Ender went straight back to the capital city and to the home of the Left Minister.
Inside the study, the Left Minister was checking the tiger teeth.
"Yes, they are good. Very good," the Left Minister said, putting the teeth away and looking at Ender in a way that showed a lot of acknowledgment.
"I didn't think you could actually do it. That tiger wasn't very strong, but it was very hard to hunt since it hid in Mt. Colubo. You are better than your uncle, so you can take his place from now on."
In a few words, Ender replaced the black market merchant. This shows how little the Left Minister cared about people. He completely forgot about the gifts the black market merchant had given him before.
"The task is done. I plan to take the Guard Captain job today. I wonder, Left Minister..."
Ender looked at the Left Minister. With how uncaring and cold this old man was, it was possible he would break his promise.
"Guard Captain? What are you talking about? I never said..."
The Left Minister suddenly stopped talking. His tricky old eyes dimmed right away.
[The Left Minister is going against the rules of Reincarnation Paradise. ]
[Reincarnation Paradise is forcing a change…]
Ender heard a cold voice in his ear. This was the first time he had heard the voice of Reincarnation Paradise. (TL/N: I think until now he was only seeing text)
It was a machine sound, with no feeling at all, cold and cruel.
After a very short silence, the Left Minister continued, "Since you have completed the task, the Guard Captain job is yours. I will go to the royal palace soon to set things up for you. In an hour, you will be the new Guard Captain."
The Left Minister's voice was dull, and his words made no sense, which confused the guard standing behind him.
Ender watched the Left Minister closely. The strange change in the man must be connected to Reincarnation Paradise.
Ender had expected the Left Minister not to keep his word. The only reason Ender hunted the Ruler of Mt. Colubo was because Reincarnation Paradise had given him a quest.
Up until now, even though Reincarnation Paradise was cold and showed no feeling, it had never gone back on its word.
Cold and cruel, but fair. That was the impression Reincarnation Paradise gave Ender.
So, Ender wanted to test what would happen if the Left Minister broke his promise.
The reward for his side quest was the Guard Captain job.
From what was happening now, Reincarnation Paradise chose to control the Left Minister directly to force the quest reward to be given.
As for what would happen to the Left Minister later, it was hard to say. Maybe he would return to normal soon, or maybe he would become an idiot?
Also, Ender had been wondering about something: was the pirate world he was in a real world or one made up by Reincarnation Paradise?
If it was a world made up by Reincarnation Paradise, the Left Minister would be like a non-player character (NPC) and would not be able to break his promise.
From what was happening now, this place was most likely a real world. At least everything Ender had touched felt real.
The so-called derived world might come from people's stories and then become a real place.
–
Leaving the Left Minister's house, Ender began to think about how to kill the King.
Even though he was now the Guard Captain, this job would not help him meet the King. And even if he did meet him, he couldn't just stab him.
The King surely had many guards protecting him. Even if Ender had a tiny chance of success, he would die right after.
Reincarnation Paradise had warned him before that if he died in the pirate world, he would be completely dead, with no second chances.
It seemed like Ender was stuck, but he was not. He now had a way to kill the King.
Two things were most important to successfully kill the King: first, getting inside the royal palace, which Ender was never worried about.
Second, getting the guards away from the King, which was the most important part.
The King's personal guards must be very strong. So, under what conditions would those close guards leave?
It would be if a strong enemy appeared in the palace, an enemy who could seriously hurt the King. The guards would have to rush out to fight as a last choice.
That would be the right time for Ender to act.
Ender wasn't worried about the King's own fighting ability. If the King was very strong, the chance of completing the quest would be too low, and the main quest difficulty would not be only LV.3.
As for finding a strong enemy to threaten the King, he would have to use the plan to burn the trash dump.
That's why he worked hard to get the Guard Captain job—he needed the power to make decisions about burning the trash dump.
Even though the nobles of the Goa Kingdom didn't care about the poor people outside the city walls, they wouldn't let the royal government do the burning.
The reason was simple: it would make the Kingdom look bad.
So, the task of burning the trash dump would be given to criminal groups. In the pirate world, these groups are usually the pirates in the nearby waters.
Some large pirate crews in the area had heard that the Goa Kingdom had a big job, and if they did it well, they could become nobles.
Being a noble was a strong lure for those desperate people. Most people became pirates because they had no other choice.
So, a few pirate crews had already come to the waters near the Goa Kingdom, waiting for this chance.
Tonight, the Goa Kingdom would choose one of these crews to burn the trash dump tomorrow night.
The Guards are the armed force of the capital. Ender's new job was to talk and make deals with those pirates.
If he used his current job well, he would definitely have a chance to kill the King.
According to the original story, the King never planned to make those pirates nobles; he was just using them.
While Ender was thinking, he arrived back at the Guard headquarters.
Compared to a day ago, the place looked messy now.
The guards at the gate were gone. When Ender entered the headquarters, he saw over a dozen guards gambling in the main hall, and a few others were drinking together.
The smell of bad tobacco, alcohol, and sweat filled the hall.
There was no boss here anymore. Even though Ender was the boss now, he wouldn't try to manage the guards.
He only needed the job title. What happened to the headquarters was not his problem.
Ender went to Brandon O'Car's old office and opened the door.
There were three people inside: Hank and Brandon O'Car's two trusted men.
Hank was sitting on the sofa, and Brandon O'Car's two men were standing on either side of Brandon O'Car's chair. The three were facing off, but no one dared to sit in the chair.
Ender walking into the office surprised the three men.
Hank didn't say anything, but Brandon O'Car's two trusted men spoke up.
"Is this where you're supposed to be? Get out!"
Ender looked down, not looking at them at all. He walked up to Brandon O'Car's chair and sat down right away.
"You jerk! You can't sit there! Who do you think you are..."
One of Brandon O'Car's trusted men walked angrily toward Ender.
"Get out. You are not a guard anymore. You have one minute to disappear."
Ender still did not look at him. He was thinking about his next steps. He did not want to deal with people like that; it was a waste of time.
That trusted man of Brandon O'Car was surprised at first, then he looked at Ender with a sneer.
Just then, the office door opened, and a messenger walked in with some papers.
"Mr. Hakuitsu, here is your notice of becoming the Guard Captain and your ID card."
The Left Minister had done his work faster than expected.
Brandon O'Car's trusted man froze, looking blankly at Ender.
"You two don't have to go. Stay here forever."
Ender looked at Brandon O'Car's two men. Meanwhile, Hank's mind raced, and he shouted:
"Everyone downstairs, come up here and congratulate our new boss!"
Hank was very unhappy but couldn't do anything about it. He didn't dare openly go against the Kingdom's order.
--
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