Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 531: Gaining an Uncle

And this Absolute Supreme NPC was politely asking Minhyuk to kill him.

The kings, the players, and even the guild members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were all shocked by this sudden turn of events. Among them, Haze looked like she knew something.

‘No way…!’

The kings, on the other hand, gulped dryly.

‘No…!’

‘You can’t take Raldo’s head!’

Even now, the name of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was resounding loudly in the continent. If the Beyond the Heavens’ King took Raldo’s head, then his name would ring more loudly in the continent and make his kingdom stronger.

Minhyuk looked at the kneeling Raldo in silence for quite some time and thought, ‘What a mischievous guy’ while smiling bitterly. He knew full well what Raldo was asking for. It was because he did not have any more regrets.

Knowing the fact that his father, Ravanberg, loved him dearly was enough for Raldo. It was more than enough. However, he also regretted one fact. ‘Why couldn’t I be a father like that to Votto?’?

After what had happened with Ravanberg, Raldo could not bring himself to regard his family as something important. He had trained and built his kingdom and his men, but had always maintained a distant attitude when it came to Votto.

In the end, Votto had become Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s prisoner of war and even promised to take his own life in return for his men’s lives.

“The fault of the people is the fault of their king. Take my head and relieve your anger.”

No matter who looked at it, they could tell that Minhyuk deserved to take Raldo’s life. Although he was asleep at that time, it was true that Lumae Kingdom caused great damage to the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. Of course, the two kingdoms did not completely wage war against each other. That meant that Raldo could very well just declare a full-on war right here and now.

However, Raldo chose to offer his life to his benefactor, Minhyuk.

Minhyuk took a step toward the place where Raldo’s sword was embedded. He pulled out the sword and looked down at Raldo. Everyone turned tense as they looked at the two.

Minhyuk then whispered, with a voice so soft that only Raldo could hear, “You’re a great father, just like Ravanberg.”

Then, Minhyuk’s soft and gentle voice continued to ring in Raldo’s ears.

“You’re a very cool father.”

He was a father who tried to save his son by offering his own neck instead. Raldo shivered when he heard Minhyuk’s words.

‘Beyond the Heavens’ King…’

Raldo thought that there was no shame in dying by the hands of Minhyuk. Raldo had never once recognized the kings and emperors of this continent in his life. He thought that they were just a bunch of people with large chunks of land and many people under them.

However, the same was not true for Minhyuk. He was a man that was worthy of respect and the only thing that Raldo resented was the fact that he had only met this man now. Raldo slowly closed his eyes.

‘Please, spare my son Votto.’

Perhaps somewhere, his son, Votto, was crying and calling his name out. Raldo smiled at the thought.

‘Father, was this how you felt back then? No, perhaps you felt more pain?’

Raldo felt relieved. Now, he could end his life and go to his father’s arms. But then…

Clang—

Minhyuk threw Raldo’s sword on the ground, the impact ringing loudly in the clearing. Then, Minhyuk spoke in a tone completely different from the one that he had used earlier.

“Lumae Kingdom’s King, you are shameless!!!”

Everyone looked at Minhyuk in doubt when they saw him throw Raldo’s sword and shout like that.

“As the king, you dare to ask me to forgive your men’s sins by offering your life? I declare here and now!”

Minhyuk looked at his subordinates and the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom with a cold expression on his face. And Haze, who stood amidst them…

‘No way…!’

Minhyuk, with his dignified voice, continued to speak. His voice rang loudly and spread through his subjects, the players, and even through the broadcasting cameras.

“As a prisoner of war, Prince Votto will be held captive in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom for three years. In addition, the 1,000 elite knights that came here would be imprisoned here for three years to pay for their crimes. I declare this as the King of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.”

Minhyuk looked at Raldo coldly. Although Minhyuk’s voice was cold, Raldo could tell what he meant and wanted to do, tears already dripping down his cheeks.

