Chapter 324: Dalton Arrives
Wapol tilted his head, looking genuinely confused.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
Axel looked at him.
"First you banish me from the island, then you make it look like my own guards accidentally killed me."
Wapol might have been a gluttonous tyrant with little patience for politics, but he was not completely stupid.
Axel's actions seemed contradictory.
If he wanted Wapol gone, why bother creating such a complicated scene?
Axel smiled.
"Think about it from their perspective."
Wapol frowned.
"If you were one of those guards, what would you do after shooting at your own king?"
Axel gestured toward the direction the soldiers had fled.
"Would you run through town shouting, 'We killed King Wapol'?"
Wapol's expression stiffened.
"Regicide is a serious crime."
Axel continued.
"None of those men are strong enough to bear that accusation."
"So they'll look for another explanation."
He spread his hands.
"And I already gave them one."
Wapol slowly began to understand.
"A wanted criminal arrived on Drum Island."
"He confronted the king."
"He declared the king banished."
Axel's smile deepened slightly.
"Then the king abandoned the country and fled."
He glanced toward the bloodstained snow.
"What a convenient story."
The guards would not have to admit they had fired on their own monarch.
The blame could be pushed onto Axel.
And Wapol's disappearance would become the natural consequence of being driven from the island by a four-hundred-million-Berry criminal.
A clean narrative.
At least, clean enough for frightened men trying to save themselves.
Wapol listened to the explanation.
For once, he seemed to be making a genuine effort to think.
It lasted only a few seconds.
Then he gave up.
Most of Axel's reasoning had gone straight over his head.
Only one question actually mattered to him.
"So... what are you planning to do with me?"
Axel looked amused.
"If I said I was going to kill you, what would you do?"
Wapol froze.
Then his face changed immediately.
Fear crushed what remained of his pride.
"I'm useful!"
He hurriedly raised both hands.
"Don't kill me!"
Axel tilted his head.
"Useful?"
He looked Wapol up and down.
"Then tell me what you're useful for."
Wapol opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
He thought desperately.
Then his eyes lit up.
"I'm the King of Drum Kingdom!"
Axel stared at him.
Wapol spoke faster.
"I can legally transfer the throne to you!"
"As long as you don't kill me, I'll give you the entire kingdom!"
Axel sighed.
After all that, Wapol had returned to the same thing.
His title.
But that title was not nearly as valuable as Wapol believed.
To the World Government, kings of affiliated nations were useful because they maintained order and remained within the system.
A king who could no longer be controlled was replaceable.
In some cases, his removal might even be preferable.
"I'm a wanted criminal."
Axel shrugged.
"What exactly am I supposed to do with a legitimate royal title?"
Wapol's confidence collapsed.
Then another idea came.
"Treasure!"
He pointed behind him.
"I have treasure!"
"I'll give you all of it!"
Axel glanced toward the pile.
"That treasure?"
Wapol nodded rapidly.
"I already took it."
Wapol's mouth opened.
Axel looked back at him.
"You don't get credit for giving me something I've already seized."
Then his tone became more casual.
"One last chance."
Wapol swallowed.
"If you can't think of anything useful..."
Axel's gaze shifted toward the bodies of Chess and Kuromarimo.
"I don't mind making you just as useless as they are."
Wapol understood immediately.
Dead people were useless.
His face went pale.
He valued his own life far too much to remain calm.
"I can surrender!"
The words burst out of him.
Axel blinked.
Wapol nodded frantically.
"Yes!"
"I'll surrender to you!"
"What else could you possibly want?"
Axel looked completely uninterested.
"No."
Wapol stared at him.
"I have no interest in accepting the loyalty of someone who barely reacted when his closest subordinates died."
Axel glanced once more toward Chess and Kuromarimo.
"Who knows when you'd decide to betray me?"
Wapol's expression became increasingly desperate.
Axel sighed.
"Looks like there's no helping it."
He slowly raised the wooden sword.
"Killing you really would solve everything."
The blade moved.
Slash!
A wide cut appeared across the ground beside Wapol.
Snow and earth split apart.
Wapol nearly jumped out of his skin.
"WAIT!"
He tried to run.
Then Axel laughed.
Wapol froze.
Axel lowered the wooden sword.
"I'm joking."
Wapol stared at him.
"If I actually wanted to kill you, do you think I would have wasted this much time talking?"
Wapol's face twitched.
That was not funny at all.
But what came out of his mouth was very different.
"Of course!"
He forced a smile.
"My lord is truly humorous!"
Axel raised an eyebrow.
Humans adapted quickly when their survival depended on it.
Wapol was proving that perfectly.
For years, his subordinates had flattered him.
Now, placed on the opposite side of that relationship, he had learned the same skill with impressive speed.
"My lord is wise."
"My lord is generous."
"My lord's jokes are truly extraordinary."
Axel accepted the praise without the slightest shame.
