“Warrior Chief Buck, what do you think… about the current state of the Kingdom of Aezera?”
The question hit Buck like a thunderclap in his head.
‘Why did Her Highness the Princess suddenly ask that?’
‘Was this a test?’
‘Or just a casual question?’
Buck didn’t dare answer right away.
He knew that one wrong word now, and the dagger in that gray-cloaked man’s hand would plunge without hesitation into his neck.
Buck took a deep breath.
His mind raced.
Her Highness the Princess was a member of the royal family, the king’s own daughter.
Even if she was secretly building her own power, that was an internal royal matter.
‘How could a vassal speak ill of the kingdom in front of the princess?’
That was a crime worthy of losing one’s head.
“To answer Your Highness’s question.”
Buck began, “The kingdom… is generally stable right now.”
“His Majesty the King is wise and mighty. Although there are occasional demon incursions at the border, the overall situation is under control.”
“The various lords are also doing their duties, and the common people live in peace and contentment…”
As Buck spoke, he cursed himself for being hypocritical inside.
Even he wanted to vomit hearing those words.
Peace and contentment?
Just yesterday, Tattle Town and its surrounding villages were nearly wiped clean by demons—that was peace and contentment?
But he could only say this.
He had to follow the royal family’s face first.
“The soldiers at the border are very brave. Everyone is willing to bleed and die for the kingdom.”
“Although times are tough, as long as we all work together, we can definitely get through the difficulties.”
“With the esteemed lords in the Royal Capital watching over things, we who fight outside feel reassured.”
Buck continued fabricating these formalities, every word as if forced through clenched teeth.
He didn’t dare stop, afraid a pause would reveal his guilt.
He pulled out every empty platitude he’d ever heard used to fool inspecting officials and piled them all on.
He even praised the Royal Capital’s logistics supply, even though all they sent was moldy black bread and rusty iron swords.
Royal Capital, Saint Roland.
Saint Freya sat before a luxurious vanity table.
She rested her chin on one hand, pouting slightly, looking a bit dissatisfied at the blue-glowing crystal ball on the table.
In the crystal ball, Buck’s face was illuminated by the blue light, fine beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.
Listening to the disgusting words coming out of Buck’s mouth, Saint Freya found it boring.
She didn’t like hearing nonsense.
Especially this kind of paper-thin nonsense.
She hadn’t sent Buck to crawl through the border just to hear him sing praises.
“I don’t want to hear that.” Saint Freya leaned closer to the crystal ball, her light red eyes fixed on Buck’s image in the scene. “I want to hear the truth. What you see with your own eyes, what you think in your heart. The real truth. Don’t hide a single word from me.”
Upon hearing this, Buck’s words came to an abrupt halt, his heart pounding several times, hurting his chest.
The truth?
If he said it, it would be enough to cost him his head ten times.
In the entire Kingdom of Aezera, everyone thought the youngest princess, Saint Freya, was a fragile girl with no interest in the throne, who only invited her girlfriends for afternoon tea in her room.
The princes, who were fighting bloody battles for the crown, didn’t take her seriously at all.
But now that Her Highness the Princess asked this, it meant she had already seen through this hypocritical window paper.
Perhaps Her Highness the Princess was not as ignorant of politics as the outside world claimed.
Maybe it was the complete opposite.
Her Highness the Princess was the strongest contender for the throne!
If he continued to play dumb, that would be insulting the princess’s intelligence.
Angering the princess would be ten thousand times worse than saying the wrong thing.
But if he misunderstood her intention, the outcome would be equally tragic.
“Yes… I understand, my lady.” Buck took a deep breath and steeled his heart.
Anyway, this life was a lucky break; he might as well give it back to Her Highness the Princess today.
“If Her Highness wants to hear the truth, then I will speak boldly, with all due respect.”
Buck lifted his head, still not daring to look directly at the crystal ball, but his voice became much steadier.
“The current Kingdom of Aezera is rotten to the core from the roots.”
With those first words out, Buck felt a huge weight lift from his heart.
Since he’d started, there was nothing left to fear.
The pent-up grievances of years finally found an outlet.
“The royal family and the great nobles don’t care at all about the lives of the common people. In their eyes, commoners are even worse than weeds on the roadside.”
“They only know how to make themselves more comfortable, how to squeeze more profit out of the commoners.”
“They form factions in politics, tearing each other down.”
“Today you scheme against me, tomorrow I scheme against you. To fight over territory and interests, they will use any means.”
“But when it comes time to spend money and effort to resist the demons, every single one of them turns into a turtle hiding in its shell.”
In the Royal Capital, Saint Freya listened and nodded with satisfaction.
This was what she wanted to hear.
She leaned back in her chair, shifting to a more comfortable position, her golden hair sliding down her shoulders.
Buck recalled the various horrors he had witnessed at the border over the past few years, the refugees dragging their families here, the children so skinny their bones showed.
“The way they squeeze the common people is even more vicious than the demons.”
“When demons kill, they cut once with a blade—clean and quick. But when nobles kill, they use a dull knife, cutting flesh bit by bit, making people unable to live or die.”
“They drive the common people outward, step by step pushing them from the prosperous Inner Ring to this godforsaken border, and then…”
Buck paused, as if calming his emotions, “and then they use the demons to kill these commoners, culling the useless numbers.”
The alley was dead silent.
The gray-cloaked man still stood like a wooden post, not even a breath audible.
Buck’s words echoed in the air.
Using demons to kill commoners.
Those words weighed like hammers.
In her room in the Royal Capital, Saint Freya smiled silently.
She smiled happily.
“Then…” Saint Freya’s voice came through the crystal ball, with an encouraging tone, “how did they gradually push people to the border?”
“And how did they use demons to kill people?”
“…This starts with the Inner Ring cities around the Royal Capital.”
Buck’s voice was low. “The closer to the Royal Capital, the better the living conditions and the greater the security.”
“There are tall city walls, elite knights patrolling. No demons there, not even a petty thief.”
“But the cost of living there is also the highest.”
“Those noble lords control all the grain, cloth, and timber.”
“They can sell things at whatever price they want. The market is not something the common people have any say in.”
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Hitting close to home here