I Am the King Now, and I Don't Like Slaves

Give me back my overwhelming emotions!

Hill was truly annoyed. Whenever he felt sentimental, something always popped up and made him feel like an idiot for continuing to wallow in it.

William stood in the stadium, handsome and dashing, radiating authority. He solemnly inspected the Royal Guard amid the forest of raised lances. The knights he examined were all flushed with excitement, and their eager, longing gazes made William even more pleased.

Yet Hill felt that six huge words were plastered over William's head: Conquering-Novel Male Lead.

William walked to the center of the stadium, dismounted, and stood still. The Royal Guard formed three circles around the field.

A solemn bell rang out. A round platform rose high in the center of the stadium, and William stood quietly facing north.

"Please stand." A crisp voice drifted across the stadium. Hill felt that ten seconds after he rose, the seat beneath him vanished.

Quite a few Undead upstairs landed on the floor flat on their backs.

William really understood.

"Play the Salar national anthem. Raise the Salar national flag!"

Hill lifted his chin and squared his shoulders, staring straight ahead with emotion filling his heart.

He already had a premonition of what music Salar, a country that had never had a national anthem, would play. He clenched his hands tightly.

Hill silently recited in his heart: Render the salute.

As the familiar march began, tears spilled from his eyes.

Salar's royal flag, black with a golden star, slowly rose alongside a red flag.

As the red flag fluttered, Hill quietly wiped away his tears.

It had been a long time since he had felt so homesick.

Thank you, William, for reminding him of those wonderful days.

From now on, he would enforce the laws William issued within his own territory.

No matter who William had once been, compared to Hill, who had merely struggled to survive, William deserved every bit of respect.

A Divine Scale appeared behind William. A golden figure stood at its center, hands crossed. Its left hand held a golden diamond-shaped crystal, while its right held a thick book.

William turned and dropped to one knee:

Great Kronos above,

William Haifa Spencer Salar swore here:

I shall uphold justice in my heart and remain loyal to my nation, Salar.

I shall hold fairness in my hand and protect the loyal citizens of Salar.

I shall wield the sword and eradicate all enemies of Salar.

The moment his words fell, the golden figure erupted with dazzling light. Golden radiance flickered around William for a long while before exploding outward, rushing toward the crowd attending the ceremony.

Hill felt a great cluster of golden light surge toward him. The abundant energy raised him by one rank.

He was now an Intermediate Archmage.

Hill closed his eyes and carefully examined the inside of his body, discovering that this power was extremely pure and carried almost no side effects.

Instead, it had made his body more human. Much of the beast-like bloodline within him had been nearly cleansed away.

Hill opened his eyes in delight and saw Falan and Adrian staring at him in surprise and confusion.

"What is it?"

"We only received one or two points of light. Only William's devoted supporters received more, but even among them, you received a lot."

The two exchanged a look before Adrian finally spoke.

"We'll talk when we get back," Falan said shortly.

William had already begun speaking again:

"Eighteen years ago, when I was first summoned by my lord, I swore that I would build a just and fair nation for my lord, one where every citizen could receive a basic education and enjoy an ordinary life free from oppression.

"Yet the world was unpredictable, and in the end, I became the King of Salar.

"But my oath will never change. People of Salar, please work together with your king!

"Strive for a better Salar!"

Hill was suddenly shocked. This year, he was exactly eighteen years old.

Had William and he arrived at the same time? Or rather, when the God of Space-Time summoned William, the child of destiny, had Hill simply tagged along as a little extra?

His soul had been weak and unprotected. If he had not entered the womb of Melanie, who had been harmed and nearly miscarried, he would have quickly dissipated.

The members of House Perast had always been tall and powerfully built. Yet Hill had been frail since childhood, and the count had always thought he did not resemble him, making him dislike Hill even more.

Even after coming of age and awakening the Earth Bear bloodline, Hill still had a slender build.

Falan had once sighed that Hill's body had been deficient from birth. Fortunately, his soul power was relatively strong. Otherwise, if he had not become a Sorcerer or Mage and could only have been an ordinary person, he definitely would not have lived long.

Hill had long known that when he reincarnated, his weakened self had merged with the infant soul that had been on the verge of dissipating.

That was why his closeness to Falan came from the heart. He was merely a genuine native who retained memories of his previous life.

But how he had come to this world had always remained a mystery.

Today, it was finally solved.

He remembered the golden specks of light amid the earthquake ruins when he died.

He now knew that they had been crystallized souls, which would naturally dissipate after lasting for a time.

Back then, a massive point of light had streaked past like a meteor, sweeping Hill and several other souls along as it flew into outer space.

When the God of Space-Time retrieved William's soul, most of the souls swept along had dissipated while crossing between the two worlds. Even those that entered this world would quickly vanish without the protection of the Gods.

Hill had probably used up the luck of both his lives here. He had encountered a dying fetus and merged with it without hesitation.

So Hill was not merely the civil engineer from his previous life. He was also the true Hill Bolanio.

The World Consciousness recognized his identity. Hill had known this from the day he became a Sorcerer: even if his soul remained after death, he could never reincarnate on Earth again.

From now on, his territory would maintain respect for the Salar Royal Family and firmly enforce the laws William promoted.

Hill was very willing to do that.

He would wait to implement the Sarral National Law issued by William. Even without a church, he would establish basic literacy classes in his territory.

That was what a modern person with principles ought to do.

Though he lacked the power to turn the world upside down, someone else had already opened up a new world. Hill felt it was only right for him to contribute what little he could.

William's platform descended steadily, and the prime minister he had appointed stepped onto it.

William went up to the main stand on the second floor to the north and sat down with a smile.

"Please sit." The voice rang out again, seeming to speak directly beside them.

Adrian said to Falan, "Is this a Divine Power Nexus? It doesn't feel like the Tower Spirit's power."

Falan shook his head without speaking, signaling for the two of them to remain silent.

The prime minister took the stage and first led the ministers standing below in swearing loyalty to the king.

The oath was very short.

Hill understood well. The people upstairs were already unable to stop themselves from discussing it.

Then the prime minister announced three more matters. Edward and Charles, along with all their followers, would have their territories reclaimed and be escorted out of the country in three days.

Hill heard Count Perast's name, and Adrian gave a few mocking laughs.

Hill closed his eyes and said nothing. He would send the money over later. The karmic ties between him and that family would be completely settled.

The second matter was the recruitment of officials and soldiers.

Hill said to Adrian, "Uncle Adrian, have the obedient and sensible ones in your family all go participate. Forget the idiots."

Adrian looked at him in some confusion.

The third matter announced by the prime minister made him stand up in shock: Salar would henceforth prohibit the keeping of slaves. Servants in noble households all had to sign employment contracts, with copies stored at the Church of Justice. Otherwise, they had to be released. After three months, those who still refused to comply would either leave Salar or be stripped of their titles and reduced to commoners.

Only the Mages could still sit steadily. Nearly every noble had gone mad.

William watched the furious crowd with great interest for more than ten minutes. Then the power of a Legendary Knight swept through the area, forcing everyone to sit back down.

He stood up and finally said, "Obey, or destruction!"

Hill's boiling passion was tossed to the dogs by that sentence again.

He looked at the outraged nobles, the Mages curious about how things would develop, and even the players upstairs who were chattering among themselves. Not one of them could understand his pain.

Would he say "to be or not to be" next time?

Keeping his emotions under control would probably become Hill's greatest problem in the coming years.

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