The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 697  Handoff

Hours later, Hawk returned to his space as the bus pulled up to the well-guarded walls of the Palace, much to the General's relief. He had been the butt of the jokes between the Princesses and that vicious tongued maid for most of the trip, and he was ready to get out and go to bed.

As soon as the bus stopped, he stepped down to greet the Captain of the Guard with a grateful smile.

"Captain. I have delivered Monarch Karl and his four Holy Oath bonded companions. They are required to work together, by oath to the Red Dragon. Please find accommodations for them, I will be retiring for the evening." The General announced.

The Captain was about to object that it was not his job to get guests settled, but the General was already politely retreating, and the two were old friends. He could do this much when the General was clearly stressed out by whatever had happened that day.

He stepped on the bus to find four Royal Rank ladies, dressed for their imminent meeting with the King, and a Monarch Ranked man that was dangerously close to becoming as wide as he was tall.

Whatever workout routine that Monarch was using, the Guard Captain wanted to know it.

From Karl's perspective, the Captain was entirely too tall. In a way, he was similar to Professor Tank, at slightly over 190 centimetres tall, and impressive in his armour.

However, he was much more slender, where the Professor's muscles seemed to have muscles of their own. With the pale blonde hair in a precise military cut, the Captain was basically the poster boy for handsome playboy guardsmen in movies. Karl stood to greet him, and the Royal Rank warrior nodded politely.

"Monarch, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Guard Captain Scruggs, and I will escort you to your suite. We have been made aware of your situation, and a unit is ready for your team.

The bus is not allowed inside through this gate and will proceed to the parking area once you have all disembarked."

They stepped out of the bus, and Karl noticed that the guards all towered over the group.

"Man, what are they feeding them in the Palace." Lotus muttered, craning her neck to look anyone in the face.

The guards laughed. "It's a regional thing. My guess is that the three of you all come from the south, while the Red Priestess and the Berserker are from the west, correct?"

Karl, Dana and Lotus all nodded, while Ophelia shook her head. "I'm from the northwest, near the Hill Giant border." She explained.

"Ah, that makes sense. All the guards are recruited either from the Eastern Nations, or the Tundra region of Agelworthel, where the Hill Giant and Mountain Giant nations meet. It's not uncommon for men in either region to get over two metres tall. Do you know a Berserker named Tank? He's from my hometown of Manchescast, and he's a monster of a man."

Ophelia smiled. "He's still a Professor at the Academy, no matter how he claims it's just a part-time position."

That excessive size issue could be annoying, Karl decided. If he wasn't using a skill to make himself taller, most of the men in the Palace would stand a full head taller than he did. Fortunately, he still had Dana and Lotus around, and they were both struggling to claim that they were a metre and a half tall.

Dana poked Karl in the side. "You were thinking about activating [Brutality] so that you were taller than everyone again, weren't you?"

Tessa stuck her tongue out at Karl. "He totally was. He got spoiled in Newbon, with the skill up all the time, so he was the tallest person in the room."

The Guard Captain looked confused, so Karl demonstrated, growing to a little over two hundred seventy centimetres tall.

"Goddess, that is a terrifying skill. I don't know what they would mistake you as, but it wouldn't be human. Unfortunately, if you want to keep that active, we will have to change suites. You're too wide, and possibly too tall, to fit through the doors in the humans sections." Guard Captain Scruggs laughed.

Karl shrunk back to his usual size, and noted that his [Bestial Raiment] spell had become slightly more ornate as it adjusted. There were thin swirling gold patterns on the rolled edges of the silver plate portions now.

Two guards stepped up beside the Captain and nodded silently.

"The King is ready to see you. Please follow me, we will go directly to the Throne Room and then the maids will escort you to your suite after." Captain Scruggs informed them.

They were led through the winding corridors of the palace, which Karl noted were deliberately curved, though they were intended to look straight. Strategically placed curtains and drapery hid the effect from casual inspection, but he could feel the difference as they moved.

They had also gone down at least one level, though they hadn't crossed any stairs.

A pair of massive golden doors with a scene of dragons working to build a city barred their way after ten minutes of walking and dozens of turns. It was an absolute masterpiece, and six metres tall. "When you reach the entry, please place a bare hand on the door, and the magic will announce you automatically. It is a security measure." The guard escort whispered just loud enough for Karl's group to hear.

After a few seconds, the door was cracked open, and with a gesture to proceed by the guard, Karl stepped forward.

{Former Lord of Bunga City, Grand War Champion of the Darklight Host, Packmaster Monarch Karl, Bane of the Giant Nations, Hero of the Beast Gods and Orcs, has arrived.} Boomed through the room as Karl's boot heels clicked across the stone floor.

Everyone was staring at him, and Karl could smell the fear in the air as he made his way to the mark on the floor. There, he stopped to kneel before the King, mimicking the gestures of thousands of previous visitors over the centuries long history of the nation.

For the Nobles and powerful residents, greeting the King had become a well practised routine, to the point where the stone was worn with a single knee print and a boot mark at exactly the right spot.

Karl repeated the gesture as the General had explained, with a military salute, placing his fist to his chest.

"Your Majesty, I have come to your call."