The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

#350 - Businessman's wrist

Joshua, who conveyed Anastasia's will, quickly bid farewell and left, also saying he was going to look for Mimi, who had come with him. She hadn't shown her face until the end of the meeting, which was a headache.

These trivial matters were put aside for the moment; the most crucial thing right now was—

"We can't just ignore such a provocation!"

Ferris stepped on the coffee table, her expression fierce like a little gangster. Even after a year, she still didn't have the proper upbringing of a noble lady.

"The problem is who should stay behind to guard the house."

Reinhardt humbly helped her put her leg down, looking more like a servant than a knight.

All the core members of Ferris's camp were present in the room.

Besides Ferris and Reinhardt, there were Old Man Rom, Grandpa Grimm, Grandma Carol, their twin granddaughters, Fram and Grimsella, the internal affairs officer, Azo Gardner, the trio of small-time thugs, and…

"I didn't expect her to be here too."

"Eek!?"

Upon discovering that Zun Zun was looking at her, the girl whimpered in fear, subconsciously hiding behind Ferris, trembling with her head lowered. Seeing this, Ferris shouted like a big sister:

"Hey, Zun Zun, you're not allowed to scare her!"

"I didn't!"

Speaking of which, am I that scary?

Zun Zun carefully looked at the girl, who was about the same height as Ferris, holding a black magical beast in her arms, wearing a black dress, with blue hair braided into a plait… This person was none other than Elsa the Bowel Hunter's younger sister, the Magical Beast User Meili.

A year had passed, and he didn't expect Ferris and Meili to be so close already.

But come to think of it, the two were girls of similar age, and with Ferris's carefree and uninhibited personality, even with Reinhardt's obstruction, she would still become good friends with Meili.

No, it might even be said that it was precisely because of Reinhardt's obstruction that the two's relationship became even closer.

"I…"

"Eek!?"

Zun Zun subconsciously took a step forward, which resulted in Meili retreating even more fearfully, and Ferris glaring at him with dissatisfaction.

He really had no malice, he just wanted to apologize, but he didn't expect Meili to be so scared.

"Alright, alright, let's continue with the topic."

Reinhardt appropriately smoothed over the somewhat stiff atmosphere.

Zun Zun let out a breath and said, "Anyway, I definitely have to go, and I only have Otto as a knight, so there's no question of choosing. Also, Fram… do you want to come with me this time? It's up to you to decide."

"I want to go!"

Fram answered without hesitation.

This trip to Priestella had considerable potential dangers, and since she essentially belonged to the Ferris camp, he wanted her to make her own decision, but he didn't expect her to hesitate at all.

But coming along would also be very useful, after all, if the territory was attacked by the Witch Cult, she could inform Reinhardt at any time.

"That's it, the rest is your camp's problem, I'm leaving first."

"W-Wait, Lord Zun Zun!?"

Seeing Zun Zun turn around and leave, Otto hurriedly chased after him.

"Hey, hey!!!" Azo called out several times, but the two didn't even turn their heads, making him scratch his head in annoyance, "What's that guy Otto doing? Isn't he the internal affairs officer? Why isn't he here at this time!?"

Ferris and Reinhardt exchanged a glance.

"Azo, you still don't know…"

"Actually, Otto is Lord Zun Zun's knight, strictly speaking, he's not a member of our camp."

"—Ah!?"

Clearly, Azo was also shocked by this information and couldn't say a word.

— — — —

Zun Zun and Otto, who left the conference room, prepared for the dragon carriage to go to the royal capital. Otto lamented that he was born with a hard-working life and consciously went to prepare the supplies and earth dragons needed for the journey.

Soon he returned, along with Fram and Reinhardt, who were going with Zun Zun.

"That was fast, have you already decided who's going?"

"Yes. Actually, to prevent this kind of problem, we discussed it long ago, but…"

Reinhardt looked at Otto somewhat awkwardly. Needless to say, he must have subconsciously considered Otto as a member of his own camp, which led to the need to re-determine the candidates now, wasting a little time.

"Lord Ferris, I, as well as Lars, Gaston, and Hanbury will go."

Considering his combat power and the possibility of the Witch Cult attacking the territory, he only brought the small-time thugs.

"Those three still need to be honed."

"…There might be Witch Cultists in Priestella this time."

"Isn't that perfect?"

Reinhardt's hearty smile made people think he was a bit Spartan, but with the Sword Saint there, at least he could guarantee that the three of them wouldn't get hurt.

At this time, Fram came over.

"Lord Zun Zun, preparations are complete."

"Then Reinhardt, I'll go to the royal capital first, and then transfer to Priestella, I'll wait for you there, okay?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Let's go."

Afterwards, Otto drove the dragon carriage, constantly accelerating and kicking up dust, disappearing into the Astrea estate in the blink of an eye.

