Chapter 126: Meeting The Crown Prince of Nathia.
"Kodjis Kendari."
"One of the best rulers in the history of Nathia."
"Nay, the world."
"He managed to hold off the powerful Chavarian Empire for his entire reign despite their enemy outnumbering them many times over."
"It's a shame that one bad ruler can destroy a country within a matter of months."
"But in the fires of destruction, a new country will rise like a phoenix reborn.
Levath Rammat, Historian and politician in the Kingdom of Athurus.
…..
Kodjis Kendari, the genius crown price of Nathia.
Initially, Railius thought that his reputation was undeserved as any benevolent skilled prince could be called a genius, but whether they actually were was a different matter entirely.
But after meeting Kodjis, Railius had come to a shocking realisation.
This was one prince who deserved the title of genius.
Whether it was how he seemed to see through the world or his calm personality so far, he is the only person to have found out all of the secrets pertaining to House Aurellion, even keeping tabs on a young 10-year-old lord for so long when everyone else had ignored him attributing all of House Aurellions achievements in its escape to the noble houses exceedingly capable and loyal subordinates.
Any other person, even Count Nidor, assumed that Malwin was behind House Aurellion's scheme against the Duke of Detarnor all those years, yet this prince actually had the due diligence to do a thorough investigation and managed to find the truth with nothing more than a clue that House Aurellion lord was in Detarnor.
This can be assumed as there is no way that so many Pelican Guards could appear without the lord of Aurellion being nearby. It also did not take long for the vast spy network of the royal family that spanned the entire world to find out that the ages of some of the people living in Detarnor happened to coincidentally correlate exactly with known loyalists to House Aurellion.
While regular soldiers in the Pelican Guards would not be well known or recognised by the influential people of the world with how renowned Lucius was in the world, it was impossible for people not to take note of the important officers within the Pelican Guards the most feared military asset at his disposal.
Either way, one thing was crystal clear to Railius.
The prince in front of him was no simple man. Seeing that his identity had been exposed, he looked around to ensure no one was watching before introducing himself.
"Railius Aurellion Lord of House Aurellion though to call me a lord when I have no territory is a bit much either way it's an honour to meet your royal highness."
Railius said, remembering what his teacher Malwin had said about etiquette within the Kingdom of Nathia. There were two titles or addresses that were unique within the whole kingdom. The first was 'his/your majesty', which was reserved only for the king of Nathia, and the second was what Railius used as only the crown prince could be called 'your royal highness' by others, the other princes having to drop the royal part.
This is because when I came to status, the crown prince was second only to the king, with all princes below him, even the queen or the prime minister. These positions of high power had no choice but to bow to the crown prince, who was destined to be the next ruler.
"There's no need for decorum. We're all friends here."
The crown prince of Nathia chuckled casually as he waved his hand, and the knife at Jordis' neck disappeared in an instant; the man, who was wearing a set of casual mail as many bodyguards do, went to stand behind his prince as if nothing had happened.
His accompanying friend, who sat down at a nearby table, banged his head against the table and began sleeping, snoring loudly, leading the crown prince to shake his head and sigh; the man did not look like a trusted advisor or the heir to a powerful noble landed noble one bit instead he was more like a drunk that you would find at your local tavern.
"Please forgive Flintorus. He is a bit hungover from his rather enjoyable evening."
Kodjis said, gesturing to his seemingly sleeping and hungover friend.
"And sorry for startling your loyal guard there, but my men are as overprotective as yours are…."
The crown prince of Nathia apologised as his gaze turned to a rather pissed-off Jordis, who stood down knowing this conversation would not turn violent, and sat there coldly. The Nathian prince was interested in this young man who managed to sense something was wrong and if it were not for the quick actions of the Kodjis' own guards this confrontation may have turned violent but soon turned his attention back to Railius
Hearing the crown prince's apologies, Railius continued to study this surprisingly friendly member of the Nathian royal family, but if there was one thing that he could sympathise with, it was with overprotective subordinates. Meanwhile, Jordis was still annoyed at being snuck up upon realising that he was nowhere near his father's level, who could make even a grandmaster hesitate.
"Don't worry, I understand we can't even shit without someone being outside, not to mention taking care of our err…. Other needs."
Railius said, letting out a large sigh. Unlike other young nobles who could use their status to protect themselves, Railius had to do the opposite, hiding his like the plague, as those nobles were not a threat enough to anyone to have potential assassins trying to kill them daily like Railius was.
This next feature of the game was a bit of a controversial part of the game because some people didn't seem to understand how realistic DO was as a game, so imagine the surprise that occurred when, outside of the Dynasty History System that skipped time a lot, players found that certain needs of a more sexual nature needed to be taken care of.
That was right, just like how the game simulated tiredness and other things, it also simulated the baser needs of a human as well which unfortunately led to the more perverted part of society that usually suppressed itself to come out much more publicly within the game where it was unlikely for their real-life identities to come out unless they got famous. And just like how people say things on the internet that they would not say in real life people did things in DO that they would not usually do and would be frowned upon by society.
As you can imagine, when under such strict protection, taking care of such needs was a bit embarrassing and challenging to do, as there was very little time when Railius had true privacy.
Even if the threat to his life in the game is genuine, like many who are protected excessively, they tend to end up hating the perceived restriction of their freedom. Even the café they were sitting in itself was scouted out by Aldorus before Railius arrived to ensure it was safe.
However, the royal capital was where the royal family, the most powerful family in the kingdom, resided, so it was impossible for them to miss even the slightest change, especially when the crown prince himself told them to keep an eye out for Railius.
So the moment Railius entered the royal capital or was even found on royal lands his whereabouts would be tracked and regular reports given to Kodjis.
