There was only one place in the world where time flowed normally. It was Frontera County, which had been able to enjoy having a sunny morning every day for the past few months thanks to that fact. Today, however, a different kind of light erupted in the fiefdom's corner.
Fwoosh! A brilliant ray of light enveloped his bedroom. However, it didn't stay for long. The moment lasted about the same time as someone taking a shot of soju or secretly reading a text message during class. When the flash of light disappeared, it left behind two people in the quiet bedroom. Lloyd and Javier.
"Haah..." Lloyd exhaled as he surveyed his surroundings. He was familiar with this room and bed. The corners. of his lips jerked upward into a smirk as he realized he was in his own bedroom.
I'm safely back and successfully got what I wanted.
Lloyd's thoughts returned to the event, specifically his meeting with Gabriel, his bold suggestion, and the angel's reaction. And...
"Judging by your smile, I am guessing your conversation with the Minister went well," came Javier's voice. After being jolted out of his reverie, Lloyd quickly turned to the side. He found Javier staring at him intently. "You have appeared to be in a very good mood for a while now, Young Master. I figured your negotiations with Gabriel went well, but I was afraid to ask because we were escorted out by a few angels."
"Were you concerned that I'd get in trouble because of your question?" asked Lloyd, assuming Javier's intention.
"I did."
"Well," Lloyd grinned casually as he perched on the edge of the bed, "The talk went extremely well. I nearly got everything I desired."
"Is that so?"
"Yup. And now, we'll head to the capital to obtain the Tears of Summer."
"Excuse me...?" muttered Javier, taken aback.
"The Minister of Angels agreed to help." Lloyd grinned again, more brightly this time. His mind flew back to his negotiation earlier as he conversed with Javier.
♣
"I would like to ask for your full cooperation to attain the Tears of Summer, the second divine item of the House. of Magentano."
"Come again...?" Gabriel's face crumpled, and he cocked his head to the side, shooting a glare at Lloyd. He seemed to think Lloyd had gone mad after hearing his ridiculous words.
Lloyd, on the other hand, only opened his eyes wider without a hint of a smile on his face and spoke to Gabriel in an even more serious tone than before. "It is just as what I said. I need the Tears of Summer, the divine item of the House of Magentano. This is why I need the help from you and the heavens."
"Are you asking for my cooperation to help fulfill your greed?"
"I am," Lloyd replied, nodding in a serious and brazen manner. "You admitted it a moment ago. I was harmed while Raphael forcibly tried to carry out the demolition order from Heaven. I was almost killed after being hit in the head. Moreover, the perpetrator wasn't a demon, a murderer, or a robber. It was an angel. Do you know what this kind of act is called in our world?"
"Could you mean attempted murder?" guessed Gabriel.
"Thank you for understanding me so well, Your Grace," replied Lloyd, "You are right. It was an attempted murder . Otherwise, it can be seen as a work accident... As such, I believe I am not asking for too much here."
Your condition is to receive help in obtaining this divine item from the royal family?"
Yes." Lloyd gave a nod.
Gabriel sighed. "Angels do not help creatures of the mortal realm for trivial reasons."
"This isn't a trivial reason. It's a form of compensation for the damage incurred while an angel carried out his job."
"At the end of the day, you are demanding help from us just like everyone else," rebutted Gabriel.
"I am not requesting for anything big. You would just need to give a slight nudge, a little push to my plan. That is all."
"Push?"
"That's all that I need."
Gabriel considered for a second. "What kind of push?"
Okay, it's working, Lloyd told himself. When he saw Gabriel knit his brow in curiosity, Lloyd immediately threw a question back at him.
"Um, will you please lend me your ears for a moment?"
Gabriel nodded.
Lloyd walked nearer to Gabriel and whispered, "So, the plan is... When I am in the audience with the queen... Descend... This and that... That's all you have to do."
When Lloyd finished, Gabriel moved back slightly.
"How does that sound?" asked Lloyd, expectant.
"How does that sound?" Gabriel replied with a straight face. "Are you asking for an angel to lie right now?" "Oh, my. Not at all," Lloyd hurriedly added. "No one has to lie here, Your Grace."
"How could that be? How?" inquired Gabriel, unconvinced.
"All you have to do is agree to my request right now. With that, no one would have to lie for my plan to work. Isn't that true?"
Gabriel's face hardened. He knew very well that Lloyd was right about this.
He is right. The angel doing the job for him would not be lying since he is simply following my orders to help the human. But... something about this feels wrong.
Could this be why the King of Hell sought after this human? Gabriel locked his gaze on Lloyd for a long moment. "Human Lloyd Frontera, do you not realize that your attempt to control Heaven's angels will affect your karma?" he asked gravely.
"I am aware of that," Lloyd slowly answered.
"Then, why did you still make this request?"
"I have no choice." A bitter smile appeared on Lloyd's face. He was serious when he said there was no other solution for the situation. This plan was also the most surefire method in any case.
The only way I can attain the Tears of Summer other than this method would be by raising a mutiny against the queen. But I don't want that. I can't do that. If I rashly start a battle, that would be the end of everything. It would also be a problem even if I succeed since I'll have to say goodbye to having the lazy life of a rich retiree if I become king.