It took about three days to travel from the Astrea domain to the royal capital. This was also with Otto and Fram taking turns driving the dragon carriage. This was also something that couldn't be helped. If they didn't do this, they wouldn't be able to make it in time for the time agreed upon with Anastasia.

On the way, Otto told Zun Zun a lot of information about the other royal candidates.

For example, the most dazzling one this year was Emilia, the silver-haired half-elf. With the help of Natsuki Subaru, she successively defeated the White Whale, Sloth, and the Great Rabbit, causing her prestige to surpass Ferris and Priscilla at once.

In addition, Zun Zun also learned that he was attacked by assassins when he evacuated the mansion. Without the Bowel Hunter, there were still the Head Hunter and the Leg Hunter. In short, that frontier earl wouldn't let him have an easy time.

As for the other royal candidates, the one with the highest voice at the moment was Anastasia. The White Whale and Sloth had a lot to do with her, and she also drove the kingdom's economic development, allowing the kingdom to quickly recover after the demihuman war, gaining the support of many nobles.

And her strong competitor, Duke Karsten—that is, Crusch, due to amnesia, lacked vitality and gradually lost her competitiveness. To this day, her decisive style of doing things has disappeared, and a kind of indecisive decision-making is also very conspicuous.

"Is that so…"

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Zun Zun remained noncommittal.

Priscilla and Emilia were developing their territories normally, but the former's methods were more clever, causing many hostile camps to defect and become much more dazzling.

Arriving at the royal capital.

Zun Zun quickly received a summons, and after a year, he finally saw Macrotoff again. He was about the same as a year ago, and there was no change.

Although he was already an old man in his twilight years, his complexion was still very good.

"Heh heh heh, although I am an old bone, I will not easily close my eyes until the next king is determined."

"Then you still have to hold on for at least two and a half years."

Originally, it was scheduled to elect the next king in three years, but it still had to communicate with the dragon, hold ceremonies, etc. If the next Dragon Priestess was to secure the throne, it would take at least another half a year.

"It's really a long time, but if there is any kind person who can help shorten the time, I would be very grateful."

"You guys set the three-year agreement, is it really okay to break it casually?"

"I have already told the five Dragon Priestesses the shortcut to victory, so it's okay."

He was talking about marriage.

Zun Zun raised an eyebrow.

Initially, Macrotoff spread the news without authorization that marrying Zun Zun would make one the next king, which once made him a little passive.

He always felt that he was plotting something in secret.

"Forget it, it's not my problem anyway." Zun Zun got up and said, "Alright, since you've already seen me, can I leave now?"

"Please."

Macrotoff seemed to have specially summoned him just to confirm that Zun Zun was safe and sound. Considering the dragon's importance to him, it was understandable that he was worried about Zun Zun's safety.

Only—

Just as he was about to step out of the door, Macrotoff suddenly spoke again, "Lord Zun Zun, may I ask you a question? Which royal candidate do you think meets your needs."

"Hmm?"

Zun Zun stopped.

He wanted to hear what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd.

Macrotoff analyzed unhurriedly, "At first, I very much hoped that you could marry Lady Crusch, so that the Karsten family would not say anything, and most of the nobles would be won over; later, seeing that you and Lady Ferris were very close, I thought that as long as the Sword Saint family was there, there would be no need to fear foreign enemies at all, not to mention Reinhardt; and you once had a relationship with Lady Priscilla—"

"Okay, STOP!"

Zun Zun was too lazy to listen to him analyze these behind-the-scenes stories. Such people always value benefits, so Zun Zun went straight to the point.

"What do you want to say?"

"I hope you can marry Lady Anastasia."

The old man's smile remained.

Anastasia's advantage lies in being able to quickly restore national power. With her status as a royal selection candidate, she has given up a lot of benefits in order to win over the nobles.

The kingdom after the war with the demihumans was already riddled with holes, not to mention the empire was eyeing it covetously. With her there, at least she could restore the kingdom to its original prosperous period in her generation.

This is something that other royal selection candidates cannot bring at all, it is a very cost-effective deal, but—

"Did Anastasia ask you to be the matchmaker?"

"That adult only placed a beautiful vision in front of me, and it also took a year to show me. Now that Lady Crusch has lost her past competitiveness, to be honest, I really breathed a sigh of relief."

He knew he didn't have good intentions.

Zun Zun rolled his eyes and said, "You have to know that there are still two and a half years, you are drawing conclusions too early. And what if I don't like Anastasia?"

"Lady Anastasia said she would try her best to make you like her, and she also said that I can also support the other royal selection candidates."

"Letting you change your mind as the wind blows?"

How confident is she, does she think she can capture Zun Zun's heart? And as expected of an excellent merchant, even the representative of the Sage Council has been persuaded.