Then his expression changed.
He sensed someone approaching.
"Enough."
Wapol immediately stopped talking.
Axel looked toward the edge of the peak.
"Someone's coming."
Then he turned back to Wapol.
"From this point on, say exactly what I told you to say."
Wapol nodded so quickly that his head almost blurred.
"As long as I live, I'll say anything you want."
...
Dalton raced up Drum Peak.
By the time he reached the castle grounds, the first person he saw was Wapol.
"King Wapol!"
Dalton rushed forward.
The scene around him immediately raised alarms.
Blood covered the snow.
Chess and Kuromarimo lay motionless.
Weapons were scattered everywhere.
The castle guards were gone.
Something had clearly happened.
Wapol turned toward him.
"Ah... Dalton."
Dalton slowed.
Something was wrong.
Wapol's voice sounded awkward.
Forced.
Almost like he was reciting words he had practiced.
"Your Majesty?"
Dalton studied him carefully.
"What happened?"
Wapol stiffened.
"N-Nothing!"
He coughed.
"Ahem!"
Then he straightened.
"Dalton, I have an important task for you."
Dalton's confusion deepened.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wapol glanced toward the pile of treasure.
His expression became visibly pained.
Even now, parting with it seemed physically painful.
"Take half of that treasure."
Dalton followed his gaze.
"And distribute it among the people of Drum Island."
Silence.
Dalton stared at him.
Wapol looked away.
Dalton had known this man for years.
He had watched him monopolize doctors.
Raise burdens on the people.
Spend the kingdom's wealth on himself without restraint.
Now Wapol was voluntarily giving half of his treasure to his subjects?
Something was very wrong.
"King Wapol."
Dalton looked around again.
"What happened here?"
"There was clearly a battle."
Wapol's eyes shifted.
"The guards mutinied."
Dalton stiffened.
"What?"
"They rebelled against me."
Wapol waved vaguely toward the bloodstained area.
"So I executed them."
Dalton's expression became serious.
"The guards rebelled?"
"Yes."
Wapol swallowed.
Then he continued with obvious difficulty.
"And after understanding why they rebelled..."
He looked as though each word physically hurt.
"I realized that I have made mistakes as king."
Dalton stared at him.
Wapol forced himself onward.
"Therefore, I have decided to abdicate."
Dalton's eyes widened.
Wapol pointed at him.
"Dalton."
"You will become the next king."
The snowy peak became silent.
Wapol continued.
"I hereby relinquish the throne to you."
The words were extraordinary.
Too extraordinary.
And Wapol was an awful actor.
As he spoke, his eyes repeatedly drifted upward.
Not toward Dalton.
Toward the sky.
Like someone afraid that the person supervising him might suddenly appear.
Dalton noticed immediately.
His expression hardened.
"That boy."
Wapol froze.
Dalton's grip tightened around his weapon.
"He did this, didn't he?"
There was only one person who could have forced such a change in Wapol.
The same white-haired youth Dalton had seen heading toward Drum Peak.
Then something descended from above.
Dalton looked up.
Axel dropped through the air.
Just before reaching the ground, his fall slowed.
He landed lightly on the snow, barely disturbing the surface beneath his feet.
His first words were directed at Wapol.
"You're really bad at this."
Wapol immediately nodded.
"Yes, yes."
"You're absolutely right."
Dalton stared.
What happened to him?
Wapol, the man who once demanded obedience from everyone around him, was now standing beside Axel like a servant desperate to please his master.
Dalton raised his weapon.
"What did you do to King Wapol?"
Axel looked at him.
"Nothing complicated."
He gestured toward Wapol.
"He gave up the throne."
"And now he's leaving the island with me."
"That's all."
Dalton's expression did not soften.
"Leave the king here."
His answer was immediate.
He did not believe Axel's explanation.
Wapol said nothing.
He remained beside Axel, nodding obediently whenever Axel glanced at him.
Outwardly, he looked completely submissive.
Internally, however, Wapol was desperately hoping Dalton would somehow defeat Axel and rescue him.
Unfortunately, even Wapol understood how unrealistic that was.
Dalton could not defeat him.
And Axel had just reduced him to helplessness without effort.
The difference was obvious.
Axel looked toward the treasure.
"Before you arrived, your king was already preparing to abandon Drum Island."
Dalton's expression barely changed.
"I know."
Axel raised an eyebrow.
Dalton looked toward the packed treasure.
"I suspected as much when I saw that."
Wapol looked uncomfortable.
Dalton returned his attention to Axel.
"But that doesn't change anything."
His voice became firm.
"Drum Kingdom's problems should be settled by the people of Drum Kingdom."
Axel watched him quietly.
"If King Wapol has committed wrongs, then the people he ruled should decide his fate."
Dalton tightened his grip on his weapon.
"That judgment does not belong to you."
"And neither does the right to take him away."
....
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