The Emperor’s Daily Nitpicking

The entire room fell into silence.
Kevin was finally sure after a long time that felt like a century: the young emperor had been stunned stupid that he couldn’t speak anymore.

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Although Oswald had been fierce since he was a child, he still had the appearance of a young master due to the old housekeeper Ian’s obsessive-compulsive behaviour.
For instance, ‘one could lose their life but couldn’t lose their face.’ Even if he felt shattered and shocked in his heart, he had to put on a stiff face no matter what, appearing calm and collected.
If he really couldn’t contain himself anymore, he could slightly squint his eyes to increase his loftiness.

Unfortunately, this method wasn’t very effective now; he still couldn’t contain himself and slightly widened his eyes.

Kevin rarely saw his shocked expression and felt it was quite interesting; thus, he couldn’t help but tap Oswald’s chin with the dagger.
“Are you scared? Aren’t your whole body filled with bravery, Your Majesty?”

Oswald: “…..”

After a very long time, he finally came back to his senses and slightly squinted his eyes, whispering with great restraint.
“How can it be like this?”

Kevin spun the dagger and raised his chin at him.
“It’s too late, don’t squint anymore.
Your imposing behaviour couldn’t be saved anymore.
You’re still so young, don’t pretend to be mature.
It’s not lively.”

Oswald, who wasn’t the slightest lively, was unwilling to respond to Kevin’s teasing and didn’t get sidetracked by him.
“Since when did you discover you had this ability?”

Kevin: “Forgot.
I was born like this.”

“Since born…..” Oswald muttered to himself.
His gaze happened to sweep across the book Ian placed at the bedside: “The Book of Later Gods.” An idea flashed through his mind: Was this an atavism1an ancestral genetic trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations.?

There was a reason the Euna Clan was called the remnants of the Gods.

The Mainland had gone through the Old Gods era when the star shone the brightest, the outstanding Later Gods era when the gods had been destroyed, and through a century of desolation until becoming the present now.
During this very long period, as the legend said, Euna as the direct descendant of the gods, had undergone a complete change and didn’t carry any of the gods’ power anymore.

However, people would always have some delusion that maybe someday there would be an atavism.

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This had been a deeply-rotted obsession in their clan.
Especially after being ruthlessly suppressed by the Sand Ghost for several centuries, this obsession became stronger and was passed on from generation to generation.

Oswald’s family circumstances in his childhood were quite unique, and there wasn’t any parent or elder to chatter in his ears.
The old housekeeper, Ian, was the only one who liked to chatter with him and used the “Book of the Later Gods” as a requiem and eulogy.
Meanwhile, he only liked the “History of Gods” description as a bedtime story.
Naturally, he wouldn’t foster this kind of obsession.

But he couldn’t find more rational reasoning for Kevin’s situation except for atavism.

“Atavism?” Kevin was stunned for a while before responding and shrugging his shoulder.
“Maybe.”

“You…..Can you heal yourself regardless of any kind of wounds?” Oswald deeply looked at the bright and clean skin on his wrist.
“Wouldn’t that mean you could never die?”

Kevin shook his head.
“Pretty much, but not really.
For now, I can heal as long as I’m not pierced in the heart.”

Oswald frowned.
“What if you’re pierced in the heart?”

Of course, I will kick the bucket and die.”

“How would you know that?” Oswald asked back with a strange look on his face.

“…..” Kevin wanted to slap his own mouth.

“Since you have lived until now, it meant you haven’t been pierced in the heart.” Oswald’s light-coloured eyes were fixed on him again.
“So, how did you know about this?”

Kevin didn’t know how to answer him for a moment.
He thought of how to make up a reason when a knock sounded on the bedroom door.
Ian’s voice came in from the outside.
“Young Master, the food is here.”

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Oswald impatiently clicked his tongue as his interrogation was interrupted and replied, “Come in.”

Several female servants walked in line while carrying the food and thoughtfully brought a low table that could be set on the bed inside.

Oswald instructed the female servants to arrange well the food while sternly threatening Kevin.
“If you dare drop any food crumbs on my bed, go away with the quilt and wash it clean before returning.”

Kevin’s hand that held the spoon froze.
“This is your bed?”

Oswald unhappily said, “Otherwise?”

“I have laid here for three days and nights, so where did you sleep?” Kevin’s complexion looked somewhat strange.

“Sleep my ass.” Oswald kneaded the space between his brows and said, “I’ve been out talking to Mio about the matter in the northwest garrison.
Markoff had been dead.
Even if the old bastard Sapir is bedridden, he won’t be indifferent to this matter.
Moreover, there’s something odd with the Sand Ghost.
How could they silently assist and get lost to take shelter from the rainy season while watching the Beifeicu Empire gains profits? Only ghost would believe that.”

Kevin had also thought of the things he said.
The Sand Ghost wouldn’t do an unprofitable business and negotiate a fair deal, and they had a long list of previous convictions that made people guard against them.
When the rainy season came, the Sand Ghost’s action would be limited, and all their advantages would become disadvantages.
What other methods could they use to invade other clans under such circumstances?

