Chapter 299 |
“Don’t look at me like that. Odin only mentioned this when he invited me for tea earlier. It was Odin himself who wanted to send the two kids!” Facing Josh’s suspicious gaze, the Ancient One explained.
Explanation or cover-up? Odin invites you for tea just for fun? Josh absolutely didn’t buy it.
“Aren’t you afraid they’ll scare off the visiting envoys?” Josh sighed.
“I think those people’s mental endurance has probably been toughened up by you already!” The Ancient One hinted, “Besides, I believe you will arrange everything properly, right?”
“When will they arrive?” Josh had no other way but to ask.
Speaking of which, Loki hadn’t informed him in advance about such a big matter—Josh thought he definitely needed to be taught a lesson! While talking with the Ancient One, Josh kept this in mind.
However, Josh forgot that although Loki had sided with him, essentially Loki had pledged allegiance to the so-called “King of Destruction,” who now held a notorious reputation in the cosmos and was rarely seen.
What Loki knew was only what Josh had shown him about the Zhiyuan Star and most of Josh’s subordinates.
Although Loki knew that Josh and his wife were Earthlings, the specific situation of the two on Earth was something Josh never told Loki.
At this time, Loki was standing at the Rainbow Bridge complaining to Thor that Odin had gone senile, letting them congratulate a mortal kingdom.
Naturally, accompanying them were the three warriors who always stuck closely to Thor and Sif.
“You’re right, Father is indeed a bit senile. What god congratulates mortals!” Thor agreed in complaint.
The three warriors followed Thor unquestioningly, but Sif alone felt their attitude was somewhat inappropriate.
At this time, Thor was still extremely proud and complacent. Since he became an adult, Odin basically had not fought personally. All the turmoil in the nine realms was settled by Thor leading the armies, without a single defeat.
This gave Thor the illusion that he was invincible.
Little did he know, Asgard’s true enemies had long been wiped out by Odin, and the remaining ones were basically under contract.
The turmoil Thor judged were mostly just clowns causing trouble, and Odin did not bother to intervene.
Sending Thor was really just to give the son enough experience.
But obviously, Odin miscalculated; these battles, for Thor who was born strong, didn’t offer much training. Instead, Thor began to grow a bit spoiled.
At this moment, Odin had not yet realized this.
“Thor, don’t forget what your father told you—be humble!” Heimdall, about to open the Rainbow Bridge to send them to Earth, couldn’t help but remind him when seeing Thor’s arrogant attitude.
“Alright, I’ll be careful!” Thor showed a relatively proper attitude towards Heimdall, who was like a respected elder to him, but his perfunctory smile told everyone around that he didn’t really take Heimdall’s words to heart.
Sometimes this was a good thing, as it meant Thor didn’t hold grudges but sometimes, it was clearly a bad thing.
Heimdall didn’t say more. After all, Thor was a prince, and Heimdall only a gatekeeper—though an important one in Asgard.
With a flash of the Rainbow Bridge’s light, Thor and his group appeared in the garden square before Schönbrunn Palace.
Josh, having been informed by the Ancient One in advance, had already cleared the square and arranged personnel into a welcoming formation.
Though essentially unrelated to Asgard, guests were still guests and deserved proper respect.
As for whether the arrival of the Asgardians would cause trouble, there was no need to worry.
Schönbrunn Palace, being a royal garden, was highly private, and Josh had arranged court mages to set protective barriers.
People in Vienna only sensed a slight change in the sky for a second or two, completely unaware of anything unusual.
The government was specially informed by Josh, so there would be no disturbances.
“Looks like this mortal kingdom is quite sensible. Is that the queen? She’s just a child!” Thor nodded approvingly while looking at the palace’s court welcome formation, then gazed at the queen Carol in her regal attire from afar.
Others also curiously examined Carol, wondering what was special about this queen for Odin to specially send them to witness her ceremony.
Loki’s gaze swept over and landed on Josh and his wife standing next to Carol, his expression immediately changing but he quickly composed himself as if nothing happened.
“Welcome, honored sons of Odin, to Austria. I am the Queen of Austria, Carol Kane!” Carol, having been coached by Josh, stepped forward and gracefully gave them a formal court greeting.
“I am Loki, son of Odin! It is a great honor to witness Your Majesty’s coronation!” As Thor prepared to respond, Loki suddenly stepped forward and gave Carol a half-kneeling bow!
This move stunned everyone present except Josh and his wife, the Ancient One, and Peggy Carter, who had just secretly arrived in Austria through a magic portal.
For those at Schönbrunn Palace, though all were trained Ouroboros agents loyal to Josh and had seen magic and mysterious things, Asgardians were legendary “gods,” inspiring both curiosity and awe.
But now, what did they see? The infamous god of lies and trickery was kneeling and paying respects to their queen!
Loki’s action made the honor guard straighten up involuntarily.
Who else but their queen could make a legendary god kneel?
Even Carol herself was a bit at a loss from Loki’s kneeling.
Fortunately, thanks to Josh’s teaching (Margot: What exactly did that scoundrel teach?), the young girl’s heart was strong and she confidently extended her hand, allowing Loki to complete a hand-kiss.
This shifted the pressure onto Thor and the others.
They had originally planned only a hand-on-chest salute or a slight bow.
Unexpectedly, Loki, who had been complaining nonstop about this mortal kingdom on the Rainbow Bridge, now did this.
This made them extremely awkward.
Thor was better off—as the official envoy leader and Loki’s elder brother, it was okay for him not to kneel and just salute normally but the others not kneeling would be a pure slight to Prince Loki.
