I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 422

Mermaid King, King Poseidon XIII.

The king and chieftain leading the few remaining merfolk on this continent.

…This man is currently occupying a portable bathtub in the lord’s mansion’s drawing-room, getting his hair done by Aider.

His messy blue hair is quickly being braided into a stylish reggae style.

Just like when he did it for Moomyung before, this director guy is really skilled at hair styling, isn’t he?

The mermaid king, looking at his reflection in the water, seemed very satisfied, smiling broadly and giving a thumbs-up. Aider also grinned and returned the thumbs-up.

‘Is the thumbs-up gesture universal?’

The mermaid king continued to pour out words in sign language, which Serenade translated from the side.

After hearing the situation roughly…

After the race war, most of the merfolk left this continent and moved their bases to new continents or the deep sea.

However, there were some who couldn’t abandon their old home and remained. King Poseidon XIII is said to be their leader.

They were drifting along the currents, staying in the southern sea when suddenly, a gate to the [Stormy Sea] opened in the southern sea, sucking in numerous marine creatures. The mermaid king tried to forcibly close the gate, but… ended up getting swept away himself.

I glanced at the mermaid king’s flapping tail fins and thought to myself.

‘One of the pieces of the Fallen Kings plan just rolled in like this.’

The Fallen Kings plan. Or the Fearful Foreign Legion training method.

It’s a romantic dream team recruitment strategy that focuses on recruiting wandering mercenaries with the ‘King,’ ‘Chieftain,’ or ‘Monarch’ tags.

If these ‘Fallen Kings’ can be integrated into one organization, they would become the strongest army in the game data. Theoretically, that is.

It’s natural that a hero party of fallen kings would be powerful in the data. After all, they were the units that the kings of a country led until the very end.

Moreover, the fallen kings lead their respective remnants. If we can incorporate their armies, we can quickly grow in size.

…Integrating them into one army is another problem, though.

‘Now that Fernandes has won the imperial succession battle, we need to build up our forces as well.’

Although I still don’t know what he’s thinking, it’s almost certain that Fernandes will be hostile to us.

I’ve also returned after half a year of wandering, so I need to accelerate this plan from now on.

And in this situation, a fish… no, a mermaid king has fallen in front of me.

‘I have to win him over no matter what!’

…No, not in a cooking sense! In a persuasive sense!

“I will take responsibility for escorting you to the southern sea. You don’t have to worry.”

As soon as the airship Geronimo is repaired, I decided to take him to the southern sea.

The airship is undergoing simple maintenance, and the southern sea itself isn’t that far by air route, so he should be able to return to his sea soon.

As he bowed his head in gratitude, I cautiously suggested.

“There’s a banquet tonight, how about it, King Poseidon? Would you grace us with your presence?”

At my suggestion, King Poseidon readily nodded.

“A banquet! As a king, I cannot refuse such an offer. I will gladly attend.”

Serenade, who was acting as an interpreter for the day, relayed his words in a deliberately deep tone, and when I stared at her, she quickly turned her gaze away, embarrassed.

“…He says…”

Her voice trailed off. No, it’s fun, why? Keep doing it.

‘Things are going well.’

I grinned.

Shall we start the Fallen Kings plan now!

***

Less than half a day after the defense battle ended, the citizens who had evacuated began to return.

By evening, the city was slowly regaining its vitality.

The returning citizens were happy that they had successfully fought off the defense battle, and they were also surprised that I had returned.

“So, everyone, come and take some fish! Let’s have a seafood party tonight!”

The recovered fish were piled up like mountains.

Although the mages had cast cold magic to make preservation somewhat easier, we still had to eat them quickly. Otherwise, they would become a problem as time passed.

Not only the chefs but also the cooks and the returning citizens jumped into the fish pile to prepare the dishes for tonight’s banquet.

And now, I’m also standing in front of the fish…

“Senior! What about the sashimi?! Sashimi! Give me sashimi!”

Lord’s mansion. Kitchen.

Right next to me, Evangeline is fiercely pecking at me. This kid, I guess she got her hopes up quite a bit when I mentioned sashimi…

However, there’s one thing I’ve just realized.

Squelch!

…I have absolutely no talent for actual knife work.

