Diphiya's Embarrassing Incident

After prying himself off the wall, Ankhseram changed out of his 'mining suit' at lightning speed, and also wiped off his smeared face.

"You bastard, don't let me find out who you are, or I'll hang you on the barbecue grill and smoke you into cured meat!"

After saying this, Ankhseram returned to the palace in a huff.

Looking at Ankhseram's disheveled appearance, the Masked Woman who was remotely monitoring from the blue-purple palace bent her body into a 'C' shape.

"Ha ha!"

"Ha ha!"

"The Iron Maiden's expression is hilarious, it's killing me!"

"This is so much fun! Looks like I've got something to do now!"

"Ha ha"

"Ha ha"

Just as the Masked Woman was laughing heartily, disregarding all ladylike decorum, the mastermind behind this prank was sitting on the ground, pale-faced and panting heavily.

"Phew! I'm exhausted. I wonder if that girl received the gift I sent her?"

"Forget it, let nature take its course!"

After saying this, Old Suo struggled to his feet and walked out of the hall.

"Click"

Having expended too much energy, Old Suo's coordination had deteriorated considerably. As he staggered out, he accidentally stepped on a piece of Stellara Stone, making a crisp sound. The next second, a series of hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall, instantly putting Old Suo on alert.

"Huh? It can't be that bad, can it?"

After venting his frustrations about his bad luck, Sordil mustered his spirits and adopted a defensive stance.

A moment later, eight or nine figures appeared at the entrance of the hall, completely blocking out the light from outside.

Although Old Suo, whose vision was poor, did not recognize the other party's identity, his own identity seemed to have been exposed, as several figures rushed over from the doorway.

Seeing the crowd rushing towards him, Old Suo wanted to dodge, but his body stubbornly refused to move, and so... Old Suo was successfully captured!

"Ha ha! You naughty boy, you're finally back! We were so worried about you! (Kaldiz)"

"You're always pulling this stunt, don't you ever consider whether our hearts can take it? (Sage Dragon)"

"Hmph! If this guy could think about these things, he wouldn't be himself! (Mevajena)"

"Haha! Mevajena is right, Brother Sordil will never learn this skill in his lifetime! (Yesveta)"

"However, the boss went too far this time and needs to be punished properly! (Heradi)"

"Mmm-hmm!" (Murellia, Lindel, and Irene nodded silently.)

Hearing these words, which were sometimes caring, sometimes blaming, and sometimes teasing, Old Suo, who was being tightly hugged in the middle, burst into hearty laughter.

"Ha ha"

"Ha ha"

Hearing the loud laughter, the group exchanged glances, then tossed Old Suo high into the air.

"Hello!"

Amid Old Suo's surprised shouts, he was caught by the crowd and then tossed high into the air again.

Having learned from his first experience, this time Old Suo closed his eyes with a look of pure enjoyment, and then...

"Thump!"

After the metal slammed solidly into the ground, Old Suo looked around at everyone with a bewildered expression, and then everyone burst into laughter.

"Ha ha"

"Ha ha"

The following morning, in Altair, at the Royal Palace, in the Council Hall...

After a night of meditation, although Old Suo did not fully replenish his energy, he recovered about 50%, thus shaking off the kidney deficiency he had experienced yesterday and regaining his vitality.

At this moment, he was meeting his spoils of war in the council hall.

"Sonia, you should already know my identity and the current situation, right? (Old Suo)"

After locking onto Old Suo with eyes that seemed to have spotted a lecherous old man, the brown-haired girl timidly said, "I... I know everything!"

"So what are your plans next?" (Old Suo) (Holy crap! Why does this passage feel like a kidnapper abducting an innocent young girl?)

"I... intend to... (Sonia)"

Looking at the speechless Sonia, the kind (and lewd) His Majesty the King said gently, "Currently, our Erus Kingdom is in a period of development and is in dire need of magical talents like you. Therefore, I would like to invite you to the Erus Kingdom Ers. What do you think?"

Whether it was His Majesty the King's expression or his words, Sonia knelt down on the ground with her hands behind her head after he finished speaking.

"Join the kingdom... join the kingdom..."

Seeing Sonia repeating those words with a face full of fear, His Majesty the King hurriedly said, "Sonia, if you don't want to, then forget it! Don't force yourself!"

After saying this, Old Suo turned and walked towards the door.

Just then, Sonia suddenly grabbed his hand, lifted her pink cheek with a few tear streaks, and asked softly, "If I don't join your kingdom, will you kick me out?"

After helping the other person wipe away the tears on their cheeks, His Majesty the King smiled and said, "If you don't want to join, I'll have the staff here assign you a room, so you don't have to worry about being kicked out."

Gazing at the Angel radiating a soft light before her (this is Sonia's hallucination), the brown-haired girl asked again, "Then... if I join the kingdom, do I need to stay here forever?"

