The Ghost King's KeeperCh71 - Trouble is coming

The white collared man silently led Ruzen back to the central compound without any further due. He clearly specified that staying inside his room for the time being would be good for him. Not only because Ruzen needed to rest and give his core some time to mend, but also to placate the authorities of his innocence.

Turns out, the white collared man was not the one handling this unusual case, but someone else had send him along to archive details of the situation. So Ruzen would still be brought in for questioning when necessary. 9YPNC

Ruzen knew that he could easily pledge innocence with the King’s help, but he decided for such small matters, the King shouldn’t be bothered. Also, from the look of things, his image so far wasn’t very negative, and all facts pointed out that he was just a bystander, thus it was not a very big deal that needed the King’s attention.

As for his missing master, as soon as Ruzen was brought back to his room, his master also dropped by to meet him, his face was disguised again and his getup was very unremarkable, no one would stop to question him if they saw him passing by.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Master, where have you been all this time?”

He’Da sat on the couch uncourteously, one could see that he was very tired and not in the mood for chatter. Still, he answered his disciple seriously, “I was trying to dodge someone from my past, and I didn’t fail. He didn’t recognise me.” tzWsoQ

“Alright, but do you know I got in trouble?”

This, made the master alarmed, because his disciple wouldn’t speak of it if it wasn’t real trouble. “What trouble?”

Ruzen sighed, sitting on the bed with a slump, “Well, here’s the thing…”

After telling his master all of what had happened today, Ruzen felt somewhat relieved when his master told him not to worry too much, but, “…that white collared man, must be the troop senior, what he said is not wrong, you aren’t yet given the innocent card, but I am sure you won’t be targeted for it. Because even a blind man can tell you weren’t the one who killed the scout. What gives me trouble is your fight with the malicious energies. Generally, these malicious energies don’t swarm cursed ones, or even humans, because they find Ghosts much easier to target and even small scale deities are easier to feed on. I am assuming your connection with the Ghost King is what attracted them, and if the King doesn’t introduce you soon as his Keeper, the inner authorities would stop at no end to investigate you privately… it would be a disaster if someone with bad intension started to seek you out.”

Ruzen had an inkling that the King would surely do something about it soon. Because after what happened with the skeleton dragon, many would likely take interest in him as well.

~

While Ruzen and his master were discussing things, some in the council of 666,666 were foaming at their mouths in anguish.

As soon as the King left them to decide for who was to leave the council, a fight broke out between the lower ranked members, with both verbal and physical dispute flaming the halls. nHY7cA

The bearers, summoners, lords, masters and higher dignitaries did not need to fight over their seats, but those at the bottom were very… very fearful of their future. Most of them had been selected just recently, someone was only three months old, so their fear was doubled, as they anxiously moved around biting their lips and nails.

To restore the decorum of the hall, several entitled higher ups were guarding the safer majority from interfering with the lower ranks, but the minority, those who were unstable and lacked social backing, were left to fend for themselves.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

In the middle, one of the most unlucky one was Espa, he had received his name from a foreigner who had found him blinking dizzily by the lake side right outside Manjo. Because Espa was born in Manjo, he was considered a local resident, but because his presence was found by a foreigner on a rare visit, the ghost had decided to pick up the name that was given to him by that foreigner.

Lf kjr j wlcbg utbra, cba bcis eciemxs lc afgwr bo ragfcuat, yea jirb gjmf. Ycf ktb tjv yffc gfmgelafv jcv jrrlucfv lwwfvljafis yfmjerf bo tlr nfgrjalif jcv mifnfg wlcv, tlr fsfr, atbeut qjif jcv tjhs, kfgf rilutais rmjgifa lc rtjvf, j yfjealoei mbibeg atja vfolcfv tlr lglr j yla wbgf mifjgis atjc batfg utbrar tlr gjcx. Yglulcjiis tf vlv cba tjnf jcs gfolcfv lglr bg qeqlir, yea ijafg, j kffx ja wbra, joafg gfujlclcu tlr mbcrmlfcmf, tf olcjiis tfiv j rfcrf bo reqfglbglas vef ab tlr ecldef fsfr. MEjtcv

But that was not all, he was able to grasp things easier and he was able to understand and store knowledge for later use just after a casual look.

This potential was recognized and thus he came to the council as the third last member to join, half a year ago. Since then, he hadn’t been able to gain any titles for himself, but due to his ghost nature, he was reserved, which led to some hostile encounters with many.

At the moment, he was being blamed for being a useless young ghost, who was not suitable for the seat he had received.

Espa was not clear as to why he was suddenly pointed fingers at, but the most recent recruits were eyeing his seat, and the ones who were at the upper echelons, were relieved to throw blame at him because it saved them time. seVYP4

Espa wasn’t greedy for the seat, but he had seen the council members and knew how they considered things. Out of all the places, this council hall was the worst place to be at according to him, but because he respected the King, he had been honoured to work for him. Until now he did not have any respectable tasks completed, but he was still given ample supplies that fell under his quota as a member, and that triggered many among the council.

Some believed he was kept as a spare to another ghost, a ghost who was a summoner rank and explored the border and outer lands for resources and business opportunities. Generally summoners stayed by the King’s side, but that ghost was special, he was not only quick at his spells and abilities, but he was renowned for his intelligence, thus Espa was always compared to that ghost, without even a single hesitation.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Although Espa did not mind being compared to another entity, he was not keen on being targeted all the time, so at times he did respond back to the dirty water thrown his way, but he never thought that all those ‘responds’ would accumulate and be shown as ‘facts’ to disapprove his rank.