And of course, I’ve never learned how to slice sashimi. I just thought that you could just thinly slice the fish fillet, but…

From basic preparation like removing the innards to neatly separating the flesh from the bones… of course, I have no experience at all! I’ve never even been fishing in my life!

In the end, my first attempt at slicing sashimi was a miserable failure. I just brutally butchered one precious fish.

“…”

Evangeline, standing next to me, is looking at me with suspicion.

Damn it, this won’t do! I have a gustatory duty to pass on the taste of sashimi to my junior!

I gave up on using the knife myself, took out my staff [Maestro], and summoned a magic blade. I’m at least confident in controlling this!

“Hya!”

Clang!

But the magic blade that flew in just sliced through the cutting board and the table. Kyaaaak!

“…Senior, maybe.”

Evangeline looked at me with even more suspicion and asked.

“Is the toast you made before the only dish you know how to make?”

“N-no! That’s not true! Are you doubting your senior right now?!”

I can make ramen pretty well! I can make fried rice to some extent! I’m confident in kimchi stew too! It’s just that I can’t make any of them in this world!

In the end, I gave up on using the knife myself. I decided to switch to Ghost Cooking King mode.

So I shouted.

“Lucas! Help me!”

“Leave it to me, my lord.”

Lucas, who was standing next to me, rolled up his sleeves and walked in front of me.

Lucas pulled out the [Bestowed Sword] from his waist, conjured a kitchen knife with a blade of light, and then-

“Hya!”

He struck down.

Kwagwagwang!

Then, the blade of light exploded when it touched the cutting board, turning the fresh fish into powder without leaving a trace.

Lucas frowned, looking at the blade of light in his hand.

“…Hmm. Cooking is difficult.”

“No, slice the fish! Don’t destroy it!”

Is [Will Strike] activated as a basic option when you swing a sword?!

Lucas put away the [Bestowed Sword] and grabbed another kitchen knife, but the result was similar.

Every time the sword strike touched, the fish was destroyed without a trace.

After turning the fifth fish into mush, Lucas muttered with a serious face.

“I, I think I don’t have any talent for cooking…?”

“I-it’s okay. You’re definitely talented at destroying things with a sword instead.”

“Eish! You and Senior, step aside. I’ll try it.”

Evangeline pushed us away and rolled up her sleeves.

And a moment later.

Kwagwagwang-!

“Uwaaaak!”

“Kyaaaa!”

The three of us barely managed to escape from the exploding kitchen.

Evangeline, who had stepped forward with great enthusiasm, hesitated when she tried to put the knife into the fish, and then clumsily struck down with the kitchen knife.

Then, a misaligned scale flew up.

When the scale flew into her eye, Evangeline was terrified and jumped back.

And then [Unstoppable] was activated. With the momentum of jumping back, she body-slammed into the stove and the hearth, destroying them all-

Kwagwagwang!

The entire kitchen was engulfed in an explosion and collapse…

I stared blankly at the ruined kitchen and screamed without realizing it.

“How the hell do you end up like this while cooking?! You disastrous cooking beginners!”

“S-Senior, you’re not in a position to talk! You were so confident about sashimi, but what is this!”

“…The lord’s mansion, which has never been destroyed by monsters, is like this in our hands…”

After hurriedly putting out the fire and cleaning up the situation, I became extremely tired.

What’s the point of having a mountain of fish if there are only beginners who can’t even slice a single piece of sashimi properly…

It was then. King Poseidon, who had heard the commotion outside, came this way, dragging his portable bathtub with his lower body submerged in it.

“…”

He looked at the ruined kitchen and our disheveled appearances in turn, then reached out his hand to me and gestured with his finger.

I was holding a kitchen knife in my hand. I blankly held it out.

“Huh? Do you want the kitchen knife…?”

Nod nod.

So I handed it over.

King Poseidon took the kitchen knife, took a fish from the basket in the corner of the kitchen (which used to be a kitchen), and skillfully sliced sashimi.

In an instant, the bones were removed, the innards were taken out, and only the flesh remained on the cutting board.

We were all surprised in a different way, watching his knife work without a single waste.

“…Do merfolk eat fish?”

“…Doesn’t that feel like eating their own kind?”

“Well, fish eat fish anyway…”

Anyway, King Poseidon presented us with a plate of beautifully sliced sashimi. And nodded.

