Chapter 349: The Mindset of a Wise King |
Passing through the portal, the first thing Alexios heard was several screams of pain.
He looked in one direction, and his face darkened.
Alexios had never gone straight to Hell, but if he was honest, the sight before him looked like a scene straight from its depths.
'How? How did he do this in just a few hours?' Alexios recalled that when Ophis fell asleep, Victor announced that he was going to a place to have fun, and disappeared for 6 hours, only to return at the exact time Ophis woke up.
Alexios killed his nausea, and looked around with a cold stare, and he couldn't help but think.
'Are his methods more brutal than the impaler himself?... And to think he did it because he was angry... Wait, it doesn't matter if he was angry, this method of torture is not achieved by some Young Vampire. These methods are only obtained through milenia of experience in extracting information from individuals.'
"Y-You..."
"..." Alexios looked at the location of the voice, finding a cell made of ice, where a small Yōkai was held captive.
"P-please... Kill me..."
Alexios turned around, and walked towards a room. He opened his eyes, revealing swirling galaxies replacing the expected whites, iris, and pupil:
"It's time to get to work."
Some minutes later.
Alexios, who was working, was suddenly interrupted by a small laugh.
"..." He stopped what he was doing and looked towards the wall.
Soon, he saw a tall man walking past the wall while he had a small smile on his face.
"…will it be ready for the event?"
"Yes." Alexios looked at several runes on the walls: "It should be all set up before the 'event'."
"That's nice." Victor nodded in satisfaction.
"... I'm curious."
"Hmm?" Victor took his attention away from the strange characters on the wall and looked at Alexios.
And he is mildly surprised to see the man with his eyes wide open.
Looking at the Galaxies in Alexios' eyes, Victor was mesmerized for a few seconds.
"Why?"
"...?" Victor woke up from his stupor: "Why what?"
"Why go so far for a child that isn't even your daughter."
"..." Victor's face distorted slightly, he didn't like Alexios' words.
"Don't get it wrong, I'm just curious."
"..." Looking at the man's face, Victor understood that he meant no insult with his words, nor any harm.
Understanding that the man did not know how to express himself correctly, he said:
"From the moment that little girl called me father, I was prepared to burn the world if it meant her smiles would persist even a second longer."
"...why? She's not even your real daughter."
"There is no 'Why'."
"I consider her my daughter, and she calls me her father."
Victor flashed a small smile: "Does a parent need a reason to protect their children?"
"...." Alexious opened his eyes wide, and soon a memory popped into his head.
...
Alexios was looking at Vlad who was giving orders to his shadows to protect his children.
"Master, why order so much protection around your youngest children?"
"They are my heirs, and… The youngest is my wife's last in this life. She needs to be protected."
...
'They really are different.' Alexios closed his eyes, and flashed a small smile.
Vlad had an obsession, and a 'responsibility' to protect what was his.
Despite loving his children, for Vlad, his kingdom would always come first.
He was a King before he was a father.
And this mindset was not wrong. This was the perfect mindset for a ruler.
... But that's what your most trusted subordinates are for.
If Vlad ordered Alexios to look after his kingdom while he went to fetch Ophis, Alexios would do it splendidly, but Vlad wouldn't do it...
The reason?
Despite trusting Alexios a lot, he didn't trust him 100%.
If you were to quantify how much Vlad trusted Alexios, Alexios himself would say around 90%.
Arrogance, Pride, Greed, and desire for possession.
These emotions sometimes clouded the judgment of the most powerful Vampire in existence.
"Indeed... You are correct... You are indeed correct." Alexios laughed at the end amusedly.
If Natalia, his beloved daughter, was in danger, he would do anything to ensure her safety. Not even the Gods themselves would be able to stop him.
'Time is eternal, and it is by my side.' He looked at the runes as his eyes that contained a galaxies moved as if several small universes were connecting.
"I have another question."
"...You're really curious today, huh." Victor spoke.
"I never had a chance to talk to you alone."
"... That's true." Victor nodded.
"Very well, ask your question."
"...Imagine this hypothetical situation."
"Hmm... I'm listening." Victor looked at Alexios curiously.
Alexios looked at Victor while keeping his eyelids closed.
"You are the King of a country."
"And you're in a situation where you have to choose between the survival of your kingdom, or the survival of your family."
"..." Before Victor could open his mouth.
Alexios spoke: "You can't choose both. The situation is so dire that you would have to make a choice between abandoning your Kingdom or abandoning your family."
"..." Victor was silent, and he really considered Alexios' answer. He imagined himself as a ruler who built an entire empire, and suddenly he had to choose between the empire and his family.
And the answer he always arrived at, no matter the situation, was:
"I would choose my family."
"...why?"
"If this hypothetical situation became real, and I became a King, I would most likely be ruling for myself."
"Huh?" Alexios didn't understand what Victor was getting at.
