Insistent Assistant 7 (Patreon)

Insistent Assistant

Chapter 7

-VB-

So.

Yeah.

That happened.

The ugly as fuck hostage we saved, who looked like he had been kidnapped right from his bedroom, was in fact the king of the Ilsia Kingdom.

As such, Thorkell and I suddenly became welcome heroes in the kingdom, and now, the tow of us sat in front of the king in one of the many untouched meeting rooms within his palace. Despite the fact that this was the palace of a king, the palace and the interior looked no better than what a regular American multi-millionaire might have in their homes. Sure, there were more gold and rare gems here than what a millionaire might be willing to get their hands on,

The king looked at us in surprise.

“You do not wish for a victory parade in your honor?” he asked us incredulously.

“We don’t need it,” I smiled. “But you can use the money that would have gone into it to help rebuild the city. Every single berri counts, right? Though …”

“Yes?”

“Well, we are poor. We can use some money if you intended to give us,” I grinned cheekily.

The king nodded firmly. “Good. It would behoove me if I could not reward you for your work,” he began. “But… I must ask if you two are interested in staying and working for my kingdom.”

I blinked. “You would ask people like us to work for you? We aren’t… even residents,” I ended lamely. It was true that neither Thorkell nor I were residents and citizens of the country. The fact that the king was going out of his way to ask so quickly…

The king smiled. Look, the man may have an ugly mug fit for an NTR protagonist, but he was, at the very least, recognized by everyone as a kind and benevolent king.

“I understand that the call of adventure is strong,” he began. “But please understand that it is merely an illusion.”

“... you knew?”

“Two men training out in the woods?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, my spymaster noted it down for me to read, but I hadn’t given you two much thought. It’s not common for a suspected pirate ship to be unarmed and to dock at our kingdom and just drop off two men for no reason.”

Oh shit, we were under surveillance this entire time?

I looked at Thork-.

The bastard was sleeping with his eyes open.

“... Why would you want to hire two vagabonds - potential pirates - then, your majesty?” I asked politely while putting my hands on my knees and leaning forward in a manner not too unlike bowing. “We are not strong by the measure of the Grand Line, and I am sure a kingdom like yours can definitely draw talent from there.”

The king looked at me for a long while before he sighed. “You two are no pirates. That much was clear when you rescued me and my subjects, Mister Alan.”

I nodded. Being a pirate was a summary executable offense, after all. I made it clear that I wasn’t a pirate. It would make visiting civilization inconvenient.

“A normal man would reject or accept my offer. After all, asking the intent of a king is … unwise in most countries.” He chuckled. “But you two are not afraid of me or mine. I could tell that much. No, it’s better to say that being vagabonds, you believe you can scurry away if needs be.” Actually, no, I wasn’t thinking that far. It’s just normal for me to question people because that’s what my society encouraged. Shit, was I going to need to do a serious paradigm shift on top of the torturous daily training? “Very well. I wish to hire you and your friend because I have a core of elite guards that I need to train. Last Sunday’s pillaging taught me that what works I have accomplished paled in comparison to what is needed for the sake of my kingdom.”

Then the king bowed, which caused his butler and guards to gasp and try to get him to stop.

“So please. If you wish for a boat and a chest full of gold after this, then that is what I will give. Please train my men so that no one else in my kingdom has to suffer this foolish king’s delusions.”

Oh, man, this was … hard.

-VB-

Thorkell opened his eyes and yawned.

“You heard?”

He turned his eyes and looked at his master, who was sitting in a wooden chair and looking out of their new temporary room’s window. The night sky outside looked the same as one that the original Thorkell was familiar with.

Night skies were night skies. What else was there to talk about them? The number of stars and the shapes they made?

Bah. All of those were useless.

No, what was important was his master and what the man was currently pondering.

“Yeah,” he replied. He’d walked into this room after the meeting while still half-asleep, but he and his master’s minds were connected. The little closet pervert and coward was really thinking about putting some time in this shitty kingdom.

“What do you think?”

“I’m Thorkell. What would I think?”

“Thorkell accepted Canute’s offer and became a duke, if I remembered…”

He winced. “Don’t … don’t mention that. I hated that.”

Months and months and years and years of no war. Just sitting around and doing nothing while his buggered minions got soft, fucked women, and had kids.

Master turned to look at him…

“Those are nice looks in your eyes,” he grinned. “I guess you already made a decision?”

“I did,” master replied. “Logically speaking, there’s only one choice to make. It makes life easier for me, and nothing says I can’t stick around and be the good guy.”

Thorkell snorted. “You never wanted to be the bad guy. You’re a coward, master.”

Master rolled his eyes. “Not everyone’s born on the battlefield, Thorkell.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grunted.

“... Why are you sleeping so much, by the way?”

Thorkell stopped himself from falling asleep again. “Well… You know how I jumped all of those pirates?”

“Yeah?”

“I took more damage than I expected,” he huffed. “I’m basically on power-saving mode.”

Master looked surprised and then … sad. Ugh, Thorkell didn’t like having to deal with that and neither did he.

“I see. How long do you have left?”

“... Maybe a week. Or a day if I decide to do something foolish.”

“I see.”

“You don’t.”

Master blinked. “What?”

“You don’t see, because I’m about to do something very foolish.”

He stood up with his mind already made up.

“Alan.”

“... Yeah?”

“Hit me in the stomach, right here,” he demanded as he thumbed his chest. “Show me what I’ve taught you.”

Alan looked at him in surprise. Alan from when he first met him would question every little thing. He was a brat and a coward like that.

But the Alan in front of him was a little different.

With a huff, he jumped forward, keeping his feet on the ground instead of up, and slammed his right fist into his chest.

Thorkell oof’ed.

“Yeah, there’s not much more I can do for ya,” he huffed as Alan backed off. He pointed at him and grinned. “Thorkell never liked wasting his time, and I don’t either because I am Thorkell at this moment. He doesn’t want to waste a week, doing nothing during it. No, this is what he would do.” He dropped his grin for a soft smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, master.”

Then he exploded into motes of light. While most of them dissipated almost immediately, some made their way to master and entered him.

‘That should be enough to make the lad strong,’ the last vestiges of Thorkell hummed. ‘Well, it’s Valhalla for me now.’

And then he was gone.