Chapter 400: Proud Father
Chapter 400 of "Extra's Path To Demon King" starts with dramatic events: Daniel Nomrad looked absolutely dumbfounded as he glanced at the special permit lying on his... Discover what happens!
Daniel Nomrad looked absolutely dumbfounded as he glanced at the special permit lying on his desk. It was even worse for his loyal butler, Vargas, whose jaw hung so low that it might just hit the floor.He reached out to the piece of paper in trembling hands, reading through its contents for the umpteenth time. He used his senses and mana, but neither of them was lying; this was authentic, and he looked at the one who presented this to him in disbelief.
As he asked, "Axel, how?"
But his son only chuckled, "How I did it is not important, what is important is that you donāt have to pay those extra taxes anymore for either our sold or bought items, which were the main reason for our losing profit for every trade."
Then, after a short moment of pause, he declared, "And the other two major hampering fees, I will take care of those matters as well."
Daniel was in even more disbelief at his son; he couldnāt make heads or tail of how his son had accomplished it, for so long he had tried, he tried so many things, but the very authority was against him, so how could he, he wanted to ask about it, listen to how Axel had done it... But he also understood that his son did not want to talk about it. For whatever reason, it may be.
Brushing down his parental instincts and curiosity, he laughed, and his laughter grew louder and louder, for the strongest emotion he felt was neither curiosity nor skepticism, but pride. He was happy, for his son was better than him in every possible way; he was so capable that Axel was solving problems that had haunted Daniel for years and years.
With a hand on his face, the sound of his laughter slowly died down.
Axel sighed. He had also told the old man about the details of his agreement with Greaves Commerce just before showing the permit. Circling the desk, he put a firm hand on Danielās shoulder as he stated, "Donāt worry, Dad, I will take care of everything from now on."
And then he left the room....
He always felt strangely emotional about this old man; it seemed a part of the original Axel Nomrad had tainted him with his own emotions, but in a way, he was glad for it, because without these small strands of emotion, he would be too overwhelmed by despair.
Most of the emotions or expressions he showed on his face these days were almost all fake. But he couldnāt be expressionless all the time, or show the hollowness devouring him from within; he had to present himself as a normal human at least.
He shook his head and erased those thoughts. Axel was too busy with everything he had to do. Every single day, he had to create 50 first-tier rune tools of rare grade, then master the temporary rune engravings, which he would fail hundreds of times daily, and had to keep trying even more times.
But that couldnāt stop his progress as he was close to mastering the temporary part of the rune-engravement. He would soon shift to engraving the pseudo-runes on his actual forged weapons.
Before any of that, there was something he needed to do now. Entering his room, he started writing on a piece of paper. A letter of apology to Casey Bram, who was an innocent girl who was merely smitten by his charm.
Though he didnāt want to drag someone like her into this mess, the most efficient method to deal with Count Bram was to threaten him with his daughter; besides, he didnāt actually kiss her, unlike what he said to the count. The girl had conveyed her interest in forming a relationship with him subtly many times. So, according to the agreement with the count, he had to express a clear rejection now.
It was for the better, actually. The least he could do was make a genuine apology. After he finished writing that letter, he started another one, this one for a much different purpose; it would obviously go to Ken Dusker. For the next step, he had to take.
Axel needed a slight nudge from that trash.
A yearly gathering was happening at the Dusker mansion, this time with far more fervor than any before. A day of the year, when all the vassals and appointed officials of the Dusker Duchy would come to the mansion and provide a great yearly report and discuss how to develop the territory further.
But that was just pure bullshit, thought Ken as he chewed down the food. All high-profile people of the Dusker region would gather here on this day to enjoy and party. Form new political factions and whisper of plotting against other groups.
But for the Dusker Duchy, it was a show of their power and influence. In fact, it wasnāt always like this. Instead, it was the careful manipulation of his mother, the Dusker Duchess, that had transformed it into a gathering of a politically secretive agenda.
His mother was a cunning and frightening woman who had slowly drowned all opposition through political machinations across the entire region, and, for being a former princess, no one could attempt anything drastic against her.
Usually, Ken would go around, walk proudly, meet everyone, talk to them with a sense of superiority, be showered with othersā praise, and believe it all, boosting his own ego.
He was sitting at a luxurious table in the ballroom, dining with many of his peers, who were the sons of other influential figures or families within his region. The few he once called friends, but he could see it now, as if a veil that was clouding his eyes had been lifted, and only after every shred of his pride and ego were destroyed could he witness the truth.
Oh, how pathetically he was lying to himself, all to feel a false sense of superiority. They were all wearing fake smiles, showering him with false praise one after another to win his favor; they were nothing but bootlickers who sucked up to him for his position, which could bring enormous benefits to their families.
They sang praises of him at the front, but talked the most shit about him in the back. Not that he blamed them, considering his own character, it was quite rightfully so.
"Young master, Iām so glad you are back safely. I could not sleep day and night worrying," stated a beautiful girl.
Another boy chimed in, "If those Ghost race bastards dared to hurt you, Young master, I would have gone to war with them."
"Young master must have played a significant role in saving the eight others who survived working together with the valkyrie and the prince," laughed another boy.
"Thatās right, the young master has become so handsome, you must be really strong now," added another girl with a blush.
Countless more comments followed, and with each sentence spoken, his patience began to run thin. It felt beyond disgusting knowing how fake they were, making a slight sound with his cutlery, he said sincerely,
"How about we finish the food first?"
All of them went quiet and, with forced smiles, refocused on the food again. Ken could almost hear them cursing in their minds, with a fake smile. Ken didnāt care and ate his food peacefully. He could not help but think of that day.
The day he was about to be killed by that demonā Axel Nomrad, the day he tasted genuine fear. The demon had asked him what he was willing to do to live, and he said he could do everything. Thus, he was spared and, transformed by him, became a demonkin; he became Axel Nomradās slave. Of course, that was not without conditions, and he had only one: that Axel would spare his mother.
He could lose everything... no, he was prepared to lose everything. But he would at least save his mother. He once thought of all this power and glamour as absolute; how could that pesky Nomrad family ever hope to stand against his powerful family?
But only now did he realize that it could not be further from the truth āthe only thing stopping that Demonic abomination from destroying his family was perhaps the existence of his father... no, the Dusker dukeāthe 5th-phase powerhouse.
A voice suddenly called out to him, and he was forced to break out of his thoughts.
"Young lord Ken, it is nice to see you again," spoke a powerful male voice. Ken looked at the figure who said that and showed a formal smile, "Uh, Senior Morin. It is indeed nice to see you."
The one who spoke to Ken was among the previous batch of academy attendants. Not only that, he was among the top 10 strongest of the whole academy of his generation; he was now a mid-third-phase powerhouse, but his actual combat prowess was far above that.
The son of Count Magnus, Morin Drake. Also known as the spearhead of the Drake family. Morin was also a significant reason Count Magnusās standing was higher than that of other counts, even without a governmental position, unlike Count Bram, whose power came from his position as the Tax monitor.
And because of Morinās personal power, even Ken had to treat him with a certain amount of respect. With a smile, he gestured to the senior to sit down beside him. The servants immediately added another chair to the table and began serving him food.