Chapter 595 - 595 Outburst

Konrad's words left both Avery and Liesel stunned. They had been prepared for certain scenarios that might occur, but this certainly was not one of them.

Yet, Konrad's smug expression was soon wiped away when his mother smacked him back down to reality.

"Damn it, Konrad! What the hell has gotten into you?!" Brunhilda said as she hit her son on the back of the head hard enough for him to collapse and slam face first into the floor.

There was no doubt that she had not approved of what he had just done, and it had left her roiling mad.

While Avery did not particularly like Liesel's cousin, he still winced when the man got reprimanded by his mother.

It made him remember all of the times his own mom had scolded him. Though, she was not anywhere near as physical as Brunhilda was.

"What's wrong with me trying to protect our position?! It's obvious that Liesel and the man she brought back with her have come back to try and take over the Kaizer Fleet!"

Despite having been pretty brutally knocked down, Konrad jumped back to his feet quickly and began arguing with his mother.

"I know that you've never been the quickest thinker, but surely you have to realize how stupid and paranoid you sound right now. I should have focused more on shoring up your weakness rather than letting you spend all of your time training in simulators." Brunhilda said, shaking her head. Appearing to be disappointed in her son and herself.

She began pointing out why whatever fears Konrad had concerning Liesel were clearly false.

For one, if Liesel and Avery had been scheming to insert themselves into the current succession, it made no sense for them to have stayed away from joining up with any part of the Kaizer Fleet so far.

Until now, the only thing Liesel had done was send out a few messages explaining where she was and what she was doing.

Not once had she had joined Avery's company had she made any moves at trying to maneuver herself into the position as the next head of the Kaizer Fleet.

Also, their current meeting was one of pure happenstance.

The Kaizer Mercenaries had been hired to fight in the war against the Zatis Consortium and just so happened to end up joining the battlefield where Liesel was.

"You're the one who doesn't understand, mother. This was all a setup. We we're brought to the battlefield on purpose."

Brunhilda sighed and responded, "So what you're saying is that Cerise Gunvald is purposefully assisting Liesel to take over the Kaizer Fleet and hired us with the express purpose of pushing forward that agenda. If that is the case, perhaps Liesel truly is the worthiest candidate to become the next fleet leader. Having such a strong connection to the individual currently heralded as the greatest hero of the Dramid Alliance would be a massive boon."

Konrad looked aghast that his own mother would suggest such a thing.

After pushing him so hard, she now just seemed ready to give up and concede to Liesel.

Of course, she had was being sardonic, but her son did not pick up on this.

"Okay, this is clearly something that the two of you need to work out. Thank you for hosting us Brunhilda, but I think that Liesel and I should take our leave now." Avery said, hoping to extract himself from the awkward situation.

Regrettably Konrad stood in his way, saying that he was not going to let them go until this matter was settled.

"Konrad, who put this idea in your head? I know that you and Liesel were never particularly close, but your relationship wasn't bad either. This just doesn't seem like you."

Brunhilda fixed her son with a suspicious gaze that demanded he answer her.

At first, he gave some excuses, but eventually the truth came out, and it turned out that several of his friends had been talking about it over drinks.

"I tried to deny it for a while. But the more I heard, the more it just made sense. Liesel was always looking for a way to get ahead, and she finally found it. I'm just doing what's necessary here. Why won't you understand?!"

Konrad was visibly agitated and breathing heavily. With an almost manic look in his eyes.

Avery did not know the guy basically at all, but even he was starting to think that his behavior was odd.

"Konrad, you've really got nothing to worry about with me. There was a time when I was aiming to become the successor, that's true. Except, I came to understand that what I really wanted was to be free to make my own choices. I thought that meant I needed to be at the top of the family for the longest time. But while I was out on my own and realized that I just didn't have much of a shot, I gave up and went down another path. Now, I'm perfectly content with where I'm at."

Liesel even went on to tell him that she would not show herself around any members of the Kaizer Fleet until their great grandfather made his decision on who was going to be the next leader.

That way he would know that she no longer had any interest in the position.

"No, this has just got to be another trick! It has to be! That's what Arno told me!" Konrad shouted.

It was at this point that Brunhilda restrained him.

Her son might have been larger and stronger than her, but she still had far more experience and there was clearly something wrong with him that had him out of his right mind.

She called some more members of her crew over to help her and escorted her son to the ship's medical facilities.

Before leaving she apologized to Avery and Liesel and told them both that she would make this up to them at another time.

Like that, they left the ship and returned to the Intrepid.

A few hours later, both of them received a message from Brunhilda clarifying what had been going on.

Apparently, her son had been slipped a drug that made him more susceptible to suggestions and lowered his inhibitions.

That was why he had been acting so brazenly and out of character.