Chương 475: Chapter : 475

The Emperor let out a long, quiet breath. He realized the sheer magnitude of Lancelot's influence. The Archduke held more actual power than the entire Belmontian Council combined.

"You work incredibly fast," the Emperor noted.

"I despise delays," Lancelot replied lazily, though his voice remained deep and menacing.

"I will assemble my elite strike force. We will depart for the Bluemoon Kingdom shortly. Do not send your regular army. They will only get in my way. I will handle this problem personally."

"I approve your operation," the Emperor decided. He gave a firm nod.

"Bring the artifact back. Destroy the dark mages."

"It will be done," Lancelot promised. The purple magical circle flared brightly. The hologram dissolved into harmless light. The transmission ended. The room returned to its normal temperature. The Emperor stood alone in his office. He looked out the window again. He felt a profound sense of relief. The most terrifying weapon in the Empire was finally unleashed. The Black Magicians had absolutely no idea what was coming for them.

Far away, in the bathroom of the 13th Unit estate, Ken Eliot canceled his magical clone. He washed his hands in the sink. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He gave himself a goofy smile.

"Alright, the boring political meeting is officially over," Ken mumbled to himself. He dried his hands on a towel. He slouched his shoulders and unlocked the bathroom door.

"Now I just need to figure out how to get Princess Iris to give me a few days off. I have to go save a kingdom, and I really do not want to miss pizza night."

Ken Eliot walked into the strategy room. He held a single piece of white paper in his hand. He shuffled his feet across the floorboards. Scuff. Scuff. Scuff. He shoved his other hand deep into his pocket. He slouched his shoulders. He looked incredibly lazy. Princess Iris sat at the large wooden table. She wore her neat dark blue uniform. She looked up from her documents. She offered a polite smile.

"Hello, Ken," Princess Iris said softly.

"Do you need something?" Ken walked over to the table. He slid the white paper across the smooth wood. The paper stopped right in front of the Princess.

"I have a very important request," Ken announced. He let out a long yawn.

"I need you to sign this paper. It is an official document. I am requesting a leave of absence." Princess Iris blinked her violet eyes. She looked down at the paper. She looked back up at Ken. She looked very surprised. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"A leave of absence?" Princess Iris asked. She picked up the paper.

"You want to take a vacation right now?" Ken nodded his head. He slouched even further.

"Yes. I absolutely need a vacation. I looked at our team schedule. The schedule is completely empty. We do not have any arena matches today. We do not have any tomorrow. It is a total peace period. This is the perfect time for me to leave." Sayma sat a few chairs away. The Vice-Captain pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose. She closed her notebook. She looked at Ken with pure curiosity.

"Where do you intend to go, Ken?" Sayma asked calmly.

"You usually spend your free time sleeping on the living room sofa. A vacation requires travel. Travel requires physical effort. That completely contradicts your usual behavior."

"I am going to my home village," Ken answered smoothly. He pointed a lazy finger at the ceiling.

"I want to visit a very specific farm area. I need to reconnect with nature. It is a very common trope. Anime protagonists always visit a quiet farm during a slice-of-life episode. I am just following the rules of the genre. I need my filler episode." Laxmi walked into the strategy room. The fire user held a bright red apple. She took a loud, crunchy bite. She heard Ken's request. She immediately burst out laughing.

"You want to visit a farm?" Laxmi laughed loudly. She pointed her apple at him.

"That is the funniest thing I have ever heard. You do not want to work on a farm. Farming requires waking up before the sun. You hate the sun."

"I am not going there to work," Ken corrected her. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I am going there to absorb the peaceful atmosphere. I want to look at the potatoes. Potatoes are very inspiring. They grow in the dirt. They do not complain. They are the perfect role models." Laxmi shook her head. She swallowed her bite of apple. She tossed a tiny orange spark of fire between her fingers. She wore a massive, mischievous grin on her face.

"I know exactly what you are going to do," Laxmi joked. She walked closer to the table.

"You are not going to look at potatoes. You are going to find a giant, shady tree. You are going to lie down in the grass. You will sleep under that tree for the entire vacation. You will not do anything productive at all." Ken gasped loudly. He placed a hand over his heart. He put on a highly exaggerated face of pure offense.

"Laxmi, you are attacking my character," Ken complained dramatically.

"I am a very productive person. I plan to do a lot of things. I will breathe the fresh air. I will count the clouds. Counting clouds is a very intense mental exercise. It requires total focus." Ira stood near the wall. The water mage stood perfectly still. Her pale face showed zero emotion. She stared blankly at Ken.

"Statistically speaking," Ira stated in her robotic voice.

"Laxmi's prediction has a ninety-nine percent probability of occurring. Your daily activity logs show a massive preference for horizontal resting positions. You spend seventy percent of your daylight hours attempting to sleep."

"Your statistics are completely flawed," Ken argued lazily. He gave Ira a goofy pout.

"You do not calculate my internal training. When I sleep, my brain goes into a hyper-advanced training arc. I fight imaginary monsters in my dreams. I am practically leveling up every time I take a nap." Luna shuffled into the room. The lightning user rubbed her sleepy eyes. She let out a massive yawn. She walked over to the wooden table and rested her head on her arms.

"I totally support the sleeping under a tree plan," Luna mumbled sleepily. Her eyes were already half-closed.

"Trees provide excellent shade. The grass is very soft. Ken has the right idea. Can I get a leave of absence too? I want to find a tree."

"No, Luna," Sayma answered politely.

"You must stay here. We still have tactical reviews to complete later this afternoon." Luna groaned softly. She closed her eyes entirely. Princess Iris read the piece of paper again. She smiled a gentle smile. She did not mind giving Ken a break. He had helped the team immensely over the past few weeks. He had earned a rest.