“Our Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will not forgive the Lumae Kingdom. Lumae Kingdom has to compensate more than five times the amount of damages that we have suffered in this war. I will not grant Lumae Kingdom’s King Raldo’s request, and I henceforth banish him from this kingdom!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

The buzz among the players and the people grew.

“He’s banishing Raldo?”

“Doesn’t that mean that the war would not end?”

“Does His Majesty intend to trample on the Lumae Kingdom?”

“Ho!”

“Wow. The Food God does not care about anything once he gets angry.”

“But, isn’t he cool?”

These were the thoughts of the ordinary people and the players. However, the meaning of the words that Minhyuk uttered were fully understood by Raldo, the other kings, and the 1,000 elite knights present at the scene.

Haze was amazed.

‘His Majesty is truly a clever ruler.’?

She was in complete awe and admiration of Minhyuk. Minhyuk might have declared that he would become Raldo’s enemy by banishing him. But the truth? Bringing in Prince Votto and the 1,000 elite knights under their watch might sound like they were prisoners of war, but Minhyuk was actually using them as a shield.

‘What would happen if another kingdom dared to lay their hands on Beyond the Heavens Kingdom that housed Prince Votto?’

Then…

‘It’s no different than laying their hands on Raldo.’

That was right. Attacking Prince Votto, who despite being a prisoner of war was also a prince of Lumae Kingdom, was like provoking the Lumae Kingdom. They would be put in a situation where they had to deal with both the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and the Lumae Kingdom at once.

‘Not only that, but 1,000 of the finest elite knights will be in the kingdom.’

There was no information about Raldo’s 1,000 elite knights, but it could be said that the knights that Raldo raised secretly had to be the best of the best. The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had already reached the point where their future was basically secured.

‘Trading the life of Prince Votto and the 1,000 elite knights was worth it.’

In fact, killing Prince Votto would be the signal of defeat of the Lumae Kingdom. But that fact was something that King Raldo had already acknowledged when he had knelt down on his own. Even those elite knights had already acknowledged that fact too.

‘Did he make this choice for His Majesty Raldo?’

‘He awakened His Majesty Raldo, taught him about the truth of his past, and even allowed us to save Prince Votto’s life.’

‘I will do my best and give my life for His Majesty Raldo and the king of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.’

Minhyuk had touched the hearts of these significant people, and even won their loyalty. Then, he said, “Does the King of Lumae have anything to say?”

Raldo, who was still in tears, felt extremely grateful for Minhyuk’s kindness and mercy.

“Nothing,” Raldo said as he slowly stood up. In the eyes of others, Minhyuk and Raldo had turned into bitter enemies.

Then, Minhyuk immediately heard a set of notifications.

[Lumae Kingdom’s 1,000 ‘Shadow Knights’ have sworn their eternal loyalty to you.]

[The Shadow Knights are the finest knights that have hidden in the shadows and secretly protected Raldo. The power and skills of these knights far surpassed that of the Imperial Knights.]

[They will show extreme loyalty to you.]

[You have gained 300 REP.]

[You have gained 20 CHA.]

Finally, Raldo turned around and walked away from the kingdom. A large crowd snickered at Raldo.

“Is that NPC the one hailed as the Overlord? If he’s just that, then I can also call myself the Overlord!”

“No, no. It’s because Beyond the Heavens’ King, the Food God, is really dope, you know?”

“Kyaaa~ The Food God is so classy!”

Those that did not know of the truth laughed and snickered at Raldo. But the place that Raldo was headed to was the place where the other kings were secretly watching everything unfold.

Suddenly, immense killing intent burst out from Overlord Raldo. Then, he said, “Are you telling me that this huge army is trying to lay their hands on the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom? The place where my son is currently held captive?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The kings could not say anything and could only keep their mouths shut tightly. After all, Raldo’s words could also mean…

‘Don’t you dare touch the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.’

Raldo, who was holding his sword high, finally lowered it.

Gulp—

Someone in the crowd gulped dryly. The people mocked Raldo, but he was not someone that could be ridiculed that easily.

