Chapter 310: Divine of the East (1)

The events that followed unfolded swiftly. With no obstacles in their way, the birdfolk flew the skies above the ocean and headed toward Libertia.

“Then we’ll see you in Libertia,” Gust said.

“Yes, please come safely,” Kai responded.

“Of course. Birdfolk, spread your wings!”

The birdfolk led by Gust quickly vanished into the distance with the thrill of flight they were experiencing for the first time in their lives.

“Well then, I should get moving too.”

Kai used his Shadow Shift to visit the Sky God.

“I commend you for your efforts,” the Sky God said.

Ding!

[Sky God's Request quest completed.]

[Level increased by 10.]

[Acquired 50 stat points.]

[+100,000 Fame.]

“I only did what had to be done. I enjoyed it too.”

“I’m starting to get jealous of the Solarian God. Just what did she do to have someone so capable like you follow her?” The Sky God Iska sighed with a look of envy. “I hope you continue to take good care of my children. Although they were once spoiled by peace in their cage, they’ll quickly regain their wild instincts and grow stronger to repay you.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

After the brief reunion with the Sky God, Kai immediately headed to Libertia.

Libertia had become a city bustling with people twenty-four hours a day.

When Kai suddenly appeared, players glanced at him and whispered among themselves.

“

Wow

, that gear quality though.”

“What level is he? Gotta be a ranker for sure...”

“I don’t know, but the gear looks insane.”

Fortunately, with the White Death Dragon Set’s helmet fully equipped, no one recognized Kai’s face. Of course, he still attracted major attention for other reasons.

Whew, I’m exhausted.

He had spent nearly a month in the Black Sea. He hadn’t said it aloud, but once everything was over, all the accumulated fatigue crashed down on him.

Kai passed by the players and headed to the lord’s mansion.

“

Oh

, it’s Kai.”

“The owner’s back.”

“He looks tired.”

“Seems like it.”

The fairies chattered cheerfully, welcoming Kai after a long time. Cold elf tea and damp hand towels at the entrance to comfy slippers were all prepared by the fairies!

“Thanks. That helps.”

Removing his gear, Kai headed straight to his bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

“So, what about the Ultimate Blacksmith Competition?”

“We don’t really know since we stayed home.”

“But I heard here and there that it ended well.”

“A dwarf won!”

“Dummy, it was a competition among dwarves.”

“What’s a competition?”

“

Uh

...”

Listening to the fairies’ cute chatter made all his fatigue melt away.

Kai drank the elf tea with ice floating in it and opened his stat window.

[Kai]

Class: Solaric Cleric

Level: 474

Title: Envoy of God

HP: 213,200

Holy Power: 385,500

Stats

Strength: 2,967 Stamina: 2,132

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Intelligence: 1,984 Agility: 1,477

Holiness: 3,855 Dignity: 1,424

Benevolence: 654

Remaining Stat Points: 170

Poison Resistance +30

Magic Resistance +101.5%

Nature Affinity +200

Considering that Yoo Ha-Rin and Chris, who were competing for second place, had only just reached level 400, he was at an overwhelmingly high level.

That’s a lot of stat points saved up. Where should I put them?

With no particular stat he wanted to raise, he had just been saving them until they reached 170.

Maybe I’ll raise Intelligence. I’ve been running low on mana lately.

He had been using Gravity Field very effectively, and now that he had also learned the Absolute Zero skill, raising Intelligence wouldn’t hurt.

“Put 10 stat points into Strength, and 160 into Intelligence.”

[Distributing 10 stat points to Strength and 160 stat points to Intelligence. Confirm?]

“Confirm.”

[Strength increased by 40, Intelligence increased by 640.]

Every time he raised his stats, the effects of the witness titles filled him with satisfaction. He smiled contentedly as he saw his Strength finally surpass 3,000 and his Intelligence exceed 2,000. Thanks to the effect of The One Who Defeated Harley title, his mana regeneration had been greatly enhanced, so he could consider the urgent matter handled for now.

Waving his hand to dismiss the stat window, Kai asked the fairies, “Anything else special going on?”

“We’re not too sure.”

“But the elf queen, the merfolk king, and the dwarf king keep visiting here.”

“Why?”

“No idea. They always ask if you are home.”

“They always bring a huge stack of documents too.”

“Isn’t that all stuff you have to handle?”

Kai groaned. It was definitely paperwork waiting for his signature.

Managing even a single territory is this exhausting.

As Kai raised his tired body to start stamping approvals, one of the fairies said, “

Oh

, right. You got a letter.”

“A letter?”

“Yes. From a king.”

“Which king? Karius? Or Karundal?”

At Kai’s question, all the fairies shook their heads. Kai, who had seen K-pop group choreographies in perfect unison before, was quite impressed by the fairies’ perfectly synchronized response.

“It’s from a human king.”

“If it’s a human king... King Beoruk?”

“I dunno.”

“Dummy, how do you not know?”

“Well, do you know?”

“

Hehe

, actually, I don’t either.”

Watching the fairies tease each other, Kai made his way to his desk. Sure enough, there lay a luxurious letter bearing the seal of Rashion.

“What could this be about...?

Oh

! Could it be...?”

Already guessing its contents, Kai opened the envelope with a gloomy expression.

