[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-reborn-king":3,"chapter-the-reborn-king-the-reborn-king-chapter-348":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Reborn King",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},1101005,1437,"Chapter 348: A Brief Reunion","the-reborn-king-chapter-348",348,"\u003Cp>Lesezek bounced whilst sitting on the throne. Looking at the double doors, he was waiting.’Aleksander. Konrad. Where are you?’He couldn’t help but look out at the window. The sun was slowly setting, and with his father back in the capital, the two definitely wouldn’t miss meeting him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snowid slammed open the door into the throne room. Lesezek quickly jumped off the throne and bowed towards him. Peeking up, he saw his missing eyes and held his breath, wondering who could have actually injured his father like that. Snowid walked over and planted his hand firmly on Lesezek’s shoulder. \"You did good.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lesezek felt his heart jump out of his chest with happiness and raised his head. Taking a seat on the throne, Snowid finally loosened his armour and looked around. \"Aleksander and Konrad haven’t returned.\" He answered, knowing what was confusing Snowid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why?\" Snowid asked in confusion. He understood Aleksander. The situation outside was enough to force him to focus on other matters, but Konrad was different. He wasn’t a servant or vessel but his close friend. Even if Konrad had something important to do, he would make sure to greet Snowid before running off to do his job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He said an Underwell was in the city. They even tried to poison me. I ordered him to find and kill him.\" Snowid froze before sighing and grabbing his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That idiot.\" It came out like a small growl, and just when he thought he could rest, he had to leave once again, \"His stupid obsession.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Konrad will be fine, Father,\" Lesezek said without worry, but Snowid shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Any other time, he would be. But it’s the Underwells. The man doesn’t think clearly when it involves them. Sometimes it’s a good thing, but meeting one directly. He will be off his game. Irrational. Where did he say he was going?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He never said,\" Lesezek answered. \"I gave the order to find them after the failed attempt on my life. My food taster died a few days later, so it was definitely real. Konrad wasn’t going off a hunch.\" He tried to think, \"That Laska boy might know. The Underwell made contact with him first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is he here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Should be. Maybe Aleksander is with him.\" Snowid nodded and rushed through the corridors. Seeing the Laska guards, he threw open the door without bothering about them and saw Oskar sitting, reading a book. Oskar jumped in fright, but seeing Snowid, quickly got on his knee and paid his respects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I greet the King.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enough of the pleasantries.\" Snowid looked around. \"Where’s Aleksander?\" Oskar squinted and looked at Snowid before looking at the prince.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He should be in the council room.\" Snoid looked at his son, getting a shake of the head from him. Looking back at Oskar, he felt nervous, wondering if Horace had betrayed his promise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll rephrase.\" Snowid took a step forward, his immense physique dwarfing Oskar. \"You met with the Underwell. Tell me what happened?\" Oskar gulped. Did Snowid know, or was it something else? Thinking for a second, he calmed down. If Snowid knew his deal with Oskar, he wouldn’t be talking; instead, he would be behind bars in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A week ago. Maybe more. I was in an establishment I frequented when Underwell approached me. Horace Underwell. We spoke, and he offered me a chance to side with the Empire.\" The aura around Snowid intensified as he curled his fists. \"Before I could answer, the man left and said Think about it. He would meet me at the establishment in a few days.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oskar took a deep breath. \"I told my uncle about it. Aleksander said that he would deal with it. My guess is he took Konrad with him for protection. It’s the last time I saw him.\" Snowid could tell Oskar didn’t lie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What establishment?\" Oskar nodded and went to his desk. He wrote the address and handed it to the father and son, who quickly left. Once the door closed, Oskar sighed and collapsed into his chair. Lifting his hand up, he saw how much it shook and clenched his fist, trying to calm down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I need to get out of here. If he finds out I am dead.’Oskar waited for a while. Leaving instantly was as suspicious as saying he sided with the Empire. An automatic death sentence.’I still need to complete my task.’The mission Horace gave him ate away at his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t something small, but to start a fire to burn Tourn. He knew Horace wasn’t a man who wanted one or two houses to burn down, but a fire that threatened to engulf the entire city. The question was how he would pull something off like that. He was someone without any of his people in the city. Additionally, Snowid’s entire army was now held up inside, watching for anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grabbing his head, his foot bounced. His fingers curled into his hair, and he closed his eyes, trying to think. His mind went through the archive, which was his memories, trying to find something useful. Thinking, he remembered a conversation he, his father, and Aleksander had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oskar, \" his father’s strict but caring voice called out. \"When defending a city, what is the hidden element you must worry about?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aleksander and August stared at Oskar with beaming eyes, watching as the boy played idea after idea in his mind. \"The people.