Kerin was startled when he was asked that. Of course, he couldn't answer because he saw Shin as a conversable person but yes, Shin was a monster. This was the fact that Kerin had neglected.
No matter what, Shin wouldn't turn into a human or something else just because he was intelligent or a little sympathetic.
It was at this moment that Kerin's smartness and wit got the best out of him. The fear of seeing his own king getting eaten and the chaos caused by the ministers started the misconception in his heart.
The trust turned into fear and the little respect that had been generated turned into cautiousness and anxiety.
'Yes, he is a monster indeed.'
'A monster that has the intelligence of a human or perhaps more than a human is nothing less than the king of monsters!'
*gulp*
He wanted to let go of these thoughts because they were useless at the moment, but when he saw Shin's dead greenish eyes and the expression of having fun while killing humans, his thoughts started causing havoc in his head.
"The blood of a royalty sure tastes good." - Shin said this only to scare the ministers, however, it had the same impact on Kerin as well.
'Someone who licks blood and talks about its taste isn't kind at all...'
'Then why did he let those many humans run away?', he asked himself.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt'Don't tell me, it was because he considered them as bugs and felt no need to kill them?' - Kerin's fear only heightened.
Sometimes having too much wit is bad and probably at this moment, it would have given him a heart attack!
He didn't say anything and stood there just like a pillar with his head lowered.
'I don't care anymore...', he thought about leaving everything in the hands of fate.
'I think I have taken the right decision, but I can't speak for myself anymore.'
After seeing Kerin lower his gazes, all the ministers understood that he no longer was with them. He had sided with the monsters and with this confirmation, they decided to render him a traitor of the country but they could do this only if they survived.
Shin had no plans of letting them go, however, he too knew that for the stability of the kingdom, the high-ranking officials were necessary.
Kerin, although wise and intelligent, wouldn't be able to handle everything on his own. He would require aid and for that the ministers were perfect. But Shin couldn't trust them since they were corrupt so rather than having corruption from the higher-ups, Shin decided to appoint other races to handle.
"Kerin, the lives of these people are in your hands now.", Shin said in a loud voice.
"Eh?", he was surprised by this and so were the ministers.
'Just what he meant by that?', they questioned themselves.
Shin wanted to see how good Kerin's judgment was. Would he show sympathy and allow a poisonous untrustworthy snake to approach him or would he use his wit to dispose of it before it even approached - this was something that Shin wanted to see.
He knew from the get-go who was greedy and who wasn't. All he had to do was check the profile after all so it wasn't too difficult and according to that, he had already checked their profiles.
In fact, he had already made the decision and had selected the ones who were going to live and those who were going to die.
"Kerin, who among them should live?", Shin asked a tough question.
Of course, some ministers looked at Shin as if he was cracking some joke but they realized the gravity of the situation as well.
He was a beast and he would probably not joke at times like this, and after showing a dreadful scene, he would by no means back off.
However, many of them thought that they could easily kill Shin. Probably they were overconfident in their powers but whatever, they were surely underestimating Shin.
But there were some ministers who were wise enough to realize how much of a threat Shin was.
A talking beast no less - was definitely a catastrophic level monster that would easily be ranked as S level.
Yes, there were rankings of monsters in this world and they thought that Shin would easily be S ranked, of course, that was only their estimation.
Whatever, now Kerin had to make the choice and according to him, the ministers' lives depended.
'I don't know if this is a test or if he is asking genuinely...'
'But if I had to make a nation that would rule peacefully and look at everyone equally, then I have to remove the thorns that stand in my way.' - was what Kerin thought.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe then immediately lifted his arm while pointing at Rostold with his index finger.
"He is smart but in the wrong way."
"I don't think he deserves to live." - Kerin said while gritting his teeth.
It was a tough decision - he had to choose between 'wit' and 'greed'. Of course, he chose to eradicate greed. If he had chosen to go with wit, then Rostold would have been alive, and then the greed would later destroy the kingdom - there was a chance!
But the moment he said his words, Shin didn't hesitate to jump towards Rostold.
"Kerin! You bastard!", Rostold shouted as Shin used the skill bite to tear and remove a part from his chest directly.
"Aargh!"
Blood splattered everywhere and in a few seconds, a pool of blood had been formed. Rostold no longer had his heart - it was eaten by Shin!
On seeing this, one of the ministers ended up peeing himself while falling on the floor while others had their eyes wide opened as if they had seen something horrifying.
*lick lick*
"Distasteful...", Shin commented.
"Alright Kerin, one down. Who is next?" - Shin asked.
And while testing Kerin's judgment and tasting the ministers blood, Shin conquered the Kingdom of Loria right around the final hour.