[To Baron Kai. Negotiations with Count Hind have finally concluded. You are required at the royal palace three days from now for the formal transfer of the territories.]

There were no pleasantries, just a blunt message stating what needed to be done.

Well, with the tiger-like personality of the king, of course there’d be no greeting.

Sighing deeply, Kai muttered, “Managing two active territories is already exhausting enough...”

As the lord of Castle Baden, Count Hind had agreed to give Kai two territories after managing to survive the Invasion event with his help.

It took a bit longer than expected, but I guess that’s business.

Kai had neither fought a proper siege nor was he related to Count Hind by blood. Though territories were governed by nobles, all property in this country ultimately belonged to King Beoruk. Naturally, transferring two territories required the king’s permission.

So the negotiations are finally done now.

Kai glanced at the date on the back of the letter and calculated.

It was sent... two days ago.

Which meant he had to head to the capital tomorrow. And there was still one person in the royal palace he wasn’t entirely comfortable facing.

Paval... that guy’s kind of overwhelming.

Paval, who believed Kai had taught him something profound, constantly glowed with admiration—literally, with his bald head. The problem was that it was just too much.

“

Ugh.

I’ll just have to pray I don’t run into him.”

Beoruk’s letter was essentially a royal invitation, so Kai stored it neatly in his inventory and asked the fairies, “So, there’s really nothing else, right?”

“

Hmm

, nothing much.”

“

Oh!

There is one thing.”

“What is it?”

When Kai asked, the giggling fairies fluttered their wings and left the bedroom.

“Come with us, owner of the house!”

“Kai’s going to be so surprised!”

Playfully leading him, the fairies guided Kai to the mansion’s office.

“Open it.”

“You’ll be shocked, you’ll be shocked.”

“What is this? Now I’m getting nervous.”

He had only been gone for about a month, but the number of things that piled up wasn’t small.

As Kai cautiously opened the door, he sensed something coming at him and dodged to the side.

“

Whoa!

Cool!”

“Great reflexes!”

“Super fast!”

The fairies clapped their hands at his quick movement.

“What is all this...?”

Kai looked at the piles of gift packages pouring out from the inner part of the room with a stunned expression. His office was about fifteen pyeong in size, not a small space by any means, but at that moment, the entire room was filled with gift boxes.

"It seems I’ll need an explanation."

"After the Ultimate Blacksmith Competition, nobles, merchant guilds, even royalty and imperial families sent things."

"They're all begging for you to dispatch dwarves."

"There's even a tea made from ground unicorn horn in there. It tasted good."

"Hey, shut it!"

Kai realized for the first time that day that one could actually feel fear just from looking at gift boxes.

***

"Man, where have you been?!"

"Paperwork! We need your signature on all this!"

"The whole city’s about to shut down because of the backlog!"

"

Ugh

." Kai sighed as he watched the leaders of various races rush him with fire in their eyes. "Alright, just give me the documents."

There was no welcome celebration for the lord who had finally returned to his territory. Only a mountain of work awaited him!

Kai sat at his desk for half a day, signing approval after approval, and whenever he tried to take a break out of exhaustion...

"Apostle, you can heal yourself, can’t you? No whining—sign here, please."

"I’ve waited a whole month. I won’t wait another day!"

The demi-human representatives, who knew everything about him, wouldn’t let him off the hook. In the end, the paperwork that started at sunrise finished at dawn.

"Let’s do this. From now on, you all can handle the simpler matters on your own authority."

"But that would diminish the lord's authority..."

"It’s fine. I’m giving you permission."

Kai had no idea how often he would have to be away in the future, and he couldn’t go through this every time.

"

Ahem

. Then how should we proceed with dispatching the dwarven artisans?"

"I’ve already prepared a list. Please follow this list."

Kai handed each of them a copy of the list he had made.

"

Oh

, if you wanted to benefit yourself, it’d be better to play the two empires against each other..."

"No. Rather than fattening the bellies of the two empires, it’s better to raise the level of other kingdoms, factions, and territories."

Of course, Kai didn’t send many dwarven artisans to the world’s top eight guilds, especially those who weren’t on good terms with. Only two of the top eight guilds received dwarven support. The Warriors and Cheonhwa guilds.

Vulcan from Warriors helped me a lot during the Zatan raid... and Seol Eun-Yeong has supported me many times.

It was his way of repaying them.

"Then, is everything taken care of here in the territory?"

"

Hmm.

It seems the urgent issues are handled for now."

"The birdfolk should be arriving soon. If they come while I’m gone, please give them a warm welcome."

"Is their leader still Neir?"

"No, it’s Gust."

"

Oh,

Gust! I know him. I’ll take good care of them. Don’t worry."

Relieved by Karius’s response, Kai squinted at the rising sun.

My royal palace visit is at 11 in the morning, so that means...

He had about four hours to spare.

Come to think of it, weren’t there a bunch of famous foreign snacks and candies too among those gifts?

Remembering that, Kai stood up and addressed the representatives.

"Well then, thank you all for your hard work today."

"You did most of the hard work yourself."

"You worked hard, Kai."

"Good work."

After the farewells, Kai returned to his mansion and packed up the boxes of snacks and candy.

"Shadow Shift."