Chapter 15
Chapter 15: 【Reward: The King's Retinue】
The anomaly inside the room had put the monster outside the door on edge.
The monster—who had only intended to give Belle a scare—now furrowed its brow and slammed a claw hard against the door.
The next moment, splinters flew and a large hole was punched clean through the door in an instant.
Then a chorus of overlapping voices of counsel rose from outside the door:
"Oh, Your Highness the Prince—you really shouldn't force your way into a lady's chambers like this!"
"Your Highness, if you wish to win a girl's favor, you must learn to rein in your temper!"
"Good heavens—with none of the castle's servants having nimble hands anymore, repairing this door is quite the daunting problem……"
"……"
Li Kainan had been about to greet the monster with a flying axe to the face—but upon hearing these voices from outside, he immediately abandoned the idea.
The pots and pans were out there too. He absolutely couldn't accidentally smash his first pot of gold……
Li Kainan looked out through the hole smashed in the door and saw a monster standing outside—bull horns, long fangs, and an impressive mane around its neck.
At the same time, a crowd of talking pots, pans, candelabras, and brooms surrounded the monster, trying to block its uncouth behavior.
But the moment they caught sight of a magnificently armored man holding weapons inside Belle's room, all of them froze.
"Why is there a man in Miss Belle's room?"
"Miss Belle, I must say—a lady's chambers simply shouldn't allow men to enter so freely!"
"Who is he? Miss Belle's sweetheart?"
"We never thought to ask whether Miss Belle had a lover!"
"Good heavens—we simply cannot forcibly tear apart 2 young people in love!"
"Quite right—even for the sake of the Prince we shouldn't do such a thing!"
"But what will become of our poor Prince? If he cannot find true love, the curse upon him cannot be broken……"
"……"
The humanoid beast, surrounded by a crowd of pots and pans, sharply sensed the terrifying pressure radiating from Li Kainan's body.
The mane around its neck had bristled completely, its entire body going taut.
Its first reaction was to shove the crowd of pots and pans aside, roaring out a command:
"All of you—leave this place. Now. Immediately!"
Then the monster immediately turned its head, bared its fangs at Li Kainan, and let out a threatening, guttural growl.
Li Kainan had heard every word of the pots and pans' conversation crystal clear, and also noticed the monster's instinctive move to protect them.
So this monster was apparently the prince who had been cursed by a witch 10 years ago?
Li Kainan thought it over for a moment, then set down both his knight's sword and battle axe, choosing to face the enemy with only a knight's hammer.
This unfortunate prince in beast's form—upon laying eyes on Li Kainan in his magnificent armor, imposing and noble, dashingly handsome—felt his very first reaction surge with resentment and rage.
Savage, violent emotions kept welling up, causing him to begin losing his own reason!
If it hadn't been for the witch's curse, he should have looked just as valiant and handsome as this—not the wretched beast form everyone despised that he wore now……
Driven by extreme violent emotion, his pupils shifted completely into the slitted eyes of a beast, leaving nothing in his heart but the bloodthirsty impulse of a wild animal—and he lunged straight at Li Kainan.
But the next moment, a thunderous boom rang out.
The unfortunate prince in beast form flew backward at a speed even faster than he had lunged forward, and was smashed straight into the wall of the corridor!
With a single blow, Li Kainan had shattered the beast's soul from the unfortunate prince—and his eyes instantly cleared, human reason and clarity returning in an instant.
One hammer to shatter the beast's spirit—my good sir, I'm a perfectly normal man……
Li Kainan shook out his hand, now thoroughly certain that the white wolves outside the castle had absolutely not been raised by this unfortunate prince.
Because this unfortunate prince only looked frightening on the outside—his actual strength wasn't all that remarkable.
In Li Kainan's eyes, his combat strength was not even a match for the white pack leader Li Kainan had shot dead with a single arrow……
【The fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast had barely begun when it was shattered by your sudden arrival.
Like a divine warrior descending from the heavens, you appeared at Miss Belle's most frightened and helpless moment and defeated the Beast Prince.
Even the most intelligent and learned of young women cannot resist the clichéd plot of "saving the beauty in distress"—she will be deeply captivated by your heroic bearing, and applaud your conquest tactics……】
【Defeating the Beast Prince—Reward obtained: The King's Retinue (If you wish to defeat the noble kings and princes of fairy tales and conquer the hearts of all queens and princesses, you too will need a grand retinue to display your might and noble standing!）
(A company of 60 elite retainer knights has pledged their oath of loyalty to you. Each one is valiant, learned, and well-versed in etiquette—and under any circumstances, they are willing to lay down their lives for you!)】
……
【******** barely began when ****** shattered by your arrival.
Like a ******* appeared at the most frightened moment and defeated the Beast *******
**** intelligent and learned young woman *******, will be captivated by your *****……】
【Defeating the Beast Prince—Reward obtained: The King's Retinue (If you wish to defeat **** kings and princes ******* might *******)
(A company of 60 elite retainer knights has pledged their oath of loyalty to you. Each one is valiant, learned, and well-versed in etiquette—and under any circumstances, they are willing to lay down their lives for you!)】
Upon seeing this reward, Li Kainan's eyes lit up immediately.
This time's reward had directly granted him an elite unit type with a fixed headcount—one that would never suffer drops in morale or loyalty.
This just goes to show it's definitely a War System!
Though the fixed headcount of 60 soldiers is a bit too few……
Even so, regardless of the inability to recruit and expand this unit, Li Kainan was still very satisfied with the reward—his mood lifted considerably!
He glanced outside. The unfortunate prince was already embedded in the corridor wall, but was still alive.
Li Kainan had held back just now—he had not taken the unfortunate prince's life.
Since he had spared his life, that meant the unfortunate prince owed him a life debt.
They say a life debt should be repaid manifold—and he wasn't asking for anything else from him. Taking some of his pots and pans as repayment was entirely reasonable……
As this thought ran through his mind, Li Kainan walked out into the corridor, intending to pry him free from the wall.
And it was right at this moment that he suddenly heard a rush of wind by his ear.
Li Kainan tilted his head slightly to dodge, then reached out and grabbed the candelabra that had been hurled at him.
The candelabra, even now gripped in Li Kainan's hand, was still twisting its body and flailing about, shouting with more bluster than courage:
"You insolent brute—how dare you lay a hand on my Prince……"