about the three ambassadors all coming to monitor each other.
In a sense, they were responsible for each other actions, especially when it could hurt their own chances at a negotiation, like for instance lying to Claira and Sara about slaughtering their clan in front of the emperor. If something like that happened, then the other two parties would be put in an awkward position and would be forced to offer compensation in order to try and salvage the negotiations.
Though they couldn’t say for sure, Princess Ren and Prince Brow had a feeling that Chris had just played them to better his position as well as drop theirs. Cunning and shameless was the only way they could describe his actions.
Chris then turned his attention out the window and smirked, now it’s time to deal with the other side dish before the main course arrives!
Advertisement
Delve
Summary – Level 1: Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel. Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing. Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one. Did I mention that there will be math? Summary – Level 2: Okay, but what are you in for, really? Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme. ... What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure? Yes! Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap– Now! Okay, okay! The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we? Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no? Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not. POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place. Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare. Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships. There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture. The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving. The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it? Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story! Cover by Miha Brumec Summary Updated: 2020-06-14
8 822NoS: The Crypts in the Shadow (Hiatus)
"What does one expect from caves? Normally, that would entail something like bats, guano and insects in narrow passages, ones that needs to be squeeze through? But... That is not what we found on our expedition deeper into the mysterious cave system, the one under that island, which has stumped scientists for decades... No, there is something else in these dark passages. Something not to be trifled with." -Yandré Skai ~ This is a parallel story that connects to the bigger world I created. One that I'm readying to reveal. ;) It is about two groups of modern humans discovering a great secret, but upon discovery is left without a way to get away from the perils that lurk within the giant network of dark caves. They will need to learn to survive the dangerous new world that they have tread into, all with the hope of finding a way above ground, maybe even a way back. But if they could by force of will find a way to reach the top; would what they find, give them peace, or change something vital in them... ~ Main Genre: Fantasy Epic, Contemporary twist Genres of the series: Adventure, Mystery, Survival, Discovery, thriller. The bigger story is Nights of Sambria and the Wish of light
8 198Danger Zone
A short story. A group of Soldiers are sent on a suicide mission to destroy a stronghold of the Fraz, invading aliens made of flesh and plant. The group deals with its problems as it completes the missions. One bullet, One word, One punch at a time. Follow Shair as the 'Psycho' infiltrates the base; meeting enemies and annoying companions along the way to reach his Commander. Sorry not really good at Summaries, but thats the bad synopsis version of the story. Also i apologize now so i don't have to later, my Grammar is REALLY BAD. I mean english is like my cursed subject. But i have a dream and i want you all to read it. So here it is. Again REALLY SORRY ABOUT THE GRAMMAR, SPELLING, ENGLISH IN GENERAL.
8 185Living as a Demon
Jonathan was living the life of a normal human male in modern-day society, until he was rudely awakened one night by a summoning circle that ripped him out of his reality and dumped him into a new world filled with magic, demons, and…mouthy young orphan girls?! Now Jonathan must navigate the trials of playing guardian to a preteen, learning to unlock his inner demon, and somehow managing to find a dang pair of pants! Welcome! I'm E.O. Tenkey; thank you for considering Living as a Demon, my third released work here on Royal Road (following Not a Manga and Mr. Familiar)! Let's set some expectations, shall we? • Not much hard profanity (chapter 1 is the exception!)• Human MC! Our protagonist is a bona fide homo sapiens. Which is not to say there won't be demons, demonic powers, and what-have-you, but this isn't some grimdark exploration of the life and times of a nihilistic, amoral killing machine.• Slice of life. My previous works always ended up there, so might as well get ahead of the curve!• Weekly updates, and a completed story: I will post a single chapter per week on Wednesdays until the story is complete (extra chapters are rare, but do happen).
8 121Forced In Marriage✓
•°•°Cover credit : @Sidnaaz23Sidharth Shukla who is most eligible bachelor is forced to marry a girl named Shehnaaz whom he don't even know who is she. He wanted his independence, he wanted to remain as a bachelor but his grandmother gave deaf ears to his pleadings•°•°•°•°•°Shehnaaz GillA student who want to complete her graduation is forced in this marriage by her brother who blackmailed her to marry SidharthSidharth is short tempered person wheras she is calm in natureSidharth wants everything perfect wheras Shehnaaz is ok with anythingwas forced in a marriageSidharth doesn't talk much even with his family who like in other city wheras Shehnaaz talks too much with people whom she adore and consider them as her friendTwo opposites forced in marriageDo you think that will accept eachother or not?Will love bloom between them?Published on : 17 January 2021Completed on : 3 April 2022
8 97Happy Days {HS}
IN WHICH lucy finch and harry styles got back together after their public breakup and have been hiding it from the public eye. What happens when the public eye finds out about them dating again and more.... How will people react....Social mediaHarry styles x fem ocHighest rankings - #1 AnneTwist - #1 secret daughter - #1 styl - #2 Instagram story - #4 harrystylesdaughter- #5 socialmediastory- #1 Gemmastyles- #9 social
8 123