Chapter 8: The Fourth Path

Su Ya covertly glanced at Mei Li from the corner of his eye.

Seeing her voluntarily put on the pain mask, he couldn't help but secretly laugh.

He wasn't lying to this woman, and everything he said was the truth.

As for what Mei Li thought of because of these few truthful words of his,

Su Ya didn't know,

This guy's appearance was too coincidental, and he even set a trap for himself in his oath, seeming like he came to mooch off others,

He doesn't look like a good woman at all.

If left to be driven by the other party, he'd likely be treated as a slave without any human rights.

Moreover, on this chaotic battlefield, a stand-in for a king who killed a king, and the true heir to the kingdom,

Obviously, the latter's identity carries more weight among allies!

It would also be more convenient for Su Ya to escape this perilous situation,

So,

Even though he had no interest in becoming whatever king of Britannia,

but under the pressure of reality,

Su Ya also had to make Mei Li, who knew better than him what posture to adopt to flee, regard him as the true king rather than the fake she initially thought him to be!

And at this moment,

Seeing that the timing for this big stick was about right, Su Ya let out a deep breath, raised his head, and looked sternly at the flower mage before him.

"Chief steward, is that Mei Li?"

"Ah, yes!" Mei Li jerked, came to her senses, and looked at Su Ya with suspicion.

Immediately after, she saw,

The blond-haired youth before her raised his palm, vigorously wiped off the black mud and blood on his face, took a deep breath, and with his clear, gem‑like green eyes fixed solemnly on her, then slowly spoke,

"I don't mind sharing the king's treasury with you, even though I currently possess nothing."

"I also don't mind becoming kin with you; all I can offer you now is this empty title."

"You, who manipulate the oath, should know better than I how to make use of me."

Having said that, Su Ya gave a bitter laugh,

then,

his eyes darkened, and he spoke in a low voice:

"If, for the sake of saving this country, I still have any value worth using——"

"I, Su Ya Pendragon, hereby allow you to share the king's treasury, become the king's friend, and assist in the king's great undertaking!"

"Mei Li!" Su Ya shouted in a low voice.

"Ah? Ah— I'm here!"

Suddenly having the trick in his oath exposed, Mei Li couldn't help but tense all over, and then looked in disbelief at Su Ya, who had practically promised her everything.

Then,

she then heard the youth ask her solemnly with a voice clearer and more pleasant than a minstrel's,

"Can I trust you?"

Mei Li gulped nervously.

When the most noble person of the kingdom opened his heart to her,

even though this fellow was now covered in blood, looking as wretched as a dog,

Mei Li's heart involuntarily began to pound wildly.

By now, she had almost completely come to believe that Su Ya was the true king of Britannia!

And now,

a true king actually extended an olive branch to her, such a failed gambler in life!

In the flash of lightning, Mei Li's thoughts whirled wildly,

she had to consider whether this might be her only chance in life, and thus she completely suppressed her doubts about Su Ya's identity.

Then she saw——

Su Ya stripped the leather armor from a knight's corpse on the ground, put it on himself, then stepped into the stirrup and naturally mounted her horse, extended his hand to her, and said solemnly,

"I understand, this is a heavy choice for you."

"But now, there's no time to explain,"

"Hurry up and mount!"

"Ah? Ah, okay!"

Mei Li, dazed, reached out her small hand, was pulled by Su Ya onto the saddle, and then Su Ya, who couldn't ride a horse at all, handed her the reins,

and in a daze she voluntarily took on the duty of driving the horse.

Yet she felt no sense of incongruity, even though just moments ago she had imagined herself riding the horse while letting slave Su Ya run behind it.

Now,

The two squeezed onto one horse, their bodies nearly touching, clearly feeling the hot breath Su Ya exhaled near her ear, his heart beating fiercely in sync with hers, as if speaking of the similarly unsettled emotions of the boy behind her.

"Let's leave here first, just as you said earlier; if we delay any longer, we might be caught by the captain of the Red Scout."

Su Ya furrowed his brows, at the moment Mei Li believed his lie,

*gek, gek, gek! *

Near her ear, the sound of a skull being struck by dice rang out again.

The fourth, and currently his last reliable legendary path, was triggered.

No time to look, ahead, Mei Li, who was gradually regaining consciousness, blinked in confusion and asked blankly:

"My king, what do you think we should do?"

"I'll follow you."

"But I followed you out of Sir Ecto's manor; you're the one who decides the route."

"I trust you."

"This... but, I"

"There's no 'but' about it." Su Ya took a deep breath, his face serious, and said:

"Even a king can misjudge, let alone me who hasn't inherited this position yet; I need to think carefully about our next plan, Mei Li—go ahead and act as you think best!"

Mei Li nodded blankly,

She felt that just a moment later, thoughts were crowding her mind left and right, as if they weren't enough.

However, Su Ya's words were not problematic,

Their most urgent task now is to leave here, especially since Arthur Pendragon is dead.

Before that,

Arthur led their manor unit out of the manor, raised Sir Ecto's banner to gather some defeated troops, then marched straight toward the capital,

But,

they unfortunately encountered the Conquest King's army in the process.

The other units Arthur brought out from the manor were left behind in a rear formation made up of defeated troops—the very unit just shattered by the Macedonian Empire army led by Seleucus—and they are now likely suffering heavy losses.

And Arthur himself, the unit's strongest combatant, was unfortunately ambushed while scouting the enemy, severely wounded, and then died.

Without judging whether Arthur's choice was correct, perhaps if he hadn't been ambushed he would have been a superhuman capable of leading his troops to survive the even more exaggerated onslaught of the berserker Seleucus and the Macedonian phalanx legion and escape back to the capital Winchester.

But now, with Arthur replaced by Su Ya, Mei Li realizes that with their current abilities they cannot possibly stand against the hero-level unit Seleucus head-on, nor even face his subordinate phalanx legion, allied cavalry, or even the lower-tier scout cavalry unit,

they can only choose to flee.

Thinking this, Mei Li's gaze hardened, she gripped the warhorse's reins, and squeezed with her legs!

"Giddyap!"

The brown warhorse leapt out of the trench, carrying the two of them in long strides toward the hills opposite the Conquest King's army.

"My king, I'll keep you updated on the situation as we move—please stay alert—"

"Okay!"

Su Ya nodded solemnly.

Taking advantage of the moment while Mei Li focused on riding, he let his gaze fall on the floating subtitles before him.

【Talent: Legendary Heart, triggered.】

【Trigger Legendary Path: King (Ex).】

【Obtained F‑class Job: Charlatan.】

【Explanation: Ordinary deception masks falsehood with falsehood; excellent deception masks falsehood with truth; and superior deception is truth itself! By pulling off a high‑level scam, you have resolved your own crisis, so it's time to walk the path from swindler to instigator, all the way to overturning everything and becoming the strongest Seated Forgetting Dao—farewell, prison!】

【Gained Ability: Reading Expressions, slightly boosting reaction and deception skill experience.】

【Path: Continue using your utterly truthful lies to deceive a hundred people (1/100), hold a gathering‑type scam ritual, and obtain the next‑level job: Swindler, along with its exclusive expertise.】

【You have taken another step on your legendary path!】

【Current Legendary Path: 4/4.】

(End of chapter)