I quickly grabbed a surviving fork and poked a piece of sashimi into my mouth.

“…!”

Wow, it’s so damn delicious…!

There’s no gochujang [Korean chili paste] or soy sauce, but I was so moved by the chewy sashimi that I almost teared up. This is it! This is it! It’s so delicious!

“…Are you really eating it raw like that?”

But Evangeline and Lucas were looking at me as if I were strange.

Since there’s almost no culture of eating raw food here, they’re looking at me like I have a strange diet.

No, you guys! If only I had gochujang, soy sauce, wasabi, and ssamjang [Korean dipping sauce], you’d all be hooked! Go get some soju [Korean rice wine]!

On the other hand, King Poseidon seemed impressed by me eating raw fish so readily.

He gave me a thumbs-up, and I returned the thumbs-up. Sashimi is the best!

Since Lucas and Evangeline still couldn’t bring themselves to eat it, I found some lemon juice, vinegar, and olive oil in the half-destroyed kitchen and lightly seasoned the sashimi.

Then, the expressions of the two people who reluctantly put the sashimi in their mouths changed slightly.

“Hoo… indeed.”

“The texture is interesting. Oh, it has an addictive taste…”

“Right? Right? Sashimi is delicious, isn’t it? Eat more, guys!”

But the two shook their heads and backed away.

“I’m sorry, my lord. I’ll stop here…”

“I prefer it grilled. Or steamed…”

“Hey! Where are you going, hey! Do you think you’ll have this many chances to eat sashimi?! Hey! You can’t come back!”

The two knights said, ‘We’ll go and wreck the victory banquet,’ and hurried towards the central square.

You guys! Aish! If only I had gochujang and ssamjang, I could have made you all faint!

“Why don’t you know how delicious this is… *sniff*…”

A hand was placed on my shoulder as I sniffled.

When I turned around, it was King Poseidon. He had already sliced another fish into sashimi.

Sparkle!

He smiled, revealing his pearly white teeth. He gave a thumbs-up with his other hand.

I was moved.

“King Mermaid…!

I hurriedly took out a bottle of alcohol and glasses from the side cabinet.

“Alright! Let’s leave the sashimi-illiterates who don’t know the true taste of fish behind! Let’s get hammered together, King Poseidon!”

We left the half-destroyed kitchen behind and returned to the drawing-room.

And we drank, using sashimi as a side dish.

We couldn’t communicate verbally, but what did it matter when we had delicious alcohol and side dishes? We communicated with gestures and drank like that.

Hehe, good. I feel like I’m getting closer to this man…

If things go like this, the Fallen Kings plan will go smoothly…

***

“…Huh?”

How much did I drink?

I was so happy to eat sashimi after a long time that I kept drinking, and I must have lost consciousness for a moment.

I raised my body, holding my heavy forehead. Aigoo. I should have drunk moderately.

And.

“…?”

I finally noticed the kitchen knife that was touching my neck.

The cold sensation sent shivers down my spine, from my shoulders to the back of my neck. I slowly looked ahead.

“…Our race lost its home to the Everblack Empire.”

The man sitting in front of me.

The man who was pointing a knife at me.

King Poseidon was slowly speaking.

“My father, my mother, and my siblings all lost their lives to the soldiers of the Everblack Empire.”

I thought merfolk communicated with sign language instead of speech, but his language was very fluent.

Was all the clumsy behavior he showed earlier… an act?

I swallowed hard and looked around. But not even a single servant was visible. It was the night of the banquet, so had they all gone to the central square?

King Poseidon XIII, his two sapphire-like eyes shining brightly, stared intently at me.

“So I ask you, Prince Ash.”

He had been waiting for an opportunity.

For a time when he could be alone with me.

“Why should I, who lost everything to the Everblack Empire… let you live?”

He threatened me with the kitchen knife in one hand, and at the same time, he held a half-empty bottle of alcohol in the other hand, taking a sip.

As if the kind smile he had shown so far was a lie, King Poseidon glared at me with a cold, hardened face.

“Convince me before this bottle is empty, Prince Ash.”

Only then did I remember.

There was one very big problem with the Fallen Kings plan.

All the fallen kings are bad-tempered, don’t want to be under anyone, and, decisively…

…Most of them have grudges against the empire.