I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 347: Battle of Words

XXXX Continent, Seraph Kingdom, at the royal training grounds.

“Shouldn’t be training with your members for the war for the throne, Big Brother Arshe?” Vanadir let out a light yet mocking chuckle as he asked the man in front of him, taking on a cold yet serious tone. Nevertheless, his gaze towards the man was one filled with vigilance and slight combat intent.

Of course, the man in front of him couldn’t care less as to whether how he was viewed. As a light grin appeared on his face, the man named Arshe replied, “Normally, I should be doing that…but taking care of my younger brothers take precedence, no?”

“In any case, my people are already prepared for the war for the throne,” he continued, the grin on his face continuing to become bigger as a confident air surrounded him. He then shifted his focus towards the other people that came with Vanadir and asked, “How about your ragtag team of fighters? Do you really think they could fight against my team on even grounds?”

Hearing how they were called, Valentia could not help but take a step forward in anger and shout at the black-clothed man, “Hey, you! How dare you call us a ragtag team if you haven’t even experienced our full powe—mngh!”

Unfortunately for her, before she could even finish her words, Griselle went ahead and cover her mouth as she leaned into her ear, whispering, “Valentia, you do know who you’re talking to, right?”

“Mmnnh…?” Valentia looked at Griselle with a gaze of slight curiosity as she let out a sound in response. Seeing that Valentia was as clueless as she knew her, Griselle could not help but let out an inward sigh as she sent a strand of energy to her, allowing a private conversation to take place.

“Fortunately, that guy thinks of us as inferior so he won’t make a move on you,” Griselle said through her connection, prompting Valentia to ask, “And that’s actually a good thing? Are you really the Griselle I know?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t act like this for no reason, Valentia,” Griselle replied before continuing, “Didn’t you hear what Vanadir called the man?”

“Big Brother Arshe?” Valentia said in response, only to become silent for a bit as not long after, an expression of realization soon appeared on her face. Her eyes widened in fear as she looked at the black-clothed man, who was looking at the two of them with a light grin still plastered on his face.

In an instant, Valentia knew why Griselle was acting like this, prompting her to tell her through their connection, “You can let go of me now, Griselle. I already know what to do.”

Without hesitation, Griselle went ahead and removed her hand over Valentia’s mouth, knowing very well that Valentia would now know what to say. Soon, the two of them looked at the black-clothed man with vigilance as they continued their conversation through the connection they had.

“Arshe Beliaris Seraph. To think that this guy is the Third Prince of our kingdom,” Valentia could not help but say with a sigh. Hearing her words, Griselle asked, “Do you have a problem with him being a prince of the kingdom?”

“Of course, I do. Shouldn’t princes be those that think of the kingdom and its citizens first before themselves?” Valentia replied, to which Griselle responded, “Valentia, your image of a prince is too ideal. Sure, that may be the case, but not all princes have to show that kind of image.”

“I may just be beating around the bush by saying this,” Valentia said not long after, letting out a sigh once more before adding, “I’m just infuriated that he’s one of our opponents.”

While the two of them were conversing with one another, Arshe went ahead and looked at his brother in front of him with a grin still on his face as he asked, “To think that the members you’ve chosen would be so brazen as to lash out at me. Do you really think such a team like that would win in the war for the throne?”

“Whether our team would win or not is not a matter of their personalities, Arshe. Take yourself as an example,” Vanadir said in response, maintaining a serious expression all throughout the conversation. Hearing how he was being called, Arshe could not help but become slightly furious as he hastily grabbed Vanadir by the neck, slowly lifting him up in the process.

Of course, Vanadir was not going to let Arshe do as he pleased. With that in mind, he then went ahead and asked, “Are you really planning on trying to kill me, Arshe? You’re really that confident that you wouldn’t even hesitate to kill one of your brothers inside the palace?”

Naturally, Vanadir went ahead and said these words as loud as possible, even going so far as to use his slight mastery over the Wind element to make sure that a few people would be able to hear his words, even from far away.

“Tch.” Arshe could not help but click his tongue in slight annoyance, gradually releasing his grip around Vanadir’s neck as the light grin on his face was now replaced with an expression of solemnity amidst rage. With a cold gaze, Arshe looked at the Ninth Prince and asked, “How much would I need to pay you in order for you to join my alliance?”

“I wonder what made you brought up such a deal, big brother,” Vanadir said in response as the serious expression he had gradually turned into that of slight curiosity, all the while he was massaging his neck from the pain he felt.

“Think of it as me increasing my chances of winning, that’s all,” Arshe said in response before asking once more, “So, tell me. What price do I have to pay in order to win you over?”

“Are you really that adamant in bribing me in order to increase your chances of winning?” Vanadir asked, raising his eyebrow in the process. Seeing that his brother wouldn’t be the one giving an initial offer, Arshe decided to take the initiative and raised all of his fingers up.

“10,000 gold coins?” Vanadir tilted his head for a bit before scoffing at the offer. “Do you really think you can buy me over with just that much gold coins?”

“Who said each finger was equivalent to a thousand gold coins?” Arshe let out a slightly mischievous chuckle as he soon dropped a bomb on Vanadir and the others.

“Each finger here…is equivalent to a thousand platinum coins.”

Bang.