Kevin didn’t rest for too long and only shamelessly had one nutritious meal.
He returned to the Bronze Army’s base camp and returned the big bed to Oswald, who didn’t have much rest.

The Bronze Barrack was slightly cooler than in the previous years, and most people’s rest break had ended.
Kevin found out from Oswald that Mio had led an army of ten thousand defence guards to the desert border before he woke up to avoid any surprise attacks from the Sand Ghost.

The Red Iron Army, one of the three big legions, was also dispatched.
They acted according to Oswald’s command to defend the region at the Carat River, tightly watching the Beifeicu Empire’s movement.

Kevin’s return had caused many uproars.
Although all the three legions have changed over the years, the reputation of the “youngest legion commander with the record of most victorious battle” wouldn’t be forgotten so fast.

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Of course, he couldn’t show a suicide attempt by slitting his wrist in public, and he also couldn’t tell people that he was a unique cheat.
With Oswald’s acquiescence and additions, he brought up those lies he used to fool Mio before, gave it a finishing improvisation, and quickly convinced everyone else except Oswald.

Even Ben, who personally dug him out from the ground, was almost successfully brainwashed.

“So, you didn’t know who saved you out of the coffin and moved you to Andoha?” Ben asked as he drew a bow and aimed it at the centre.

“Yes, I don’t know.” Kevin sympathised with the hereditary naiveness of the Giant Beastman while slapping Ben’s wrist.
“A little to the left.
The wind is from the southwest today.”

Ben howled, “Don’t tell me something complicated like east, south, west, and north.
My brain almost exploded! I’ve maintained this posture for the whole morning; when could I release the arrow? Can’t you adults keep your promise? Didn’t you say for a while? My hand is almost broken!”

Kevin turned a deaf ear at his howls and turned around to correct Angel’s posture.

Angel was the little white rabbit pretending to be from the Spirit Clan.
According to their original arrangement, he had initially decided to leave the Wuijinxuan Palace and stay in the city of St.
Andis.
But instead, he ran into Oswald’s little niece that morning before leaving.

Her Highness Cynthia, who had just turned four years old, instantly liked Angel.
She made him dance in his ghost dress and joyfully chased him around.
After that, she refused to let Angel go.

Although Oswald wasn’t too willing, he couldn’t stand Cynthia crying while hugging his thigh.
He could only let people carefully investigate Angel’s background while forcibly enduring him to stay.

It was rare to find a sunny day during the rainy season, and it was already great if it could last half a day.

The heavy rain just ended early in the morning and didn’t last until the afternoon before the rain poured down again.

“These bugs are extremely persistent.
They don’t even hide in this heavy rain…..” Kevin swatted the tiny flying insects that were about to land on his body and complained.
He ordered the archery endurance exercise to be replaced with horseback fighting in the rain and hurriedly went out of the barrack to the pathway.

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Ben stayed behind to train with the Bronze Army while Angel tailed behind him.
Kevin went to the imperial palace to look for Oswald while Cynthia summoned Angel.

“Your Excellency is here? Young Master is waiting for you in the study room.” Ian couldn’t change his address to Oswald, so he simply stopped struggling and continued to call him a young master.
Oswald also didn’t care about this and let him be.

“Okay, I’ll go there.
My God, all these insects gather in the hallway when it rains.” Kevin frowned and waved his hand.

A swarm of sesame seed-sized black insects dispersed around at his wave.
After circling a few times, they tirelessly approached again; it was extremely annoying.

There were not so many of these flying insects in the past, but this year they suddenly flooded, almost to the point of becoming a disaster.

Mio wrote with exaggerated complaints every day, such as “I could lift myself from all the insects inside the tent” or “I crushed all the bugs under the bed as I slept last night”.
The Red Iron Army in the Carat River was even worse as the humidity was the heaviest and the insects were numerous there.

Although these tiny black insects silently flew and weren’t as noisy as the mosquitoes, they could still bite people.
Their bites would cause a small, hot, itchy, excruciating rash.

“That’s right.
They’re more troublesome than mosquitoes.
The insect repellent we spread two days ago isn’t very effective to them.” Ian responded and directed the other chamberlain to sprinkle the poisoning powder on the corner of the long hallway, trying to lessen these damn insects.

Everyone seemed to have bite marks on their body, including Oswald.
After all, insects wouldn’t care whether you were an emperor or not.

Kevin was a little better off.
He had been bitten too, but those rashes always disappeared as soon as they appeared with his strange self-healing power.
It would disappear without a trace in a blink of an eye and naturally wouldn’t be very itchy.

He bypassed the chamberlain sprinkling powder and entered the study.
Angel paused briefly and tapped the space between his brows and lips while facing the flying insects everywhere; it was a commonly used prayer motion of the Later Gods’ believers.

“It’s quicker to slap the insects die than praying for them not to bite people.” Kevin blurted out.

He just said this when several shrieks came from the chamberlains inside the study, startling him.
“What happened?”

 

1an ancestral genetic trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations.