SHK CH 570 (Patreon)

***

The Elves were not the only ones who were reacting with shock. Back on the side of the Dwarves, silence weighted heavily, all of the old men of the councils were completely silent.

Sitting on his throne, the King watched all of this with a snickering face, “So, about our action about Lustburg. Does anyone want to be the messenger that will reclaim our so-called lost heritage from them?”

The inflection in his voice as he spoke was a clear mockery of their words and actions but no one spoke up.  They understood very well that the King was waiting for someone to slip up and fail.

After all, no matter how this council existed, the one with the absolute authority was still the King. If he decided to truly flex all his power, there was little they could do.

The King seeing this, shook his head. His eyes dimmed slightly. If he had to be honest, he would have wished for them to fight back a little. Not for any plans but simply for pride.

Since when the proud and courageous dwarves had fallen so much? They went from being a race full of solidarity between them, even while enslaved by the Elves to becoming one of the most scheming races in the world.

If in the past dwarves were synonymous with courage, brashness, and smithing, now they were simply known as backstabbing, greedy bastards.

A race so used to backstabbing even Devils seemed more trustworthy than them. At least the Devils would follow the contract to the letter and all of this was because of greedy bastards like the ones sitting here.

He also knew that there were many traitors in this place. Not only those who were greedy for money. Those were still usable. But those who were greedy for life. Those were the most dangerous.

Some of them, like Theresa’s deceased brother, were in cahoots with the Wings of Freedom. While others were basically nothing but slave working for the angels and receiving payments.

The reason he had not acted on this all this time and closed one eye was simple. As bastardly as those guys were, this was still an option for survival for the Dwarves race.

When giants fought, little people like them had to find a way to survive and even if his way failed, if the way of those traitors could assure the survival of the Dwarves then this was something he was willing to ignore.

This was for the same reason he was okay with letting Theresa dip her feet and spread her influence in Lustburg.

One way or another, the dwarves would survive, even if they had to fall under a new master they would survive. Ensuring this survival in those troubled times was his duty as a king.

‘In the end, I am also greedy, like all of them.’

He was trying to bet on everything at the same time but thankfully, the chances of losing everything were low. Whoever ended up winning, would be too happy to have dwarves under their commands to kill them.

He sighed and waved his hands to force those council members to shut up.

“Contact the angels. Either way, they are the ones acting as the police. It’s important to discuss the current situation. Sol Luxuria should ascend to the throne of Lustburg as fast as possible. Once this happens, even if he is not at the true King level, he will still be officially restricted by the Conventions.”

The King remembered the image he had seen and he had to say, he was glad to have given a green card to Theresa. She always had a better nose than him when it came to catching people with potential.

Between all the bets he was making, he sincerely hoped that Theresa would be the winning horse.

‘I wonder if I have a relative that would fit the taste of the boy.’

He frowned a little. Very hesitant. From what he knew of Lustburg's history, despite being called the Kingdom of Lust, they seemed to be closer to Castitas than anything else. Few Kings or Queens in the history of Lustburg could be called promiscuous to any degree.

The true exception to this rule seemed to be Uranus, the Tyrant king. He was a man with very unusual taste as, despite being human, he had a deep fascination with the Beast's kins.

As for Sol. Well, it seemed like the love of beast kin ran in his blood from what he could see with Princess Setsuna. As for how promiscuous he was, it would be logical to assume that as a part Dragon, he would be extremely lustful. But the news they received from their spies were too contradictory to glean anything of use.

He didn’t know who was the one in charge of the anti-spy policy of Lustburg but that person was damn good.

“Well. Let’s continue gentlemen. It’s time to decide our stances with Wratharis. The war does seem to lean in favor heavily toward Lustburg. I do not think they will be able to pay our rates for the weapons and armor in the current situation once Lustburg takes their spoils of victory. Should we stop our services?”

They hesitated a little before one raised his hand, “I believe there is still one part left. While Wratharis undoubtedly lost the overall war. It’s hard to say they completely lost as a full reversal in the current situation is still possible.”

Everyone looked at each other, one name appearing in their mind.

If it was that person then, indeed. Everything could change at a moment's notice.

After all, he was the First of the Seven Great Sages.

The Handsome Monkey King — Sun Wukong.

(AN: One last reaction chapter and we go back to Sol. This has taken a long time but yeah, I believe we only have 20-30 chapters max for ending the war. This will be the last arc and many big fights will follow. Await a chapter tomorrow.)