Chapter 814: Easily solvable problem

Michael opened the door, seeing the Duchess with a conflicted look on her face.

"Oh, sorry. Are you busy?"

The Duchess gave him a look. "Yes,

very

busy. But I can humor you for a bit if you truly want my attention," she said with a smile on her face.

Michael scoffed. "

Humor me?

Am I kid or what?"

She looked at him again with a deadpan face. "You are."

He went silent for a second, forgetting his own age. "Hahaha... right," he said.

"So, what do you want?"

He approached her. "I just need a little bit of advice, that’s all."

"Advice from me? That’ll cost a lot, you know? Are you ready to pay such a steep price? Just so you know, I’m only taking RD Soda as compensation," she said, gulping a half-finished drink at her table.

"Ooohh. Now I’m hesitating," he said.

"If you want my advice, then you gotta help me first."

She then took out a paper from one of the stacks in her desk and showed it to Michael. He squinted and saw that it was a letter containing a report of what had been happening in New Sparta.

"You know that New Sparta is very competitive nowadays, right? Hopefully, you’re doing your best to represent Metropolis against the other territories."

He tilted his head. "Not yet. I tried working on it, but I got busy."

She shook her head and clicked her tongue. "We need you, Michael. You are our secret weapon. Every single one of the companies there will be preparing for the Legacies and the Major and Minor Factions. But they don’t know about you. This will be our advantage in the All Tournament at the end of the year," she said.

Because of how powerful they are, they became a target for most companies. Many were now preparing to fight them for the All Tournament, doing scouting and reports to see their weaknesses and disadvantages.

This was happening to everyone, including the Rising Six and the rest of the Minor Factions... except for Michael.

Not a lot people know about Michael and the amazing Reborn company. And that was on purpose. Alaric made sure to contain any news about them to make sure that Michael would remain as an underdog, someone who was underestimated.

Essentially, they wanted Michael to do the exact same thing that he did to them to the other territories.

"If you aren’t doing anything, then I suggest that you go ahead and contact the Werewolves.

I’ve heard that the Brownbloods are looking for their human allies. They tried to make a deal with the Auberts, but for some reason, they failed. This could be your chance."

Michael raised his hand. "Oh, about that—"

"Just listen first," the Duchess said. "You probably won’t have a chance to win them over since they are looking for a Maugnetic swordsman, which you are not, but you can still show them your other capabilities—"

"That was us," he interrupted her.

"Huh?"

"One of my allies won the swordsman tournament in the Brownblood Tribe."

The Duchess’ jaw remained open as she looked at Michael. "You... you..."

Then, she shook her head and sighed. "I don’t know why I’m surprised. Of course you won that. What was I thinking," she said sarcastically.

"How the hell did you win that?! I heard that Mauricio Aubert was in that tournament!"

Michael shrugged. "I don’t know. I wasn’t there."

The Duchess’ eyebrows furled together, making it a unibrow. "What, did you use that flying weapon of yours to win while you were away?"

"No, weren’t you listening? One of my allies did it."

Duchess Regina tried to think back on Michael’s circle of friends. But as far as she knew, he didn’t have anyone who was a Maugnetic Swordsman. His most trusted guards were those demi-humans.

She even remembered one of them who was very fast with the sword, but that wasn’t possible. Even with their talents in magic, they couldn’t possibly beat Mauricio, even if they had a Diva—which was impossible... right?

Then, suspicions arose within the Duchess. She looked at Michael and saw that confident smile of his.

"No way, right?"

"What?" he asked innocently.

She squinted at him, but he remained acting clueless. Finally, she sighed and didn’t ask any more questions. It was probably better for him and for her sanity if she didn’t know.

"Whatever, I just hope that you can make allies with the Brownbloods," she said.

"I’ll try."

"You have to," she insisted. "Without me, Metropolis will have a hard time staying afloat. So, you have to pick up the slack."

He noticed the look of pain in her eyes. "What do you mean ’without me’?"

The Duchess leaned back on her chair and exhaled. "This competition is a young woman’s game. And as much as I want to butt heads with those stubborn folk, I have to learn how to let go."

"This sounds like you’re retiring," he said, chuckling.

"...."

"No," he blurted out. "You’re planning on retiring?!"

The Duchess looked at him and laughed. "It’s your fault. You made the Nation of Reborn too enticing not to live in."

"Be serious."

"I am," she replied.

"Can a Duchess even retire?! That’s not possible right?"

She shrugged. "The best thing about being the owner of a territory is that I can do whatever I want. So if I want to put down the mantle and give it to somebody else, I can do so as I please."

"What will happen to Metropolis?

What about the people who are depending on you?" he asked, trying to convince her to change her mind.

"They’ll most likely be led by someone else. I hope it’s going to be Alaric or any of those Legacies, as long as they are from Metropolis. But it’s also possible that someone else outside will make a play for the territory. Though, I doubt you or the others would let that happen."

She gave him a certain imperceptible look as she said that, as if suggesting something, but he didn’t seem to notice as he was too busy trying to process her decision.

Michael took a chair and sat down. He looked up at the Duchess and saw the conflict in her face.

She was serious.

"Are you really giving up?"

"I’m choosing myself this time. I’ve spent my youth giving it all for Metropolis. Now I hope it’ll let me be selfish for one last time."

Michael, of course, couldn’t accept this. He shook his head, disbelief written on his face.

"Are you dying or something?"

"No!" she replied, offended. "I’m still as spry as any of you youths. If I wanted to, I could wipe the floor with you or the other territories in New Sparta. It will become Metropolis 2.0!"

"Then why?"

The Duchess seemed plenty motivated to keep fighting in New Sparta.

She sighed. "It’s because I want to see my grandchildren grow up. I want to see and talk to them all the time. And I can’t do that if I’m managing Metropolis in New Sparta."

"THAT’S IT?!" Michael complained. "If that’s your reason, then I’m very glad that I got here in time. You could have made a grave mistake for such an easily solvable problem," he said as he plopped the phone on her desk.