Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 358 Loyalty

Kyle snorted. ”Of course not.”

The Colonel furrowed his brows.

”How am I supposed to swear on something like that? What if some guy from the army tries to kill me because some rich guy pays him to kill me? Am I supposed to not fight back?”

”I canʼt swear on something this general.”

”If youʼre fine, I can swear a couple of things, and you can decide if thatʼs enough or not,” Kyle said.

The Lieutenant Colonel looked at Kyle with an evaluating expression.

”Please,” she said.

”Alright,” Kyle said before taking a deep breath.

”I swear that I have never been to the Winterfire Kingdom.”

”I swear that I have never talked to anybody from the Winterfire Kingdom… as far as I know, at least.”

”I swear that Iʼm not a follower of the Cult of Final Fate.”

”I swear that I donʼt have any problems with the King, the Champion, or the General. In fact, I donʼt think I have problems with anybody from the Skysand Kingdom except for some asshole that tried to kill me once, but I donʼt think heʼs part of the army.”

”I swear that I donʼt want to become King. Just imagining all the mundane, daily duties and administrative work that I would have to do makes me puke. Iʼm better in small groups or on my own.”

”I just want to grow more powerful and do my job, while Iʼm at it.”

”I swear that I take debts very seriously and that I will repay any debts to the best of my ability.”

”That enough?” Kyle asked.

The Lieutenant Colonel kept looking at Kyle for a while.

”Where does your allegiance lie?” she asked.

”Myself, I guess. Secondarily, the Stark Brotherhood,” Kyle answered.

The Lieutenant Colonel nodded. ”What if a powerful person were in your way?”

”I canʼt give a clear answer to that,” Kyle said. ”Just like with every interesting question, the answer is always, it depends.”

”Are they going to try to kill me? Well, fuck them. Iʼm going to kill them back.”

”Are they just trying to use their soft power to suppress me? Well, there are ways I can deal with that.”

The Lieutenant Colonel kept looking at Kyle.

”You have promised quite a lot so far, but the most important aspect has not been covered yet.”

”Which is?” Kyle asked.

”If you ever reach the Peak of the Third Realm, how will you gain access to an Ether Essence? We do not fear a rebelling person in the Mid Third Realm or even Late Third Realm, but someone in the Peak Third Realm with an Aristocratʼs Body can cause a lot of damage. ”

”How do you plan on getting access to an Ether Essence? This is the most concerning thing to us.”

”Oh, that?” Kyle asked. ”Easy, I donʼt need one.”

The Lieutenant Colonel furrowed her brows.

”Heʼs speaking the truth,” the Chief interjected. ”He doesnʼt need one. Thatʼs also why we can work together. The limited resources we are all fighting for are not relevant to him.”

The Lieutenant Colonel looked at the Colonel before looking at the Captain.

Both of them showed that they didnʼt know what the Chief and Kyle were referring to.

”Please explain,” the Lieutenant Colonel requested.

”Iʼm a half-dwarf,” Kyle answered. ”I can eat metals and beasts. I donʼt even need Ether Crystals to become stronger. Iʼll just hunt a couple of Monsters and eat them. Thatʼs how beasts do it, right? As far as I know, Monsters donʼt need Ether Essences to become Nature Gods.”

”I mean, how do you think I became a Peak Warrior within just three months? I just mined a bunch of ore and ate it to advance.”

The three people from the army looked at each other for a while.

”Do you have an old weapon?” the Colonel asked the Captain.

The Captain pulled out a small knife. ”I bought this for skinning beasts, but I havenʼt used it in years.”

The Captain put the small knife onto the table.

”Prove your claim,” the Colonel said to Kyle.

”Oh, you brought food?” Kyle asked as he grabbed the knife.

The others didnʼt answer.

Kyle put the tip of the knife into his mouth and bit down.

The knife was quite hard and didnʼt give way immediately.

Yet, as the knife remained in Kyleʼs mouth, it started to weaken and became more brittle.

Every beastʼs maw had properties that broke down Ether, and Kyleʼs mouth wasnʼt different.

Weapons were more resistant to these effects, but they were not immune.

After some seconds, the knife became weak enough that Kyle could bite the tip off.

Then, he started crunching the blade into pieces before swallowing them.

”You ever had spicy food?” Kyle asked before taking another bite.

The three others just looked at Kyle with furrowed brows.

”Eating a weapon is kind of like eating spicy food. It burns a bit while going down, but you get used to the taste.”

Kyle threw the remainder of the knife into his mouth.

The protective runes on the knife had already been broken when Kyle had consumed the tip.

Now, this knife was nothing but refined metal.

After three quick chews, Kyle swallowed it.

”Thanks for the meal,” he said. The three from the army looked at each other.

Finally, the Colonel nodded at the Lieutenant Colonel.

”That is proof enough,” she said. ”With your promises, we believe that you are not a danger to the kingdom.”

”Wait, me just randomly saying Iʼm not going to do some stuff is enough proof for you?” Kyle asked.

”We have our ways to verify your words,” the Lieutenant Colonel said.

”Great!” Kyle said. ”Thought this would be more troublesome. You didnʼt even ask me how I got my Aristocratʼs Body.”

The Lieutenant Colonel just threw a polite smile at Kyle.

”Now, Mr. Freeman, since your loyalty is no longer in question, let me ask you…”

”Are you willing to join the army?”

”No,” Kyle answered immediately.

The Lieutenant Colonel just blinked a couple of times.

”You donʼt even know what weʼre offering,” she said.

”Doesnʼt matter,” Kyle said. ”Joining the army means my resources will be up for others to decide. I want the power to keep whatever I find. I want the freedom to improve my power however I want.”

”The Stark Brotherhood is giving me that freedom.”

The Lieutenant Colonel looked at Kyle with an awkward expression. ”Are you sure?”

”Yep, certain,” Kyle said.

The Lieutenant Colonel looked at the Colonel.

The Colonel just moved his head to the side to indicate that they should get on with it.

”If thatʼs your choice, itʼs fine,” the Lieutenant Colonel said, ”but keep in mind that you can always join the army.”

”Sure,” Kyle said. ”Iʼll keep that in mind.”

”Good,” she said with a smile.

Finally, she gestured for the Captain to take the lead.

”I will be handing out your rewards,” the Captain said.

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