As if multiple explosions had taken place, the four that came along with Vanadir were at a loss for words as they knew very well what ten thousand platinum coins amounted to. With each platinum coin being equivalent to a thousand gold coins, even two thousand gold coins in the black market, ten thousand of them would already be equivalent to at most twenty million gold.

To the four, twenty million gold was already tens to hundreds of times more than the amount of gold coins that they’ve earned so far in their lives. Even for Dane and Erea, who relied quite a lot on gold coins in order for their classes to continue progressing, would see no hindrance in the path to becoming strong with a capital of twenty million gold.

As for Valentia and Griselle, a sum like that would be enough for them live lavishly for the rest of their lives while still having extra to spare to give to others. Even Vanadir could not help but be swayed by such an amount, already thinking of how to spend that huge sum after distributing the amount equally.

Fortunately, his delusions did not last for long as he hastily shook his head, though Arshe looked at him with an expression as if he had won. Feeling that now was the best chance to force Vanadir to agree, Arshe went ahead and said, “So, how about it? Are you willing to accept my offer?”

“I…” Although the offer was incredibly tempting, the goal he had in mind would become useless once he did. Though, just as he was about to say that he was not going to accept the offer, a thought surfaced in his mind, prompting him to lightly smile not long after, which brought a hint of curiosity to Arshe’s face.

“How about we change the offer?” Vanadir said before continuing, “If you obtain an item for me, then let’s just say I’ll help you out in this alliance of yours.”

In an instant, Valentia and Griselle hastily sent out strands of energy towards Vanadir. Unsurprisingly, the messages their strands of energy contained were the same, asking him, “What do you think you’re doing, Vanadir?”

Even Dane, who believed that the Ninth Prince was doing the right thing, could not help but send a strand of energy of his own as he asked, “Your Highness, are you sure that you can uphold what you’re saying?”

In response, the smile on his face became a bit bigger as he sent a reply to Dane, saying, “Well, the question you should ask yourself for now, Dane, is whether or not Arshe could obtain the item I want or not.”

After quelling the panic that Valentia and Griselle were feeling from Vanadir’s words, the Ninth Prince then went ahead and looked at Arshe, who now had a smile that gave off the feeling that he had seemingly won. With a confident tone, he then said to Vanadir, “Sure, I can do that. What item would you like me to obtain?”

“How about…the grand prize for winning the war for the throne,” Vanadir said in response, prompting the other four to lightly chuckle as they realized that the Vanadir they knew was still there. As for Arshe, he did not take the response kindly as he felt that Vanadir was mocking him. Without hesitation, Arshe was about to grab Vanadir by the neck once more, but before he could do so, quite a few armed people had arrived at the area, ready to resolve the situation that was going on.

“Are you alright, Ninth Prince?” one of the people that had just arrived could not help but ask out of concern. In response, a light yet grateful smile appeared on his face as he replied, “I’m fine, thank you. Nothing too bad has happened to me, fortunately.”

“Tch.” As for Arshe, he could not help but click his tongue once more, this time slightly louder than before as he felt that this brother of his was a harder nut to crack compared to his other brothers. Feeling that not much would happen even if he tried to force his way into it, Arshe decided to give up his attempt on wooing Vanadir over for now, listing him as a possible competitor for the war for the throne.

Before he left, he sent a strand of energy to Vanadir, saying, “This isn’t over, Vanadir. I’m going to make sure that trying to form your team would become a living hell. I’ll make sure you either lose the war for the throne…”

“…or die before even getting the chance to try.”

“I’d like to try and see you do that. While you do that, we’ll be strengthening ourselves as much as possible,” Vanadir’s response to Arshe’s words were as harsh as his, not giving him the chance to back down. In the end, Arshe let out a light snort before turning around and leaving the royal training grounds, leaving the armed people that had to come to save Vanadir with slightly confused expressions. Fortunately, Vanadir explained what had happened to him before they were able to arrive, allowing them to let out sighs of relief.

Not long after, the armed people soon left the premises, leaving the five on their own like before.

With all of the people now gone, the five of them could not help but let out large sighs of relief as they did not expect one of their main competitors to come for them all of a sudden. Even Vanadir, who seemed to have taken everything with a great amount of confidence and intelligence, was currently letting out an awkward chuckle as he madly shook his hands, saying, “Man, that was scary. Even though it’s just a battle of words, who knew he could be so terrifying.”

“What do you think we felt while we were watching you two duke it out?” Valentia could not help but say, with Griselle nodding not long after.

As for Dane, he asked Vanadir, “Your Highness, wouldn’t this strain the relationship that you two have?”

“What relationship? Even before this war for the throne thing, our relationship was already non-existent,” Vanadir could not help but say in response, only to notice that Erea seemed to be thinking about something.

Noticing this, Vanadir went ahead and asked her, “Is there something on your mind, Erea?”

“Well…” Erea scratched her neck in contemplation for a bit before replying, “Since you told the Third Prince that we’ll be strengthening ourselves before he could even get the chance of doing something harmful to you…shouldn’t we be continuing our training?”

At that moment, Valentia, Griselle, Dane, and Vanadir looked at each other for a bit in slight surprise before smiles appeared on their faces. Taking in a deep breath, Vanadir then went ahead and said, “The day is still young for the five of us. Let us continue our training and pick up the pace!”

“Yes!”