The royal family's power was not to be underestimated they had at least two grandmasters under them, not to mention countless loyal men. By the time any of the Pelican Guards noticed something was wrong, they were suppressed and immobilised by the forces of the royal family, though none died. Aldorus himself had even managed to lure out one of the grandmasters who stood between him and the crown prince's table with a casual expression.
People may wonder why such preparations were needed. However, the royal family couldn't risk the accidental death of the heir to the throne, so as House Aurellion did for Railius, they sent secret protection for him that stopped anyone in House Aurellion from overreacting.
Aldorus, initially apprehensive and unable to fight back against the grandmaster before him, relaxed when he saw that the crown prince only wanted to talk.
"It seems that you are in quite a predicament, knowing what you need to do yet unwilling to do it directly and having the connection between your future company and House Aurellion revealed to the Nathian nobility."
"What a problematic situation indeed."
The crown prince said it only took him one look to see through Railius' intentions, as everything became apparent when he heard of the young lord gathering merchandise to sell, though it was off-putting for Railius that this prince seemed to be able to read his mind.
Considering all the other things House Aurellion had been doing over the last 8 years, this seemed to be the natural progression. For now, at least, it was evident that Railius did not want to tie himself to one country or another and instead build up a power base that was not bound to one country or another like his father's was.
He even wanted to keep this powerbase a secret from everyone. The only thing people would see is the large amount of resources at Railius' disposal without realising where they came from. Unlike the explosive rise of Lucius, Railius took his time over the last 8 years to slowly build up his powerful information network and multiple sources of revenue so well it was to the point that no one noticed anything.
Even the crown prince himself didn't know the full extent of House Aurellion's information network as he struggled to keep tabs on the noble house's important members, let alone everyone else as who knew which hole they had managed to climb into to stay undetected for so long.
If Railius were a bit more reckless, he would make the deals anyway, even if the nobles recognised him in the future and knew that he controlled the company from the shadows. What could they do about it? The answer was very little unless they wanted to go against the Pelican Guards, who would protect the business and its caravans.
"I assume you have a solution for me; otherwise, your royal highness would not take the time out of your busy schedule for a nobody like me."
Railius said in a severe tone the moment this person had appeared while he seemed casual on the outside, on the inside, he was judging every action this prince made, deciding to get to the reason why this prince had sought him out in the first place and assuming that it was because of his power and influence that the whole kingdom did not know of his presence in the Kingdom of Nathia for which the young player was thankful for as it made his life a lot easier.
Because of this point, House Aurellion could develop peacefully, something that Prince Flavius would never let happen if he knew where they were. Unfortunately, he did not and had his hands full trying to run the empire anyway, and so by now, after 8 years, he had forgotten about the House he almost exterminated in his bid to get his lofty position.
"You? A nobody? You're joking with me, right?"
"Since when has a person who can control a grandmaster been a nobody? You're selling yourself a little short, don't you think?"
"Just having the Grandmaster of Loyalty alone is enough for me to keep an eye on you! And like everyone else even that old bastard of an emperor, I am not keen on turning the Grandmaster of Loyalty into the Grandmaster of Revenge!"
"That's far too much hassle for an empire let alone a kingdom like Nathia!"
Kodjis said in a mocking tone, as anyone who knew about House Aurellion's current strength would cough up blood if having a grandmaster and at least 2 masters was the strength of a 'nobody.'
If that were the case, half the world's nobles would be considered 'nobodies'!
Even some of the landed nobility would struggle to match House Aurellion's current military strength, let alone anybody else, and these were the top 1% of the population of the game world we were talking about!
Hearing this, Railius only smiled because he had only interacted with the most influential people in the game. As a result, the young player's sense of what was powerful was severely skewed compared to that of the general player population who dreamt of even having one subordinate at the master rank let alone a grandmaster!
"Aaannnyway, onto business!"
Kodjis continued lightheartedly drawing out the first word, shooting down what he saw as a stupid statement, for only a fool would not fear the retaliation of a grandmaster.
"I am willing to buy all of your merchandise for the high price of 150 gold for each barrel of wine. On top of that, I can even make your alias. What was it again….."
Kodjis paused for a second as he thought about it, but he was a very busy man, having to attend court continuously to deal with the myriad of problems that affected a kingdom as big as his, and so even if he took note of Railius, he could not recall everything from the top of his head.
"Quintellion, right?"
"Quinten."
Railius corrected him succinctly. The guard who had returned to Kodjis' side bristled at Railius' disrespectful and casual manner he would later find much to his displeasure that the noble before him treated everyone this way even the respected crown prince of Nathia though Kodjis didn't seem to mind the casual tone at all.
"Yes, yes, that was it! Well, it doesn't matter either way. I'll help you register everything under your fake identities name and help back up any claim that identity has over this new company you are creating."
"And all I want in return is one small favour."
The crown prince's violet eyes glinted like that of a predator as he gazed at Railius trying to wonder how to recruit the eccentric yet capable person who even when surrounded by potential enemies didn't even blink in the slightest.
"What favour?"
Railius asked, getting suspicious as he saw the slight scheming smile that he so often gave others plastered on the Nathian prince's face, and he already owed a favour to the Free Brothers. The one to that the one merchant in Detarnor managed to get out of Railius did not matter as it was easily paid but this one to the crown prince was likely not to be so simple.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
LaziestDragon
LaziestDragon Thank you for reading and for your continued support.
Yet again I am out tonight till late and so will set this webnovel chapter to come out earlier than the Patreon release which is likely to come out in the early hours of the morning.
The next chapter is scheduled for Saturday but as always give or take a day or two.
As always there are 10 advanced chapters on Patreon and I appreciate the support of everyone on there also for any good fan artists any art you make for the characters or their weapons would be much appreciated.
See you Saturday and hope you enjoyed the chapter.
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