“If that’s the case, then I can just wipe out 50,000 of your troops here.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

That was a fact. It was something that Raldo was capable of. And those 50,000 strong troops? Of course, their lives did not really matter to the kings, who didn’t care even if they were threatened like that. However, the biggest problem here was that they were the ones closest to Raldo and would definitely risk losing their lives along with their troops.

So, the kings immediately lowered their tails.

“We, we’re just here to sightsee.”

“That’s right! We’re just here to sightsee!”

“We came here to express our gratitude to the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s King for saving the Asgan Continent.”

“Yes, yes! What we’re saying is that we gathered the troops here to celebrate and express our gratitude to him!”

Raldo only passed by them when he saw them immediately lowering their tails between their legs. He did not leave the vicinity of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, however; instead, he waited for all the troops to leave.

The people of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom began to move on and do their jobs once again as their kingdom once again found peace. As for Raldo? He was finally able to meet with his son, a prisoner of war.

“Royal father… Why… why…”

Raldo was nothing but a scary king to Prince Votto. A harsh king that had always been cold to him and had never called out to him warmly and gently. For the first time, Raldo looked at Votto with a soft and warm smile on his face.

“Votto. Take good care of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s King.”

Prince Votto collapsed at the words of his father, the very same father that had put his own neck on the line to save him, as Raldo called his name for the first time in his life.

“I will keep that in mind.”

Only after that did Raldo move to leave Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

‘My son will definitely learn a lot from here.’

Raldo was relieved to leave his son under the care of such a king.

At that moment, a masked man appeared in front of Raldo. The man pulled his mask down, revealing the face of the Beyond the Heavens’ King, Minhyuk.

Unlike before, Minhyuk just looked at Raldo, and Raldo also did the same thing. After quite some time, Raldo asked, “Why?”

Minhyuk looked at Raldo in confusion.

“Why did you tell me that when you protected me?”

Raldo still could not understand why Minhyuk was willing to risk his life just so he could tell him the truth about his father, Ravanberg.

“Because my father is like your father.”

“…”

That was right. One of the main reasons why Minhyuk had helped Raldo that much was precisely that. Some would say that he was too emotional, but Minhyuk felt that Ravanberg and his own father, Kang Minhoo, shared a lot of things in common.

As Minhyuk suffered from an eating addiction and stopped showing up during the company’s board meetings, the board members had started to speak of other successor candidates to pressure Kang Minhoo. But his father had fought against them. Kang Minhoo had worked twice, thrice more to protect Minhyuk and to fill the vacancy that their company, a company without any successor, had.

But even while enduring such exhaustion, Kang Minhoo still came home with a bright smile on his face, because that was what a father was.

The other reason was that Minhyuk knew that sons needed to know the burden that their fathers bore. Those were the reasons why Minhyuk told Raldo the truth.

Raldo grinned and said, “All fathers must be strong.”

Minhyuk just smiled softly in response. Raldo was about to turn around, when he stopped in his tracks and asked in embarrassment, “Will you be friends with me?”

Minhyuk smiled awkwardly, because he did not know what to call Raldo. Raldo thought that it was a sign of refusal, so he turned around bitterly. But then, he recalled something and turned around again while taking something out.

“Ah. You dropped this.”

What Raldo held out was one of the things that Minhyuk had dropped: the chicken legs.

Minhyuk was immediately delighted the moment he saw it. He shouted, “U-Uncle Raldo!!! Can I call you uncle?!”

“…???”

It was on this day that Minhyuk gained a new uncle, an uncle by the name of Overlord Raldo.

There was a woman smiling happily as she watched Overlord Raldo hand over some chicken legs to a beaming Minhyuk. This woman was none other than Haze.

‘His noona is Sword Emperor Ellie. His hyung is Emperor Asvon. And his uncle is Overlord Raldo. What in the world are His Majesty’s personal connections…?’

Then, she suddenly wondered, ‘Then, will he have a god as his grandfather or grandmother later?!’

Haze was already smiling at the pleasant thoughts flashing through her head.