"After joining the kingdom, you can go wherever you want outside of mission time. (Old Suo)"

After receiving the answer, the brown-haired girl blinked her bright eyes a few times, then stammered, "I... I'm willing to join the kingdom!"

"Hehe"

After chuckling twice, His Majesty the King handed his large pig's trotter to Sonia.

"Welcome to the Erus Kingdom! (Old Suo)"

After covering the large pig's trotter with her warm, jade-like hands, the girl said shyly, "Please... please take good care of me!"

"Ah!"

After letting out a confident sigh, the coward quickly handed the beautiful girl over to the Her Majesty the Queen was guarding outside the palace, and then began the next task.

"Charlie, how's the training going with those guys I gave you last time?"

Upon hearing His Majesty the King's inquiry, the Minister of Education, speaking through the Communication Magic Crystal, solemnly replied, "Your Majesty, the students in Milantes have completed all their studies and have successfully passed the assessments."

His Majesty the King nodded in satisfaction and said, "Hmm! That's good!"

"Charlie, tell those guys to pack their things. I'll come pick them up in a bit. Oh, by the way! The new batch of trainees is arriving soon, so get ready to receive them."

"I see!"

"Um... Charlie, have those guys up north made any moves lately?"

"Your Majesty, there were signs of a large-scale troop movement within Auriel not long ago, but it was quickly quelled."

"Heh! Looks like these three guys are pretty good at playing the game!"

"Your Majesty, now that the war on the southern front has come to an end, should we allow Yelibell and her entourage to take advantage of the situation and launch a northern expedition?"

Hearing Charlie's words, Sordil pondered for a long time before saying, "Our national strength has been almost exhausted. If we continue the Northern Expedition, we may face a fiscal deficit, so let's slow down for now! However, if those three guys on the other side are not behaving themselves, then we don't need to worry about that. Let Yelibell and the others take action and wipe out this so-called Northern Alliance."

"Understood!"

After discussing official business, His Majesty the King suddenly inquired about a personal matter.

"Hey Charlie, what's Diphiya been up to lately?"

Upon hearing His Majesty the King's question, the Minister of Education coughed three times, forcibly suppressing the involuntary upward curve of his lips, and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Princess Diphiya has been staying in the cabinet handling state affairs recently, and has not... and... Pfft! Haha!"

Watching the Minister of Education disappear from the Communication Magic Crystal, His Majesty the King felt he had uncovered some earth-shattering secret, so he hurriedly asked, "Charlie, what exactly happened? Tell me quickly!"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, please... please wait a moment, wait until I've finished laughing this time, then... then I'll tell you... haha!"

Hearing the other party's demonic laughter, Old Suo's gossipy heart suddenly exploded. In the next second, countless miniature gossipy hearts flowed through his circulatory system and spread to every cell of his body, completely exhausting his patience.

"Charlie, stop laughing and tell me what happened, or I'll have Tingmei stay at your house for a few days!"

Under pressure from His Majesty the King's tyranny, the Minister of Education forcibly stopped laughing and then handed over the information he possessed.

"Ha ha"

"Hehe"

"Giggle"

"Roar!"

Looking at His Majesty the King, who was still laughing, the Her Highness the Queen said coldly, "Your His Majesty the King, have you had enough laughing?"

"Cough cough"

Sensing his wife's displeasure, His Majesty the King quickly suppressed his laughter, which resulted in a fit of coughing.

"Are you done with all that fuss, (Irene)?"

Unable to speak, His Majesty the King could only nod repeatedly to indicate that he was done and could depart.

"Then what are you standing there for? Get to work! I'm waiting to go back and get my beauty sleep!" (Irene)

After a flurry of frantic nods, Old Suo began to inscribe the Teleportation Array while simultaneously working to improve his physical condition.

Looking at the hardworking and dedicated His Majesty the King, Sonia, who was traveling with him, smiled sweetly once again.

"Sister Irene, you two have such a good relationship!" (Sonia)

"Hmph! If we didn't get along well, that guy would have been snatched away by those reserves long ago!" (Irene's inner thoughts)

After mentally grumbling about her emotional crisis, the Her Majesty the Queen smiled gently and said, "Hehe! Actually, my relationship with that scoundrel is just so-so, not as good as you imagine!"

"My dear wife, how could you say such a thing about our relationship? It's so hurtful!" (Old Suo)

Upon hearing His Majesty the King's protest, Her Majesty the Queen retorted angrily, "Hmph! If it weren't for you, you troublemaker, making me angry every other day, would our relationship have deteriorated to this point?"

Faced with the Her Majesty the Queen's complaints, His Majesty the King lowered his head dejectedly and then silently activated the Teleportation Array.