“You are the most casual member of this council, everyone knows that your rank is unstable and the King hasn’t given you any major tasks yet, so isn’t it suitable for you to resign your seat for that new… keeper?” A pointy chin human male, La’Ka, echoed loudly, speaking the same tone as many others. By his side stood a group of other humans, whom Espa noted were gloating and snickering. WsneXw

Racism between their species was nothing new, the humans believed they were superior with more numbers and most of them looked down on ghosts because majority of ghosts were weaker in strength, gullible and easily handled. Of course, if someone of Lord rank or above stood here instead of Espa, La’Ka would cower and retreat, but since the target was Espa, all of them were puffing their chests with egoist remarks.

Glowering coldly at them, Espa remained unresponsive, he decided that speaking would get him nowhere, and everyone in the council knew he was weak, so they wouldn’t step forward to protect him. This world’s rule was simple, either you step on others, or other’s would step on you. And such motto rang loud and clear when it came to politics.

In this hall, friends were just friends in name, not your support. You can talk them bunch, but they would not help without you actively seeking their help. The world was unkind, and till now, after his manifestation, Espa had learned to not hope for things in return.

His only interest left was exploring the archives of Manjo, he had a feeling that his presence gained awareness for a different purpose, that couldn’t be fulfilled in these suffocating halls. xP2T70

So just when he opened his mouth to regretfully let go of his seat, a hand reached out and pulled him back by the shoulder.

Physical contact was always avoided by him, but this time, he was startled not because of the contact, but because of who it was that silently stopped him from resigning.

This person was Hordor Na’Ris. Although not the strongest, she was still powerful, her sources and information network didn’t lack anything, currently, the Ghost King was using her strength at every opportunity… so many were jealous, as per rumours.

“There is no reason to fight anymore.” hf8LGe

Her words were soft but very solid, and the council members started to mumble amongst themselves. They all were thinking the same thing.

“Has the majesty decided?” Don’Ho couldn’t keep himself from speaking. He feared that the last time he spoke in the council, the King was dissatisfied with him.

Summoner Se’Nur at the side gave him a frown, she had mentally been scolding every new council member for their lack of restraint, but now she simply couldn’t resist slandering Don’Ho in her mind. Did this man think everything was about him? How come he was so stupid?

“His majesty hasn’t passed any order, but are we not aware of who needs to leave?” Hordor Na’Ris didn’t specifically face anyone, but the onlookers were ware of whom she was talking about. H2AGfc

Because among them, there was this old man, who had been specifically assigned the border mission, but never went there. He had angered the King, and even the council members did not know why the old man did what he did.

It was not a rule, but everyone was aware that they should never anger the King, because even if they weren’t in the wrong, they would be removed from their seats either by force or by pressure.

“Master Sai’Do, you have to leave.”

The words hadn’t even fallen when the said man decided to appear in front of Hordor Na’Ris. His white hair and beard seemed too conspicuous on his young face. Anybody could tell that he had done something to himself, and the side effects were not good. His once old face was younger, but his mixed black and white hair was now overly white, almost silver. A change in hair colour was considered taboo. XTpO4l

“I will resign,” he stated without care, as if he knew the authorities wouldn’t be able to touch him.

And he was right. According to the established rules, even the King didn’t have a right to interrogate his council members without proof. And being older than most of them, Master Sai’Do was very aware of the rules and all the gritty details. He was there when the rules were formed.

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Hordor Na’Ris did not say anything, but she always wanted to beat this old man, however, privately, she never got any real evidence despite all the fruitless searching. The Kind might know some things, but he was… distracted these days, as if he simply didn’t care about fat rats hiding in his granary.

Either the granary was uncared for, or the King was planning a major cleaning spree. BEgJ8p

And yet again, the council could only watch on as a member withdrew with confidence. They all had concerns, but such open withdrawal only made them restless. The King’s inattentiveness in vigilance seemed to hint at something ominous.

~

While the council was shrouded in a dose of anxiety, their King was standing at the gateway of Manjo, looking over at a huge patch of burned land in front of him; as the shield above crumbled apart at a slow pace.

Because the shield was made of his energy, it was extremely volatile if broken. So if the fragments fell on someone or something, they would only burn… H2wbvF

The King’s eyes narrowed, feeling the air around him flickering with a tense energy.

The health which had returned, was beginning to fail him again… he needed to hurry and arrange Ruzen to his seat as fast as possible, or else… his health would degrade further which was not good, he needed to be ready for what was to come.

~

Characters that appear in this chapter – 5xGoIw

Ruzen – MC

Master He’Da – MC’s Master [first appearance in chapter 39]

The ghost King – ML

White collared man (Human) – Senior guard [First appearance in chapter 70] 84o0qU

Bearer Don’Ho – Council member [First appearance in chapter 19 ]

Summoner Se’Nur – Council member [First appearance in chapter 19 ]

Ghost Espa – Character credit to reader @mira [description supplied in comment section of chapter 70]

Hordor Na’Ris – [First appearance in chapter 14/15] 9L30wO

Master Sai’Do – Ex-Council Member

~

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A/N – Thank you for reading my story with so much enthusiasm, and sharing your characters with me! I have received comments for 20/30 characters, so if someone still wants their character to show in this story, 10 of you can send me a comment. Enjoy the read~ I will post bonus chapters soon.