\" August raised his eyebrows, waiting for him to continue. \"It’s a point easy to forget when focusing on the threat in front, but eventually they will become angry with the siege. Food will be directed towards the soldiers, meaning they will slowly go hungry.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aleksander and August nodded. \"But not all the food will go to the soldiers. Why will they still go hungry?\" Alexander’s stern voice asked next. Oskar paused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Prices. If the entire city is encircled, no more deliveries will come, and merchants will horde and raise prices for what little is available.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Excellent but wrong.\" August said happily, \"Yes, the merchants who want a quick profit will do that, but most merchants care about their lives more than gold. They also have a better information network than most Kingdoms and will know when to leave a city before it is under siege.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Food prices will still rise.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course.\" August clapped his hands and paced back and forth, \"So if it’s not the merchants. Then who is hiking prices?\" Oskar passed and quickly realised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Criminals,\" Aleksander smirked, and August smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They will quickly gather as much food as possible, killing anyone who refuses to give it up. Any policing force in a city will quickly be redirected to focus on the enemy outside. It is the perfect time for a criminal to make money. Afterwards, once they have their gold, most can retire from crime.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oskar smiled. With an enemy outside, anyone who focuses on the criminal element in the city will be gone. He was a Laska. Gold wasn’t a problem. It also gave him a way to distance himself from the crime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Getting up, Oskar walked towards his belongings and quickly packed them, being extra careful to pack his money. Waiting another hour, he quietly left his room and led his guards out of the Palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lesezek walked around the Palace. With Snowid leaving to search the location, Oskar proved and prepared the city’s defence; he was left in charge of his old work as regent. The internal affairs of the Palace, whilst having changed after the siege, weren’t completely different. Walking around, he saw some of the Palace guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They bowed towards Lesezek, but he waved them off. \"Have you seen Aleksande of Konrad.\" The two looked at each other and shook their heads. Lesezek sighed and walked off, asking every guard he walked past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Konrad missing whilst strange wasn’t out of the ordinary, but Aleksander being missing was. He lived in the Palace and was always busy with work.’Did he betray us?’The dangerous thought came to mind, but shaking his head, he pushed it to the side.’Aleksander definitely wouldn’t leave Oskar behind if that were the case. Underwell?’Next was being assassinated. Lesezek wanted to brush the idea away quickly again, but couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had almost died, saved in the last second. Aleksander definitely didn’t have the same level of security he had. But if he were killed, his body definitely would have been found.’Kidnapped, maybe.’He tried to make sense of it, but without proof, Lesezek could only sigh and leave it as a theory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you two seen either Konrad or Aleksander?\" The two guards outside the dungeon looked at one another and nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sir Konrad came here a few days ago. Our shift changed during his time in the dungeon, but it was the last place he had been.\" The guard paused and looked at Lesezek, speaking in a hushed tone, \"He said the men who aimed for your life were apprehended down there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lesezek frowned and ordered them to open the door.’If he captued Underwell he would have said. No, he would have bragged about it.’Lesezek had a bad feeling and rushed down with the guards. A pool of dried blood stained the floor, but it wasn’t strange. It was the dungeon after all. Lesezek himself had interrogated people in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Opening one door, it was empty, and Lezsek sighed, hoping he was wrong. \"Did Konrad himself say the man was here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guard paused and frowned. \"No. Someone who claimed to be one of his people. They had the same look as those Konrad had working for him, so we didn’t doubt it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shit.\" Lesezek quietly said and went faster, opening each door. In one of the rooms, one of the people they apprehended lay on the floor, a knife an inch away from him. Lesezek checked and could tell instantly that he had killed himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He was cut free and killed himself.’Lesezek checked and saw wounds all over their body, wounds that would make it hard for anyone to walk out and escape.’He did it to protect the Empire.’Going into the next room where they kept people locked up, Lesezek saw the chair empty, a body next to it stripped of clothing, with a surprised face and a wound in its throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fuck.\" Lesezek turned around and quickly checked the other cells. Throwing one of the doors open, he saw a body with a long wound across its neck. Lesezek ran over and flipped the body, his face going white in terror. \"No, no, no, no.\" Slapping Konrad’s face, in a desperate attempt to see if he was alive, Lesezek breathed heavily. \"No. Father will be mad. KONRAD!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite what he tried, Konrad’s lifeless body never moved, and Lesezek was forced to face reality. Standing up, he lowered his head in shame. \"Have someone send word to my father. Konrad is dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1821,"2026-06-03T11:17:48.775Z","2026-06-03T11:17:51.400Z",1,"novelbin.me","ef8c7041af4329ba04985c1a2869d31b0967d79d08bd0a0057c00785c8036768","the-reborn-king-chapter-349","the-reborn-king-chapter-347",487,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-reborn-king-cover.jpg"]