It would be more troublesome for Lloyd to become king. He needed his queen, an umbrella, a shield to protect his life as a lazy bum. As such, a mutiny wasn't even on the table.
"I have given a lot of thought before drawing a conclusion. This is the best way for me to obtain the Tears of Summer with the least amount of casualty."
"Hmm."
"So, please, Your Grace. I will do good deeds to balance out the bad karma that comes out of my request," Lloyd requested in all earnestness and sincerity.
At last, after a prolonged moment of deliberation, Gabriel gave a nod. "Haah... I see. If I'm being honest, you have done many good deeds in your world. I will make an exception this time and accept your request, considering the damages you have received."
"Thank you...!"
I did it! Lloyd yelled inwardly, but he didn't let the triumphant feeling consume him. Instead, he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out the item that would finally put an end to the matter before Gabriel changed his mind. Flap!
"What is that...?"
"It's a contract, my angel," Lloyd replied, holding out two papers he had prepared ahead of time. "One is for you, and the other is for me. It contains everything I requested from you just now. Please review the contract for any errors or disagreements you would like to correct. The content of the two copies is identical. Ah, in addition, your signature goes at the bottom."
“...”
"I think you can write the date based on Heaven's standard of time," added Lloyd as an afterthought.
Gabriel felt a strong desire to hit Lloyd's head and send him down to hell with one punch. However, he quickly dismissed the thought. It would be a mistake to hand over such a talent to the King of Hell.
"You see," managed Gabriel. "I do not have my own signature."
"Well, you can always use a stamp." Lloyd flashed a big grin. Soon, the two contracts were sealed with the divine golden stamp of Gabriel the Seraph.
♣
"Then... Are we going to the capital now?"
"Yeah. Most likely."
"But I have a question." After hearing Lloyd's brief backstory, Javier frowned slightly. "How did you predict everything, Master Lloyd?" Javier asked him in a seemingly confused manner.
"Predict?" echoed Lloyd.
"The angel's reaction, I mean," Javier explained, "I got the impression from your attitude throughout the trip and negotiation with Gabriel that you already anticipated what would happen. That is why I am curious."
"Aha, you want to know where my confidence came from against the Minister of Angels."
"That is right." Javier nodded.
Lloyd brightly smiled. "How else? I did a preliminary investigation with Raphael."
"By that, you mean..."
"To be candid, I vaguely guessed from Raphael's behavior that the angels weren't domineering creatures ruling over the heavens. I assumed they were the ones serving Heaven, not ruling it. So, I confirmed this for myself."
"What did you do?" asked Javier, growing more curious.
"I simply asked if a decision from Heaven can be questioned, how likely it is for the angels to admit there's been an administrative error, what the best way is to make them admit their mistake, and whether Gabriel will be offended if I present a counterargument. Those sorts of things."
Lloyd then shrugged. It was true. Whenever he had spare time during the final stage of the Jewel's construction, he asked Raphael to answer a few questions for him once the latter started to live in his family's guest bedroom. The majority of his questions focused on getting more information about Heaven.
The Knight of Blood and Iron. The novel also had a brief mention of Heaven. However, it was vague and didn't have much detail. That's why I needed to double-check the information since learning more about Heaven and its minister would only be beneficial for me, no matter if I fought or negotiated with them.
Lloyd regularly went to see Raphael, even when he was tired, for that reason. In the end, he was able to learn many things from his visits.
"So, I asked all my questions to Raphael in case any of them would be answered, and he was surprisingly candid about everything. He explained that angels were public servants who could make mistakes. And Gabriel, along with all the other angels, was a humble being who readily accepted criticisms about his mistakes."
Thanks to confirming these facts in advance, Lloyd was able to draw up a broad plan and strike a successful negotiation with great results. Now, it was...
Time to work!
Lloyd buckled down to focus on a bigger goal since the heavens were on his side after their successful negotiation. He walked out of the manor, looked up at the sky, and reached out his hand to deactivate his Time Freeze skill.
Now it's time to go to the capital.
[Time Freeze has been deactivated.]
Ziiing... The notification came with a strong vibration from his manaheart. The Heart of Winter in his manaheart became dramatically more frigid, just like when he last deactivated his Time Freeze skill, but this time it was worse.
Eh... Argh!
"Argh... Ha..." The world went dark for a moment as if he had passed out in an upright position. Lloyd recovered a split second before collapsing and clutched the railing beside him for support.
The side effect from absorbing the Heart of Winter is a lot worse than I thought.
Dragon Tyrannus's warning, which was that the effect would worsen and spread like cancer throughout his body, was accurate. Lloyd's expression grew heavy.
The issue is more serious than I expected. I was close to having a heart attack. This is only the second time I used the Time Freeze skill. What will happen on my third try?
Lloyd swelled with nervousness. But on one part, he felt relieved.
I did the right by taking heed to the countess's advice. It was a wise choice to divert my attention toward dealing with this side effect from absorbing the Heart of Winter.
Lloyd hurriedly got ready to leave for the capital after that day, praising himself for his foresight. Like before, the preparation process was modest and straightforward. He packed some food, clothes, and gold and silver coins. Then, he went to see the count and countess to inform them of his business trip to the capital. But there was something he had been completely unaware of. It was the subtle sadness in the Frontera couple's gaze toward him recently.