Though they disliked Loki, when outside, he was still an Asgardian prince and the face of Asgard.
If Loki knelt but they didn’t, that would be insubordination.
The quickest to react was Sif.
Among Thor’s group, she was always the one most concerned with rules and etiquette.
This was why Odin and Frigga saw her as Thor’s suitable partner—they believed she could be a wise consort to Thor.
When Sif knelt, the three warriors reluctantly followed with half-kneeling bows.
At the same time, they were relieved that this mortal monarch was only a teenage girl, so even if Loki and they knelt, it wouldn’t embarrass Asgard.
After all, under most normal circumstances, women and children tend to receive preferential treatment more easily.
After this little episode, the rest was a relatively normal diplomatic procedure.
Presenting congratulatory gifts and letters of credence, holding talks, and so on.
Not to mention, the gifts from Asgard this time were clearly given with care. Although not many, and not exactly very valuable, they were all exquisite.
A set of elven jewelry produced in Alfheim, and a Golden Fleece cloak.
Of course, this Golden Fleece was not the kind from Greek mythology, but wool produced by a kind of pale gold-colored sheep from Alfheim. Under the sunlight, it shimmered brilliantly and was very beautiful, making most of the women present unable to look away.
A set of Asgard standard Uru alloy ceremonial armor and weapons.
The last item was a Gjallarhorn, the legendary warning horn of Heimdall.
But in reality, this thing was a mass-produced product, used to summon the Rainbow Bridge and contact Asgard.
Because of Loki’s episode, Thor, who had originally looked down on Austria, had become much more restrained, though his occasional strange glances toward Loki showed he clearly wanted to say something to his brother but was constrained by the occasion.
However, as the time for the parade was approaching, Thor and his group used magic to transform into Earth clothes, then boarded the royal procession carriage, preparing to go to the Hofburg Palace in the center of Vienna.
The Hofburg Palace was the real imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Although Schönbrunn Palace was larger in area, strictly speaking it was only a hunting residence.
After the fall of the Habsburg dynasty, this place became the office location of the Austrian government.
The famous Heroes’ Square was just outside the Hofburg Palace.
Carol’s coronation ceremony would be held inside the Hofburg, and the parade would be at Heroes’ Square.
“What’s your problem? Why have you been looking at me like that all along?” Loki spoke first after boarding the ceremonial carriage, before Thor could say anything.
“…Shouldn’t that be a question I ask you? You don’t seem like your usual self today!” Thor said with a strange expression.
“Are you talking about the saluting? Didn’t you forget what Father said before departure? To be humble!” Loki said calmly.
“Is that so? Brother, you can’t be serious? I already asked—she’s only thirteen, and humans have such short lifespans. Father probably won’t agree to your business!” Thor asked seriously, forcibly grabbing his brother’s shoulder.
Thor’s question completely stunned Loki!
What was that supposed to mean?
He had only guessed the identity of the queen of the Austrian United Kingdom after seeing Josh and his wife, which was why he showed special respect.
And it turned out his guess was correct; the girl’s surname really was Kane.
Although he didn’t understand why Josh pushed his daughter out to be queen, that didn’t stop him from being a bit courteous.
After all, after the equipment and treasures Josh had given him before, his strength had made a huge leap in the past year, making his previous thousand-plus years seem wasted.
So he intended to serve Josh well and get as many benefits as possible from him.
That’s all.
But what was Thor talking about?
“Eh? You don’t mean you’ve taken a fancy to that mortal queen?” Seeing Loki’s confusion, Thor bluntly asked, “I admit the girl is pretty, even prettier than Sif. It’s normal you’d like her, but after all, she’s just a mortal...”
Before Thor could finish, Loki covered his mouth.
“Are you crazy? What nonsense are you spouting?” Loki hurriedly said. Damn it, don’t drag me into your death wish! If Josh hears this, will he even survive?
“Oh, oh, oh, my dear brother is shy now!” But Thor ignored this, looking at the somewhat flushed Loki, treating it as if he was bashful because he’d had his thoughts exposed.
“Shut up, damn it! If you say one more word, I swear I’ll kill you!” Loki got anxious. If Josh’s family wasn’t sitting in the carriage ahead, he would have pulled out Frostmourne and stabbed Thor right then and there.
Who says the Filial Sword can only stab the father, not the brother?
“Alright, alright, I won’t say any more, won’t say any more!” Seeing Loki was really losing it, Thor hurriedly said.
But he didn’t know why a fire of gossip was burning in his heart, unable to be suppressed.
“By the way, are you really not interested in her?” After holding back for a while, Thor asked again.
The response was Loki’s gentle and refined smile—and pain in his waist.
It turned out Loki really took a dagger and stabbed Thor in the waist.
“Tch, damn it, you’re serious!” Thor gritted his teeth as he pulled out the dagger, somewhat angry—even though this wound meant little to him.
“So, you want to fight me here?” Loki smiled warmly but had two more daggers appear in his hands.
“...Not interested!” Thor stared at Loki’s expression for a long time, sighed, then turned his head and ignored his annoying little brother.
They definitely couldn’t fight here. If they fought on the coronation day, not only would they offend the host terribly, the main issue would be embarrassing Asgard’s people.
Though Thor’s brain wasn’t the best and he was easily fooled, he wasn’t that unreasonable.
Hmph. But Loki stabbing him again was unforgivable. He’d tell their mother when they returned—Loki’s taken a fancy to a mortal!
Loki saw that this big dummy finally calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief. If Thor had kept talking, he felt he wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.
But if he knew what was really on Thor’s mind right now, Loki would probably risk everything to fight him to the death right then!