Cthulhu's Mansion

"I've received word from Syl beforehand."

Cthulhu who still wore his mask said so.

"Still, what is that arm? At first I thought it was a special type of armor but now that I look at it, there's no space for your arm to fit inside it unless it's very thin."

Kai's leg was covered by his pants so it couldn't be seen but he no longer hid his arm from public eyes.

"It's made of metal. In truth, I had lost my arm years ago so I had to replace it with metal."

"I see. Then, what do you need my help for? I heard that you had already gained the support of the other black gold members and since Syl sent word, then you've already gained Lion's support."

Kai placed a hand on his pendant and slammed a pouch full of coins on the table between them. The two of them were alone and everyone else waited in a different room, the secrecy of Cthulhu was well-known among the black gold members.

"I want insurance."

"I see, so you want to hire some support mages and healers from me."

"That's right. Lion deals with the firepower while you deal with the support."

"You sure care about safety, isn't it a low-class dragon?"

Kai raised the corner of his mouth in a smirk.

"No, it's a mid-class dragon. I plan to let the Dragon Slayer take care of it as a form of trial, her growth has obviously stagnated, she needs a new challenge."

"Why do you care so much about the Dragon Slayer?"

Kai shrugged his shoulders at Cthulhu's inquiry and continued.

"The information I received is that the dragon's element is earth, the Dragon Slayer's main element is water so she would be at a disadvantage, I want her to get as much support as possible."

"Finding another wife? Didn't you already have the Snow Princess? Looks like you're trying to make a harem."

Polygamy being legal was normal in this world, there were only a few monogamous countries but a person marrying one of the most prestigious people in the country normally won't go for another. If a prince were to marry a princess with the same or higher status than him, he normally wouldn't find any other wives and settle for one. Although Erina was only a duke's daughter, her talent and fame had reached higher than even the king himself which made Cthulhu wonder why Kai was aiming for the number one adventurer when in reality, she was his disciple.

"I already had a lover before Erina though she isn't well-known in this continent."

Cthulhu placed a hand on his chin.

"Might she be from the neighboring Ethereal Moon Continent? The rumors say that the continent, while shrouded in mystery has the most beautiful women on Gaia. The first time I went there was to confirm the rumors, and they were certainly true. Though I went there several times more, it was as a merchant."

Cthulhu was a man known as the 'Bachelor' among the seven black gold card members. Lion was known as the 'Inventor', Tatsuya as the 'Villain Behind a Mask'. Cthulhu's fame among women despite never having revealed his face was quite high because even with just some of his facial features, he was no doubt the handsomest man that Kai had ever seen. Tatsuya's fame was among merchants and kingdoms because of his massive amount of wealth and Lion's fame was simply because he creates revolutionary inventions that drive geniuses insane from time to time.

"You're correct. I've never publicly been seen with her but that will change soon."

"I see, why the change of heart?"

"Because I'm going to reveal my status."

Cthulhu's face changed to surprise but in an instant, it reverted back to normal, as expected of a merchant.

"...Might you be provoking me?"

The corner of Kai's lips raised.

"Looks like you have no intentions to hide the fact that you've been trying to figure out who exactly I am, I also know that you've spent quite the amount of money on it. But don't worry, I don't intend to reveal it just to provoke you, it's because the situation requires it."

"The Dragon Slayer, is it?"

Kai nodded and retrieved a crystal ball and a cushion from his pendant which he then placed in front of him.

"What's this?"

Cthulhu leaned forward to inspect it but didn't place a finger on it.

"It's a device used to play back moving images. I gave Lion the idea and he created it for me. As much pride I have in blacksmithing, creating things like this is the specialty of Lion."

Kai tapped the crystal ball and it began to show a video.

"I see. So that attack was from a technique?"

"That's right."

Two silhouettes conversed surrounding two of the spots on a round table, from their voices, they were old men. There were several more silhouettes but the entire room was dark and only light from the single window from the top side of a wall shone on the center of the table.

"This is...?"

Cthulhu faced Kai with an alarmed expression and tried to get him to confirm what it was.

"That's right, it's as you think it is. It's from the S-class council, I had used my connections to sneak in one of the meetings and recorded this approximately one month ago."

Cthulhu had the most alarmed face he had this entire meeting and did not recover from it even after awhile. The video continued without waiting for him to recover.

"I've narrowed down the location to Alteria Kingdom but I haven't found out who exactly it was yet-."

"Ha, you've already become senile, old man."

The second voice who had answered the first talked but a third voice quickly cut off the second one.

"What did you say? Even if you became an S-class years younger than me, don't be arrogant."

"Am I simply being arrogant? I've already figured out who it is."

Everyone could feel the alarm from the second voice despite the fact that he didn't talk or even let out a noise.

"Who is it?"

A fourth voice interjected between their conversation- or rather, discussion.

"It's a man named Kai, I've also found out that he was the person responsible for the possession tragedy six years ago. Kuroshi Kai, he's a person shrouded in mystery, despite all my connections I only managed to get that much information but I found out that he's also deeply connected with the kingdom's third princess and daughter of the Mariko Palace, Mariko Erina. Possibility of his lover being the former is high."

"...?"

"Don't mind it. It's from a month ago and they found out that I've been meeting Natsumi from time to time. Now, they all know that Erina is my lover and I'm only acquainted with Natsumi."

"You do seem quite close to the princess if you're calling her by her given name."

Cthulhu had a tired expression on his face. The amount of people who could call a princess by her given name without being related to them can be counted on one hand. Typically, only the spouses or lovers of those princesses could do so save for close childhood friends but with Cthulhu's knowledge, Natsumi had no notable male childhood friends to speak of.

"Don't mind it, anyway they're going to talk again."

"When will we make a move?"

"As soon as possible, a technique like that being done by someone who had just reached S-class is very taxing. He used a technique powerful enough to damage an SS-class and kill a mid-class dragon without much resistance, if he isn't in a coma, then he's severely injured."

"Will we subdue or kill?"

"We should figure out his intentions, if he will comply with our demands then simply subduing him and putting him on a leash would do. If he shows even the slightest resistance, we go for the kill."

Several silhouettes talked, all their voices were from middle aged to old men.

"Hold on, isn't that a bit rash?"

"Shut your mouth, we still haven't forgotten that because of your interference, we lost face at the Empire."

"Even if that's so, I'm still a member of the council. I vote to give him a third choice, to provide some leeway to let him live normally, at least for a few more months, give a proper declaration of war before attacking. He's also a potential member of the council, why are we attacking him?"

The woman's voice knew that she wouldn't be able to change all of their decisions so she decided to at least reduce their rashness.

"It's because he holds power to kill anyone of us, just having the ability to use a technique like that warrants the death sentence."

"I see, you're all afraid."

"You dare!"

"You witch!"

"I'm not even a real witch, why are you all so hung up on that title? At least give him a proper declaration of war first, send out Eleventh, he's the youngest and has already gone to Alteria recently so they should hold him in higher regard than the rest of us."

"..."

Cthulhu faced Kai.

"So, your real reason is not for the Dragon Slayer's fame but rather so they can't openly make a move on you without a proper reason. If you were to reveal a status enough to be known throughout several kingdoms, they won't be able to make a move anytime soon because they're afraid of saving face."

"That's right, so I need that dragon defeated as soon as possible. I'm just using you for insurance."

"...Profit?"

"Ten percent of my profits for a whole three months."

"Deal."

"No hesitation, huh?"

"It's better to be decisive as a merchant."

The smiles on both faces were normal but anyone who saw them would feel chills.

(Royalty Succession Arc Ends)