"The people serve the King, the King does not serve the people."
"The King points the way, and it's up to him to lead his people to the promised land."
"If I were King, I would rule with these principles."
"…But if you abandoned your subordinates, wouldn't that be the same as betrayal? The King himself betraying his subordinates?"
"This is correct." Victor nodded, and his expression didn't change:
"Because of that, I would always make my intentions clear."
"I would die for my family, and if the sacrifice of my kingdom and myself was what it took for them to survive."
"Then so be it."
"..." Alexios looked at Victor with a shocked look.
'That's not the mindset someone your age should have... Just how much did Scathach break him...?'' Alexios thought for a moment, and soon he understood something:
'She didn't break him, she cut him free with her training, awakening the warrior that existed within this man…'
'But this mentality…'
'This woman… Is she training him to be a King? Or has he had this disposition from the beginning?'
Despite having several doubts, Alexios felt satisfied with his deduction, he laughed a little and said:
"You would make a terrible King."
"HAHAHAHA~." Victor laughed in amusement: "Indeed, indeed."
"Although if I had a kingdom, this hypothetical situation would never come to pass." Victor's smile widened.
"Oh? Why do you think that."
"Because, before a situation like this could manifest, I would ask for help." Victor's words caught Alexios off guard.
"..."
"I would ask for help from my Wives, my Master, my Friends, and from my Maids."
"They are capable women; they would definitely think of something."
"...You would leave your Kingdoms fate in the hands of other people?"
"Hmm? Of course. After all, they are not just any random people. They are my Wives, and my beloved Maids."
"...." If Alexios' jaw wasn't still connected to his face, it would've impacted the ground. He was very shocked.
"And also, as the saying goes, 7 heads are better than 1."
"...I don't think the saying went like that..."
"Really? Meh, who cares? HAHAHAHA~."
"...." Alexios flashed a small smile when he heard the man's laughter.
"Indeed, who cares?" Alexios laughed, not as hard as Victor, but he did.
"Umu, Umu! It seems you do understand!" Victor nodded in satisfaction.
A portal appeared, beside them, and soon Natalia appeared, accompanied by Maria.
Seeing her father laughing with Victor as if he found something very funny, her brain stopped working, and she was paralyzed for a few seconds:
'What the fuck? Is Victor's madness spreading like a disease? Even to my father!'
"Umu?" Victor stopped laughing and looked at the two girls: "Oh, you came Maria..."
"Yes. I knew Master needed me, so I immediately stopped my game with the girls and came!" She spoke with a twinkle in her eye.
"Good." Victor nodded in satisfaction, then said, "Come with me."
"Yes, Master." Without delay, Maria quickly ran towards Victor and grabbed his arm.
Victor started walking towards the exit. He passed close to Natalia and said:
"Good job."
"..." Natalia displayed a small smile, but when she was about to follow Victor, the man just pat her head lightly, and said:
"Don't come with me, it's for your own good." He smiled kindly.
"..." His gentle smile caught Natalia off guard.
'That smile with that face is not fair!' She complained to herself as she cursed Victor's beauty.
Despite being troubled internally, she was also curious why he wouldn't let her go with him.
"..." Looking at this, Alexios couldn't help but display a small smile.
'For someone who says he would abandon his Kingdom and subordinates when it reached a critical point... He's pretty kind, huh.' Alexios knew Victor said that because the room next to this one was just very...
Infernal.
Natalia might be used to killing, but seeing dismembered bodies, and all kinds of torture wasn't for her.
A good example of this was that she was feeling sick at the little massacre that Victor caused when he arrived in Japan.
'...He would really make a good King.' Alexios thought to himself approvingly. He agreed with Victor's mindset that the people served the King, and not the other way round.
Vlad had the same attitude.
But the primary difference between Vlad and Victor was that Victor was willing to trust the people close to him.
And it's not like Vlad from the start didn't have people he could trust.
His Wives, for example. If he'd only tried to have a good relationship with them.
Perhaps Nightingale would be even stronger.
After all, all of Vlad's Wives were special in some way, and they were all highly capable.
But unfortunately, due to being a millennial man, and a man who practically lived half of his 2000 years sleeping, Vlad's mentality was left stranded in the customs of the past.
"Natalia, listen to him." Alexios spoke to his daughter when he saw that she was going to question Victor.
"Huh?"
"You don't want to go into that room. Trust me."
"..." Now Natalia was even more curious, but seeing her father's unusually serious look, she decided to give in and listen to the two men.
...Wait, was being treated like a child?
She's a grown woman for God's sake!
Ignoring her feelings of incongruity, she spoke:
"Okay."
"...." Victor smiled and nodded slightly at Alexios.
Alexios smiled too, then turned and went back to his work.
"Come on, Maria."
"Yes, Yes!" Maria was excited.
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